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The end to the recent Canada Post strike came as welcomed news to many businesses but it has inevitably raised concerns about the reliability of one of Canada’s primary delivery services.

While strikes are not uncommon, the disruption they cause can have lasting effects on stakeholder confidence. For many businesses, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs), this disruption may have eroded trust in Canada Post as the overall impacts continue to be tallied. 

“This has been totally devastating to us and our 900 customers,” says Frank Mosey, owner of Tstone Mailing Inc., a Cambridge-based direct mailing business. “Currently, we have lost about 250K in revenue and that pales in comparison to what our customers are experiencing.”

He is not alone. According to Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) President Dan Kelly, smaller firms had been losing $100 million per day with a total damage of $1.6 billion since the month-long strike started Nov. 16.

“Nearly three-quarters of small firms report they will reduce their dependence on Canada Post going forward, making it even more challenging for the corporation to operate in the future,” he was quoted by the Financial Post.

Reliability an issue

To restore confidence, Canada Post will need to demonstrate its reliability in the months ahead. Proactive measures, such as transparent communication, operational improvements, and compensatory programs for affected businesses, could help mitigate lingering concerns.

“There’s no question about it, there is a lot of Canadian businesses that aren’t going to have faith in the Canadian postal system any longer and they are going to try and find alternative solutions; whether it’s through technology or whether it’s through other services that are available,” says Cambridge Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Greg Durocher. “I think the message to Canada Post is ‘you’d better fix what’s wrong’. Canada Post can't keep losing $750 million dollars a year and continue to operate and really needs to figure out how to do things better.”

While he believes Canada Post workers deserve a wage increase and to participate in a fair negotiation, he says the impact of this labour dispute reached the critical stage very quickly and that support for the 55,000 striking Canada Post workers rapidly waned as the strike dragged on. 

Key bargaining issues have centred around potential expansion into weekend deliveries, with the two sides at odds over how to staff the expansion, plus wage increases, a cost-of-living allowance, and more job protections. Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) members resumed operations Dec. 17 under the terms of the current collective agreements until May 22, 2025.

Businesses need predictability

During the strike, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce network sent two letters to Labour and Seniors Minister Steven MacKinnon and Public Services and Procurement Minister Jean-Yves Duclos, calling for intervention from the Federal Government to end the walkout. The letters were signed by Chambers and Boards of Trade nationwide, including the Cambridge Chamber.

“According to Statistics Canada’s Canadian Survey on Business Conditions, 90 percent of businesses that recently experienced supply chain obstacles expect those difficulties to either persist or worsen over the coming three months,” the second letter dated Dec. 11 stated. “Businesses need predictability in our supply chains, and yet another labour disruption has unfortunately continued the alarming trend of work stoppages limiting Canada’s ability to deliver goods. This issue extends far beyond gifts and holiday cards; it affects the viability of small businesses and families’ livelihoods.”

Greg agrees and says Canadian businesses should not be held responsible for Canada Post, especially if talk of a potential bailout surfaces if the Crown corporation can’t make the necessary repairs to its financial house.

Shipments continue to shrink

“I think Canada Post has to be responsible for itself. Canadian businesses will support it if it takes that responsibility and does the things it needs to do in order to become profitable, or at least break even,” he says.

In terms of finances, according to its 2023 Annual Report Canada Post recorded a loss before tax of $748 million, compared to a loss before tax of $548 million in 2022 and predicts larger unsustainable losses in the future unless structural challenges with its operating model are addressed.

Also, the postal service’s share of the parcel market has fallen to 29 per cent from 62 per cent before the COVID-19 pandemic, as Amazon and other competitors seized on skyrocketing demand for next-day doorstep deliveries. Canada Post’s shipments have shrunk by nearly a quarter since 2020 to 296 million parcels in 2023.

“Businesses are fed up with government agencies and institutions who leave them in a lurch at a very difficult time and they’re going to try find solutions that will give them a permanent fix to the problem,” says Greg. “I’m sure there are many Canadian businesses that have already done that.”

The small Canadian businesses with high-growth potential and expectations might not be the ones you have in mind, says a new report from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s Business Data Lab (BDL).

The report, entitled Scaling Success: The Characteristics of High-Growth Small Businesses in Canada, shows that while many Canadians might think of the tech sector when thinking of firms with high-growth potential and expectations, the common characteristics for small businesses that are most likely to project high growth are, in fact, quite different. These firms typically:

• Have 5–19 employees.
• Have operated between 3–10 years.
• Are in Ontario and Quebec.
• Are based in manufacturing, accommodation and food services, or professional services.
• Are owned by immigrants or visible minorities.
• Are exporters.

The findings in the report do not come as a surprise, says Cambridge Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Greg Durocher, noting the important impact small and medium-sized businesses have on our economy. 

“A lot of people, especially those in decision-making positions of the government, look at small businesses as ‘mom and pop’ organizations on ‘Main Street’, but overlook the fact that even the major employers we have in this country today all started off as small businesses,” he says, noting the success of a previous Cambridge Chamber program several years ago that promoted small businesses called Small Business Too Big to Ignore. “Everything starts small and it’s one step at a time to reach the pinnacle of corporate success.”

