The Ontario Chamber of Commerce is thrilled to announce that its 2023 Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Convention will be held in Niagara Falls from April 27 – 29, 2023. The event will be hosted by the South Niagara Chambers of Commerce and Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce.
Did you know joining your local Chamber also means you are a provincial Chamber member? You are, and it gives you a voice to contribute to the biggest business network in Ontario! How do we keep you in the loop on the issues that impact your bottom line? One way is when we champion what matters to you by going to the Ontario Chamber Annual General Meeting, being held this year April 27-29 in Niagara Falls. Chamber staff will include CEO Karen Cross, joined by Policy Coordinator Bill Stewart.
Your Chamber has been talking with our developers, post-secondary institutions and partners on workforce development, improved healthcare delivery and finding ways to ease the housing crunch. And this year, our local Chamber has authored 2 policy papers, “The Workforce Ontario Needs” and, in collaboration with St. Lawrence College, “Strengthening Connectivity Between Businesses and Post-Secondary Institutions”. We have also co-sponsored resolutions calling for increased housing development and improving the healthcare sector. All these topics will be debated and, hopefully adopted to be taken to Queen’s Park and be lobbies on your behalf.
As Kingston Chamber CEO Karen Cross says, “Our challenges aren’t really unique, as most of our area communities have issues with workforce, housing and finding a family doctor. Getting local Chambers on board with these issues provides a good bit of clout when talking with the decision makers at Queen’s Park”. Cross also says, “We have a good relationship with local MPPs Ted Hsu and John Jordan, plus working regionally and through the out-of-town corridors, we can hopefully improve on some of our issues” Cross continued, “the provincial convention lets us find out what is working and not working. It gives all of us things to consider upon returning with positive ideas”.
The Convention is a pivotal event for Ontario’s business community, providing an opportunity for local Chambers to come together to discuss and debate key policy issues, network with peers, and help shape the Chamber's advocacy agenda for the coming year.