The District of Saanich is the second municipality in BC to fast-track affordable housing. On Monday night, Saanich Council unanimously approved a motion to accept the streamlined process adopted earlier this month by the City of Victoria.

The decisions will streamline the approval of development proposals as long as they fit with each municipality's Official Community Plan. This will help increase the supply of homes for workers in our region — vital to finding and keeping the staff needed for employers achieve their economic potential.

As municipal councils across the region finalize tax rates for business properties, The Chamber wants to hear from any members facing unfair increases.

“Businesses need to plan for expenses, and they expect to be treated fairly. After all, the long-term health of our communities is directly related to the health of our small businesses,” Chamber CEO Bruce Williams told the Times Colonist. “The Chamber is reaching out to our members to see how (tax increases) affect them ­individually, and we’ll take that information forward to ­candidates in the fall municipal election.”

The Chamber recognizes that municipalities must juggle a number of variables when setting rates. Ultimately, each municipality determines how much money they need to deliver services to their citizens and then set rates to raise the revenue to cover most of those costs. Whether an individual property experiences an increase in their tax bill typically depends on whether the property had a higher-than-average increase in value. However, municipalities also need to be fair when allocating costs to commercial properties.

“The business community understands that taxes are a tool used by local governments to provide services, but we’re always watchful of councils who try to shift costs to business and industry and away from residents for political reasons,” Williams said, noting that now is not the time for municipalities to be increasing costs for any taxpayers. “Many businesses are still facing challenges, so any tax increase will weigh on them at a time when we need our economy to take flight.”

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation is forecasting Greater Victoria housing starts to “decline in 2022, strapped by capacity constraints, before moderating in 2024.”

CMHC’s Senior Analyst of Market Insights, Pershing Sun, said 2022 will be a moderating year in Greater Victoria’s housing market.

“Rising borrowing cost, affordability erosion, and constraints in construction will anchor sales and slow down price growth,” Sun said in a recent report. “Improved job market and migration inflow will drive rental demand over the next few years.”

The CMHC report said the market is expected to slow down after breaking records last year, with prices rising slower than the “frenzied pace in 2021.”

The Chamber has been calling on all levels of government to address obstacles hindering the construction of more homes. With builders operating at their slowest pace in the past 10 years, the industry needs more workers, improved supply chains and streamlined regulations to meet demand.

Tomorrow's Business Mixer with hosts Max Furniture and Maximum Express is now sold out. If you'd like to be added to the waitlist, please email business@victoriachamber.ca.

Secure your sport for our May Mixer at Mayfair Optometric by registering today.

3460 Quadra St.

Innovation led by business is key to tackling climate change and The Chamber is committed to working with all levels of government to help them understand how the private sector is providing real solutions to meet public demand. The City of Victoria has designated staff to work on ensuring food service businesses are using the most sustainable materials available.

City staff have developed a Draft PDF of a Sustainable Takeout Guide that they hope will help businesses. Staff have also asked The Chamber for feedback on the city’s plan. The Chamber worked closely with the city on plastic bags regulations holding a roundtable of city staff and business owners to identify what was already working, what could be efficiently implemented and the tools needed to do so. As a result, the regulation was welcomed by most businesses and served as a model for municipalities across the region.

Let us know what you think of the city’s draft guide at communications@victoriachamber.ca.

This column originally appeared in the April edition of the Business Examiner.

I’m not sure if 2021 was the most unusual year in the almost 160-year history of the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce. It definitely was a time of unique yet connected challenges, especially following the shock of 2020.

We survived the lingering blight of a pandemic that wouldn’t end, a heat dome that drove home the reality of our climate emergency and the tragic discoveries at residential schools that forced us to acknowledge the systemic discrimination at the roots of our economy.

Through all of those and the other challenges of the past year, The Chamber has stayed true to its purpose and adapted to serve as the voice of business in Greater Victoria. On April 12, we were able to celebrate some of our successes at our Annual General Meeting. About 130 people were in attendance, making it our largest in-person event in two years. There was the usual administrative housework, but the highlight was our feature speaker, the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Rob Fleming.

Join us to hear from Auditor General Michael Pickup on the work of his office and how they are attentive to the needs, expectations, and priorities of the Legislature, while being responsive to the needs and expectations of British Columbians.

Picnic in the Park, formerly known as YYJ Eats, is your exclusive chance to enjoy a variety of gourmet food samples, local wine, craft beers and specialty cocktails created and presented by some of Greater Victoria’s most popular restaurants, breweries, wineries, cideries & spirit makers.

If you and your business would like to participate as an exhibitor in Picnic in the Park, please email business@victoriachamber.ca for more details.

Two companies doing innovative, sustainable and creative work are our guests for this Chamber Chat.

Unbuilders do as their name suggests while BinBreeze enhances the compost experience and eliminates the fruit fly problem!

Don’t miss this beautiful spring weather by waiting to be seen by a doctor. If you have Chambers Group Insurance, you can now take advantage of Teladoc Telemedicine Services — a fast and efficient way of getting the help you need, when you need it.

Chambers Plan offers the Teladoc Telemedicine service at no additional charge to all plan members and their dependents. With the Chambers Group Insurance plan, you can customize an employee benefits plan that meets your needs.

If you’re not yet immunized against COVID-19, learn how to book an appointment here and join the #ChamberChangemakers

You can connect with her at specialevents@victoriachamber.ca or 250 953-6684.

The Chamber was able to use federal programs to hire Sinead. Hiring a co-op student is an investment in our future and a great addition to your team. We strongly encourage you to reach out to co-op programs at Camosun College and the University of Victoria to see how a co-op student can benefit your organization this year.

Members can post Coupons and Discounts free of charge here.