Laura Jones

Laura Jones is a Canadian economist. Since 2023, she has been President and Chief Executive Officer of the Business Council of British Columbia.

For 20 years before that, Jones was at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), lastly as Chief Strategic Officer and Executive Vice-President. She also co-ordinated the Fraser Institute's annual survey of mining companies.

Laura Jones received a B.A. in Economics from Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, and an M.A. in Economics from Simon Fraser University.

Research on regulatory reform Laura Jones has led "groundbreaking" research on the costs of regulation in Canada and in the United States. She prepared Cutting Red Tape in Canada: A Regulatory Reform Model for the United States? for the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Jones' study (with P. McLaughlin) on measuring the burden of regulation was published in 2022 by the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy.

Jones has edited five books, including Safe Enough? Managing Risk and Regulation. the Ottawa Citizen, the National Post, and the Globe and Mail. and before congressional committees in the United States.

Recommendations originating with Laura Jones' work have led to policy changes, including the taxpayer fairness codes adopted by the governments of British Columbia and Canada; reductions in interprovincial trade barriers; and implementation of regulatory measurements across Canada.