Lengthy, unpredictable approvals increase costs and discourage investment.

I will champion:

• A single, clearly accountable approval process for business and development applications.
• Published service standards for every major permit category.
• Concurrent reviews instead of unnecessarily sequential approvals.
• A fully digital application and tracking system.
• Pre-application meetings for complex proposals.
• A fast-track stream for compliant, low-risk applications.
• Regular reporting on applications delayed beyond service standards.
• An independent review of unnecessary regulations, duplicated reviews and avoidable fees.

The objective is not to lower safety, environmental or building standards. It is to make decisions faster and more predictably.

Small businesses create jobs, animate neighbourhoods and help finance municipal services. They should not have to navigate City Hall alone.

I will advocate for:

• A Business Concierge Office serving as one point of contact.
• A plain-language guide covering licences, permits, zoning and inspections.
• A coordinated “Start a Business in Victoria” digital portal.
• Accelerated approvals for businesses occupying vacant storefronts.
• A regulatory review focused on the needs of small and neighbourhood businesses.
• Better coordination among the City, Chamber of Commerce, business associations, Destination Greater Victoria and South Island Prosperity Partnership.
• Regular roundtables with business owners from all 12 Victoria neighbourhoods.

Supporting business does not mean providing special treatment. It means delivering timely, understandable and consistent municipal services.

Downtown is essential to employment, tourism, culture, retail and Victoria’s municipal tax base. Its recovery requires coordinated action rather than isolated programs.

The plan would include:

• Cleaner, safer and more welcoming streets.
• Visible community safety teams and appropriate police presence in high-problem areas.
• Rapid removal of graffiti, garbage and hazardous materials.
• Better lighting and maintenance in identified problem locations.
• Faster conversion and occupation of vacant storefronts.
• More housing downtown to create a larger year-round customer base.
• Better access through balanced parking, transit, walking and cycling options.
• Coordinated programming, festivals and events throughout the year.
• Direct engagement with property owners to address persistently vacant commercial spaces.
• A public Downtown Economic Recovery Scorecard.

Victoria’s website platform recognizes downtown as the region’s economic heart, while also emphasizing that businesses across all 12 neighbourhoods contribute to prosperity. Strong Businesses Build Strong Communities

Victoria should concentrate on sectors in which it already possesses talent, institutions, customers or natural advantages.

Priority sectors would include:

• Technology and digital services.
• Ocean and marine industries.
• Clean technology and renewable energy.
• Life sciences and health innovation.
• Professional and technical services.
• Tourism, hospitality and major events.
• Arts, culture and the creative economy.
• Local food production and value-added manufacturing.
• Indigenous-led businesses and partnerships.
• Construction and building innovation.

For each sector, the City should work with regional partners to identify barriers, infrastructure needs, workforce requirements and realistic opportunities for investment.

The municipal role is to convene partners, improve approvals, provide economic information, promote Victoria and advocate for senior-government support—not to attempt to operate private businesses.

Victoria needs to compete more deliberately for employers, entrepreneurs and investment.

I will propose:

• A dedicated senior business development function with measurable investment targets.
• A clear investment prospectus explaining Victoria’s competitive advantages.
• An inventory of available commercial, industrial and institutional sites.
• A confidential point of contact for investors considering Victoria.
• Coordinated investment missions with regional and provincial partners.
• Targeted outreach to firms aligned with Victoria’s priority sectors.
• Assistance connecting investors with local institutions, employers and workforce programs.
• Annual public reporting on investment leads, projects secured and jobs created.

Success should be measured by actual investment and employment, not the number of meetings held.

Economic development must extend beyond downtown.

The City should:

• Develop business improvement priorities for each commercial village.
• Accelerate approvals for neighbourhood serving businesses.
• Improve lighting, cleanliness, accessibility and wayfinding.
• Support markets, festivals and local cultural events.
• Review loading, delivery and short-term parking arrangements.
• Encourage appropriate mixed-use development around commercial areas.
• Work with landlords and business associations to reduce persistent storefront vacancies.
• Promote “buy local” opportunities while maintaining fair and competitive procurement.

Strong commercial villages create walkable neighbourhoods, local employment and community connection.

Employers cannot expand if workers cannot afford to live near their jobs. Economic policy and housing policy must therefore work together.

I will champion:

• Faster approval of market, rental, co-operative, non-profit and workforce housing.
• More homes close to employment, services and transit.
• Middle-sized housing that fits existing neighbourhoods.
• Partnerships to create housing for health-care workers, hospitality employees, educators and other essential workers.
• Better coordination between development approvals and infrastructure planning.
• Construction-sector workforce development with colleges, unions and employers.

Housing, transportation, health care and public safety are not separate from economic development. They directly affect recruitment, retention, productivity and investment. This systems based approach is also reflected in Victoria’s Housing Crisis Isn’t Just About Housing.

Victoria should give people more opportunities to create businesses and well-paying jobs locally.

The City can help by:

• Connecting entrepreneurs with incubators, colleges, universities, mentors and financing organizations.
• Supporting affordable, flexible commercial and maker spaces.
• Facilitating demonstration projects for local technology and clean-energy firms.
• Opening appropriate municipal challenges to competitive local innovation.
• Helping newcomers, young entrepreneurs and Indigenous entrepreneurs navigate municipal processes.
• Working with educational institutions to align training with employer needs.
• Promoting succession planning for established small businesses whose owners are retiring.

The City spends substantial public funds, but small businesses can find government procurement difficult to navigate.

I will support:

• Publishing a forward-looking municipal procurement schedule.
• Simplifying bidding documents for lower-value contracts.
• Offering procurement information sessions for local businesses.
• Breaking suitable large contracts into reasonably sized opportunities where this delivers value.
• Paying suppliers promptly.
• Evaluating whole-life cost and value, not simply the lowest initial price.
• Maintaining transparent, competitive and legally compliant procurement.

The objective is not to guarantee contracts to local firms. It is to ensure qualified small businesses have a fair opportunity to compete.

Victoria should establish a baseline and publish results at least annually.

The precise baseline for every indicator should be independently validated before final targets are adopted. The dashboard should distinguish between results the City controls, results it influences and broader regional economic conditions.

• Create an Economic Growth and Permitting Action Table.
• Publish existing permit-processing performance.
• Begin the regulatory and approval-process review.
• Consult businesses across all 12 neighbourhoods.
• Establish the structure for the Business Concierge service.
• Select the Economic Prosperity Dashboard indicators.
• Identify immediate downtown cleanliness, safety and storefront actions.

• Adopt permit service standards.
• Launch the digital business portal and application tracker.
• Begin fast-tracking processing for qualifying applications.
• Publish Victoria’s investment prospectus.
• Complete strategic-sector action plans.
• Launch the downtown scorecard.
• Publish the first annual Economic Prosperity Dashboard.

• Achieve the 50% permit-time reduction.
• Secure new private sector investment in priority industries.
• Reduce downtown and neighbourhood commercial vacancies.
• Expand workforce housing partnerships.
• Review results annually and adjust programs that are not producing measurable outcomes.