High housing costs in the Lower Mainland are making it difficult for Burnaby businesses to find employees, a survey by the Burnaby Board of Trade has found.
The board interviewed more than 80 business owners in the city. Asked, “which of the following issues is important to your business or is having an impact on your business,” 46% of owners named housing and real estate.
Attracting and retaining staff was identified as an important issue by 49% of owners, while transportation and traffic was named by 55% of respondents.
“Many business directly linked the two issues of labour attraction and real estate, blaming the high cost of housing as contributing to their difficulties in attracting and retaining employees,” the board said in a release.
Paul Holden, the board’s president and CEO, said the organization is “very concerned with how many businesses see the high cost of real estate as having both direct and indirect negative impacts on their bottom lines. This isn’t just a housing issue anymore, it’s a business issue.”
According to the report, businesses are concerned that continued growth will hurt their bottom line, as increased density worsens traffic congestion.
Even with these concerns, Burnaby business owners are generally happy with their location. Most small business owners say that location is reason they like conducting their business in Burnaby, at 95%. Over 70% say transportation and accessibility is a benefit of doing business in Burnaby. Thirty per cent said workspace affordability was a strength. However, several noted that rising real estate costs were diminishing this advantage.
Concerns related to minimum wage, taxes and climate change werethe least widely held at 20%, 26% and 17% respectively.
Asked whether they would stay in the city if they had to move from their current premises, 90% said they would. Over a third said that a business friendly environment was the reason they would remain in the city.
