Our Values
We believe that the majority of business owners want to create good jobs, build sustainable businesses, contribute to the communities they operate in, and create shared success with their staff, customers, and communities.
The Better Way Alliance brings together business owners who share this vision. Our values reflect the practical ways we help businesses build sustainable operations that benefit everyone involved.
- Advocates for Sustainable Business Practices
- Leaders in Workplace Excellence
- Champions of Fair and Competitive Markets
- Supporters of Community Economic Development
- Pioneers of Ethical Employment Standards
The Better Way Alliance (BWA) believes in the power of sustainable business practices to foster a thriving, resilient economy.
We advocate for policies that support competitive wages, predictable work arrangements, and productive workplace conditions. Our commitment is to a business environment that creates lasting success for business owners, employees, and Canada’s economy.
Canada’s diverse communities provide businesses with access to a wide range of skills and perspectives. We support inclusive practices that help businesses create more productive workplaces by engaging the full talent available in their communities.
BWA champions workplaces where everyone can contribute their best work, creating stronger teams and better business outcomes for organizations that embrace their community’s talent.
We work to create markets where small and medium-sized enterprises can compete and thrive. This means addressing the barriers that prevent locally owned businesses from accessing the same advantages as larger corporations.
Access to capital, fair commercial rent policies, and supporting legislation that helps locally owned businesses compete — our goal is to increase the number of small and medium businesses that reach 20+ years of sustainable operation in Canada.
Community and collaboration are at the heart of what we do. The BWA fosters partnerships among businesses, workers, non-profits, and community leaders to enhance the social and economic well-being of the neighborhoods we serve.
By working together, we believe it is possible to achieve changes that build a competitive economy that works for Canadian businesses.
Ethical employment standards are key to our Good Jobs philosophy. We promote not just the creation of jobs but the creation of Good Jobs – positions that offer decent pay, respectful conditions, and opportunities for advancement – especially in traditionally low-paid and precarious industries.
Our members are role models within their respective sectors, proving that ethical employment standards are possible, profitable, and an integral part of community-building.
Our Team
Aaron Binder
Director, Communications
Email Aaron
Focusing On: Coffee Meetings, Partnership Outreach, Government Relations
Who I Am
I’m the Director of Communications at the Better Way Alliance. I spend my time talking to business owners, politicians, and media about what’s actually happening with Canada’s small businesses.
As a 4x business owner myself (currently a partner at Segway of Ontario & Go Tours Canada), I know what it’s like when your insurance doubles or your rent jumps 20%. When I talk to policymakers, I’m talking about my own experience – and pushing for solutions that work for all types of local brick and mortar businesses.
What I Do
Most of our communication happens through me – thankfully I come from a long line of farmers and blue-collar business owners, so I’ve got a strong jaw and can connect with anyone from shop owners to premiers.
I’m focused on solving the fixed-cost crisis that’s crushing small businesses so we can unlock success for Canada’s current and future entrepreneurs. I’ve watched too many businesses see their profit margins vaporize – not because of labor costs, but because rent, insurance, and utilities spiraled out of control. Rather than just complain, I push for policy and market-based solutions that help keep more local businesses local.
Too many good businesses are failing – and taking jobs with them – through no fault of their own. But we can fix it.
What I’m Proud Of
I believe the best solutions come from kitchen party conversations, not boardrooms. Almost two decades of business ownership has proven that putting employees first isn’t just right – it’s smart business.
I was part of Toronto’s Economic Advisory Panel and helped shape the Sidewalks to Skylines report. Every year I organize our advocacy day at Queen’s Park, where politicians meet real business owners creating good jobs.
Media
In media, I focus on telling the real stories of local businesses. As a business owner myself, I understand how these challenges and successes actually impact Canada’s business owners.
>> ‘We were shocked:’ Why Canadian business owners are sounding alarms over skyrocketing rent | Globalnews.ca
>> Saving Main Street: Local businesses need community support to stay afloat
Radio + TV
>> Le cinéma Revue, ouvert depuis 1912, menacé de fermeture, à Toronto | Radio-Canada
>> Make downtown Windsor great again: protect small businesses – Mornings with Mike and Meg – Sound Bites | iHeart
Podcast
>> Aaron Binder: Fair Wages, Small Business, and a Better Way Forward | Fearless Entrepreneurs Podcast – Apple Podcasts
>> Designing a Humane Future Episode 5: Supporting Main Street | TrickleUp Design
Liliana Locke
Director, Knowledge
Email Lili
Focusing On: Economics, Biz Tools, Program Design
Who I Am and What I Do
I am the Knowledge Director at the Better Way Alliance. My role is to ensure that we are producing helpful resources for business owners to implement good employment practices, and to drive research that informs our advocacy on employment and rent.
I also have a knack for writing grant and project proposals and love exploring partnerships for action-oriented collaborations.
What I’m Proud Of
I built a few calculators to estimate the cost of implementing paid sick days programs and wage raise programs for a business, and then because I’m an economist, of course thought we needed another calculator to find out how much a business could gain by preventing unhappy employees from leaving.
These tools are the highest-visited pages on our website, and a cult-favourite hotel in Toronto used them to create a new employment program for 300 employees. Because I’m a nerd, I wrote the business case for investing in good employment policies (really – it’s here – based on research done by our colleague and long-time research owner Gilleen Pearce).
I’ve also been invited to be a Fellow with Social Capital Partners which will give the BWA a bigger platform to explore innovative ways to make commercial spaces more affordable for small independent businesses – protecting the jobs and culture that make our neighborhoods vibrant and wonderful places to live and work.
My future ambitions are to share our work in more podcasts, summits, and prime media outlets. It helps our work build momentum, builds our network, and demonstrates its relevance to policymakers.
Media
I’ve really enjoyed the challenge of making our work relatable to Canadians in the media.
TV
>> Beloved Annex bookstore Presse Internationale closing due to huge rent hike
>> Minimum wage falls short | CTV
>> ‘Race for space’ squeezes retailers amid rising rents – The Globe and Mail
>> Extending CEBA deadline would help marginalized businesses, groups say – The Globe and Mail
Podcast
>> What She Said! Podcast – Apple Podcasts
>> Perspectives: A Canadian Journal of Political Economy and Social Democracy – Apple Podcasts