Wishing you, your families, and your employees all the best this holiday season. I am deeply grateful for our members, partners and volunteers who have supported the important work of the board of trade this year. Creating an environment in which our local businesses succeed, our economy grows, and our community prospers is a rewarding mission. And I am honoured to serve the people of our city, working together with our local leaders to ensure we have an affordable, inclusive, and sustainable place to live, work and play.

Ottawa has an important role to play in the growth and success of Ontario and Canada. As the nation’s capital we have a unique opportunity to demonstrate true leadership in the ways that matter most. Working together, business and community leaders must support our governments in making the right decisions for the long-term prosperity of everyone in our community and our country, those who will come and those in other parts of the world who have the same right to peace as we do.

I hope you appreciate and enjoy your time with family and friends. We look forward to working with you in the new year to build up Ottawa and be an example of leadership for the world. Stronger together.

Yours truly,

Sueling Ching



President and CEO of the Ottawa Board of Trade

Please note: Our offices will be closed from December 22nd to January 2nd.

As we wrap up 2023, take a look at some of this year's highlights:

This year we engaged with our elected officials at every level of government to recommend policies, priorities and programs that create a competitive and predictable environment in which businesses can thrive

OBOT calls on government to declare downtown Ottawa a top priority

OBOT Executive with the Hon. Anita Anand, the

Hon. Mona Fortier and MP Marie-France Lalonde

Eastern Ontario Housing Roundtable hosted in partnership with the Ontario Chamber

Rick Chase, Chair of OBOT Advocacy Committee, joins Ontario leaders at Queen's Park

We remain a key advocate for economic development. Throughout the year we worked with economic partners, the Ontario and Canadian Chambers of Commerce, to release open letters, policy briefs, and resources, in support of our members and business community. Some hightlights below and more found here.

• Statement on Extension of CEBA Repayment
• Home Stretched: Tackling Ontario's Housing Affordability Crisis Through Innovative Solutions and Partnerships
• Mind the Gap: Addressing the Mental Health and Addictions 'Echo Pandemic'
• Sharing Prosperity: An Introduction to Building Relationships for Economic Reconciliation in Ontario

Spring Launch at Joy on Sussex. (L-R) Brendan McGuinty (OBOT Chair), Priya Bhaloo (Vice-Chair), Ian Sherman (Past Chair), Mayor Sutcliffe, Sueling Ching (OBOT President & CEO), Yasser Ghazi (OBOT Board Member and OCC Board Member).

Fall Launch at The Waverley. (L-R) Bill Ayyad (COO at TAAG), Sueling Ching (OBOT CEO), Andrew Abraham (Founder and CEO at TAAG).

We published two issues of CAPITAL Magazine highlighting local business stories and promoting our city as an amazing place to live, work, visit, and invest. Many thanks to Melanie Williams, James Ward the team at gordongroup | TAAG for being our publishing partner and to Dreammind Group for hosting our amazing launches.

Click here to read the latest issue of CAPITAL.

City Building Summit 2023. (L-R) Sueling Ching (OBOT CEO), Cindy VanBuskirk (City of Ottawa), Catherine Callery (Ottawa Tourism). Sonya Shorey (Invest Ottawa)

Having fun at the first Mayor's Breakfast of 2023 with featured guest, Daniel Alfredsson.

Women, Wit & Wisdom: Being Bold at the Chateau Laurier, featuring special guests, Meseret Haileyesus, Karla Briones and Jessica Greenburg.

In partnership with the Ottawa Business Journal, OBOT members and sponsors, we hosted a series of events designed to inform, inspire, and recognize business leadership including Best Ottawa Business Awards, City Building Summit, Networking 3.0, our annual Holiday Cocktail, and monthly Mayor’s Breakfasts.

Joined us at an event in 2023? Click here to see all event photos



Annual Best Ottawa Business Awards Gala at the Westin Ottawa.

Another sold out Ottawa's Best Networking Golf Tournament at GreyHawk Golf Club.

Annual Forty Under 40 Awards Gala celebrating Ottawa's young leaders.

Our team worked with volunteer business leaders through our board of directors, committees, and councils to support our local businesses and to build up Ottawa for the next generation.

OBOT Board of Directors

2023 OBOT Ambassador Corps

In June 2023 the Ottawa Board of Trade declared the transformation of Downtown Ottawa as a top priority and a unique opportunity. We have been working with local leaders, economic partners and urban experts on a Downtown Ottawa Action Plan.

We recently launched Build Up Downtown as a way to calibrate our collective contributions to create a more diverse, resilient and vibrant city core.

Click here to learn more

Thank you for your continued support for the Ottawa Board of Trade as the voice of business and a key economic partner in Ottawa. If you are not yet a member or a partner of OBOT, click here to join today! Together, business and community leaders built this city. And we remain called upon to work together to ensure it thrives, generates strong leaders, and sets an example of community building becoming of a world class capital city.