Just as debates and deliberations come to an end on how the City of Calgary should provide relief to non-residential properties for sharply rising taxes in 2019, debates for the 2020 budget are about to begin. This fall City Hall will approve a tax plan that supports the plans and programs approved in the One Calgary Budget 2019-2022. The Chamber has long asked for City Council to address structural issues that are at the core of rising tax burdens for our city.

Not many topics in Canadian politics are as contentious as Equalization. The complicated program is often debated but seldomly understood. In this month’s Dive Deeper, we dig into the bare-bones workings of the federal program – outlining its purpose and calculation considerations. As Calgary’s podium of record, presenting unbiased information to our business community is essential to our role. Click the link below to find out more about the history and inner workings of the program.

On August 16, 2019 the Chamber is hosting the Honourable Jason Nixon, Provincial Minister of Environment and Parks. The Minister will speak to business leaders highlighting his government's plans and priorities on minimizing costs of business compliance, the repeal of the provincial Carbon Tax and the federal backstop. Minister Nixon will also speak to next steps on setting up the new Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) system. Programs like this can go a long way in allowing Canada to be a global leader in natural resource production and addressing climate change at the same time.

Last month, the Calgary Chamber published a survey to gather your concerns around regulatory burdens in our province. Using feedback received from our members and policy roster, we prepared a submission for the Honourable Grant Hunter, the Associate Minister of Red Tape Reduction.
We thank all our members for taking the time to complete our survey and shaping the direction of the recommendations presented to the Government of Alberta.

Today the Government of Alberta released a recap of their first 100 days in office following the provincial election. Although the provincial government has taken some steps to make Alberta more nationally and globally competitive, there is still more work to do. Click the link below to find out how the current government’s actions stack up to the Chamber’s election recommendations.

Every week we share relevant key economic indicators in our weekly newsletter, Chamber Pulse, that Calgary businesses should be aware of.