Since its inception, the Board of Trade has consistently lobbied for improvements to railways and road conditions and for the building of new roads to connect the community with outlying areas and other cities. These included the establishment of railways in all directions leading into and out of Sudbury, the building of roads from Sudbury to Parry Sound, Gravenhurst, and to Wahnapitae's gold mines, and the improvement of existing roads leading from Sudbury to Chelmsford, Levack, Hanmer, Capreol, Estaire, and Burwash.

During the late 1800's and early 1900's, there was a provincial tax on mining and lumbering in places where fishing, manufacturing, farming, and service industries were not present. As Sudbury was such a place, all of the mining and lumbering activities were heavily taxed, and at one point in the early 1900's, the mining taxes amounted to around $3 million. Most of the profit made from mining, lumbering, and furs was often taken out of the Sudbury area and sent to places like Toronto, where company and government head offices were located. This left little profit available to the local economy. Sometime in the early 1900's, the Board of Trade decided to lobby against the unfair taxation and implored the government and industry leaders to reinvest in the community. Unfortunately, this met with limited success.

• Early Community Services