{"id":61775,"date":"2026-01-20T08:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T12:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelaker.ca\/?p=61775"},"modified":"2026-01-20T08:30:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T12:30:00","slug":"cfib-small-businesses-must-be-top-priority-as-mps-return-to-ottawa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/?p=61775","title":{"rendered":"CFIB small businesses must be top priority as MP’s return to Ottawa\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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HALIFAX: <\/strong>With a week to go before\u00a0Parliament resumes,\u00a0the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB)\u00a0is\u00a0calling\u00a0on\u00a0the federal government to\u00a0make 2026 a year of the\u00a0entrepreneur\u00a0and\u00a0implement policies that\u00a0will support\u00a0the growth and success\u00a0of\u00a0small businesses.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c2025 was\u00a0a rollercoaster\u00a0for small businesses.\u00a0They had to navigate unpredictable tariffs,\u00a0continued\u00a0labour disputes\u00a0and disruptions,\u00a0and\u00a0weak\u00a0consumer\u00a0demand,\u00a0all while the cost of doing business continued to rise,\u201d\u00a0said Corinne Pohlmann,\u00a0CFIB\u2019s\u00a0executive vice-president of advocacy.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe November\u00a0federal budget\u00a0did not\u00a0provide\u00a0meaningful\u00a0support\u00a0to\u00a0small businesses.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We urge Parliament\u00a0to\u00a0make\u00a0small\u00a0business\u00a0priorities\u00a0their priorities this winter\u00a0and\u00a0to\u00a0strengthen Canada\u2019s entrepreneurial landscape.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ADVERTISEMENT:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Small business owners report that federal budget programs such as the $51-billion Building Communities Fund and the $1-billion Regional Tariff Response Initiative (RTRI) are missing the mark. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearly four in five business owners\u00a0weren’t even\u00a0aware of the federal\u00a0RTRI\u00a0program, aimed at businesses affected by trade disruptions and tariffs.\u00a0CFIB data shows that less than 1%\u202fhave applied so far, a third (31%) don\u2019t plan to\u00a0apply, and 27% say\u00a0the program isn\u2019t applicable to them.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for the\u00a0Building Communities Fund,\u00a0it\u00a0could\u00a0exclude\u00a0the vast majority of\u00a0small businesses\u00a0by\u00a0providing a competitive advantage to\u00a0unionised\u00a0businesses.\u00a0This\u00a0approach\u00a0would be\u00a0unjust and discriminatory.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUnsurprisingly,\u00a0most SMEs feel excluded from the\u00a0very\u00a0government programs they were told were\u00a0meant to help them,” said Jasmin Guenette, CFIB’s vice-president of national affairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Words have no meanings if they are not translated into actions.\u00a0It\u2019s time for government to deliver policies and conditions where small businesses can grow and thrive.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ADVERTISEMENT:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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With\u00a0Canada-U.S. trade talks\u00a0currently\u00a0suspended, 60% of SMEs\u00a0say\u00a0the federal government\u00a0should\u00a0actively work with the U.S. to reduce trade uncertainty.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other ways to help small firms\u00a0manage the impact of tariffs include reducing\u00a0internal trade barriers (59%) and providing\u00a0broad-based tax relief (56%), finds CFIB data.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CFIB is calling on the federal government to: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Small business tax rate: Lower\u00a0the small business tax rate\u00a0from 9% to 6%,\u00a0increase the small business deduction threshold from $500,000 to $700,000 and index it to inflation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Trade with the U.S.: Ensure\u00a0that the money collected through Canadian counter tariffs is returned to\u00a0all\u00a0affected Canadian small businesses.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Payroll taxes: Introduce\u00a0a lower EI premium rate for smaller employers or move the employer\/employee split from 60\/40 to 50\/50.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Internal trade:\u00a0Include food in Canada\u2019s mutual recognition framework.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Red tape:\u00a0Measure and report on the total number of rules in place and\u00a0introduce\u00a0a \u201ctwo-for-one\u201d rule that applies to all regulations, legislation,\u00a0and policies.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Supply chain: Ensure\u00a0that there are no work stoppages or disruptions in the federally regulated transportation sector and at Canada Post.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Immigration:\u00a0Ensure that immigration programs align with local small business\u00a0labour\u00a0needs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Balanced budget:\u202fImplement a clear path to balancing the overall government budget\u202fwith legislated spending limits outside of a global crisis.\u202f\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
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    [metaslider id=”56509″]<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    HALIFAX: With a week to go before\u00a0Parliament resumes,\u00a0the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB)\u00a0is\u00a0calling\u00a0on\u00a0the federal government to\u00a0make 2026 a year of the\u00a0entrepreneur\u00a0and\u00a0implement policies that\u00a0will support\u00a0the growth and success\u00a0of\u00a0small businesses.\u00a0 \u201c2025 was\u00a0a rollercoaster\u00a0for small businesses.\u00a0They had to navigate unpredictable tariffs,\u00a0continued\u00a0labour disputes\u00a0and disruptions,\u00a0and\u00a0weak\u00a0consumer\u00a0demand,\u00a0all while the cost of doing business continued to rise,\u201d\u00a0said Corinne Pohlmann,\u00a0CFIB\u2019s\u00a0executive vice-president of advocacy.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61777,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[957],"tags":[4587,1923,5588,1281,10132,48,836,2162],"class_list":["post-61775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-braedon-clark","tag-canada","tag-cfib","tag-kody-blois","tag-mike-kelloway","tag-n-s","tag-ottawa","tag-small-businesses"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=61775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61775\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/61777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=61775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=61775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=61775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}