Thank you to all of those who participated in the "Collective Perspective" survey sent out last month by BC Chamber President. The results discovered a strong confidence among the business community in both the current health of their businesses and their future outlook on the economy.

“This pan-provincial snapshot offers a unique look into the hearts and minds of B.C. businesses,” said Val Litwin, President and CEO of the BC Chamber of Commerce. “We hope this survey will be useful to all parties heading into the provincial election.” Nearly 1200 businesses of all sizes, representing all sectors of the economy and from all regions of the province participated in the survey. 

- An impressive 92% of businesses believe their businesses are in good or acceptable shape today (refer to pg. 8 of report). - Approximately 4/5 of B.C. businesses surveyed expect that they will grow their businesses over the next five years (refer to pg. 12 of report).

- A large majority of respondents believe the government is supportive of B.C.’s business community, with the provincial government taking the highest praise, followed by the federal government and then local government (refer to pg. 16 of report).

- Respondents expressed that many sectors of B.C.’s economy will become “more important” over the next five years to ten years, with Tourism, Clean Technology, International Trade and Health Services emerging as the top sectors (refer to pg. 17 of report).

- Respondents also expressed that even the province’s most well-established industries like Forestry and Mining will become “more important” to the business landscape over the next three to five years (refer to pg. 17 of report). Under the section “what matters to business success” our respondents identified the four most important factors affecting their business where they need more help (refer to summary graph on pg. 25 of report):

Because your plans for 2017 hinge on knowing what's up with the economy, in addition to supporting this survey, we've partnered with The Conference Board of Canada to bring you Pedro Antunes, their Executive Director, Economic Outlook and Analysis, and Deputy Chief Economist, for Kelowna's Business & Food Sector Outlook Conference.

Attending this 1/2 day conference will give you an in-depth look at the economic conditions of Canada, B.C. and Kelowna, how they interact with the global economy, and where business is headed in 2017. For the full agenda and speaker list; please visit the event agenda page. Register today for only $249 using priority code: MP - KCC

For more information, or for group pricing please contact Natasha Chipilova at the Conference Board at 613-526-3090 ext. 478.

-KCC