The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) recently published a new report that analyzes the burden city hall has on small businesses in various B.C. cities, including Victoria, Vancouver and Cranbrook, among others.
The report suggests that Victoria is the worst city in B.C. when it comes to the cost of city hall on small businesses, while, what might surprise some, Vancouver ranks best.
CFIB says that according to small businesses across the province, the cost of local government is a “top issue.”
“Small businesses have faced near double-digit tax increases year after year. The message is clear: local governments have a spending problem, not a revenue problem,” said Ryan Mitton, B.C. director of legislative affairs for CFIB, in a release.
“B.C. is facing an entrepreneurial drought, with more businesses closing than opening over the last four consecutive quarters. Candidates running for office this fall need to commit to holding the line on property taxes and spending, keeping them at or below inflation,” Mitton added.
The CFIB conducted a survey that found that 62 per cent of B.C. businesses identified local government costs as a primary concern, which ranks behind total tax burden (81 per cent) and government debt and deficit (63 per cent).
Last year, 49 per cent, or less than half of Vancouver businesses, reported local government costs as a problem. That’s a -13 per cent drop compared to 2022.
CFIB points out that one of the reasons that Vancouver fared so well was because it recently passed its “Zero Means Zero” property tax freeze.
Vancouver ranked lowest and “was the only local government to see a decline in cost concerns since 2022, when civic elections were last held.”
On the contrary, over two-thirds of Victoria businesses (77 per cent) identified the cost of city hall as a problem, which led the Vancouver Island city to rank last among all cities.
CFIB
To start on a pathway to a solution, CFIB is calling on city councils and candidates to commit to controlling local spending, curbing tax increases, and addressing the entrepreneurial drought in B.C.
You can find more info about the drought and proposed solutions online.
We recently published a separate report from the Business Council of British Columbia that pointed out municipal spending had jumped 94 per cent in just 14 years.