According to Statistics Canada, approximately 98.6% of businesses are considered small with less than 100 employees and historically, small businesses have been a key driver of job creation in Canada, employing nearly 70% of the private sector workforce. Despite slower employment growth over the last four years, small businesses continue to account for almost (43%) of all job gains.

Greg says the government, both federal and provincial, must recognize the fact that growing small businesses is the future of economic growth and prosperity in Canada.

Stronger government connections needed

“It’s kind of like nurturing a child. You want that child to be extremely successful and we as parents do things to help that child through the growing and learning years. It’s the same thing government needs to do for small businesses,” he says, adding this is particularly key for a growing number of businesses started by newcomers. “They are coming to Canada for an opportunity and in many cases, they are starting small businesses because they have skills or expertise in other areas but can’t find work, so they create their own opportunities.”

The report details how approximately 12% of small businesses project growth of 11% or more, compared to almost 8% of medium and large businesses. Three percent of small businesses believe they can achieve “high-growth status,” defined as annual growth of 20% or more.

To help small businesses scale effectively, the report recommends public policy that targets firms’ biggest challenges by simplifying financing, reducing regulatory burdens, fostering export growth, and prioritizing upskilling.

To assist, Greg says the government needs to create stronger connections with small businesses which isn’t easy since nearly one and half million exist in Canada and that their ‘voices’ are often watered down. More often, he says decision-makers can easily connect with much larger businesses since there are fewer of them.

“In most cases they are household names and really big companies,” says Greg, noting these same companies often rely on smaller businesses as suppliers. “But the fact of the matter is that small businesses really need a hand up and support to grow to become medium sized or larger employees.”

Chambers a conduit for government

He says Chambers of Commerce, located in most communities nationwide, are the ideal conduit for government to nurture connections with those smaller operations.

“The mantra of ‘Small Business Too Big to Ignore’ is something the Chamber network should be carrying as a banner. That’s our wheelhouse. We have a personal relationship with these businesses.”

The report also underscores increased input costs, inflation, difficulty attracting and retaining labour, and weak consumer demand as key challenges to growth. The most crucial factors for growth include access to financing, the ability to export, technological adoption and a supportive policy environment.

“Canada needs more high-growth firms,” says Marwa Abdou, the report’s lead author and BDL Senior Research Director. “Years of slow economic growth, low productivity and underinvestment have weakened our global competitiveness and resulted in declining living standards for Canadians. Historically, it’s small businesses that have been a key driver of job creation in Canada.”

Click here to read the full report.

The following column by Cambridge Chamber President and CEO Greg Durocher appears in the fall edition of our INSIGHT Magazine

I’m not sure you are with me on this, but I am perplexed and concerned about the anger and vitriol commentary coming from not only politicians, but more so these days from the voting public. 

I recall the early days of the environmental movement and the efforts made to get politicians to believe it should be a concern for everyone, especially now considering the mild winters we’ve been experiencing.  Many blamed politicians for not acting fast enough. However, in all fairness to them, it was the voters who put “climate” further down the list of priorities of what they wanted their government to do for them.

However, it did ignite the creation of the Green Party, and while their optimism and frustration often appeared to be on high volume, back then there wasn’t much name calling, lying, fabricating and conspiracy theories surrounding this issue.

In the 1980s, the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was the big issue, and the Progressive Conservative Party led by Brian Mulroney won a majority government by making it the focus of the campaign. However, while the Liberals, led by John Turner, and the NDP, led by Ed Broadbent, vigorously campaigned hard against the FTA, there were no stones being thrown, literally or figuratively. 

Today, every social media stream is filled with vitriol commentary aimed not at the ideas, but rather at the people behind them. There appears to be a feeling that we need to beat people down because it’s believed this is the only way to get them to change their minds, or the only way we can convince others to think the same way. 

While Canada’s national election campaign hasn’t started (officially), we’ve seen this scenario play out in the United States’ election race as actual policies have taken a backseat to insults and taunts. 

Democratic process remains

What has changed in politics? Certainly not the process since we live in a democracy that provides us with the opportunity to make, hopefully, an informed a choice every four years after following election campaigns covered by the media. 

Sure, there are some mainstream media (MSM) outlets that have a bias, some more noteworthy than others, but at the core there are facts being reported. Sure, they edit and can pick out the worst of the worst, but it’s not like they are reporting things that didn’t occur.

I remember when John Tory, while vying to be Ontario Premier, supported universal government funding for all schools. Frankly, that wasn’t the whole story, but nonetheless, the MSM reported it and he fell off the cliff in terms of support.

Communication is important and can derail or rev up a campaign.

But today’s election campaigns have turned on the MSM, calling them “fake news”, calling out their reporters, vilifying the industry in favour of… you guessed it, their own made-up reporting on social media. 

Right after the 2015 federal election where Prime Minister Justin Trudeau moved from third place to first place with a majority government, The Globe and Mail published a story stating that former PM Stephen Harper was the most bullied politician in Canadian history. Today, he wouldn’t even be in the top 1,000 and comparatively got off easy because Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) weren’t in the public domain until after he was elected. 

