Victoria’s small businesses, independent markets, festivals, and community-led cultural events are facing an ongoing crisis driven by rising operational costs, reduced post-pandemic recovery, and a lack of sustainable municipal support. Since 2020, hundreds of independent businesses across sectors such as retail, hospitality, wellness, arts, and food services have permanently closed or significantly downsized due to rising rents, increased supplier and labour costs, permit and insurance fees, staffing shortages, and declining foot traffic. At the same time, beloved community events and festivals have been cancelled, paused, or placed at risk due to financial instability, reduced sponsorship, and limited structural support, threatening the cultural fabric that defines Victoria.

Beyond economic pressures, local businesses and organizers are also facing increasing barriers to visibility and survival within the city itself. Basic challenges include construction-related disruptions, bureaucratic hurdles, and limited collaboration with city decision-makers, alongside growing costs associated with promotion and marketing. Even grassroots, community-based efforts such as flyering and poster distribution are increasingly restricted or tied to additional fees and permissions, despite being low-cost and essential tools for local engagement. As a result, independent businesses are not only struggling to operate — they are being asked to pay more simply to be seen in the communities they already serve, placing the long-term cultural and economic identity of Victoria at risk.

Below is a letter we will be sending to the City of Victoria to highlight the ongoing challenges our community is facing and to call for action to support the survival and sustainability of our creative and local business community:

To the City of Victoria Council and Decision Makers,

We, the undersigned local business owners, artists, vendors, organizers, workers, and residents of Victoria, BC, are calling for immediate action and meaningful support for the small businesses, markets, festivals, and cultural events that form the heart of our city.

Victoria has long been recognized as a vibrant destination because of its creativity, independent businesses, local markets, music, arts, and community-driven culture. These are not just attractions — they are the lifeblood of our local economy and the reason so many people choose to visit, live, and invest here.

Yet year after year, we are watching more of these spaces disappear.

Since 2020, Victoria has seen hundreds of independent business closures alongside the cancellation or suspension of beloved festivals, markets, and community events due to rising operational costs, reduced sponsorship, inflation, staffing shortages, and a lack of sustainable support structures for local organizers and entrepreneurs.

During the pandemic, some downtown Victoria areas experienced foot traffic declines of over 60%, and many businesses never fully recovered from the financial aftermath. Independent retailers, restaurants, music venues, wellness spaces, creative studios, artisan shops, market vendors, and long-standing family-owned businesses have been disproportionately affected by rising commercial rents, increased supplier costs, labour shortages, permit fees, insurance costs, and post-pandemic debt.

Victoria residents have watched beloved local businesses disappear, including closures such as Sattva Spa, Saveur,, Cowichan Trading Company, alongside many other independent storefronts that helped shape the identity and culture of this city.

At the same time, Victoria has also lost or nearly lost important community festivals and public events due to financial instability and lack of sustainable support. FernFest — a long-standing community festival that has celebrated local art, music, culture, and connection for decades — faced serious uncertainty and narrowly survived only because members of the community stepped in to take on the overwhelming responsibility of keeping it alive when operational capacity and support fell short.

Meanwhile, small businesses across the city continue to face mounting challenges:

• Endless construction disrupting customer access and foot traffic
• Rising commercial rents and operating costs
• Limited accessibility and parking concerns, alongside growing parking fees that discourage residents from travelling downtown
• Declining willingness from locals to visit core commercial areas, influenced by concerns around cleanliness, visible drug use, and the growing presence of unhoused individuals occupying sidewalks and storefront spaces in key business districts
• Increasing barriers, fees, permits, and bureaucracy
• Lack of direct financial or structural support for independent businesses and community events
• Minimal transparency or collaboration between the city and the people actively contributing to Victoria’s culture and economy.

We understand that cities evolve and infrastructure improvements are necessary. However, it feels as though the burden of these changes is being carried almost entirely by small businesses, local organizers, and independent entrepreneurs — many of whom are already operating on razor-thin margins.

We are also deeply concerned by the growing cost of visibility for local businesses and community organizers. Small businesses are already managing rising rents, operational expenses, taxes, staffing costs, and the financial risks that come with entrepreneurship, yet even basic opportunities to market locally often require additional fees, memberships, sponsorships, or restrictive approvals. Many independent businesses are being forced to pay simply to access visibility within the communities they help sustain.

At the same time, grassroots marketing efforts such as flyering, posters, and locally distributed promotional materials cost the city virtually nothing while helping build community engagement and awareness. These accessible forms of promotion have always been part of the culture and identity of thriving arts, music, festival, and small business communities, and should be supported rather than increasingly restricted.

Independent businesses should not have to purchase visibility in the very city they are helping to sustain. Victoria cannot continue branding itself through the culture, creativity, and entrepreneurship of its people while simultaneously making it increasingly difficult for those same people to exist.

Without immediate change, Victoria risks losing the very identity that has made it special.

We are asking the City of Victoria to:

• Create stronger financial relief and support programs for small local businesses affected by construction and economic strain.
• Prioritize funding and preservation for local markets, festivals, arts initiatives, and cultural events.
• Improve communication and collaboration with local business owners and community organizers before major city changes are implemented.
• Reduce unnecessary barriers and red tape that make it difficult for independent businesses and events to survive.
• Allow more accessible and affordable grassroots marketing opportunities for local businesses and community events.
• Recognize independent businesses, markets, and festivals as essential economic and cultural infrastructure — not expendable extras.
• Develop a long-term strategy focused on sustaining Victoria’s local economy, creative industries, and community-driven tourism.

This petition is not about resisting growth or progress. It is about asking for balance, accountability, and recognition of the people who live, work, create, and build community here every single day. A city without local business, music, markets, festivals, and creative culture becomes a shell of itself. If we continue down this path without meaningful support, we risk losing the very veins and heartbeat of our community.

We urge the City of Victoria to listen to the people who actively shape the culture, economy, and spirit of this city before more of what makes Victoria unique disappears for good.

Signed, 

The Heart of Victoria