A Community Initiative to Support Local Businesses

The City of Maple Ridge has launched a new “Choose Maple Ridge – Support Local” initiative to encourage residents to shop, dine, and do business locally. This community-wide campaign, developed in partnership with the Ridge Meadows Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Maple Ridge Business Improvement Association, aims to strengthen the local economy, support small businesses, and build a more resilient city. “Local businesses are the backbone of our community – providing jobs, services, and support for events and charities,” said Maple Ridge Mayor Dan Ruimy, emphasizing that “every dollar spent at a Maple Ridge business helps build a stronger, more vibrant city”. With more than 3,000 businesses in Maple Ridge – many owned by friends, neighbors, and family – the call to “Choose Maple Ridge” is about keeping those connections strong and ensuring the community remains vibrant in the face of economic challenges.

One eye-opening statistic underpins the importance of shopping local: If just half of B.C.’s employed residents spent $150 each month at local businesses, it would inject approximately $161 million into the provincial economy every month. This illustrates the massive collective impact of small choices. “Supporting local businesses strengthens the economy, preserves jobs, and creates a more connected community,” noted Kristi Maier, CEO of the Ridge Meadows Chamber of Commerce, urging everyone to make the conscious choice to support businesses right here at home. By choosing local shops over online giants or multinational chains, consumers help keep their money circulating within the community – a ripple effect that can uplift local employment, fund city services, and foster neighborhood character.

Campaign Goals and Highlights

City Hall and its partners have rolled out a variety of campaign activities to drive home the support-local message and provide direct help to businesses. Some key highlights of the Choose Maple Ridge – Support Local campaign include:

Business Roundtables: A series of engagement sessions to help local entrepreneurs navigate supply chain changes and economic challenges. These roundtable discussions create a forum for business owners to share strategies and resources, especially important as they face issues like rising costs or tariff impacts.
City Procurement Prioritization: The City is leading by example – increasing its focus on buying locally sourced and Canadian-made goods and services for municipal needs. By shifting more of its purchasing to local suppliers, the City not only supports those vendors directly but also signals to the community the value of choosing Canadian-made products (a nod to “Buy BC” and “Team Canada” goals).
Street Banners and Signage: New “Choose Maple Ridge” banners will be hung around the city this spring as a visible reminder to support local. Alongside these, a broader awareness drive – including posters, digital advertising, and other local signage – will showcase the benefits of shopping in Maple Ridge’s stores and markets.
Community Events & Promotions: Throughout the year, special events and promotions will celebrate Maple Ridge businesses. These might include local business fairs, seasonal shopping events, or tie-ins with festivals – all designed to highlight what local shops, eateries, and services have to offer. It’s a chance for residents to discover (or rediscover) the unique businesses in their backyard and for business owners to attract new customers with fun activities or sales.
Business Spotlights (Video Features): Local businesses can sign up to be featured in “spotlight” profiles on the City’s social media channels and website. These spotlights may include short video promos or stories showcasing the business owner, their products or services, and their success stories. It’s a free marketing boost for the businesses and puts a personal face on local shopping. Maple Ridge is actively inviting businesses to share 15-second video clips that show off their store or service, which the City will then share online. This not only advertises those businesses to a wider audience, but also reminds residents of the diverse range of entrepreneurs in the community.
“Choose Maple Ridge” Toolkit: Participating businesses can receive a promotional kit with Choose Maple Ridge – Support Local branding. The toolkit includes window decals, signage, and other promotional materials for display. By placing a “Choose Maple Ridge” decal in their window, businesses publicly show they are part of the campaign, prompting customers to think local first. The kit helps create a unified look for the campaign across the city and is provided at no cost to eligible local businesses that sign up.
Online Resource Hub: To make supporting local easier, the City has set up an online hub with resources for businesses and consumers. Local businesses can find promotional templates, an online directory/listing to increase their visibility, and information on networking opportunities or training sessions. Residents, in turn, can use this hub (via the City’s website) to discover which businesses are locally owned, find local product directories, and even see upcoming community events. This one-stop portal ensures that all the information about the support-local initiative is accessible and up-to-date.