It took a few years for people to understand how easy it was to hide behind a keyboard and say anything they liked.

Social media posts creating chaos

Don’t get me wrong, I love seeing photos online of family and friends living their lives, but there seem to be less of that compared to all the other trash which seems to fill our social media feeds. Someone really needs to figure out how many posts are valid compared to the amount which are strictly someone’s opinion or false. 

I read a tweet recently by someone with 1.2 million followers, a supporter of former U.S. President Donald Trump, who posted that VP Kamala Harris was not eligible to run for President because she wasn’t born in the U.S. Well, despite that some Republicans don’t want to believe California is even in the U.S., she was in fact born in Oakland, CA.

But the problem is, potentially 1.2 million followers of this person may now believe that tweet. I also read a post where a U.S. senator has promised that if the Republicans win the Senate, he is going to reopen the case on former U.S. President Barack Obama’s birth certificate. 

Stupid posts like these create the chaos we are experiencing and now that the horse is out of the barn, there is no putting it back in.  If the executives of these social media giants get a kick out of the chaos they’ve created, they will never do anything to clean it up. Elon Musk has been using his social media platform ‘X’ to campaign for Trump and when he comes across conspiracy commentary, he generally hasn’t rebuked it, instead he retweets it with a “I wonder” attached. 

Is it any wonder that we are having difficulty finding good candidates these days? Who wants to be the target of some tyrannical rage of baseless unvetted information? 

Ignore conspiracy theorists

I have had my battles with the MSM in the past, but I’ll take them over any social media feed because at least there are guidelines and rules they must follow. On social media, it seems the more outrageous the better and it’s bound to only get worse since many major MSM outlets continue to restructure resulting in layoffs.

The light at the end of the tunnel appears to be growing even more dim for many mainstream media outlets. But I leave you with a very important question: Where will you get the REAL news when the MSM disappears? Will it be X or Facebook, Instagram, or even TikTok? 

I think we all need to understand that what we see today is minor compared to what we will see just a few years down the road. 

The next time we go to the polls, maybe, just maybe try to ignore the conspiracy theorists and crazies and instead read a newspaper (print or online) or listen to the radio - preferably 570 News Radio at noon on Sunday - or watch your favourite newscast on TV because you might just learn something factual about the candidates and their policies.

The strength of the Chamber network when it comes to advocating for the business community was very apparent recently as representatives from Chambers of Commerce and Boards of Trade nationwide recently gathered in Halifax to debate and approve policies aimed at boosting Canada’s economy.

Several hundred delegates gathered Oct. 16-19 at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s CCEC Conference and AGM to network, hear from several high-profile business and industry leaders, but more importantly debate policies that can make a difference at a time when Canada’s productivity is suffering to the point where we rank the lowest among the G20 countries, and small businesses continue to face hardships.

“I do think regulation is one of the biggest challenges facing Canadian productivity,” said Shaena Furlong, President & CEO of the Richmond Chamber of Commerce in B.C, while speaking as part of a panel discussion on the outlook for small business. “I think generally in Canada, and this is across all regions, we have problem in that the folks who are imposing regulations on business have only ever signed the back of a pay cheque and there is a sentiment that business and industry are a bottomless well and it’s not just true.”

Delegates were told by Isabelle Hudon, President and CEO of BDC, there are now 100,000 fewer entrepreneurs in Canada than there were 10 years ago, an issue touched on by outgoing Canadian Chamber President and CEO Perrin Beatty during a special tribute to his 17 years as head of the organization. 

Network provides a strong voice

“Capital is fluid, and you are not going to know when an investor chooses not to stay in Canada or not to invest in Canada,” he said. “We need to increase our ease in doing business.”

However, Perrin credited the work of the Chamber network and its advocacy efforts to create a better climate for businesses. 

“Businesses have never more greatly needed a strong, effective and organized voice,” he said. “I’m confident the Chamber can make an even greater contribution to Canada in the future. You are the ones who will carry out that mission. It will be your imagination and your commitment, your energy and your collaboration that will create a brighter future for our country.”

This sentiment is shared by Cambridge Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Greg Durocher who says a key role of Chambers is to develop policies that can lead to fundamental changes in legislation to create environments where businesses can thrive and in turn, communities can prosper. Greg attended the AGM, along with Board Chair Murray Smith and the Chamber’s policy writer Brian Rodnick.

“The policies approved by delegates at the Canadian Chamber AGM and Ontario Chamber AGM provide the tools needed to urge both the provincial and federal levels of governments to make decisions that can assist our economy,” he says. “The Chamber network from coast-to-coast provides a strong voice for businesses.”

At this year’s Canadian Chamber AGM, just over 40 of the policy resolutions presented by Chambers and Boards of Trade nationwide, were approved by nearly 300 voting delegates.

The policies – which now become part of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s ‘official playbook’ - touched on the following areas: taxation and finance; labour, skills, and immigration; transportation and infrastructure; agriculture; health; manufacturing; and international affairs.

