Good morning, Chair, vice-chairs and members of the committee.
My name is Bridgitte Anderson. I'm the president and CEO of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, and I would like to start by acknowledging that I'm presenting today from the traditional and unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples: the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh.
On behalf of our board of directors and over 5,000 members, we thank the standing committee for the opportunity to present our priorities and recommendations for the next budget.
We are in a period of global uncertainty, and many businesses are concerned about their prospects for future growth. Businesses, especially small and medium-sized businesses, continue to grapple with affordability in a high-cost, low-growth environment. As the government looks for ways to improve affordability, it must not overlook the pressing need to address businesses' affordability concerns, ensuring that they can not only survive but thrive.
For budget 2024 our priorities focus on three key areas. The first is building a strong foundation for growth.
Our region is experiencing unprecedented population growth fuelled by immigration and internal migration. About 70,000 people a year are coming to British Columbia to a region that is the size of the city of North Vancouver. While this influx presents opportunities for economic development, the substantial rise in population underscores the critical necessity for targeted infrastructure investments. In a recent board of trade survey, almost 70% of our members feel that the federal government's investments in transit, housing and infrastructure fall short of meeting the demands of regional population growth.
To this end, we have our first recommendation: Prioritize and expedite funding for infrastructure that supports population growth, including by beginning funding for the permanent public transit fund in 2023 instead of 2026; enhancing the federal funding in the investing in Canada infrastructure program for regional and local infrastructure; and continuing national trade corridors funding to support the movement of goods through greater Vancouver to the world.
Our second priority is fostering an internationally competitive and attractive business environment.
This centres on ensuring an internationally competitive and attractive business environment as affordability is a growing concern for businesses in B.C. In May, we released a report called “Counting the Costs”. It found that businesses in B.C. will shoulder an additional $6.5 billion in government-imposed costs from 2022 to 2024. To foster economic growth and stimulate investment, the government must take action to alleviate the burden on businesses. A business-enabling environment must look beyond streamlining regulatory processes and an easy-to-navigate tax system to also incentivizing economic investment in greater Vancouver and Canada. A vibrant economy must also include the promotion of indigenous economic opportunities.
Echoing the recommendations we put forward in our written brief, we recommend in our second recommendation that the government enhance productivity by prioritizing tax reform with the ultimate goal of simplifying and expediting regulatory review and approvals to ensure efficiency and a competitive business environment that attracts investments.
Our third priority is ensuring a stable and competitive workforce.
As our economy seeks to focus on long-term stability and prosperity, a strong workforce plays an indispensable role in bolstering business growth and competitiveness. Canada and other markets face a growing skilled labour crunch, and it has become more challenging for our members and businesses to attract and retain talent. To this end, we have our third recommendation: that the government continue to invest in talent, productivity, research and innovation while streamlining the processes for both interprovincial labour exchange and international skilled immigration.
Economic headwinds, public safety concerns, regulatory burdens and an unfavourable tax regime are making it increasingly challenging to do business in this country. The challenges I've highlighted are just some of the many obstacles that businesses in greater Vancouver—particularly small and medium-sized businesses—are grappling with. More details are included in our written brief.
In moving ahead, there is a pressing need for a robust economic agenda that improves affordability, productivity and growth for businesses. We look forward to continuing to work collaboratively on these issues with you to ensure our region and nation are competitive and resilient.
Thank you.