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Canada’s economy is among the fastest growing in the G7.
The unemployment rate is at a 40-year historic low, real wages are rising at the fastest pace in nearly a decade, and more than a million jobs have been created since December 2015.
It’s the kind of economy that makes investors interested in Canada, and why we are ranked third globally in foreign direct investment confidence and have seen some of the highest levels of venture capital investments since the 1990s.
Much of this good news can be attributed to the strength of our small business community and it is the reason our government remains committed to making it easier to do business in Canada.
On Jan. 1, we lowered the small business tax rate to nine per cent, giving Canada one of the lowest small business tax rates in the world and saving small business owners to up to $7,500 a year.
Last fall, we proposed three immediate changes to Canada’s tax system that will make it easier for small business:
- allowing businesses to immediately write off the full cost of machinery and equipment used for the manufacturing and processing of goods
- allowing businesses to immediately write off the full cost of certain clean technology equipment
- and, through a new Accelerated Investment Initiative, allowing businesses across all sectors of the economy to write off a larger share of the cost of newly acquired assets in the year the investment is made.
We also kept our promise to cut red tape and make regulations more effective:
since 2015, our government has cut more than 450 federal rules that impose an administrative burden on business; and we are tackling regulatory irritants by harmonizing food regulations and inspections and facilitating greater trade of alcohol between provinces and territories.
As we pursue an ambitious trade diversification agenda, we are also investing more than $1 billion to help Canadian businesses and entrepreneurs scale up and access the $1.5 billion new customers made available through the USMCA, CETA and the CPTPP.
These trade agreements make Canada the only G7 country with a trade agreement with all G7 partners.
And, because we know the full and equal participation of women in the economy is essential to Canada's future competitiveness and prosperity, our government created the $2-billion Women Entrepreneurship Strategy (WES), with a goal of doubling the amount of women-owned businesses in Canada by 2025.
Buoyed by economic confidence at home, Canadian small businesses are succeeding at being more productive, more innovative and more competitive providing important paths to prosperity for families in our communities.
As an advocate for our local business community you have my assurance I will continue to work to alleviate the pressures that small business owners face.
Our community would not be the vibrant innovative regional hub it is without the hard work and determination of our entrepreneurs and our government is committed to doing everything we can to clear the path to success.
This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.
