Buying Local Matters More Than Ever

The threat of U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods—and potential Canadian counter-tariffs—has sparked a renewed interest in buying local. Consumers are realizing that our economic security, sovereignty, and resilience depend on supporting businesses at home.

As one of Canada’s first "buy local" advocates, we’ve been fielding media requests on this topic. Check out our media page for the latest coverage!

What Does "Buy Canadian" Really Mean?

1) Understanding "Canadian" Products

The Government of Canada has specific rules for labelling food products based on their origin:

• "Product of Canada" – All or nearly all ingredients, processing, and labour are Canadian.
• "Made in Canada from imported ingredients" – The product is processed in Canada but contains imported ingredients.
• "Made in Canada from domestic and imported ingredients" – A mix of Canadian and imported ingredients, with no minimum Canadian content requirement.

Many small manufacturers operate locally, so shopping regionally increases your chances of finding truly Canadian-made products. Programs like Buy BC certify products that are grown, raised, or made in British Columbia, with 51% or more of processing costs originating in the province. Check out the 10,000+ products certified as local in BC! Island Good helps identify local food products from Vancouver Island. 

2) Supporting Canadian-Owned Businesses

Buying Canadian isn't just about where a product comes from—it’s also about who owns the business.

Research from LOCO shows that shopping at locally owned businesses creates 4–8 times the economic impact of buying from multinational corporations. Locally owned businesses reinvest in their communities through wages, purchasing, and charitable giving. We consider ownership to be local based on the recirculation of profits that we've measured in our research - profits, payroll, purchasing and philanthropy - stay local when you buy from privately owned businesses. That means they are owned and run by people, not boards and shareholders. They are often, but not always, small businesses (under 50 employees in BC; 100 in Canada).

Many of the big supermarkets are publicly traded companies that distribute their profits to shareholders (rather than local owners) and tend to be bigger, so they often don't carry as many local products. But some of them are based in Canada, so that local headquarters creates good jobs in Canada, and the shareholders who benefit from the profits are also likely to be Canadian. 

Outlets of a bigger company can be either corporate-owned or locally-owned. A locally owned franchise has a local owner, so some of the profits stay local in the community. Franchises tend to remove some of the wealth from the community through franchise payments to the parent company, marketing costs, and inventory that is sometimes restricted, but it depends on the company. Home Hardware is a dealer-owned franchise based in Ontario, much loved as a local option to big U.S.-owned big box hardware stores in communities across Canada. We did an impact assessment with one location - check out all the good they do in the community.     

How to Make the Biggest Economic Impact

• Best Case – Buy Canadian-grown and Canadian-made products from Canadian-owned businesses.
• Next Best – Either:
  • Buy imported products from a Canadian-owned business, OR
  • Buy Canadian-grown and Canadian-made products from a non-local business.

If you shop at big public companies, look for Canadian-grown and Canadian-made labels. And while avoiding U.S. imports, remember that some produce may be imported from Mexico, South America, etc. during the winter.

It's also critical that in our efforts to support Canadian businesses, we don't inadvertently hurt them. Businesses will need to sell up their U.S. stock to avoid waste and losses. They'll also need time to source from new suppliers. Also, some products that are manufactured in Canada, and might even have Canadian ingredients, are made by U.S. companies. Anyone remember the  Ketchup Wars?  Some U.S.-owned companies have a positive economic impact here too.

Resources for Finding Canadian-Owned Businesses & Products

1. #BCBuyLocal – Features local businesses, including BC-Made Food Products, BC-Owned Suppliers, Indigenous- and Black-owned businesses, and all the Communities we work with.
2. Buy Social Canada – Showcases locally owned businesses with a social impact.
3. Shop First Nations can help you find Indigenous-Owned businesses. 
4. Black Business Association of BC & Black Entrepreneurs of BC help you find local Black-Owned businesses.
5. Check out your local government’s economic development site, Business Improvement Area, or Chamber of Commerce for more local businesses.

Final Takeaway

Wherever you shop, choose Canadian-grown and Canadian-made products—and whenever possible, buy from Canadian-owned businesses. Every purchase helps strengthen our economy and communities.

Recent research points to a dire situation for B.C. businesses. This research determined the increasing cost of doing business for retail, restaurant, consumer service and office businesses in the City of Vancouver from 2018-2023 to identify actions to support businesses through Vancouver City Council and the City's new Business and Economy Office.

