– Dan Rogers is the General Manager at the Greater Vernon Chamber of Commerce and can be reached at manager@vernonchamber.ca.
VERNON – How productive is Canadian business? It’s a good question and while the answer can vary depending on where you are in the country and what sector you are in, generally speaking Canadian small businesses are lagging a bit behind other countries.
That stark reality was front and centre as the Greater Vernon Chamber recently played host to BDC’s Chief Economist Pierre Cléroux. He was in the Okanagan city to talk about productivity and the need for Canadian companies to keep pace with other countries that are leading the way when it comes to productivity.
“Against the world, Canada has a ways to go to catch up against productive nations like Germany, France and the UK,” says Cléroux.
“While 90 per cent of Canadians are online, 50 per cent of Canadians are buying goods online and 92 per cent of millennials are buying items on their Smartphones, the reality on the other side is that only 15 per cent of small businesses in Canada are selling online and only 40 per cent of small to mid-size businesses have a website.”
Cléroux introduced a new tool that BDC has launched that that will help small businesses measure their productivity against similar businesses and ultimately map out a strategy to improve. You can learn more about the tool online through www.bdc.ca.
Cleroux also used the opportunity to note that the province’s economy is doing fairly well with BC’s economic growth in 2016 estimated to be 2.8 per cent.
“This is the highest economic growth in the country,” says Cléroux who added “that growth has helped to create 55,000 new jobs in the last 12 months, also the highest rate in Canada. For the third year in a row, it’s the best in the country.”
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In other news, the cost of housing gets a lot of media attention in Canada’s major centres such as Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal but it isn’t just a big city issue. Accessing affordable housing is becoming as big an issue in the Okanagan as it is in the lower mainland or Vancouver Island. There appears to be an ever-increasing gap between the average price of a home and what the average family can afford.
The easy answer is to blame the federal government for not having a national housing strategy or not kicking in enough money for non-market housing to help the homeless and those at risk. Those are valid points but just as important as getting help from the Feds or province, is getting local governments to examine their role in contributing to the rising cost of housing.
Local decisions around zoning, development cost charges, service and planning fees are also contributing to rising costs that in the end are born by the homeowner. It is in that spirit that the Greater Vernon Chamber of Commerce earlier this year raised the red flag with City Council in Vernon calling for a review of regulations and procedures that are contributing to the cost of housing and leaving many young families taking on greater debt in order to own their own home.
Vernon Council was receptive to the discussing the issue and agreed to participate in a forum hosted by the chamber that provided an opportunity for industry reps to meet face to face with both administration and members of council. Attendees were able to have frank conversations around what can be done to reduce red tape and streamline regulations at the local level while ensuring community expectations are met.
The chamber was pleased to be able to facilitate the meeting and is hopeful that the discussions will result in tangible improvements in processes so that the city continues to be seen as being open for business and able to attract new investment.