The topic of Uber and the sharing economy has been in the Sudbury media for the past few months. The City has been collecting citizen views on the topic and asking Sudburians for their take on Uber in Sudbury. This topic is sensitive and brings us to ask the question: how can we integrate innovative actors such as Uber while ensuring existing operators can still compete?
Fueled by companies such as Uber, Autoshare, and Airbnb, the sharing economy enables individuals to obtain rides, accommodations, and a wide range of other goods and services via online platforms in exchange for monetary and non-monetary benefits. The sharing economy has had a significant global impact. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) estimates that sharing economy companies contributed around $15 billion in global revenue in 2015.
Late last year, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce released a report, Harnessing the Power of the Sharing Economy. The report calls upon governments at all levels to move quickly and boldly to ensure that Ontario and municipalities realize the full potential of the sharing economy. The report also calls for immediate action to be taken to fill any insurance gaps and ensure tax compliance. Jurisdictions that are building adaptable regulatory and tax frameworks are more likely to produce new technologies that will drive economic growth.
“The sharing economy is growing at an incredible rate,” says Karen Hourtovenko. “We don’t want to be left behind or stifle growth”. “We believe there are ways to encourage growth of these disruptive industries but we also need to consider how we can protect existing operators,” added Hourtovenko.
“We don’t need more regulation. We need the right regulation,” says Hourtovenko. “In order to create an environment where established operators can thrive alongside these new industries, there needs to be legislative regimes in place that make sense to both sets of actors.”
Existing operators in the hospitality and transportation sectors such as hotels and taxi services are often faced with outdated and burdensome regulation that makes it more difficult for them to compete.
We recommend that municipalities like Greater Sudbury work with the Ontario government to prioritize a regulatory audit to identify unnecessary and outdated laws and regulations to allow existing actors to compete on a more level playing field. The growth of the sharing economy should be used as a catalyst to create new ways of developing flexible and responsive regulations. Having adaptable insurance and taxations schemes will be key. Frameworks should also take into consideration concerns related to consumer safety and protection.
“Consumer practices are changing and businesses are being asked to respond. It becomes a question of how we can better respond collectively to these changing consumer needs,” added Hourtovenko.
The chamber believes Greater Sudbury can act as leader for other municipalities trying to navigate this space. We encourage the City of Greater Sudbury to continue to be proactive and to embrace these innovations while ensuring existing actors are able to compete.
To read the Ontario Chamber of Commerce report on the sharing economy click here.
For more information, please contact:
Joyce Mankarios
Policy and Public Relations Manager
Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce
705-673-7133 ext. 224
joyce(at)sudburychamber.ca