News Releases

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce issued the following statement today regarding the release of the World Economic Forum’s 2019 Global Competitive Report.

“Today, the world’s leading competiveness index shows that Canada has dropped in the rankings for the second year in a row, proving what Canada’s business leaders have expressed over and over and over again: this country’s business and investment environment is weakening. It is inconceivable that Canada’s competitiveness is not a central issue in this election.

(OTTAWA) – September 26, 2019 – Canada cannot continue to power a 21st-century economy with a 20th century approach. 

Exponential growth in artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, and the electrification of vehicles will soon place more demand on Canada’s energy systems than they can cope with.

(SAINT JOHN), September 24, 2019 — The key issues for Canadian businesses in 2020 will be taxation, regulation, and skills. That was the consensus at this year’s Canadian Chamber of Commerce Annual General Meeting (AGM), the largest gathering of business leaders in Canada.

“Distilling the aspirations and concerns of 200,000 businesses across Canada can be a challenging endeavour, but this year our members are laser-focused on Canada’s eroding ability to compete. They need a level playing field with their US and EU peers when it comes to taxation and regulation costs, and they need policies that make it easier to find and retain skilled workers,” said the Hon. Perrin Beatty, P.C., O.C., President and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

(OTTAWA) – September 24, 2019 – The Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s National Cannabis Working Group is challenging federal political parties on the campaign trail to embrace the once-in-a-lifetime economic opportunity Canada has as the first developed country to legalize recreational cannabis.

The Canadian Chamber believes this opportunity will provide long-term benefit to Canadians in all parts of the country, including rural and smaller communities, by creating many new, high quality jobs. Addressing key challenges preventing the industry’s growth, at home and abroad, should therefore be a priority for all governments in Canada.

OTTAWA – September 11, 2019 – Today, the Honourable Perrin Beatty, PC, OC, President & CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, released the following statement regarding the Canadian Chamber’s decision to register with Elections Canada as a third party for the 2019 federal election.

“While the Canadian Chamber of Commerce will advocate policies to strengthen Canadian business and increase our country’s prosperity in the 2019 federal election, we will remain scrupulously non-partisan. We will neither endorse nor oppose any political party, leader or candidate.

(OTTAWA) – September 11, 2019 – The Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s new report spotlights a recent federal policy that makes it easier for government departments to drastically hike user fees they charge businesses, and to do so without cost analysis or improvement to service standards.

“Canadian businesses accept and support a user fee concept, and they appreciate the value exchange for the various permits and regulatory approvals needed for their business. What they will not accept is massive increases in fees as a backdoor tax to help the federal government get Canada’s $20 billion deficit under control,” said Ryan Greer, Senior Director, Regulatory Policy and author of Bringing Back Fee Fairness.

A new report finds Indigenous and non-Indigenous business and community leaders in Fredericton agree that real reconciliation is happening between business and Indigenous peoples.

The appointment of an Ambassador signals a modest, but crucial, step in enabling Canada to better advance its interest with the Chinese government at this important juncture. We commend our government for their efforts in securing the Chinese government’s approval of this appointment.

(OTTAWA) –  August 15, 2019 – Reconciliation means many different things to many different people, but a new report finds most agree success depends on small, focussed actions undertaken day-by-day.

On June 19, 2019, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce sat down with business, post-secondary education, community economic development and Indigenous leaders in Thunder Bay to hear what they had to say regarding reconciliation, what it means to them, their communities and their businesses.

(OTTAWA) – August 8, 2019 – It seems like every business in Canada has a story about regulations that suffocate their ability to grow.

Problems with regulatory burden are nothing new in Canada, in part because the discussion about solutions usually focuses on specific rules. This amounts to trying to manage the symptoms – the red tape – of Canada’s regulatory problems, rather than dealing with the underlying causes.