Monday's speech from the throne offered few details about the provincial government's plan to help businesses recover from the pandemic. With case counts climbing over the last few weeks and the rapid spread of variants of concern, our economic recovery remains precarious one week before the province unveils its 2021 budget.

Aside from urging ongoing vigilance and a spirit of resilience, the throne speech promised that the April 20 budget will invest in capital projects and infrastructure to create jobs and boost local communities. There will also be money to help people disproportionately hurt by the pandemic, including gig workers and people working face-to-face with customers in retail and the hospitality industry. Many of those most affected are women, people of colour and young people.

"The Chamber is looking for next week's budget to reassure businesses struggling to get through the pandemic," Chamber CEO Bruce Williams says. "We want to see investments that help employers find and keep workers. We need accessible child care so that parents can stay in the workforce, and we need training programs that ensure workers have current skills for the many jobs that are in demand but are going unfilled."

The restaurant industry has been told to expect restrictions on dining inside to extend beyond April and through to May. Representatives from the industry, including the BC Restaurant and Food Services Association, met with BC's Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry this week. The restrictions, which the province called a circuit breaker, were set to expire on April 19.

Businesses adversely affected by the unexpected imposition of restrictions on March 30 can now apply for grants to help cover costs.

Businesses with between five and 99 employees or contracted staff are eligible for $5,000. Business with 100 or more employees can get $10,000, while businesses with between one and four people on staff can receive $2,000. If the business does not have any employees or contracted staff, a grant of $1,000 is available.

Business in BC can now apply for Provincial Sales Tax rebates on purchases or leases of machinery and equipment, including tools, furniture, computers, software and zero-emission vehicles.

The rebate, announced in September, allows incorporated businesses to recover 100% of PST on most machinery and equipment purchased between Sept. 17 last year and Sept. 30 of this year.

Applications can be made until Sept. 20 for the first window. A second window of eligibility begins in October and continues to March 31, 2022. Rebate eligibility is based on the Canada Revenue Agency’s Capital Cost Allowance classes.

The federal budget will be unveiled on April 19, and is expected to confirm ongoing support for wage and rent subsidies and other relief programs that have been vital for businesses affected by the pandemic.

Working with the Canadian Chamber, we have been advocating to government to offer direction on how investments in the private sector can create jobs and encourage the growth of new and existing businesses.

Read next week's BizNews for more analysis on the federal budget, and what it will mean for Greater Victoria.

The Chamber and the Downtown Victoria Business Association commend the City of Victoria for reducing property taxes for business. It's the right thing to do as the pandemic continues to create challenges for our region’s economy.  

The City of Victoria has approved a two per cent decrease in taxes — about $146 for business with an average assessed value of $647,000. During 2020, the assessed value of commercial property dropped by an average of 5.29 per cent. Residential assessed values in the city increased by 2.26 per cent.  

“We’re grateful that Victoria council has acknowledged the struggles businesses are facing with uncertain conditions and the pace of change spurred by the pandemic,” Bruce Williams, CEO of the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce says. “We’re seeing many businesses pivot successfully and develop innovations that allow them to adapt. Reducing taxes during this time shows that the city wants to work with the business community, so that all of our employers and operators have a chance to get through this together.”  

The tax break reflects an adjustment to the city’s current policy of equalizing changes to taxes across all classes. If council had chosen to follow that policy, the average assessed business would have had a tax increase of $122.

The Chamber will recap property tax rates for businesses in all Greater Victoria municipalities as the information becomes available in the coming weeks.

Camosun College is getting $150,000 from the province to explore film industry training programs as well as the development of a film studio on campus in the District of Saanich.

“The investment from the BC government allows the college to further explore the feasibility of a film studio and sound stage at our Interurban campus and the exciting educational possibilities it could create for students," Camosun College's president Sherri Bell said in a news release.

The funds are a first step for creating the infrastructure needed to provide more opportunities for Vancouver Island's film industry, which continues riding a wave of optimism in 2021.

"By working together, we can capture the opportunity to bring more big-budget movies and TV shows produced right here in Saanich and create the essential infrastructure for a successful creative industry on the south Island at large,” Saanich Mayor Fred Haynes said in a news release.

The City of Victoria is in the process of bringing back a ban on single-use plastic shopping bags. The revised bylaw goes to final reading on April 15.

The bylaw has been approved by the BC Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy. The District of Saanich will vote on June 15 to restrict plastic bags in that municipality.

“The Chamber worked closely with the City to ensure the bylaw reflected the work already being done by businesses to reduce waste and look after customer requests,” Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce CEO Bruce Williams says. “The public asked for this change and businesses responded. Victoria is to be commended for shaping the bylaw to ensure adoption by businesses, and for using a model that allows for seamless adoption of these regulations across our region.”

As we continue to taxi along the Recovery Runway we are having conversations with Pivot Pilots — those business leaders who were able to pivot their operations through innovation. Chamber CEO Bruce Williams speaks with Scott Phillips, CEO of Starfish Medical, Richard Gale, Director of Camosun Innovates, and David Nicholls, Partner and General Manager of Vancouver Island Brewing.

In this edition, we speak with a company who undertook manufacturing much-needed ventilators for medical support to help COVID patients, a post-secondary that created face shields and a safe model for transporting vaccines, and a brewery pivoting from making beer to producing hand sanitizer.

Special thanks to our series sponsor: Island Savings

StarFish Medical: Member since 2009

Camosun College: Member since 1981

Vancouver Island Brewing: Member since 1993

As part of the celebration of Chamber Week in February, our Chamber Champions submitted quotes highlighting the importance of investing in The Chamber. Each week we will be showcasing these quotes.

Learn more about how to post on the job board and utilize featured posting here. ​

April is Construction Month, and Chamber members have been working through rain or shine to complete housing and infrastructure projects across the region.

As an essential industry, The Chamber is proud to support our members who work in the construction industry, including three Chamber Champions: Knappett Projects Inc, Kinetic Construction, and Mike Geric Construction Ltd.