B.C. Budget 2024 recommendations highlight retail issues

The 2024 report of the B.C. legislature’s Finance Committee highlighted a number of issues impacting retail. The report made note of RCC submissions regarding the application of PST to donated goods, inequity caused by gaps in compliance, enforcement in the province’s Extended Producer Responsibility regime, and, the continuing impact of government policy changes on consumer prices.

The report begins with a section on food prices from the perspective of the agriculture industry, including a call from the BC Fruit Growers’ Association for a more transparent and orderly system for marketing fruit prices. In a section on Recycling and Waste, the report notes a call by the Revelstoke Chamber of Commerce to expand funding for business recycling efforts and an expansion of B.C.’s (North America-leading) Extended Producer Responsibility system to cover industrial, commercial and institutional waste.  The Surrey Board of Trade recommended commissioning a study and developing an action plan for the implementation of electrical vehicle battery recycling.