Enterprise is alive and well in some B.C. cities. But it’s ailing in others, and that falls at the feet of local business communities and government.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business’ (CFIB) 2016 Entrepreneurial Communities Index notes that the province is now home to seven of the top 25 business-friendly cities in Canada.
B.C.’s best are in the province’s Interior heartland: Kelowna (No. 3 overall; No. 1 in major cities) and Penticton (No. 4 overall; No. 3 in mid-sized cities).
However, despite that positive CFIB survey showing, all is not upbeat for enterprise in B.C. In the overall rankings, the city of Vancouver sits at No. 72.
That’s an improvement from its placing in the 2015 survey (94th), but it underscores the roadblocks businesses face in B.C.’s main urban economic engine. It also speaks to how easily that engine could stall.
Vancouver’s affordability crisis threatens to hollow out its business core and render it off-limits to the blue-collar grit and drive that are essential ingredients for any economically dynamic city.
The CFIB report rightly points out that residents, not government, build cities and “enterprise drives opportunity.” Local government, however, is key to maintaining an environment that promotes enterprise.
Vancouver’s city hall performance on that front needs improvement.
The CFIB survey’s policy indicators, which assess local government’s business and taxation initiatives, rank Vancouver 120th out of 121 cities. That’s a poor performance for a major urban centre that fancies itself progressive and economically vital.
This week’s October 24-29 Re:Address summit hopes to help Vancouver reset its housing and homelessness strategy. But the strategy the city really needs to reset is business cultivation.
Without that, its economic well-being will be threatened by far more than a housing crisis. Absent an environment that improves the chances of seeding successful businesses, Vancouver won’t have the financial fundamentals to invest in housing strategies or any other worthy initiative.