A policy submitted by the Cambridge Chamber and four others co-sponsored by the Chamber received overwhelming support:

Calling for a comprehensive, independent review to simplify Canada’s tax code

Delegates supported a call to reform Canada’s tax system by establishing an independent, comprehensive review of the tax system ensuring its terms of reference focus on simplification and modernization, identifying potential changes to encourage more economic prosperity for Canadians.

​Implementing a Canada Trade Infrastructure Plan (CTIP) (co-sponsored)

The Chamber network supported a move to have the Federal Government implement, in cooperation with the national business sector and Provinces-Territories, a Canada Trade Infrastructure Plan to guide future planning and construction activities. The hope is to help grow the economy nationwide and ensure that all trade corridors have the capacity to move Canadian goods and service as markets expand.

​Increasing capacity across Canadian manufacturing (co-sponsored)

Delegates supported a call for the Federal Government to implement a 10% refundable manufacturing investment tax credit for all operations nationwide, like the current Atlantic Investment Tax Credit. 

​Addressing the affordability crisis by getting back to fiscal balance & right sizing (co-sponsored)

The Chamber networked supported a series of recommendations to bolster the economic wellbeing of the private sector, including working toward bringing down the level of debt, reviewing government expenditures, if necessary, via a Royal Commission, mandated reviews across all ministries and departments that re-examine government services and the implementation of a cash pooling arrangement within and between all departments and ministries.

​Improvements to the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (co-sponsored)

The delegates approved a series of recommendations calling for more public consultation when the legislation gets rolled out and assurance that regulations imposed on the industry allow it to remain competitive with other countries including our major trading partners. Also, the policy called for the Federal Government to separate AIDA from Bill C-27 to ensure that it receives due attention and is not held back by other controversial legislation as well as clarifying what makes an AI system ‘high impact’ to better enforce the regulations. 

The following profile appeared in the spring edition of our Insight Magazine celebrating the Chamber’s 100th anniversary

Like many couples, Art and Deb Mosey share many similar interests.

But it was their mutual interest in promoting the success of the business community that would eventually bring the pair together many years ago when they found themselves enveloped by their work for the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce.

“It was essentially a retail operation then. I think it had a couple of hundred members in Galt,” says Art, describing how the Chamber’s membership looked when he first arrived in the area in the early 1970s. 

“The downtown back then was really thriving,” says Deb, who had already been immersed in the Chamber world since her father, the late Don Faichney, became general manager of the former Galt Chamber of Commerce two years prior to the big amalgamation. 

“The funny things my sister and I did for dad and the Chamber,” laughs Deb, recalling how they once dressed up as ‘Easter bunnies’ as teens to promote a raffle the organization was running.

She pursued a career in nursing before returning later as a Chamber volunteer after her mother, Betty, became general manager of the still relatively ‘young’ Cambridge Chamber of Commerce in 1975 after her father passed away.

A paid position developed for her in the early 1980s when the Chamber struck a deal with Bell Canada to temporarily house its payment office at its headquarters in Preston after the company closed its Cambridge office.

“The Chamber took that on as a contract so people could still come into the office and pay their bills,” says Deb, who was hired to spearhead this service. “They didn’t know who to hire for this position because nobody was really interested working a six-to-nine-month contract.”

That led to an administrative position at the Chamber overseeing its group benefits program, which was launched to coincide with the amalgamation of the former Galt and Preston Chambers of Commerce and Hespeler Retail Merchants Association on Jan. 1, 1973 – the same day the City of Cambridge was officially born.

Benefits package program a hit

“The benefits package certainly broadened the horizon of bringing in Chamber members who were in manufacturing, or were service or supply industries,” says Art. “It broadened the scope of the different types of members.”

To say he knew the power of the program, the first of its kind for Chambers in Canada, is an understatement since Art was its official ‘architect’ after arriving to Cambridge that year to work for Marshall Insurance Brokers Limited (now BGM Financial) to develop its Employee Benefit and Life Insurance business.

Art had connected with the local company while still working for a large Toronto brokerage and implemented this new local plan following a year of intense study, which included reaching out to Cambridge businesses.

“We were able to bring a lot of new members with that plan. Most of them were smaller industries, plus we had an upper-level tier for larger companies where they could participate and get discounts,” says Art. “It was unique in its formation and was copied by the national plan (Canadian Chamber of Commerce).”

Creating the plan also gave him valuable insight into what the Chamber did for businesses and after being elected to the board, found himself moving up the ranks to serve his first term as board president in 1978, followed by a second term in 1991-1992.

“I think the general public maybe has never really appreciated the scope of the Chamber and its relationship with provincial and national Chambers to have more clout and knowledge in certain government areas,” he says. “Chambers are a voice and a very powerful voice throughout the country.”

Closer to home, Art says the Chamber, particularly in the 1970s, kept a very close eye on local government and served on its Government Relations committee. 

“I sat on that committee making sure the city didn’t screw up,” he jokes, adding how Chamber staff and board members often attended city council meetings and reported back to the board. Art jokes city staff often inundated the Chamber with pages of minutes from its meetings, making it nearly impossible to review them in time to present a report at board meetings.

“I think they purposely swamped us with paper,” he laughs. “We became the critics of municipal politics, and that’s not to say we also didn’t criticize provincial and federal politics as well.”