All these activities work in tandem to bolster the visibility and viability of Maple Ridge businesses. “This initiative is a great opportunity for residents to discover and support the incredible businesses we have in Downtown Maple Ridge,” said Chantalle Moerman, Acting President of the Downtown BIA, adding that “by choosing local, residents are investing in their own community, helping our business owners thrive, and ensuring our downtown remains vibrant and dynamic”. From the City’s perspective, Choose Maple Ridge is not a one-time campaign but an extension of year-round economic development efforts – complementing ongoing programs in networking, investment attraction, and business growth that the City already champions.

How Businesses and Residents Can Get Involved

The success of Choose Maple Ridge – Support Local depends on broad community participation. Local businesses are encouraged to actively join the campaign. They can start by signing up on the City’s website to receive their free “Choose Maple Ridge” kit and register as a participating local business. Businesses with a City of Maple Ridge business license that meet the “local” criteria (e.g. local ownership and locally made products as defined by the BC Buy Local guidelines) are eligible for the kits. Once signed up, a business becomes eligible for those social media spotlights – effectively free advertising that can reach thousands of residents. Companies are even invited to submit a 15-second video clip showcasing their shop or services for the City to share on official channels. It’s an easy way for a boutique, café, or service provider to tell its story and draw in viewers who might become new customers.

Businesses can also get involved by displaying the campaign materials (such as window decals or posters from the toolkit), running their own special promotions or sales tied to the campaign, and participating in any local events the City or Chamber organizes around the support local theme. For example, a restaurant might offer a “Choose Maple Ridge” discount night, or a retail shop might hold a customer appreciation event during a city-wide shopping festival. The City suggests that businesses use the hashtag #ChooseMapleRidge on social media to amplify the campaign – creating a unified buzz online where owners and happy customers alike can share their positive experiences.

Residents have a crucial role as well. The City is asking everyone in Maple Ridge to “shop, dine, explore, and do business locally” whenever possible. Instead of immediately turning to large online retailers or driving to big-box stores outside the community, residents are reminded to check out what’s available right here in town. Whether it’s ordering dinner from a hometown restaurant, buying gifts from a local artisan, or using a nearby tradesperson or professional service, every bit counts. Locals can follow the City’s campaign updates on social media and share their own stories or photos of supporting local businesses using #ChooseMapleRidge. This social media engagement not only spreads awareness, but also creates a sense of community pride – people see neighbors and friends highlighting great local spots, which can inspire others to try them too.

Community organizations and groups (from sports teams to charities) are also invited to partner with the City in spreading the support-local message. This could mean collaborating on events, cross-promoting the campaign in their own newsletters and meetings, or simply encouraging their members to choose local providers. The idea is to make “support local” a city-wide ethos, embraced by all facets of the community.

The Economic Impact of Choosing Local

Encouraging local shopping isn’t just about community spirit – it comes with real economic benefits. The campaign underscores how shifting even a portion of our spending to local businesses can yield big returns for Maple Ridge and beyond. The oft-cited figure of $161 million injected into B.C.’s economy each month (if half the working population spends $150 locally) is a dramatic illustration. Those dollars don’t just vanish; they recirculate in the form of wages for local employees, purchases from other local suppliers, and taxes that fund public services. In fact, research by LOCO BC (a nonprofit that studies local economies) shows that money spent at independent businesses has a multiplier effect. For example, for every $100 spent at a local independent business, an average of $63 is recirculated back into the local economy, compared to only $14 per $100 spent at a multinational chain store. That means buying from a Maple Ridge mom-and-pop shop can be 4–5 times more impactful in terms of local economic return than buying the same item from a big-box corporation. Additionally, local enterprises create significantly more jobs relative to their size – LOCO BC found that independent businesses generate up to 8 times more jobs per square foot than large corporations do.

