Julianne Sprague, owner of Alison's Embroidery, says shipping has been one of the biggest challenges she's seen

By Tommy Osborne

Small Business

Prince George small businesses face mounting concerns amid economic instability

Mar 9, 2026 | 4:21 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – Harsh economic conditions, only heightened by the war in Iran, has put additional pressure on Prince George small businesses who have already been facing challenges.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty in the world right now, and job security is a notable issue in the north, especially with forestry being in a major notable downturn for some time. The job market is a little tougher. All these economic factors come into play when people are ultimately deciding how to spend their dollars,” said Downtown Prince George President Eoin Foley.

A report from Xero Small Business Insights says small businesses in British Columbia have been struggling with declining sales. In fact, B.C. has seen an 8.2% drop in the last quarter of 2025, double the national average of a 4.1% drop.

“Looking ahead, 2026 is likely to be another year of adjustment, as small businesses deal with ongoing changes in upstream supply-chains and as exporters seek out new markets. Following its January Governing Council meeting, the Bank of Canada noted ‘US trade restrictions and uncertainty continue to disrupt growth in Canada’ and that ‘the outlook is vulnerable to unpredictable US trade policies and geopolitical risks,'” the report read.

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Alison’s Embroidery owner Julianne Sprague says the biggest challenge her business is facing is shipping.

“Shipping has been really difficult, especially when Canada Post was on strike and we’re still seeing the effects of that. Shipping and supply chain issues,” Sprague said.

This concern could possibly escalate if gas prices continue to skyrocket due to the Iran war. Prince George has already seen a 23 cent increase, and gas experts predict an additional increase up to 15 cents could be on the way.

“That just means the cost of everything is going to go up, shipping will go up. We do tend to get free shipping a lot from a lot of our suppliers, but that might change, so that means that we’ll actually have to charge for shipping instead of including it with an item or offering free shipping,” Sprague said, should another sharp increase be on the way.

“Our shipping can be anywhere from like 20 bucks to a couple hundred bucks, depending on the size of everything. So that just means that it could jump way higher than that, and if we include it in our prices, it just means that we don’t make as good margins on our items,” Sprague continued.

Despite the challenges, Sprague says business has been “keeping steady,” a hopeful sign that small businesses will be able to keep up amid market challenges.

“Those small local businesses are really often the heart of the community and there is a lot of character in there. They’re the real soul of what makes a community tick,” Foley said.

“Those dollars we spend in our small local businesses here in Prince George or any other community, they get shared around a lot better. They don’t leave the community, they circulate within the community, they pay for local jobs, better paying jobs than the big box stores,” Foley continued.

Foley encourages people to continue shopping local, but he acknowledges it can be challenging as costs across the board continue to rise.

“It’s no surprise that sales are down in a lot of small businesses, given the current economic climate. Obviously there’s been a lot of talk about notable inflation over the last few years, and people are really feeling the pinch,” Foley said.

While the stats show a decline in sales for small businesses across the province, Foley says he remains optimistic about the future of Prince George’s small businesses, saying he is always quite positive about their outlook thanks to the passionate people behind them.