Chamber has always advocated for businesses

Deb says at the time, there was not much trust, especially in regional government, following Cambridge’s amalgamation.

“With the amalgamation, I think people were on edge because they thought they were losing their identity,” she says, noting the businesses in the Chamber were a very cohesive group following the amalgamation. “Trust was built over time.”

Art agrees. 

“The Chamber was considered advocates for business in a big way and that was the role we played, but it became more harmonized as time went on and we realized we didn’t need to be such big critics when municipalities did something,” he says. “We could find areas of common ground where we could convey our side of the story without blasting opinions out in news articles.”

Deb left the Chamber in the late 1990s to work with Art at BGM, where they soon married. Art and Deb sold BGM in 2006 but stayed on an additional three years to manage the transfer of ownership.

“You can only carry on in business for so long,” he says, adding being part of the Chamber was, and remains, a great way to be part of the community. “You really get to know what’s going on in the city and its relationship to other communities.”

The federal Liberals 2024 budget landed last week to mixed reviews, especially among Chamber of Commerce leaders.

While Deputy Prime Minister Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland kept her promise to keep the deficit from growing without raising income taxes on the middle class by tabling Budget 2024: Fairness for Every Generation with a projected deficit of $39.8 billion, slightly below the $40 billion projected last fall, the document contained few surprises.

“Most of the major new spending was announced by the government over the last few weeks, and the government’s projections for the deficit are largely in line with previous predictions. Instead of using a revenue windfall to reduce the deficit more quickly, the government chose to use it along with changes to the capital gains tax, to fund this new spending,” said Perrin Beatty, President and CEO, Canadian Chamber of Commerce, in a release. “What’s still missing is a clear plan to promote productivity and restore economic growth in Canada. Canada continues to slip further behind our competitors in both of these categories.”

This sentiment is shared by Cambridge Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Greg Durocher, who says business operators regularly share their frustrations with him regarding the difficulties they continue to face trying to conduct business.

“Their concerns do not seem to reach the ears of the those who make the decisions,” he says. “The reality of it is the framework around how this current federal government wants to address the issues of the day are not conducive to solving the problem but probably more conducive to deepening the problem.”

Housing affordability crisis

Among these issues is the housing affordability crisis, which the budget addresses by putting special emphasis on generational fairness and helping younger people – Millennials and Generation Zs — with programs to help renters and first-time home buyers. While this may bring some relief, Greg says there are other ways to address the issue in a less costly manner.

“There is no secret to building more homes. You must create a market for home builders to access and ensure interest rates are acceptable for homeowners to borrow money and you must simply reduce the costs to developers in building the product we desperately need. None of these issues have ever been addressed by any level of government to this point,” he says, adding despite any incentive programs local political bureaucracies often create barriers for development. “You can throw all kinds of mud up against the wall, but none of it is going to stick when it’s already dry.”

Besides housing, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce says the budget should have addressed the need to build better resiliency surrounding supply chains by providing targeted financial support for small and medium-sized businesses. It has recommended the federal government work with the private sector to invest in digitization infrastructure and explore contingency plans for key trading partners and assess potential vulnerabilities.

“I think those are just sensible things our federal government should always be doing to ensure the flow of goods and services can happen because every issue that all levels of government deal with requires a strong, vibrant economy in order to find solutions to those problems,” says Greg. “Building a more resilient supply chain shouldn’t even part of a budget, it should be a core element of the government’s role.”

Despite these concerns, both he and Beatty both welcomed the budget’s move to support interprovincial trade through the creation of the Canadian Internal Trade Data and Information Hub, something the Chamber network has been seeking for several years.

“Strengthening our internal trade could elevate GDP growth by up to 8% and fortify Canada’s economic foundation,” said Beatty in a release. “It shouldn’t be easier to trade with Europe than it is within our own country.”

Economic survival imperative

Besides interprovincial trade, the budget’s promised investment of $2.4 billion towards building AI infrastructure and adoption advancement also came as welcomed news.

“The investment in AI infrastructure and support of start-ups in the AI field is good for business,” says Greg, adding he was disappointed the budget didn’t contain more regarding the co-ordination of broadband investments with the private sector. “The government has done nothing to extend broadband coverage to remote and rural communities and the fact of the matter is if you don’t have internet, you can’t do business. You can’t function without the most advanced technology.”

Overall, he says the 2024 federal budget sends a clear signal the current government is forgoing economic survival in favour of more social programming, a move that doesn’t bode well for conducting business in Canada.

“While I support taking care of those who can’t care for themselves, and every business I know supports initiatives to help others, we also have to recognize the No. 1 objective of any level of government is to ensure a strong and vibrant economy,” he says. “There are very little initiatives in this budget signalling that Canada wants to develop a robust economy.”

Click here to read the budget.

