CFIB calls on Parliament to deal with unfinished business as sitting resumes Français
"Parliament needs to act quickly to address some unfinished business that can provide some much-needed certainty and cost relief to small business owners. It's deeply worrisome and disappointing that the government is not planning to introduce a budget in this sitting as we need a budget to get some important tax policies across the finish line," said Corinne Pohlmann, Executive Vice-President of Advocacy at CFIB.
Some of those key small business priorities that are urgently needed include:
Tariffs: Ensuring that the money collected through Canadian counter tariffs is returned quickly to affected Canadian small businesses.
Carbon tax: Passing legislation to formally eliminate the carbon tax and returning the remaining $600 million in 2024-25 carbon tax rebates to small businesses
Tax-free rebates: Ensuring the small business carbon tax rebates are delivered tax free as promised. Other employer rebates, such as Workers' Compensation Boards (WCB) rebates, must also be delivered tax free to boost the economy.
Capital gains: Delivering on the promised increase to the Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption to $1.25 million and implementing the promised Canadian Entrepreneurs' Incentive which would lower capital gains taxes on up to $2 million following a business sale.
Small business tax rate: Lowering the federal small business tax rate from 9% to 0% for the foreseeable future.
Internal trade: Working with provinces to capitalize on the current momentum towards the elimination of internal trade barriers by adopting mutual recognition.
"Ottawa needs to move as quickly as possible on economic and tax reduction policies. The cost of doing business is already high, and tariff-fueled uncertainty could cause irreversible damage if it's not addressed quickly. This government has a long list of outstanding promises to small business owners that it needs to address quickly. It has to provide a clear roadmap for the months ahead," said Jasmin Guenette, CFIB's vice-president of national affairs.
Small business owners can sign CFIB's petition calling on the federal government to lower the costs of doing business.
Methodology
Your Voice – May 2025 survey – Launched May 6, 2025 (ongoing). Results as of May 13, based on 1,420 CFIB member responses. For comparison purposes, a probability sample with the same number of respondents would have a margin of error of ±2.6%, 19 times out of 20.
About CFIB
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is Canada's largest association of small and medium-sized businesses with 100,000 members across every industry and region. CFIB is dedicated to increasing business owners' chances of success by driving policy change at all levels of government, providing expert advice and tools, and negotiating exclusive savings. Learn more at cfib.ca.
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After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris. Every piece of reporting Chris produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