Our research found that increasing costs impede the survival of City of Vancouver businesses. Ninety-four percent of businesses reported experiencing cost increases in the last five years – 62% significant and 32% moderate. As a result, 59% of Vancouver businesses won’t last beyond four years if things don't change (7% more than the provincial average of 52%).

We determined that businesses in all sectors are experiencing dramatic increases in most of their hard costs, which are largely out of their control to manage. Businesses report an average cost increase of 25%. The top five factors contributing to cost increases were determined as: payroll, cost of goods sold (COGS), insurance, property tax, and lease costs. These factors were the same (in various orders) for all sectors except for the office sector, where “other business fees" (e.g., software) are a bigger contributor, and COGS is not as much of an issue.

Payroll is the top contributor to cost in every sector except food service, where inflation affecting COGS causes more concern. Employment costs have increased dramatically due to new government policies, increases in the cost of living, and a lack of affordable housing for workers. Employment cost increases are due to minimum wage increases (from $12.65 in 2018 to $17.60 in 2024), the Employer Health Tax (new in 2019), provincially mandated sick days (new in 2022), and costs related to attracting/retaining employees. Many businesses have had to increase wages significantly and offer employee benefits to compensate employees for the high cost of living in Vancouver. In the last five years, cost per employee rose 69% for Vancouver businesses, and cost per employee as a percentage of revenue has increased 33%. Overall employment costs have increased 40% compared to a 14% increase in employment.

COGS is the second largest concern overall, with 67% of businesses citing it as a top concern, estimating an increase averaging 18%. The food service and retail sectors have been most impacted, but the consumer service sector is also affected. Insurance costs are a top concern of 56% of businesses, as rates have increased an average of 94% in response to inflation, and increased risk due to claims related to property crime.

Property tax and lease costs are also top contributors to cost increases for more than half of businesses, with businesses experiencing average increases of 133% for property tax, and 70% for lease rates. About a third of businesses (33%) have experienced increases in both property taxes and lease rates. Consumer service businesses are most likely to be experiencing lease rate increases (71%), while food services businesses are most likely to be affected by property tax increases (64%).

Some of the cost increases facing businesses in the City of Vancouver are beyond the control of the municipal government. However, the City has the power to reduce many of the cost increases facing its business community, to ensure their survival through this challenging period. They can lessen the cost burden for business most directly in the areas of property tax increases (up 133% in the last five years), lease increases – when they are gross leases including property tax (up 70% in the last five years) and business fees paid to the City for business licenses and permits (up 132% in the last five years). The City can also influence insurance cost increases (up 94% in the last five years) as they relate to crime and street disorder; there are news stories daily on crime that Vancouver businesses are facing, impacting not only costs but also employee and customer safety, and fostering a negative image of Vancouver.

We encourage the City of Vancouver to take urgent action to make measurable reductions in the cost of doing business in Vancouver to ensure the survival of its business community and the health of the local economy. The Province of British Columbia must also take immediate steps to reduce business costs within its control – especially the cost of employment, property tax, street disorder, and worker housing for businesses in the province.

Download the Report.

Our primary goal with the BC Buy Local campaign is to connect local business promotional efforts to the larger buy-local movement in B.C. to garner greater media attention, increase local business purchasing, reinforce customer loyalty, and improve local government support for small and local businesses, both consumer and business-facing. Thanks to the support of our partners, we have consistently delivered the high level of engagement needed to meet this goal, allowing us to continue creating a significant, lasting impact on communities, local businesses, and the B.C. economy.

In 2023 we expanded the buy local campaign to include more consistent postings on major purchasing holidays and a new campaign aimed at a business-to-business audience. The new Amplify Local campaign was launched during Canadian Small Business Week, with a video ad throughout the week, workshops for business, and daily posts with a call to action.  

 Our holiday consumer campaign (BC Buy Local Week - Nov.27-Dec.3) achieved the consistently high level of engagement we have achieved over the years. In 2023 we allowed our partners more flexibility in the delivery of their video ads to better coincide with specific community needs and timelines. Several partners chose to run their ads outside BC Buy Local Week. As a result, the impressions and engagement for those ads are not included in the statistics reported here, which is a departure from previous years. We expect our results to increase once these deliverables have been completed.