Several measures announced in the federal budget to assist Ontario’s business community. These include:

• Addressing the housing affordability crisis by investing in building more homes, making it easier to own or rent, and creating new programs to supply low-income affordable housing for those who need it most. The government is proposing a combination of tax measures, low-cost financing and loans, utilization of public lands, streamlined approvals, and programs to assist homebuyers and renters directly.
• Building AI infrastructure and advancing adoption through a $2.4 billion investment. A significant portion of this investment is dedicated to building and providing access to computing infrastructure. An additional $200 million is allocated to support AI start-ups to bring new technologies to the market and accelerate adoption in critical economic sectors.
• Advancing economic reconciliation through a national Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program and funding for Indigenous Financial Institutions that will accelerate capital for Indigenous-owned businesses and projects, support project development, reduce the cost of borrowing, and enable Indigenous communities to benefit from natural resource projects.
• Supporting interprovincial trade through the creation of the Canadian Internal Trade Data and Information Hub, intended to enable all levels of government to work together to eliminate barriers to trade and labour mobility.

The Ontario Chamber network is calling for further action in the following areas:

• Co-ordinating broadband investments with the private sector to avoid duplication and maximize the impact of public programs to enhance redundancy resiliency within broadband networks, collaborating with provinces and territories to establish future federal goals for broadband connectivity, assess opportunities for promoting competition and private sector investments in the sector, and expedite funding commitments while improving coordination with stakeholders to address gaps in private sector expansion plans.
• Bolstering Canada’s life sciences ecosystem by creating new funding streams to encourage innovation and high-risk ventures, working with stakeholders to review approval processes, and enhancing regional collaboration.
• Building more resilient supply chains through targeted financial support for small and medium-sized enterprises, working with the private sector to invest in digitization infrastructure, expanding capacity across all modes and channels of distribution, exploring contingency plans for key trading partners, and conducting an assessment to identify bottlenecks and vulnerabilities.
• Implementing broader Employment Insurance reform to reflect the needs of today’s workforce by ensuring the governance, programs, policies, and operations are viable and sustainable, responsive, and adaptable, non-partisan, inclusive, and relevant for current and future generations of Canadian employers and employees.

The collective strength of the Chamber network took centre stage as Chamber representatives nationwide gathered in Calgary recently to debate and approve policies aimed at boosting Canada’s economy.

Several hundred delegates were in attendance Oct. 11-14 at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s CCEC Conference and AGM to not only discuss policies but hear from several high profile political and industry leaders, including Treasury Board President Anita Anand who spoke about the economic concerns facing businesses and taxpayers, and her plans to launch a spending review to find savings.

“The key has to be on efficiency, process and purpose,” she said, noting the need for the government to pivot on the economic front. “There are continued lessons to be learned in terms of how we can improve. I know we have to continue to build an economy that works for everyone.”

Her sentiments were echoed by Canadian Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Perrin Beatty who stressed the need for filling infrastructure gaps to meet the needs of the nation’s growing population.

“We require infrastructure that’s both resilient and sufficient so when increasingly frequent climate change emergencies and labour disruptions occur, we can continue to supply ourselves and our allies,” he told delegates. “Canada has a great many economic, and green growth ambitions, but only ambition matched with action results in achievement.”

The Canadian Chamber leader also spoke about the power of the Chamber network when it comes to lobbying the government to do what is necessary for businesses to succeed.

“We only accomplish so much because of our partnership with you. You, the provincial, territorial and local Chambers, and Boards of Trade, are the engines that drive responsible growth in Canada.”

Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Greg Durocher says the AGM and conference play an important role in developing policies that will benefit businesses, and in turn, create an environment for communities to prosper.

“These policies are valuable advocacy tools when it comes to urging both the provincial and federal levels of government to make decisions that will benefit the economy, and in turn, the places we live and work,” he says. “Having the Chamber network work as a collective group to inspire change is a very valuable asset.”

Cambridge Chamber policy approved

This year, of the 66 policy resolutions presented by Chambers and Boards of Trade nationwide, 62 were approved by 293 voting delegates on hand. The policies – which now become part of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s ‘official playbook’ - touched on the following areas: natural resources, energy, and environment; transportation and infrastructure; finance and taxation; agriculture; digital economy; human resources; as well as international and indigenous affairs.

The Cambridge Chamber’s policy resolution, entitled Created Systems to Provide Adequate Child-care Spaces to Ensure Parents – Particularly Women – Have Equal Opportunities to Enter the Workforce, received overwhelming support and resulting in the approval of several recommendations calling for the Government of Canada to undertake the folllowing:

1. Work with provincial/territorial governments to explore all prospective ways that could increase compensation for ECE workers in effort to attract more workers into the child-care sector with the goal of reducing waitlists at licensed child-care centre, setting the stage for more parents – particularly women - to enter or re-enter the workforce.
2. Work with provincial/territorial governments to examine all potential solutions to ensure there are systems in place, possibly financial, to ensure adequate child-care spaces are available to provide parents – particularly women – the opportunity to enter or re-enter the workforce.
3. Recognize the critical role of private sector in delivering childcare services and advocate for a continued role for entrepreneurs and businesses to provide childcare through public debate on the subject, and through the CCC’s advocacy with federal policymakers.

Cambridge Chamber co-sponsored policies approved

Collaboration among Chambers when crafting policies that can benefit the network is key. This year, the Cambridge Chamber co-sponsored two policies submitted by the Greater Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber of Commerce which also received support from delegates.

