Qubec SMEs have set their priorities, but fear they will be forgotten

montreal, September 6, 2022 /CNW Telbec/ — The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) has released the preliminary results of its exclusive provincial election poll, which was answered by 787 entrepreneurs. It highlights the economic priorities that Quebec SMEs would like to see included in political party platforms:

• put in place measures to address the labor shortage (77%);
• reduce paperwork (68%);
• Improving the tax system for small and medium enterprises (64%);
• Helping small and medium-sized businesses in the face of inflation (56%);
• Reducing the size of the public administration (52%).

“We have witnessed the winds of solidarity from residents and public authorities to help our small businesses during the pandemic. Today, small and medium businesses face great challenges. They have to face rising costs because they are understaffed. All this while they also have to bear the burden of unfavorable taxes and heavy paperwork. There are more than 250,000 SMEs in Qubec who energize the economy of our regions. If we want a strong economy, SME issues must be at the heart of political party platforms, says François Vincent, Vice President of Qubec at CFIB.

Small and medium businesses are skeptical that their economic issues are being handled properly

Survey highlight: 69% of SMEs are not convinced that political parties will pay enough attention to their economic issues during the election campaign.

However, the economic game plan that will be put in place over the next four years will be vital to Qubec’s SMEs. In fact, 65% of entrepreneurs say that regional government decisions make a big difference to their business.

More than three out of five SME managers report that Qubec government decisions make a difference to their business. This indicates that it is very strategic to include economic issues of SMEs in political programmes. When we see the skepticism of the majority of Quebec entrepreneurs, the most important thing is to use the rest of the campaign to talk about their priorities, adds Mr. Vincent.

Measures within the reach of the next government

Actions are within the reach of any future government to assist SMEs in successfully addressing their major challenges. As a reminder, here is a summary of some CFIB Priority Requests:

labor shortage

• Reduce taxes on SMEs and improve tax credits
• facilitating immigration

Taxes for small and medium businesses

• Fix the tax injustice that imposes 259% on the smallest companies in the services and construction sectors
• Adopt a tax cut scheme for small and medium businesses that includes a payroll tax cut of 30% above the Canadian average

Reduce paperwork

• Adoption of a framework law
• Improve the 1-to-1 rule to curb regulatory inflation, with a total cost estimated at $8.2 billion in Quebec

• We ask a lot of entrepreneurs: we ask them to grow, to export, to support the economy, to implement new rules, but at the same time, we do not remove the pitfalls that hold them back. François Vincent concludes that the election campaign is an opportunity to pave the way for the success of our SMEs and our economy.

methodology:

CFIB, Clear Quebec Election Survey, Preliminary Results August 29 to September 2, 2022, 787 participants, margin of error +/- 3.5%, 19 times out of 20.

About CFIB

CFIB (Canadian Federation of Independent Business)It is the largest group of small and medium businesses in the country, with 95,000 members in all sectors of activity and all regions. It aims to increase the chances of success of small and medium businesses by defending their interests with governments, providing them with personal resources and offering them exclusive savings. visit CFIB.ca To find out more.

Source: Canadian Federation of Independent Business

Press release sent on 6 September 2022 07:22 and distributed by: