Latest news with #CanadianFederationofIndependentBusinesses
BBC News
29-04-2025
- Business
- BBC News
World Business Report Canadians are voting in an election dominated by the global trade war
Canadians are voting in a general election which has been dominated by Donald Trump's trade war and threats to annex the country. The leaders of the two main parties rejected a renewed assertion by Mr Trump on election day that Canada should become the fifty-first US state. Devina Gupta hears from the BBC's economics editor Faisal Islam, who is in Ottawa, and Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses. And the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, has urged people not to speculate over the cause of a massive power cut that's affected millions of people across Spain and Portugal.
CBC
21-03-2025
- Business
- CBC
Search numbers show Atlantic Canadians have gotten more interested in buying Canadian
Shoppers in Atlantic Canada are showing an increased interest in buying Canadian, according to their Google searches. Google trend data is one way of tracking how the buy Canadian movement is affecting consumer behaviour. "It's a pretty important measure because what that's saying to us is that consumers are interested and they're educating themselves," said Melise Panetta, lecturer of marketing at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ont. The movement to buy Canadian goods has gained traction across the country, but it's especially pronounced in the Atlantic region, she said. "I'm truly not surprised to see Atlantic Canada leading the pack a little bit as it relates to involvement in domestic and local sourcing," Panetta said. "[Maritimers] are excellent at demonstrating community solidarity and local business support when they feel threatened as it relates to their local economy," she said, adding that community has always been a focal point in Atlantic Canada. While the Google trend data indicates that more people are interested in buying Canadian, Panetta said there are some barriers to turning the trend into a habit. For one thing, Canadian products tend to cost more, Panetta said. That means that people might be able to buy Canadian in the short term, but in the medium to long term, it could become more difficult, she said. There's also a lack of understanding about what it means to buy Canadian, Panetta said, citing confusion about the difference between a 'Made in Canada' label versus a 'Product of Canada' item. But saying there has been a lot of rapid movement on improving Canadians' understanding, Panetta said she expects to see the confusion reduce substantially over the next months. Why it matters For Frédéric Gionet, there is a lot to value in Atlantic Canada — from the quality of products and businesses to work ethic and lifestyle. "We don't have a lot of producers around here, but those we do have, we have to support," said Gionet, the director of legislative affairs for the Atlantic region with the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses. He said buying Canadian — and more specifically, buying local — has big advantages. Gionet said about 66 cents of every dollar spent at a local store will be staying in the local economy, "versus 11 cents if you buy at department stores or 9 cents of every dollar if you buy online." He too said he's not surprised that Atlantic Canadians are leading the way in their support for local industries and products.
CBC
05-03-2025
- Business
- CBC
What B.C. is spending to help improve community safety
Social Sharing The 2025 B.C. budget is built to stay the course and cope with 25 per cent U.S tariffs, but it includes moderate spending to help communities grappling with crime, violence and social disorder. The new fiscal plan worth nearly $95 billion in spending includes $560 million over three years to help with encampments, address repeat violent offending, and help target robbery, shoplifting and property-related offences. Finance Minister Brenda Bailey said small businesses are the anchors of the province's economy but were "facing big challenges, including being hit with theft and vandalism far too often." Part of the money — $16 million this year with $35 million in each of the next two years — is for "safer communities" initiatives, which the budget says will provide police with "enhanced tools, technology and investigative resources to curb these crimes." The province said policing agencies across the province will be able to apply to the new Community Safety and Targeted Enforcement Program pilot for the funding of specific undertakings to deal with problems such as street-level crime. Those affected, including the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses (CFIB), said any new programming around these issues was welcome, but that their members were suffering under a crush of theft, vandalism and loitering, along with waste and litter at their businesses. "The time for a laid-back approach is past," said Emily Boston, a senior policy analyst with the CFIB. She noted that B.C's Security Small Businesses Rebate Program is no longer accepting applications, which was an opportunity for small businesses to recoup up to $2,000 in losses when they did experience vandalism. "It's a positive step to see government expanding supports generally in this area, but we've also seen now an absence moving forward of direct financial relief." Justice spending The budget also commits $24 million to improve capacity within and access to the province's justice system. This includes new funding for virtual bail, the B.C. Coroner's Service and Victims' Services. Specifically, the budget said spending would enhance security at the Vancouver Provincial Court at 222 Main Street. In February 2024, there was an attack on a prosecutor near the courthouse. B.C.'s Crown Counsel Association said the incident underscored the need for a "serious discussion" about whether it should be moved away from the Downtown Eastside. For the expansion of B.C.'s virtual bail system, Budget 2025 said it would enable bail hearings to be conducted in communities throughout the province, "providing more timely access to justice." For homelessness, B.C. has had a program since 2023 to connect people living in encampments with health supports, shelter and housing options. The HEART and HEARTH programs have resulted in 15 sites across the province, which offer 611 temporary supportive homes or shelter beds. New for 2025 will be $90 million over the next three years to expand the programs in more communities. "Funding will support community-based wrap-around supports, including leveraging village-like housing as alternatives to encampments," said the province. New funding will also expand training capacity for police recruits by 50 per cent from 192 to 288 officers per year.