Local leaders are quick to point out these benefits. “Local businesses not only pay their employees, they also spend money at other local businesses,” notes Anita Huberman, CEO of the Surrey Board of Trade, in the context of her city’s shop-local efforts. “That means by buying local, you help create jobs for your friends and neighbours, contribute to improved public infrastructure, and invest in your community both socially and economically.” This sentiment rings true in Maple Ridge as well – every dollar spent at a Haney Place storefront or a farmers’ market stall helps a neighbor pay their mortgage, a local teen get a part-time job, and perhaps a local printer or accountant get business from that store. Over time, this builds a more robust local job market and a self-reinforcing cycle of economic activity. It also fosters entrepreneurship: when people see that local businesses are supported, they’re more likely to start businesses of their own, knowing the community has their back.

There’s also a social return on investment. Locally owned businesses tend to reinvest in the community in other ways – studies show they donate to local charities and sports teams at many times the rate of national chains. They add character to the city, making Maple Ridge an attractive place to live and visit. And they often source locally themselves, creating a network of local suppliers. All of these factors underscore why campaigns like Choose Maple Ridge – Support Local are not just feel-good projects, but strategic economic development moves. As Mayor Ruimy highlighted, the campaign is about keeping the community “resilient in the face of economic challenges”. By strengthening the local economy’s foundation, Maple Ridge can better withstand external shocks – be it global market shifts, supply chain disruptions, or even future pandemics.

Learning from Other ‘Support Local’ Successes

Maple Ridge’s initiative is part of a broader movement across B.C. and Canada to champion local businesses. In fact, many communities have implemented similar “shop local” campaigns, each with their own creative strategies and encouraging outcomes. These comparative examples offer inspiration and proof that supporting local works:

Support Local BC (Province-Wide): Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, a province-wide platform called Support Local BC was launched to help small businesses across British Columbia. This online marketplace (originating from a Victoria initiative) allowed consumers anywhere in the province to buy gift certificates for their favorite local shops and restaurants, providing immediate cash flow to those businesses when they needed it most. The response was tremendous – within a few months of launching in April 2020, Support Local BC had generated over $400,000 in gift card sales for about 1,330 small businesses in more than 50 communities. The program’s success was fueled by partnerships with credit unions and local economic development groups, and even special promotions (for one week, Vancity Credit Union offered $25 off certain purchases, spurring an extra $260,000 in sales). “We’re amazed at the support people have shown their local businesses with their shopping dollars,” said Michèle Hamilton of Support Local BC, crediting the collaboration of community partners for the program’s impact. This example shows how a well-promoted local gift card program can inject hundreds of thousands of dollars into local economies in a short time, while giving consumers a convenient way to support their hometown businesses.
“Thank You Surrey – Shop Local” (Surrey, BC): In early 2021, the Surrey Board of Trade launched Thank You Surrey, a campaign encouraging residents to shop in Surrey and acknowledge the efforts of local businesses during the pandemic. The campaign was met with such enthusiasm that it secured additional funding of $230,000 at the end of 2021 to expand its reach. With that boost, Surrey rolled out a multilingual marketing push: they conducted a shopper survey to understand local habits, ran an extensive social media and advertising campaign highlighting resilient local businesses, and distributed a Shop Local toolkit to merchants across the city (translated into multiple languages to reflect Surrey’s diverse community). The strategy of Thank You Surrey centered on spotlighting businesses that persevered through COVID-19 and reminding residents that every local purchase counts. While quantitative results are still coming in, the campaign’s continuation and expansion indicate it successfully struck a chord. Surrey’s Board of Trade noted that keeping dollars in the community helps “create jobs, improve public infrastructure, and invest in your community”, reinforcing that economic message alongside the thanks.
Tri-Local (Tri-Cities, Metro Vancouver): The Tri-Cities (Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, and Port Moody) joined forces with their Chamber of Commerce and local BIAs to launch “Tri-Local”, a campaign to boost shopping close to home. Backed by a $50,700 grant in late 2021, Tri-Local rolled out a coordinated marketing effort featuring advertising, street banners, social media stories of businesses, and even eco-friendly swag items to entice shoppers. One innovative event born from this collaboration was the “Taste of Tri-Cities” – a food festival spanning 50 local restaurants with special menus, which successfully drew diners to discover eateries in their own neighborhoods. The Tri-Local campaign put a strong emphasis on educating consumers: it highlighted exactly how spending locally benefits the community, often using LOCO BC’s stats (such as the $63 vs $14 local recirculation figure) to drive the point home. By seeing concrete examples of how their money stays local – through news stories and social posts – residents were encouraged to keep choosing Tri-Cities businesses first. The collaborative nature of this campaign (multiple cities and organizations pooling resources) has been cited as a key strength, creating a united front that made the campaign hard to miss in the area.
Other Notable Initiatives: Across Canada, similar themes have played out. In Toronto, for example, the city’s ShowLoveTO campaign in 2020–2021 included a major shop-local advertising blitz to urge Torontonians to “show the love” to local retailers and restaurants during the holidays. Many municipalities and chambers of commerce—often with support from federal “Shop Local” grants—have launched their own creative twists, from local business bingo cards and passport contests for shoppers, to “buy local” challenges on social media. National organizations like the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) also ran a “Small Business Every Day” campaign, which reminded Canadians that “every dollar spent at a local small business is six times more impactful in your community than a dollar spent at a big box or chain”. The consistency of these messages across the country speaks to a growing recognition: supporting local businesses is not just a pandemic-era slogan, but a long-term investment in the economic health and character of our communities.