Overall, both campaigns achieved an average of 50% engagement, an increase of 5% compared to last year’s engagement rate of 45%. The engagement on our partner ads was 76%, an increase of 8% compared to last year's engagement of 68%. We expect this to increase after all partner video ads have been delivered.

A BIG THANK YOU to all of our BC Buy Local 2023 partners! B.C. Buy Local provides a platform for community partners to activate the campaign in their communities, relying almost entirely on the shared contributions of our community partners.

Earlier this year LOCO BC worked with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) to assess the economic impact of BC’s independent retailers. The full report contains data for all of Canada; our summary released this month focuses on the results for BC.

The survey found that BC independent retailers recirculate 66% of their revenue within the province, equal to the Canadian average, and the second highest in the country. Multinational Corporations (MNCs) with physical stores in Canada were found to have a recirculation of 11% and large online platforms with no retail stores were found to have a recirculation of 8%. In comparison, independent retailers in BC have 6 times the economic benefit of multinationals with retail stores in the province, and 8 times the economic benefit of big online platforms with no retail stores.

Two-thirds of every dollar spent with BC’s independent retailers is recirculated locally:

• 5 ¢ in profits/dividends to BC owners
• 22 ¢ in wages/benefits to BC employees
• 27 ¢ for goods from other BC-owned businesses
• 8 ¢ for services from other BC-owned businesses
• 4 ¢ to local charitable causes

A public opinion poll conducted as part of the research found that 83% of BC consumers feel it’s important that the money they spend is redistributed in their communities. However, they underestimate the amount that local businesses recirculate by almost 1/2, while also overestimating the amount that MNCs and online platforms do by up to 3.4 times. Although 83% of BC consumers would like to do more shopping at independent businesses, 53% report doing more of their shopping at multinationals and large online retailers than they did 5 years ago.

In Canada, 13% of consumers report shopping more at small independent retailers, while 87% report shopping more at big businesses. In BC, consumers are more supportive of independent retailers. with 18% of consumers reporting that they shop more at small independent retailers, while 82% report shopping more at big businesses.

Download the BC Summary here and the Canada-wide report  here.

In 2023 we worked with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) and our buy local partners across BC to assess the impact of independent retailers, in the first pan-Canadian study of the impact of local business.

Small and local retailers make important contributions to their communities, and to provincial and Canadian economies.. They add to the vibrancy of the local areas they operate in, provide employment, buy local goods and services, and support local causes, organizations, teams and events. Unfortunately, they face many challenges competing with big, multinational retailers and online giants, and in dealing with consumers undervaluing the significant economic benefits of shopping small. This report analyzes how Canadian small businesses in the retail sector make direct financial contributions to their local economies and how these contributions set them apart from multinational retailers and online giants. 

Key Findings:

• On average in Canada, purchases from Canadian owned retail businesses recirculate 66 cents of every dollar within the provincial economy where they are based, compared with only 11 cents of every dollar for multinationals with physical locations in Canada, and only 8 cents for every dollar for online giants.
• The average recirculation for independent retailers has been determined for each Canadian province. It ranges from a low of 59 cents per dollar in Quebec, to a high of 70 cents per dollar in Ontario. The average in BC is 66 cents per dollar, the same as the Canadian average. 
• Consumers underestimate the recirculation impact of independent businesses (by almost 2X), overestimate the recirculation impact of multinational retailers with brick and mortar locations (by more than 3X), and overestimate the recirculation impact of online giants (by more than 2X).
• Nearly all (97%) of independent retailers contribute to their communities in some way, 3/4 donate cash,  goods/services or time to local causes, and more than 1/2 support local organizations, teams, and events.
• 55% of consumers say they shop more now at large retailers than they did 5 years ago. 84% say they would like to do more of their shopping at independent businesses, and 4 in 5 report that consumers should do what they can to support small businesses. 

Download the report here. 

As a follow-up to B.C. Buy Local Week each year, we survey independent businesses to understand the effectiveness of buy local campaigns in the province, and uncover the biggest policy issues affecting them. Here are the highlights:

• Many businesses see benefits: Many businesses report a positive impact from buy local campaigns in their area. Since campaigns are aimed at consumers, it's not surprising that consumer businesses report slightly higher levels of impact. The highest impact is reported by consumer businesses who are engaged in the campaign. This tells us that you get out what you put in - the more engaged a business is in promoting the campaign, the more likely they are to report a benefit. 
• There are many important benefits: Businesses report that the top five benefits are: 1) Increased local purchasing in their business, 2) Increased awareness of their business' impact, 3) Increased media attention, 4) Collaboration, purchasing and mutual support among local businesses, and 5) More customer traffic. Answers vary slightly based on business type. 
• Engagement is up: Active promoters of campaigns have increased to 33%. A further 22% are passively involved through a campaign partner or business group, however, 44% still say they do not participate.

