OPINION: The chamber network and the case for better business dialogue in B.C.

OPINION: The chamber network and the case for better business dialogue in B.C.

Published 11:17 am Friday, February 6, 2026

Many of the rules that govern businesses are made without a clear view of how work happens on the ground in local communities. A small family-run retailer in Duncan operates in a very different reality than a forestry operator in Quesnel, an agri-food exporter in Abbotsford, or a tourism business in Revelstoke.

Yet provincial policy must account for this diversity across a vast and varied geography. Sound policy acknowledges these differences and works to balance them. It emerges by listening and by recognizing that British Columbia does not operate as a single, uniform economy.

In B.C., roughly 98 per cent of business licences are held by small businesses, most of which lack the scale, or capacity to advocate for themselves. Of late, programs designed to help have eroded, starting with the bankruptcy of Small Business BC in 2024 and, more recently, the decision by the Government of British Columbia to discontinue the Small Business Roundtable. Each played a role in supporting business owners by offering practical services and resources, and by creating structured channels for dialogue that brought on-the-ground context into government decision-making.

Not all avenues for business input have disappeared. The Ease of Doing Business portal, introduced in 2025, provides a way for individual business owners to raise concerns and suggest solutions directly to government. This online portal can collect input at scale, but it is experienced more like a virtual suggestion box. It does not replace what existed through the Small Business Roundtable.

Chambers of Commerce and Boards of Trade present an opportunity to fill this void.

They exist to organize business voices, provide support through trusted networks, and engage constructively with public decision-makers. Through its annual policy process, the BC Chamber of Commerce brings forward recommendations shaped directly by businesses across the province. At the 73rd Annual Conference in 2025, adopted positions included province-wide priorities such as reducing interprovincial trade barriers, and promoting balanced regulation, alongside region-specific policies addressing veterinary service shortages, flood mitigation and infrastructure resilience, and access to critical industrial land.

With more than 80 local chambers representing 36,000 businesses across British Columbia, this network is ready to work with government to consult on key issues. We are equally committed to helping build what comes next.

As the province advances a new targeted jobs and economic strategy coined ‘Look West’, many communities represented through the chamber network will be directly affected through major projects, workforce development, export infrastructure, and sector growth. The chamber network can help surface downstream impacts and local opportunities early, ensuring plans translate into lasting benefits where projects are built and people live.

By having consistent, collaborative pathways for conversations, the provincial chamber network can amplify what individual businesses and communities cannot do on their own.

We invite the provincial government to work with us to engage in meaningful dialogue, test ideas early, and build policies that reflect the realities of business across British Columbia.

Let’s get to work.

Feb. 9 to 13 is BC Chamber of Commerce week. Jen Riley is the newly appointed President and CEO

of the BC Chamber of Commerce.