A Stronger Community, One Purchase at a Time

The Choose Maple Ridge – Support Local campaign is both rallying cry and action plan. It invites each resident to be a stakeholder in the city’s prosperity, simply by choosing to keep their spending power within the community. By providing businesses with tools and exposure, and by educating the public on the benefits of buying local, Maple Ridge is cultivating an environment where local entrepreneurs can thrive. Early reactions in the community have been positive – local leaders, media, and residents are sharing the hashtag, proudly posting about their favorite Maple Ridge businesses, and reaffirming that sense of community pride. It’s a virtuous cycle: the more people support local businesses, the stronger those businesses become, and the more they can give back to the community in jobs, services, and support for local initiatives.

As this campaign moves forward, Maple Ridge’s approach may well serve as a model for other cities of similar size. It demonstrates how a city can leverage partnerships (with chambers, BIAs, and provincial programs like BC Buy Local) to amplify a message. It also shows a balance of practical support (like business roundtables and resource hubs) with public engagement (like events and social media challenges). In the end, Choose Maple Ridge – Support Local is about neighbours helping neighbours. It’s about recognizing that the choices we make at the cash register today shape the community we live in tomorrow. And if Maple Ridge’s initiative succeeds, it won’t just mean fuller cash registers for local shops – it will mean a more resilient local economy and a community that knows the value of looking after its own. In the words of one campaign slogan: Next time you’re considering a purchase, choose Maple Ridge – support local!.

Sources:

City of Maple Ridge – Choose Maple Ridge – Support Local campaign pagemapleridge.camapleridge.ca
Maple Ridge – Pitt Meadows News – City of Maple Ridge starts new shop local campaignmapleridgenews.commapleridgenews.com
City of Maple Ridge – News Release (Feb 27, 2025) – Maple Ridge Launches “Choose Maple Ridge” Support Local Campaignmapleridge.camapleridge.ca
Surrey Board of Trade – News Release (Dec 20, 2021) – Thank You Surrey – Shop Local campaign fundingbusinessinsurrey.combusinessinsurrey.com
Tri-City News – Tri-Local campaign boosts Tri-Cities businessestricitynews.comtricitynews.com
BC Business Magazine – Support Local BC campaign hits $400,000 markbcbusiness.cabcbusiness.ca
LOCO BC – Research on local economic impact (via Maple Ridge & Tri-Cities news)mapleridge.catricitynews.com

Let’s Keep Talking:

Jenny is a business insurance broker with Waypoint Insurance.

She is also a business development consultant with Impresario Partners, helping Canadian Business expand overseas.

She can be reached at 604-317-6755 or jhansen@waypoint.ca. Connect with Jenny on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenny-holly-hansen-365b691b/. Connect with Jenny at BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/jennyhollyhansen.bsky.social

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