• Public awareness is up: 47% report that public awareness of the importance of supporting local businesses increased in the past year.
• Public policy issues affecting business: Businesses report that the top five policy issues affecting them are: 1) Inflation, 2) Labour Issues (including a lack of affordable housing), 3) Supply Chain Issues, 4) Credit Card Fees, and 5) Commercial Affordability. 

There are so many places to find Indigenous-Owned Businesses in BC. Here are a few resources. Let us know if there's any we've missed.

Suppliers

Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) community business directory 

https://www.nchkay.com/directory/

Native Women’s Association of Canada

https://nwac.ca/programs/bethedrum/womens-business-directory

Stó:lō Business Directory

https://www.stolocf.ca/business-directory.html

Port of Vancouver 

http://www1.portmetrovancouver.com/IndigenousBusinessDirectory/

Greater Vancouver Harbour Authority 

https://gvha.ca/first-nations-partnerships/indigenous-business-procurement/

South Island Directory

https://www.indigenousbusinessdirectoryvi.com/

NA wide directory 

https://www.indigenousbusinessdirectory.com/search_results

Consumer Businesses

Small Business BC Marketplace 

https://marketplacebc.ca/indigenous-owned/
Shop First Nations

https://shopfirstnations.com/business-sign-up/

Indigenous Tourism

Indigenous Tourism BC

https://www.indigenousbc.com/

Help us measure the impact of Buy Local Campaigns in B.C.! Our annual survey is a key resource to help LOCO BC, BCBuyLocal.com and other campaigns in the province continue to support independent businesses.

Please fill it in below or here. It should take only 10 minutes, and we offer two gifts for your time. We are so grateful for your time! 

Make your purchasing this season count! When you buy from woman-owned, BIPOC-owned, social enterprises, and more this season, you help create all the economic benefits of local purchasing, with a few extra social benefits.  

Gift Social this holiday

When you purchase from a social enterprise, you get great products and services, while supporting a business with a social goal. Many provide employment to those with barriers to employment. Give a gift that gives back this holiday! Visit Buy Social Canada for all the ways to #GiftSocial. 

Gift BIPOC Owned this holiday

When you purchase from businesses owned by entrepreneurs who are Black, Indigenous and/or People of Colour, you help support those who have to work harder to succeed against systemic racism. Give a gift that gives back this holiday! Check out all our resources on supporting BIPOC-owned businesses. 

Check our LOCO BC's #BCBuyLocal features on black-owned businesses as part of Black History Month.

Check our LOCO BC's #BCBuyLocal features on Indigenous-owned businesses as part of Indigenous Peoples' Month.

LOCO BC conducted research on consumer support for local in the fall of 2022, to provide a nationwide snapshot of consumer patterns and preferences. After an extensive literature review, we surveyed more than 850 Canadians in all regions, and people of all genders, ages and incomes, and conducted several follow-up interviews.

We found that:

1. Local businesses are still dominating in-store purchasing, capturing 54% of spending
2. Non-local purchasing dominates online purchasing, capturing 56% of spending
3. Consumers make local product purchases at multinationals - 20% often, and 55% sometimes
4. Annual leakage to multinationals from consumer non-local purchasing in BC alone is estimated at $53 Billion; in Canada, leakage is $389 Billion    

Consumers are always weighing a multitude of factors when making purchasing decisions. Given record inflation and high-interest rates, we expected that price would be the top consumer criterion, however, product quality was reported as most important in all cases. Availability is another standout purchasing criterion, perhaps not so much of a surprise following several years of supply chain disruptions. The single top attribute that consumers consider when purchasing reported are product quality, price, free shipping, better service, and availability. When we assess the top two reported attributes, we get a similar list but reordered: quality, availability, price, better service, and free shipping. The single top in-store attribute that consumers consider when shopping are product quality, price, better service, availability, and locally grown. Although many of the local attributes are not in the top five purchasing criteria, consumers report that they place importance on local products, local ownership, and company values. We can conclude that if other attributes like quality and availability are similar, local attributes like local production and ownership rise in consumer weighting. A very small percentage of consumers attributed no importance to local attributes like "locally grown", "locally made" or local ownership of the business.

