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Industry Brief

Retail Council of Canada: Policy Priorities for the Next BC Government

The Retail Council of Canada outlines four priority areas for the incoming BC government — safer communities, a predictable operating environment, affordability, and resilient supply chains.

Retail Council of Canada·September 2026

The performance of retail is an important indicator of B.C.'s broader economic conditions. B.C. retailers are experiencing significant pressures, including unaffordability, rising operating costs, supply-chain disruptions, labour-market challenges, and eroding public safety.

Retail is B.C.'s largest private sector employer: employment fell to 319,100 people in August 2026, from 357,000 in August 2025, while operating costs continue to rise and year-over-year sales remain flat. These trends underscore the need for action to strengthen B.C.'s economic environment.

The next B.C. government has an opportunity to create a more predictable and affordable environment in which businesses can operate, invest, and create jobs. RCC is calling for practical measures to support safer communities, reduce operating costs, improve regulatory certainty, and strengthen supply-chain resilience.

1

Support Safer Communities and Businesses

Crime is a primary concern for retailers. Organized retail crime, especially, creates financial costs for businesses while contributing to safety risks for employees, customers, and communities.

Asks

  • Establish a coordinated provincial response to organized retail crime, including dedicated law enforcement and prosecution capacity where appropriate.
  • Introduce legislation (e.g., B.C. Inform Act) and necessary regulation that disrupt the resale of stolen merchandise online and reduce the profitability of organized retail theft.
2

Promote a Predictable and Fair Operating Environment for Business

Businesses need confidence that the institutions and regulatory systems governing their operations are balanced, predictable, and efficient. A more predictable dispute-resolution and regulatory environment would strengthen confidence in B.C. as a place for employers to make long-term investments.

Asks

  • Uphold balanced and experienced representation on the BC Labour Relations Board, including meaningful and equal representation from individuals with substantial private-sector employer and labour-relations experience.
  • Institute complete and consistent verification of single-step union certification applications, including verification of the identity and eligibility of workers whose signed membership evidence forms the basis of an application.
  • Review opportunities to streamline the administrative and regulatory requirements imposed on employers by WorkSafeBC and provide reasonable implementation periods for significant policy changes. Like the BC Labour Relations Board, there should be an equal balance of labour and employer appointees.
3

Protect Affordability by Addressing Unnecessary Costs

Government-imposed costs ultimately affect the cost of doing business and, in many cases, the prices paid by consumers. Regulatory changes should consider their cumulative impact on businesses and household affordability.

Asks

  • Pause the October 2025 Recycling Regulation expansion until the B.C. economy can keep pace with inflationary increases.
  • Reconsider the upcoming Consumer Accessibility guidance and rescind the Paying the Cost guidance, to which significant system cost increases can be attributed beginning in 2024.
  • Review B.C.'s beverage-alcohol system with a view to reducing direct government involvement in procurement, distribution and retailing, while maintaining appropriate regulation, taxation and public-interest safeguards — including expanding opportunities for beer and wine sales through grocery and convenience channels.
4

Build Resilient Supply Chains and Infrastructure

Reliable and efficient transportation networks and supply chains are fundamental to affordability, economic resilience, and the movement of goods. B.C. should invest in transportation infrastructure that improves existing and creates new capacity, while providing appropriate alternative routes that can be utilized when there are disruptions to major routes.

Asks

  • Prioritize critical trade corridors and bottlenecks, including the Port of Vancouver–Hope–Alberta corridor and the Port of Prince Rupert–Alberta corridor.
  • Expand and modernize road and rail capacity where it is most constrained, including the Okanagan and Trans-Canada Highway corridors.
  • Invest in transportation redundancy, for example the North Vancouver–Prince George corridor, so businesses and communities can maintain access to goods when major routes are disrupted.

A better environment for retail benefits all British Columbians. Retailers need a business environment where affordability is a priority; rules are clear, infrastructure is reliable, and communities are safe. By improving predictability, reducing unnecessary costs, strengthening supply-chain resilience and addressing retail crime, the next BC government can support continued private-sector investment, employment, consumer affordability, and vibrant communities across the province.