CCI’s response to the 2022 B.C. Budget

Today in British Columbia, Finance Minister Selina Robinson delivered the province’s 2022 budget . In response, Tessa Seager, CCI’s director of government affairs in B.C. issued the following statement on behalf of our members:

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“Today’s budget comes on the heels of the StrongerBC economic plan delivered by Premier Horgan last week, which presented a clear vision for a post-pandemic economy. However, we were disappointed that today’s budget did not include more detailed policy strategies and programs to advance the StrongerBC economic vision in an urgent, concrete fashion.

“In her budget speech, Minister Robinson spoke of the skills challenge in the 21st century economy: “Preparing B.C.’s workforce is a generation-defining challenge. It is also an opportunity.” This is exactly the right mindset, and on behalf of CCI’s B.C. members and scale-up technology companies right across Canada, we’re pleased to hear the government prioritizing skilled talent development as a key economic driver.

“In our pre-budget submission, we asked the government to develop a talent strategy to meet the 21st century economy, and we look forward to working with the government on their talent strategy, Future Ready: Skills for the Jobs of Tomorrow, which was announced in last week’s economic plan. While we were pleased to see both further support for the Innovator Skills Initiative and further funding to support work-integrated learning, micro-credential training and short-term skills training programs today, we had hoped to see more investment and more tangible ideas to meet the urgency of skills shortage facing the tech sector.

“Last week we were also encouraged by the government’s focus on life sciences and biotechnology in the StrongerBC plan. Innovation experts have consistently said that leading innovation hotspots are located in places where government policymakers work in close, strategic collaboration with innovative companies, and we hope to see the B.C. government sustain this approach to our province’s leading life sciences companies. We look forward to receiving more details about the $50 million allocated to supporting the StrongerBC plan, and as the government consults with leading practitioners in the biotech sector, we hope to see substantial future investment.

“However, we were disappointed that the budget did not contain clearer plans and commitments to build the broader regulatory and strategic policy frameworks necessary to succeed in the global economy. To remain competitive in the 21st century, the B.C. government must prioritize the modernization of privacy legislation, the development of a provincial intellectual property strategy, and a renewed approach to data governance and management — all areas we have seen other Canadian provinces make good progress on.

“While the StrongerBC economic plan was a step in the right direction, laying out a vision for a post-pandemic economy, we urgently need policies and investment as we are already stepping into the post-pandemic economy.”

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Media Contact:

James McLeod

jmcleod@canadianinnovators.org

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