Consumers reported that the businesses they consider most local are farmer's markets, independent grocers, independent retailers, independent restaurants, and businesses owned within the city/town/region. More so than provincially or Canadian-owned businesses, consumers consider locally owned franchises and any nearby grocers to be most local, perhaps due to a brick-and-mortar presence in their community, providing essential services and contributing local jobs and taxes.  

Some differences can be seen in support for local across different regions, age groups, and income brackets. We found that:

1. BC consumers report some of the highest support for local in-store (61% compared to the average 54%), followed by the Prairies (52%) and Quebec (50%). 
2. Quebec (49%), Northern Canada (48%), and the Prairies (47%) had the highest support for local online. Atlantic Canada (39%) had the lowest support for local online, perhaps due to the lack of a local online market
3. The BC population is biased towards local by some of the survey results. When we removed the "localists" who we suspect are biased towards local from the whole BC data set, we found that the "general population" of BC consumers reported the lowest support for local businesses online of any region in the country (35%) 
4. Boomers (66%) and Gen X (59%) have above-average (55%) support for local businesses in-store; Boomers are also more likely to support local businesses online (49% compared to the average of 45%)
5. Gender wasn't much of a factor in shopping patterns or preferences, however, those identifying as female reported slightly less monthly consumer spending, which is likely to make them slightly more price sensitive
6. "Localist" consumers are much more likely to value local attributes more highly than factors like availability and price; they place a much lower value on price even when their income is similar 

Local businesses are still dominating the in-store market, as consumers place high value on product quality, availability, and better service, several areas in which local businesses can really shine. Online, non-local businesses are capturing more of the market, as local businesses that have adopted e-commerce still face significant challenges competing with the marketing budgets and online resources of multinationals and online giants. There is an opportunity for them to capture more of the market online with better support for local business e-commerce and digital marketing, as well as consumer education on supporting local online in a similar way that they have shown to value in-store. Local businesses can help themselves and the local market by promoting their local attributes and company values, and by being transparent about sourcing and employment practices. All businesses can identify and promote local products online and in-store, to help consumers identify locally grown and made products wherever they shop.  Download the report. 

On October 5th LOCO BC and the Strathcona BIA hosted a meeting with Vancouver mayoral candidates and Council incumbents from other parties. Check out the video of the event below. 

As a follow-up to B.C. Buy Local Week each year, we survey independent businesses to understand the effectiveness of buy local campaigns, and uncover the biggest policy issues affecting them. Here are the highlights:

• Many businesses see benefits: 75% of consumer businesses engaged in a campaign in their area report a positive impact. Specifically, businesses report that the top five benefits are:

1. Awareness of the impact of their own local purchasing 
2. Increased media coverage
3. Improved customer loyalty 
4. Attracting new customers, and 
5. Collaboration with other local businesses. 

• Engagement is moderate: 35% of businesses are active promoters of the campaign (up 16% from last year); 32% passively participate through a BIA or Chamber but don't go out of their way to promote it, and 33% do not participate. The more engaged the business, the more likely it is that they report seeing benefits from the campaign. 
• Public awareness is up: 66% report that public awareness of the importance of buying local has increased in the past year, up 11% over last year!  56% report that the buy local campaign in their area is largely or somewhat responsible for the increased awareness (another 21% said minimally responsible). 
• Public policy issues affecting business: labour issues continue to be the #1 challenge for business, followed by commercial affordability, COVID-19 recovery/support, civic, provincial, and federal taxes (in that order), and permits, licenses & by-laws.

Resources

• Buy Social Canada Trade Agreements Briefing Note “The use of “Local” in the bid process”

• BC Social Procurement Initiative Webinar Series Wrap Up (including Local Economy)

• LOCO BC business impact assessment and infographic creator

• LOCO BC Opportunities in Social Procurement Webinar

• BC Social Procurement Initiative Webinars on Local Economy, Indigenous Purchasing, Food Security, and more

• Buy Social Canada guides and case studies

• ILSR Report "Amazon's Next Frontier: Your City's Purchasing"

• Indigenous purchasing resources from Cando

This project won a 2025 Clean50 Top Project Award!