CBC
18-02-2025
- Business
- CBC
'It was a nightmare': Sask. business owner describes GST holiday challenges
Businesses in Saskatchewan are reporting mixed results after the two-month GST holiday ended on Saturday, with many reporting added costs for negligible increases in sales. On Dec. 14 the federal government implemented the tax holiday on numerous consumer products like children's toys, some alcohol and newspapers. The program ran for two months, ending Feb. 15. Peggy Hlushko owns Once Upon a Child in Regina, which sells used children's toys and clothing. Due to its unique business model where she buys and sells used clothing, calculating the altered taxes on both transactions quickly became unmanageable. "It was a nightmare," she said. "It took me probably a day and a half just to try to get it set up to take the taxes off." As Once Upon a Child is an American company, Hlushko says she didn't receive any support on how to handle the transfers. She relied instead on collaborating with Saskatchewan's other Once Upon a Child store owners. "What we did we had to do ourselves and figure it out, and hope at the end of the day we did it right," she said. "And now even last night I went back in and had to take it off, reset all my taxes." "I'm still hoping that I got them to reset properly." 'An administrative nightmare' Brianna Solberg from the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses (CFIB) credited the federal government for its intentions with the tax holiday, but said it created an "administrative nightmare" for many small businesses. "We were taking hundreds of phone calls from business owners who were confused as to what they were obligated to do during this," she said. "Not to mention, we heard a lot of fear from business owners that at the end of this, if they didn't apply the tax correctly, then the CRA would be coming after them." "Literally this created different tax categories that never existed before." Solberg added that the government should have clarified sooner that the program was not mandatory. The GST holiday also only applied to some categories of goods like clothing and grocery store items, but even within those categories, many products were exempt. It was up to retailers to make those distinctions, and make sure taxes were collected correctly through their check out systems. One example Solberg mentioned was toys. Toys were tax exempt under the holiday, but only those marketed specifically to children. That meant that for items like LEGO sets and puzzles, some were exempt, but others marketed toward adults were not. In a survey of their members, the CFIB reported that only five per cent of small businesses saw strong sales compared to the same period the year before. Only four per cent of retail businesses reported increases, along with 15 per cent of hospitality businesses. The same survey found that 66 per cent of small businesses received the same amount of sales compared to the same period the year before, but did so dealing with challenges to reprogram their point-of-sale systems and train staff to deal with the holiday changes. Mixed early results Canada's inflation rate declined to 1.8 per cent in December, the most recent month with available data. According to Statistics Canada, food purchased from restaurants and alcoholic beverages — both items covered under the GST holiday — contributed the most to the deceleration. Other reports were more mixed. The Royal Bank of Canada's Consumer Spending Tracker, which collects purchasing data from its cardholders, reported that spending on items included in the tax holiday declined by 0.3 per cent in January after increasing by 1 per cent in December. Meanwhile, Canadian payments provider Moneris said people made fewer purchases between Dec. 14, 2024, and Jan. 15, 2025, compared to the same period a year earlier. Purchases at restaurants went down, but more transactions were made at children's clothing stores, according to the company.
