24 October 2022 – For Immediate Release
FREDERICTON, NB – Representatives of the Fredericton Chamber of Commerce recently attended the 2022 Canadian Chamber of Commerce annual general meeting and conference, held this year in Ottawa. Central to the conference are the policy resolution debates, which gives local chambers the opportunity to submit federal government-related issues to the national chamber. If a resolution is passed by ⅔ of delegates in attendance, it forms part of the Canadian chamber’s advocacy efforts.
The first resolution calls for increased federal support to training truck drivers. A lack of people working in Canada as truck drivers is causing supply chain disruptions and contributing to the current inflationary environment. The industry must attract, train and retain thousands of new truck drivers over the next few years to mitigate these issues and the current financial support provided for such trainees is insufficient to attract the required number of people to the industry. The resolution received the support of 100% of delegates.
“This resolution represents the intersection of two of the business community’s biggest challenges: workforce and supply chain,” said Krista Ross, Fredericton chamber CEO. “We have a dearth of qualified truck drivers in the country and we need to increase opportunities for individuals to enter this critical industry and one of the key barriers at present is financial support for individuals seeking this training.”
The second resolution asks the federal government to put resources in returning the Startup Visa immigration stream to its original five-month processing target. At present the average wait time is 31 months. This resolution was supported by 99.3% of delegates.
“The nature of startups requires speed for processing – which was the original point of the startup stream,” said Ross. “Obviously, all immigration processing times need to be quicker, but the current situation makes this stream next to useless and is a missed opportunity to inject new, diverse and often young entrepreneurs into communities across Canada, including Fredericton.”
The policy now becomes part of the national chamber’s advocacy efforts and will remain so for the next three years.
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The Fredericton Chamber of Commerce, a nationally accredited organization with more than 1,000 members, is an active business organization engaged in policy development and advocacy that affects the competitiveness of our members and the Canadian business environment. The Chamber’s vision is ‘Community Prosperity Through Business’.
Contact: Krista Ross, CEO – (506) 458-8006