LOCO and  Vancity teamed up to measure the impact of common purchases. We worked with Offsetters and Civic Economics for the carbon and economic analysis. We looked at the purchase of five products  - a loaf of bread, a caffe latte, blueberries, a dress, and a bicycle - from local businesses compared to imported products from non-local businesses.

Here's what we found:

• Locally grown or made product results in a greenhouse gas reduction benefit of between 5% and 66% compared to imported products. 
• Local products produce a local economic benefit* between 2.0 and 7.1 TIMES that of imported products, an average of 4.1 times. 
• Local products keep up to 92 cents of every dollar recirculating in the local economy.
• Local businesses selling the products produce a local economic benefit between 1.8 and 4.3 TIMES that of their multinational brick and mortar competitors, an average of 3.1 TIMES.
• A local retailer compared to a non-local retailer that is purely online has a benefit of 107 TIMES.

Although our analysis was set up to compare a local product from a local business compared to an imported product from a multinational business, we thought it would be useful where possible to analyze local products purchased from non-local businesses. Since the non-local bike store for our analysis was purely online, we also assessed the impact of purchasing an imported bike from a multinational brick and mortar store, although not many exist that sell higher-end bikes.

*Based on greater recirculation of revenues as profit to local owners, payroll to local employees, purchasing with local suppliers (goods and services), and philanthropy to local causes. 

Download the report. Check out the infographics:

The season is upon us. COVID-19, fires and floods make it more important than ever to buy local. In addition to our directory, and our #BCBuyLocal business profiles, here are some great resources to find the best B.C. products and businesses:

Online:

• Indigenous Women's Business Network Holiday Shopping Guide 2021: Gift ideas from Indigenous, women-owned businesses in B.C.
• WeBC Digital Pop-Up Shop: WeBC launched a digital pop-up shop to allow shoppers to browse through multiple women-owned businesses, enabling customers can buy directly from them. 
• Small Business BC Marketplace: launched by Small Business BC during COVID-19, the marketplace continues to grow. Shop small and local. 
• Small Business BC Holiday Gift Guides: Region-specific guides from the Thompson-Okanagan, Northern BC, Mainland/Southwest, Kootenay, Cariboo & Vancouver Island.
• Lift Collective: Shop Indigenous, women-owned businesses with Lift Collective. Feel good about your purchases and use your dollars to show support for economic reconciliation. 
• Toque: Formerly in-person market. New online shop.

In-person:

• Scout Magazine Holiday Gift Guide: a great list of craft events and pop-up markets in and around Vancouver.
• Backyard Creative "Favourite Shops" Guide: A list of favourite places on the Island and Mainland.
• Portobello West: Holiday Market Nov 20-21, 2021 and join the spring market Mar 19-20, 2022.
• Winter's Eve Market (Victoria). Dec 3&4, 10&11, 2021 from 4:30-8:30pm at Caffe Fantastico @fernwoodmakersparty.

The British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) lottery products deliver benefits to their retail partners by driving traffic and generating revenue for their business. BCLC lottery products are sold at a variety of retail, hospitality, and gaming establishments across the province of BC. Learn about all of our retailers and find the nearest lottery retailer to you.

BCLC is working to support lottery retailers and other small and local businesses. In February 2021, LOCO BC worked with BCLC on Spread The Local Love, a campaign to raise money for local charities by purchasing products and gift certificates from local businesses, and auctioning or selling them online. All proceeds went to 10 B.C. charitable organizations. The program raised ~$25,000 and won the GOLD award for Best Corporate Social Responsibility Campaign from the Canadian Public Relations Society in 2021.

LOCO BC is helping BCLC and local businesses measure and communicate about the positive impact that lottery retailers can make on their communities. Check out the stories of how lottery retailers create good jobs, support local businesses through their purchasing, and donate to charity.

