File Photo (Image Credit: Contributed / Terry Kress)

By James Peters

Kamloops Council

Difficult business climate lamented at Kamloops council committee

Dec 18, 2025 | 4:07 PM

KAMLOOPS — The executive director of the Kamloops and District Chamber of Commerce was frank when describing the state of the local business community at a Kamloops council committee meeting Thursday (Dec. 18).

“Our members have let us know over this year that they’re having a tough time,” Acacia Pangilinan told council’s Economic Health Select Committee.

Pangilinan attended the committee meeting to provide an update on advocacy efforts, especially with respect to the state of health care in Kamloops. However, the presentation pulled back into a general overview of the plight facing business owners in 2025.

“I think right now, the conditions are very tough for businesses to feel like they can be successful,” added Pangilinan. “Whether it’s the cost of doing business, taxation, their ability to recruit and retain — they’re feeling like they’re not being supported and levels of government and [organizations] like the chamber aren’t able to move on solutions to help them.”

The business environment is being hindered by a segmented approach to advocacy, according to Councillor Dale Bass, who sits on the committee with colleagues Mike O’Reilly and Kelly Hall.

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“We’ve got all these little silos out there,” said Bass. “Are we too siloed to find a Team Kamloops-type of solution? You’re [advocating for] health care, we’re advocating for health care… are we doing things at cross purposes now? Are we backing each other up?”

Pangilinan agreed the community would benefit from a more unified approach, hearkening back to the example of the Kamloops healthcare network. She noted examples when the chamber would hear councillors speak after the fact on lobbying efforts aimed at Interior Health or the province, knowing those efforts could have been stronger with help from the chamber’s members and resources.

With a municipal election set for October 2026, Pangilinan expressed hope it can spark change.

“We’re coming into an election cycle and I wonder, once the new council is in and once it has set it’s priorities, if there’s an opportunity right out of the gate for trying to identify alignment and collaboration in setting up these tables so all of the folks can be at the table at the right time,” she said.

The chamber is scheduled to make a presentation to council’s Committee of the Whole in January, bringing its members’ feedback on the proposed 2026 city budget. Pangilinan expressed fear a significant property tax increase will worsen an already difficult climate for the small businesses that dominate the chamber’s membership.

“Sixty-five per cent of our members have fewer than 10 staff. They’re worried about their bottom lines. They’re worried about how they’re going to keep their doors open,” said Pangilinan. “I talked with a business owner the other day who said construction outside of her business that the city’s doing is impacting her ability to have her customers park outside of her business, so she doesn’t know how she’s going to make rent.”