BC manufacturers call for more support from provincial budget
by CM Staff
The industry's flexibility has been key in responding to the healthcare needs of the province from a PPE perspective and employment perspective.
VICTORIA — The BC division of Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters released a statement about the provincial budget on Apr. 20.
“We are glad the provincial government continues to take measures that will help our manufacturing sector to drive our economy,” said Andrew Wynn-Williams, Divisional Vice-President for BC of Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME), “but we would like them to move more quickly in the development of a proper strategy to hold it all together.”
The manufacturing industry in BC has had to respond to supply chain disruptions and address gaps and pivot to drive the provincial economy through the pandemic. The industry’s flexibility has been key in responding to the healthcare needs of the province from a PPE perspective and employment perspective.
CME mentioned that they were pleased to see measures to address some of the sectors key concerns with respect to industrial investment and the ongoing skills shortage. On the capital investment front, these include the ongoing business recovery grant program, the PST exemption on machinery and equipment, and the $500m InBC Strategic Investment Fund.
However, CME mentioned that the government should tie these and other elements together with a comprehensive manufacturing strategy to drive technology investment and scale-up and commercialization.
“This pandemic has shown us how critical a strong manufacturing sector is to British Columbia,” continued Mr. Wynn-Williams. “We need to ensure that these short-term recovery support programs are expanded into a full strategy that will support the growth of the sector in the long term.”