As a follow-up to B.C. Buy Local Week each year, we survey independent businesses to understand the effectiveness of buy local campaigns, and uncover the biggest policy issues affecting them. Here are the highlights:

• Many businesses see benefits: 54% of businesses report a positive impact from buy local campaigns in their area. Specifically, businesses report that the top five benefits are: 1) awareness of the impact of their own local purchasing, 2) municipal government awareness of the importance of local businesses, 3) collaboration with other local businesses, 4) increased media coverage, and 5) attracting new customers to their businesses. 
• Engagement is moderate: only 19% of businesses are active promoters of the campaign; 52% are promoted through a business group they are part of but don't go out of their way to promote it.
• Public awareness is up: 45% report that public awareness of the importance of buying local has increased this year.
• Co-ordination is needed: buy local campaign managers have work to do to coordinate messaging and engage businesses to actively participate in the campaign. Only 54% of businesses could name the campaign in their area, 17% didn't know the name, and 27% didn't respond to the question. 
• Public policy issues affecting business: besides the supply chain and labour issues that continue to affect businesses in 2021, businesses report that commercial affordability, permit/license fees, credit card fees, provincial taxes, and community development are the top five issues affecting businesses. Respondents were heavily weighted in the lower mainland.

The COVID-19 crisis has amplified the understanding of the key role that small and local businesses play in their communities and the B.C. economy. As the pandemic exposed the disparities in our economic system, it also highlighted the need for a “new normal”, an imperative to build back to a more just and equitable economy. As part of this effort, LOCO recognized the opportunity to help shape a vision for rebuilding the economy to focus on increasing local business resilience and a strong recovery for the sector. We set out to develop a framework based on key principles to support local business resilience and recovery, in the hopes of supporting local businesses in a more strategic way. The goal of this work is to start to define key principles, as a starting point for follow-on activities to promote, pilot, and implement solutions. They are by no means hard and fast rules; we hope that this is the beginning of an iterative process, informed by many. Download the framework.

LOCO BC is looking to expand our network of contractors. We are a small and nimble BC-registered non-profit organization. We work with contractors on a variety of projects and tasks on an as-needed basis. There are a variety of tasks listed here that we require support with throughout the year. We don’t expect all the tasks to be performed by the same person; let us know which tasks interest you and skill set. Through this process we hope to create a short roster of consultants we can call on when we need them. Some work will begin immediately.

You will be contracted on a part-time basis, and will be expected to determine your own hours, work from your own workspace, and use your own equipment. You must operate your own business or sole proprietorship, charge and pay GST (if you exceed the income threshold). LOCO will provide access to subscriptions, tools, etc. to help facilitate completion of the work. 

Download & Share 

Tasks 

1- Communications & Partner Engagement: 

• Membership management 
• Member communication 
• Social media planning & content development
• Campaign development & execution
  • Partnership engagement (may include developing proposals, outreach, etc.)
  • Event management (currently online via Zoom, in person potentially one day again)
  • Business engagement
  • Development of communications materials (stories on businesses, social media collateral)
  • Campaign management:
    • Communicate with partners
    • Communicate with businesses
    • Interview businesses
    • Fill out Community Impact Assessment based on business interview
    • Develop business stories
    • Develop campaign collateral (posts, ads, videos)
    • Plan social media posts

2 - Research Work: 

• Proposal writing
• Research partners and allies to work on various projects
• Primary and Secondary Research on topics that may include: 
  • Economic impacts of independent businesses 
  • Government policy (tax, development, etc) affecting the enabling environment for independent businesses to thrive
  • Development and commercial affordability 
• Report writing
• Manage development of report outcomes like infographics (from outside contractors) based on research reports
• Media relations (press releases, develop key messages)

3 - Business Engagement

• Outreach to independent businesses to:
  • Attend workshops 
  • Organize and conduct interviews to complete Community Impact Assessment and develop business stories as part of campaigns
  • Provide business stories for media

4 - Outreach to Partners

• #BCBuyLocal campaign management 
• Outreach to #BCBuyLocal and other research partners for research purposes, surveys, focus groups, program development, etc.

Skills

• Able to juggle a variety of tasks at once
• Strategic thinker
• Good writer
• Good grasp of social media tools
• Good grasp of business technology tools (g suite, etc.)
• Good communication skills
• Project management skills
• Social media planning & content development
• Relationship development & management skills
• Marketing skills

Rates

Rates are negotiable, and depend on skill level and experience. They range from ~$25-100 per hour. 

Other Things to Note

You will be responsible to provide all your own equipment (computer, cellphone, etc). LOCO will provide all software tools and user licenses necessary to complete the work (Stock photos, Canva, Animoto, etc.). 

All applicants will be considered without attention to race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability status. Our goal is to work with consultants of all ages, that reflect the rich diversity of our Province and the country.  

How to Apply 

Fill out this form to apply.