The first resolution, entitled Review of the Canadian Tax System and Business Taxes, was approved, and called for the Government of Canada to:

1. Not implement any new business taxes or increases on existing business taxation levels until a review of the current system, particularly related to competitiveness and productivity, is completed.

A second policy resolution, entitled Closing the National Digital Divide, was also approved, and called upon the Government of Canada to:

1. Continue with broadband infrastructure investments across rural/remote areas and First Nations;
2. To build an inclusive economy for all Canadians, ensure all financial resources allocated to increasing broadband capacity are urgently distributed for addressing the digital divide;
3. To evaluate the effectiveness of government broadband policy in delivering connectivity, particularly in rural and indigenous areas, there should be an evaluation of connectivity coverage, quality, and adoption.
4. Commit to businesses and citizens in rural and remote areas that necessary infrastructure to allow them access to competitive broadband speeds will be constructed.

Click here to see the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s full compendium of policy resolutions.

The following piece is one of several that appears in the special summer edition of  our INSIGHT Magazine celebrating Cambridge’s 50th anniversary as we recognize just a few of the people, businesses and institutions that have made our community great.

The term ‘self-made’ fit Max Saltsman like a glove.

The long-time Cambridge federal politician, who gained national attention in the early 1970s by trying to introduce a private member’s bill to annex the Turks and Caicos Islands in effort to keep Canadian tourists’ dollars in Canada, achieved success both in business and politics through hard work, determination, and education.

Born Samuel Mayer ‘Max’ Saltsman in Toronto in 1921, he left high school after one year at the age of 14 but served in the Royal Canadian Air Force as a mechanic during the Second World War. While overseas, Max (legally changing his name to ‘Max’ in 1962) completed correspondence courses via the Royal Canadian Legion and later took university extension courses to upgrade his education.

He opened S. M. Saltsman & Co., Tailors and Dry Cleaners in Galt in 1947 and quickly gained an interest in local politics, serving on the former Galt Public School Board from 1958 to 1961 before joining Galt city council from 1962 to 1964.

Saltsman’s interest in federal politics sparked his run in 1963 as the New Democratic Party candidate to represent the former ridings of Waterloo South, Waterloo-Cambridge, and Waterloo as MP but he lost to Progressive Conservative Party candidate Gordon Chaplin. However, Chaplin’s death in 1964 resulted in a byelection which Saltsman won setting the stage for his re-election as MP for three more occasions, until he retired in 1979.

During his tenure on Parliament Hill Saltsman took a tough stand when it came to the Liberal government’s imposition of the War Measures Act in 1970 and was a big supporter of wage and price controls.

He was NDP critic for Finance and National Revenue in the late 1970s and always won the respect of his caucus colleagues for his ‘off beat’ ideas such as his call to annex the Turks and Caicos Islands. His private member’s bill in 1974 never reached the floor of the House of Commons but garnered much attention as did his ‘Pink Max’ awards which he instituted as a tongue-in-cheek way of pointing out waste in the private sector.

Saltsman created the award in response to the ‘Blue Max’ award, named for former Auditor-General Max Henderson who offered up samples of wasteful federal government spending.

A staunch supporter of higher education, the University of Waterloo appointed him a special lecturer in management science, and he often focused on the relationships between business and government.

Saltsman helped found the Saltsman-Kerr Lecture Series in Canadians Studies at the U of W and regularly lectured about political science at Wilfrid Laurier University, often joking he was one of the few people without a degree or even a high school diploma, asked to lecture at a university.

In the earlier 1980s, former Ontario premier William G. Davis appointed Saltsman to serve on the Inflation Restraint Board, in part due to his advocacy while in office against what he identified as government inactivity on price gouging.

He served on the board until 1985 and was making plans to run for a councillor-at-large seat on Cambridge city council when he withdrew his name after being diagnosed with liver cancer. He died in a Toronto hospital in November of 1985.

The much-anticipated introduction of the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care plan and its goal to introduce its $10 a-day program by 2026 has created a higher demand for spaces as regulated child-care facilities struggle to find qualified staff, which in turn has impacted the economy as parents, many of them women, forgo entering or re-entering the workforce to stay home with their children.

“As the plan was introduced right at the beginning of 2023 fees have been cut in half and that has opened up the opportunity for a lot more families to access care that couldn’t, or didn’t, in the past,” says YWCA Cambridge CEO Kim Decker, noting the long wait lists it has created at the organization’s four school-based centres. “We now have parents calling us when they find out they are pregnant to see if they can get their kids on the list for child care because there just aren’t enough spaces.”

She says the national plan is being implemented in different ways by provinces and territories, explaining the political ‘will’ of each is dictating what level of success they will reach. In Ontario, which committed to reach $10 per day and create 86,000 new spaces by 2026 when it secured a deal last March with the Government of Canada, Kim says the plan has fallen short.

“It’s a status quo funding model and there’s no real opportunity for growth,” she says. “There needs to be a growth plan that accompanies this.”

