TIABC Voice of Tourism Newsletter – July 3, 2026

“Elbows Up.”

It has become a bit of a national slogan over the past year.

I’ll admit that, despite growing up in northern BC, I never played ice hockey. I did, however, play left defence on my elementary school’s floor hockey team. I learned very quickly that “elbows up” was less about aggression and more about survival. It was your way of protecting your space from the more “enthusiastic” players charging toward you. Truth be told, whether I’ve been a player or a spectator, I’ve always enjoyed the strategy of the game far more than the physicality.

Fast forward a few decades, and Canadians seem to have adopted “elbows up” in an entirely different context. Today, it is less about hockey and more about resilience. It has become shorthand for thinking strategically about how Canada responds to economic pressures and changing competitive landscapes.

For tourism, one of the most significant competitive pressures is one that often goes unnoticed: investment. While much of the public conversation has focused on tariffs, trade, and exchange rates, there is another issue influencing where major tourism developments are built and where investment dollars ultimately flow.

Last year, the United States introduced the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, or OBBBA. Setting the name and the politics aside, one element of that legislation has important implications for tourism investment and BC’s ability to compete for private capital.

The legislation permanently reinstated what is known as 100% Bonus Depreciation. It sounds technical, and it is, but the concept is surprisingly straightforward.

Imagine you are planning to build a new resort, hotel, marina, campground, conference centre, or adventure tourism attraction. Before welcoming your first guest, you have already invested millions of dollars into buildings, furnishings, equipment, lifts, gondolas, or attractions.

Under Canada’s current tax system, businesses generally recover those costs gradually over many years through capital cost allowances. Under the American system, many of those same investments can now be deducted entirely in the first year. The total tax deduction is ultimately the same, but the timing is not.

Receiving that deduction upfront improves early cash flow, reduces financial risk during the most vulnerable stage of a project, improves financing opportunities, and often makes the difference between an investment moving ahead or remaining on the drawing board. For investors comparing projects on both sides of the border, that timing becomes part of the equation.

This is where “elbows up” takes on a different meaning. It becomes less about reacting and more about thinking strategically about how BC can remain competitive in attracting the investment needed to grow our visitor economy.

BC competes internationally for tourism investment. Investors consider taxation alongside labour availability, regulatory certainty, financing costs, market demand, and expected returns. Tax policy is only one piece of the puzzle, but it is an important one.

At TIABC, we are working with industry partners to better understand what these changing tax policies mean for BC’s competitiveness. More importantly, we are working to bring that conversation to both the federal and provincial governments by highlighting the importance of maintaining a competitive investment environment for tourism. The objective is not to replicate another country’s tax system. Rather, it is to ask a very reasonable question: Does Canada’s current framework position BC to attract the private investment needed to build the visitor experiences that will support the long-term investment and growth envisioned in the Look West Tourism Sector Action Plan?

That conversation is worth having because every new hotel, every expanded attraction, every upgraded marina, and every tourism business that chooses to invest here creates jobs, supports communities, and strengthens our visitor economy.

Sometimes “elbows up” means standing your ground. Sometimes it means stepping back, studying the playing field, and asking whether there is a smarter way to compete.

As it turns out, the most effective strategy is not always about pushing harder.

Sometimes it is simply about levelling the playing field.

Amber Papou, B.Ed, MBA, ICD.D

CEO, TIABC