Policy Search

The Quesnel River Bridge presents continual challenges to the movement of goods and services between Northern, Central and Southern BC. Trucks, that are not hindered by their size, must cross the hazardous bridge and drive through a size-restricted city center, creating congestion, pollution and safety concerns. With mining in the region, namely the Osisko Mine and the Artemis Gold Mine Project...

BC Ferries is about to embark on a major capital program to revitalize much of BC’s ferry fleet. Their New Major Vessels Program includes seven new ferries. BC Ferries is currently developing the Request for Proposals (RFP) for the vessel program, which it plans to release in June 2024. Currently, BC Ferries’ RFP has no significant factors valuing the benefits of local BC or Canadian involvement...

The Employer Health Tax taxes every eligible BC employer on their payroll, taxing business growth, hiring and job creation in our province. While the province has committed to increasing the exemption threshold for the tax from $500,000 to $1,000,000, this positive change only applies to businesses with under $1.5 million in payroll, and more can be done to provide cost reductions and increase...

In these complicated times of red tape and bureaucracy, businesses in Canada are finding it increasingly difficult to focus on what’s important, mainly providing goods and services to the Canadian consumer at a reasonable price. One of the main stress points in any business today can be a letter, email, or phone call from CRA regarding an issue with one of their tax returns. Many can relate to how...

The current regulatory landscape in British Columbia poses a significant challenge for companies due to the disparate disclosure requirements related to Transparency Registers, Speculation and Vacancy Tax, and Canada's enhanced mandatory disclosure rules. The lack of harmonization in reporting criteria, filing timelines, and data elements creates an administrative burden for businesses, leading to...

The race to create a COVID-19 vaccine through collaboration across industries and pharmaceutical companies has exposed more cybersecurity risks than ever before. COVID-19 is not going to be the last pandemic we will face, but it has taught us valuable lessons about the inadequacies of our cybersecurity, which need to be addressed. In research and development, clinical trials, manufacturing and...

“The Community Charter provides the statutory framework for all municipalities in BC except the City of Vancouver…and sets out municipalities' core areas of authority…”85F Within this framework, grants or financial support to businesses is expressly forbidden.86F This provision hampers municipalities who wish to support their business community during times of crisis.

Organized criminal (OC) groups have two main uses for marine ports: profit-oriented crimes that generate revenue, such as importation of illegal drugs, counterfeit goods (tobacco products, pharmaceutical products, clothing), and undocumented immigrants and cargo theft; and tactical support crimes to facilitate their profit-oriented activities. This involves corruption of, and to a lesser extent...

British Columbia's reliance on its natural resource sectors, coupled with the emerging influence of high-tech industries, underscores the urgent need for a comprehensive industrial policy. The lack of such a policy has led to increased operational costs and investment shifts, adversely affecting businesses, workers, and Indigenous communities. Projections indicate a potential economic shortfall...

While Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been in development for several years, rapid technological innovation has unlocked its broad potential for business productivity across sectors since 2022. British Columbia has the potential to be a leader in AI-driven productivity and growth. However, our province must invest to keep pace with other jurisdictions and remove barriers to widespread AI adoption...