Child-care ‘deserts’ created

Kim says the national plan was put in place to not only reduce fees for parents, but create spaces, particularly for those living in underserviced areas. Quoting a report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Kim says 53% of younger children in the province reside in child-care ‘deserts’, adding that Kitchener-Waterloo was identified in the report as being underserviced, despite a push by the Region of Waterloo to the Province to provide more spaces.

“Right now, we know that from 2024 to 2026, we will only get another 200 spaces,” she says, adding other local licensed child-care providers are also experiencing space shortages.

Kim says the economic impacts of these shortages are being amplified as more companies continue to call employees back to the workplace, explaining that many parents had taken their children out of child care when the pandemic hit but now can no longer find them spaces.

“This has disproportionately impacted women because if a family has choices, I will say in most cases it will be the women who will have to make the decision to give up their careers and stay home,” she says. “It’s going to affect the economy and women need to be a big part of our economy if it is going to remain strong.”

Chamber submits national policy

In effort to alleviate the problem, the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce has submitted a national policy to be considered by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce network at its AGM this fall in Calgary, Alta. Included among our recommendations is a call for the federal and provincial/territorial governments to work together to investigate the possibility of providing subsidization for ECE (early childhood educators) wages and the creation of a fully funded pension and benefits plan in effort to attract more workers into the child-care sector with the goal of reducing wait lists.

Labour shortages in terms of attraction and the retention of qualified ECEs has compounded the issue of growing wait lists. As noted in a recent response released by the YWCA Ontario Coalition to the Province regarding its CWELCC discussion paper on the child-care funding formula, the group identified the fact the plan is based on operating capacity rather than licensed capacity. YWCA Ontario’s response states many Ontario child-care operators are operating below licensed capacity due to recruitment and retention issues yet must still bear the costs of maintaining rooms and unoccupied spaces which makes it difficult to hire additional staff to fill those empty spaces.

YWCA dealing with staffing crisis

“We are in a staffing crisis right now,” says Kim, adding the local YWCA has used reserved funds to hire someone to work with its director of child-care services on recruitment and retention. “We need to be able to staff the spaces we already have.”

The Province has set a wage floor of $18 an hour for ECEs, with Ontario’s Minister of Education Stephen Lecce recently announcing an increase of $1 a year annually up to $25.

“That’s not going to work,” says Kim. “It needs a whole new way of thinking and a whole new strategy, and a real commitment to paying people what they are worth.”

The Association of Early Childhood Educators of Ontario has called for a minimum of $30 an hour for ECEs and $25 an hour for non-ECE staff members. Either one or two of the workers in a child-care room are required to be an ECE, depending on the age of the children.

“They have the responsibility for our youngest learners and creating a foundation and baseline for them going forward. It is a really important job and for a very long time, we’ve devalued the work child-care workers provide in our community,” says Kim, adding how local child-care workers were one of the first groups to return to work a few months after the pandemic began in 2020, allowing parents to get back to work sooner. “I think the pandemic also shone a light on how the whole care economy has been underpaid for a really long period of time and child care is part of that.”

Canada is facing a competitiveness problem. Inflation, supply chain constraints, and labour shortages risk undermining a swift and robust economic recovery. Meanwhile, recent domestic and international events have renewed the spotlight on energy security and affordability.  

The Cambridge Chamber of Commerce and the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) has released the 2022 Federal Budget Submission focused on public policies that increase Canada’s economic resilience to ongoing and future threats. 

“Businesses across Waterloo Region are continuing to feel the effect of the pandemic,” said Cambridge Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Greg Durocher.  “Budget 2022 must lay the groundwork for a strong, inclusive recovery with policies that support the sectors and demographics hardest hit by the pandemic, building the infrastructure and workforce of the future, and modernizing regulation to ensure Canada can attract investment and nurture entrepreneurship.” 

Some key highlights from the budget submission include recommendations for the Government of Canada to: 

• Promote Canada’s energy sector on the global stage and recognize nuclear power as a clean and necessary energy resource in the fight against climate change. 
• Expand immigration and express entry of skilled workers to address labour shortages.  
• Increase the Canada Health Transfer Payment to meet the current and future pressures facing Ontario’s health-care system.
• Modernize transportation infrastructure to address bottlenecks along supply chains and facilitate the decarbonization of the transportation sector.
• Reform the federal tax system to attract foreign direct investment, drive domestic business growth and innovation. 
• Develop a sustainable path to reduce the federal debt-to-GDP ratio and wind down other pandemic-related supports to ensure long-term fiscal balance and the capacity to address future economic shocks. 

The OCC’s 2022 Ontario Economic Report found that a staggering 62% of sectors face labour shortages in Ontario and expect to continue facing them over the next year. Together with supply chain disruptions, these shortages impact the cost of living, service delivery, and product availability. 

“As the indispensable partner of business, we call on the government to resolve long-standing structural issues, including barriers to interprovincial trade and skilled labour shortages, to drive entrepreneurship, investment and long-term economic growth,” added Rocco Rossi, President and CEO of the OCC. 

The recommendations outlined in the budget submission were developed together with businesses, associations, post-secondary institutions, chambers of commerce, and boards of trade from across the province.  

See budget recommendations: http://bit.ly/3uRp9Bl