Edmonton Chamber of Commerce releases advocacy agenda for 2025

After a busy year of advocacy and events, the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce recently charted its course for the year to come with a new advocacy agenda that includes four pillars of focus to help Edmonton’s business community.

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“We want to be an active partner in the Edmonton economic ecosystem. And so we want to advocate on things that need to be done before they become issues,” said president and CEO Doug Griffiths.

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“Building better infrastructure, keeping Edmonton competitive, demanding fiscal responsibility, and boosting trade and investment” are the main areas the chamber intends to attack over the next year, Griffiths said in a Monday news release.

He categorized last year as one of “rebuilding” for the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce where the group planted seeds it intends to sow over this year with partnerships throughout all three levels of government and its stakeholders in the city’s business community.

The chamber hosted the state of the province address in October with a crowd of about 1,000 people.

“I think the business community is recognizing what we’re doing, and I think government is recognizing the credible, intelligent, well-thought-out and meaningful advocacy stances that we’re taking,” Griffiths said.

Just two weeks into the new year, the chamber’s advocacy efforts are already being tested with a shakeup at the federal level following the announcement that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will step down, and the recent threats of tariffs south of the border from returning President Donald Trump.

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As the chamber and the Edmonton business community chart the uncertain waters ahead, Griffiths said the group is making sure it is “anticipating anything that’s coming, and that we’re ahead of the curve.”

“It creates a lot of uncertainty in normal circumstances, but this is a lot all at once,” he said.

Given the stressors coming from federal politics and international relations, Griffiths said the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce has had to take active approach to advocacy right from the start of the year, beginning with the three levels of government.

He began with the federal government, saying that it needs to “change its taxation system to make sure that small businesses, medium-sized businesses and entrepreneurs have the resources at their fingertips necessary to reinvest back into their businesses and grow.”

Griffiths said the capital gains tax inclusion increase has caused some confusion.

“That legislation didn’t even get passed, but (the prime minister) still directed the Canada Revenue Agency to implement it, starting at the end of January, which leaves so much ambiguity on the table,” said Griffiths.

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He said that the Alberta government needs to work on attracting more people to the province, citing employment shortages for businesses looking to grow, and added that the government could also be investing more in Edmonton’s infrastructure to ensure the province has two equal economically strong cities.

Griffiths also advocated for amendments to taxes at the municipal level.

“We have very affordable housing. We’re an affordable city, but our taxes are exceptionally high, and that’s a detriment to attracting people here,” said Griffiths, adding “The city also needs to go back to focus on its core priorities and its core objectives.”

While Griffiths admired the city for its work on safety and social issues, he said it should hold other levels of government responsible for those issues to account.

The chamber also continued to call for more reinvestment in Downtown, which it said would assist the entire city.

As leaders of Canada’s political parties ramp up ahead of an election, and a Liberal leadership race before that, he said the chamber has not spoken directly to candidates but maintains an ongoing dialogue with MLAs.

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He expressed optimism that Liberal candidate, Mark Carney, was set to announce his bid for leadership in Edmonton, but said that the ECC’s advocacy extends to all people and parties, no matter where they’re from.

“We need to constantly advocate to anyone, no matter where they’re from, no matter what party they’re in, that Edmonton is an important economic epicentre of this country.”

Perhaps Griffiths’ strongest point of advocacy is on the looming threat of a 25 per cent tariff from the United States against Canadian products.

“It is my solemn wish that all of the provincial governments and the federal government come together, drop party lines, and recognize that Canada has some challenges.”

Griffiths said the threat of tariffs should be a wakeup call for Canada not to rely on its United States neighbours and to diversify the economy and the market to ensure better resilience.

“A strength over-relied on becomes a weakness, and a weakness identified and managed could become a strength.”

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