News Releases

(OTTAWA) – February 14, 2019 – The last time Canada undertook a comprehensive review of its tax system, humankind had yet to set foot on the moon. In the five decades since, a slap-dash patchwork approach has left Canadian taxation uncompetitive, cumbersome and inefficient.

“By any measure, Canada’s tax system is a failure to Canadians and the businesses that employ them, deterring investment and the attraction of top talent, and wasting valuable time on compliance. It is time to acknowledge that Canada’s tax system is as useful today as a damaged floppy disk: it’s just not useful to anyone in the age of the Cloud. We need to build, from the ground up, a modernized tax structure for the economy of today and tomorrow,” said the Honourable Perrin Beatty, President and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

(OTTAWA) – February 14, 2019 – The Canadian Chamber of Commerce today announced that it was adding two new employees to support its strategic reorganization towards greater relevancy and value for its members.

“The Chamber’s evolution over the past year has all been geared towards creating a better connection with our members and broadening our reach within the business community,” said Jackie King, Chief Operating Officer, Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

(OTTAWA) – January 22, 2019 – Big data represents a potential windfall of $30-billion for Canada by 2021 if federal decision-makers get the policy framework right, says the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s recent report, Data Fast Forward: A Prescription for Innovation, Balance and Trust.

Released today, the Chamber’s report comes as the federal government is reviewing Canada’s data governance laws and outlines how Canada can position itself as a global data innovation sweet spot with a policy approach that lands between the restrictive European regime and the laissez-faire US approach.

(OTTAWA) – December 18 – Today’s announcement by the federal government of 1.6 billion dollars to support Canada’s struggling oil and gas sector is a band-aid, not a cure for what ails Canada’s oil and gas sector, says the Hon. Perrin Beatty, President and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

“The country’s struggle to get our energy products to global markets, where they can get a fair price, is the issue. It is a failure that hurts the entire country,” said Mr. Beatty. “That pain will continue until we finally build much-needed pipelines. So, while today’s announcement is a welcome recognition of how serious the issue has become and will provide some relief, it is no substitute for a clear plan to get a pipeline built.”

In the past few days, there have been a number of news stories surrounding the Canadian Chamber’s recent report A Competitive Transition: How smarter climate policy can help Canada lead the way to a low carbon economy (December 2018).  

While some of the coverage notes the Chamber’s support for carbon pricing, it neglects to include that the support is contingent upon significant caveats. The report calls for government to take concrete steps to reduce the overall regulatory burden on businesses in Canada, and to return the revenues from the carbon tax to business to help them lower their carbon emissions and their energy costs.

(OTTAWA) – December 13, 2018 – The real debate happening over climate change in Canada is not whether we need to transition to a lower carbon economy, but how to get there.

“You can’t have a market-based approach to climate change without respecting the market and the input of business,” said the Honourable Perrin Beatty, President and CEO, Canadian Chamber of Commerce. “Business wants to play its part in the fight against climate change, but our public policy has to balance our climate objectives with the need to ensure Canada remains attractive to start or grow a business, and to invest. Done right, our policy framework will encourage investment in infrastructure and equipment that will lower national emissions and fund our transition. Achieving this balance will be tricky, but Canadian business is prepared to work with government to get there.”

The Chamber released a report today that focused upon a single question: what are the principles that will allow Canada’s climate policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the lowest cost to our economy and way of life?

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce, which represents more than 200,000 businesses across Canada, issued the following statement at the conclusion of today’s First Ministers Meeting in Montreal:

“The Chamber is pleased to learn that the Government may be open to amendments to Bill C-69 to address concerns raised by industry, as the Chamber has been calling for on behalf of its members. We have proposed a number of amendments to address serious problems with the current draft and we look forward to working together with the Government to bring much-needed clarity to the bill.

However, we are disappointed that Canada’s First Ministers missed the opportunity to take real action in the national interest to resolve the pressing economic issues undermining Canadian jobs and economic security.  While the meeting resulted in productive talks, it did not result in real action, particularly in dealing with an oil and gas sector in crisis, nor was it ambitious in scope for the reduction of barriers in intra provincial trade.

Today, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce announced its partnership with CyberNB to educate businesses on the importance of protecting their intellectual property and customers’ data through the Cyber Essentials Canada program. Canada is losing $3.13 billion per year to cybercrime, and with predictions of cybercrime increasing to $6 trillion by 2021, having a solution to this rapidly escalating issue is a necessity.

(OTTAWA) – December 4, 2018 – From economic uncertainty to technological advances, Canadian businesses are grappling with an almost unprecedented amount of change, requiring decision-makers – in industry as well as in government – to focus their energies on the policies that will help Canada become more competitive and secure our prosperity.

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s Crystal Ball Report, released today is a unique hybrid of economic forecast and synopsis of business insights.  It reflects what the Chamber has heard from Canadian business leaders representing every size of business, from every sector and region of the country.

Today’s signing of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement is an important step toward greater economic certainty, but significant work remains before Canadian businesses can be satisfied, says the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in a statement:

“While the agreement falls short of what North American business sought, it generally maintains tariff-free access for Canadian products, retains the labour mobility provisions, strengthens intellectual property protections, and ensures Canada has access to the most crucial aspects of dispute settlement.