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Surrey Board of Trade Pleased with Family Day Aligning with the Rest of Canada for the First Time Next Week

For the first time since its implementation, the BC Family Day Holiday will align with the rest of Canada one week from today, February 18, 2019.

“The Surrey Board of Trade has been advocating to the BC Government for years for the BC Family Day Holiday to be in sync with the rest of Canada. We are pleased that they have listened and implemented,” said CEO Anita Huberman.

“The Surrey Board of Trade is pleased that the BC Government has put the interest of businesses first to ensure that economic growth is not hindered by artificial barriers such as misaligned holidays.”

While British Columbia has a statutory holiday (Family Day) on the 2nd Monday of February, five other provinces observe holidays on the 3rd Monday of February, which is also a federal holiday in the United States of America. For companies that conduct business in other parts of Canada or in the United States, this misalignment of holidays creates a barrier to commerce and trade and is an inconvenience to businesses of all sizes and sectors. Alignment of BC’s Family Day with the February holidays of neighbouring jurisdictions is necessary to ensure that business productivity and economic activity is not unduly adversely affected by the holiday.

Surrey is a border city to the U.S.A, has the most number of manufacturer’s in B.C. who trade to the United States, and across Canada.

The Surrey Board of Trade issued a policy in 2016 to recommend that the BC government of the day align the February holidays for the sake of the economy and for families. Chambers whose members have business contacts and clients across Canada supported the policy, but those whose members primarily rely on tourism did not.

The Surrey Board of Trade recognizes that the tourism industry would like to continue with the separation of holidays, however, the economic benefit derived from alignment will greatly assist small and medium sized businesses across B.C.

The Surrey Board of Trade has a membership of over 2,600 businesses with connections numbering over 6,000, representing a workforce of over 60,000.

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Anita Huberman, CEO, anita@businessinsurrey.com, 604-340-3899