BCSPS Team
Research by BC Society for Policy Solutions proposes a path to a brighter future
Words by Jessica Natale Woollard Photos by Jeff Topham
Open any news or social media app, and it’s clear British Columbians are struggling. Housing is unaffordable; the cost of living outpaces wages; and communities are overwhelmed with serious social and safety issues.
The media might theorize about what is causing these exigencies, and politicians promise to improve conditions, but the BC Society for Policy Solutions (BC Policy Solutions) can explain what is going on.
“We are in a crisis. We want to know what the causes might be and what the solutions are,” explains Véronique Sioufi, a researcher and policy analyst with BC Policy Solutions, the newest chapter of the Professional Employees Association, formed in March 2025.
The organization does research to break down the causes of problems facing the people of BC and determine potential solutions to improve their lives.
“I can’t think of more important work,” Sioufi adds.
The BC Policy Solutions name may not be familiar to many, but their research has far-reaching impact in the province. The $10 a day childcare? The team had their hand in that work. Changes to the Labour Relations Code? Many were proposed by them. The living wage calculation? They led it.
Spread across the lower mainland, the team of eight listens to what is affecting citizens and monitors the needs of communities and groups. Then, the myth-busters use research to clarify and explain what is being reported in the media and repeated by politicians. They find gaps in the narratives and propose policy solutions that will truly make positive change.
“I describe us as a progressive think tank,” explains Sioufi, a PhD candidate at Simon Fraser University whose focus at BC Policy Solutions is racial and socioeconomic equity. “We do research to come up with solutions to improve social and economic equity and equality.”
BC Policy Solutions: New name, decades-old mission
On paper, BC Policy Solutions is a new organization, which launched in February 2025. The team, however, has been doing policy work together for years, operating as the BC office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) since 1997. In December 2024, CCPA decided to close the BC office (read the reasons for the closure at bcpolicy.ca). The staff at the BC office wanted to continue doing their important work, and so did members of the BC steering committee. A new board was struck, and BC Policy Solutions was launched, with eight of the original nine staff remaining in place.
The close-knit team includes an executive director, two economists each with their own area of expertise, a policy analyst, fundraising coordinator, media specialist, digital communications specialist, project manager, operations manager and an administration and operations specialist. Their board includes BC-based strategic leaders in the not-for-profit and activist spaces, lawyers, union professionals and advocates.
The challenge BC Policy Solutions faces now is to spread the word that the same great team is continuing the exceptional work that donors and supporters in the province have come to trust.
“Many people supported the BC office of the CCPA because they wanted to support research that was focused on BC,” explains Rav Kambo, BC Policy Solutions’ senior fundraising coordinator. The new organization is essentially in start-up mode, she continues, noting they need to re-recruit donors who had supported them for years. “Our donors are our key supporters. They want progressive research that is rooted in BC for people living in BC.”
Sioufi adds that the changes come with promise.
“We have a unique opportunity to refresh our approach. We want people to know we’re the same people from CCPA BC, but also that we’re going to do this bigger and better and fresher and more guided by the people of BC.”
PEA’s newest chapter
Unionization was a priority for BC Policy Solutions. Just before the organization launched in February, Sioufi attended the Canadian Labour Congress and BC Federation of Labour’s Winter School at Harrison Hot Springs and gave a presentation on economics. PEA Executive Director Melissa Moroz was in the audience and reached out to Sioufi after about doing a similar presentation for the union.
Sioufi recalls that she responded, “‘I’m happy to do a presentation. How do you feel about representing us?’”
From that initial exchange, BC Policy Solutions and PEA found each other to be a great fit. BC Policy Solutions officially joined PEA in March 2025, with Kambo and Sioufi serving as chapter representatives.
With some of the larger administrative tasks of a new organization accomplished, BC Policy Solutions can focus on their research and getting their work into the hands of policy influencers.
Once they complete research on a topic of interest, they distribute their findings and recommendations to supporters and donors through newsletters, the media and partners. They give as many industry presentations as possible, attend public consultations by government and share their work with organizations, activist groups and unions. BC Policy Solutions staff do the research and recommend solutions, but they are not lobbyists; it’s the action-focused bodies who will take their work to policymakers and fight for change.
“They add our research to their arsenal,” Sioufi explains. “For example, if we research something specifically around migrant work, we’ll hand it over to the Migrant Workers Centre BC, so that they can do something with it.”
Their work often finds its way directly into the hands of government policymakers, too. Their established reputation means they are on the government’s radar.
“If government asks us for information about a topic, we provide it,” Sioufi says, noting that BC Policy Solutions is non-partisan. “We know we’re being watched and read because we do see our ideas every time an election cycle comes around, ideas that, when we first put them out, were seen as impossible or too radical. We start to see them reflected in platforms,” she notes, adding that they are seldom attributed to their office—but they don’t mind, provided their work has impact.
Hope for BC
Looking at recent election results and the news cycle, it feels like people are moving further and further apart, Kambo reflects.
“I think our role as a progressive think tank is to push back against the division that is happening in our society by providing real solutions on how to move forward,” she says. “The research we do puts forward bold ideas. The role of the organization is to show the path forward to help bring people together.”
Kambo and Sioufi speak passionately about their commitment to BC Policy Solutions’ work. Both emphasize the importance of improving life for people.
“For us, it’s about setting the bar higher,” Sioufi adds. “There are real, realistic solutions available—and we have them.”
See the article in the Professional, Winter 2025
