What are the critical issues facing small business owners in the West?

A new report by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) looks at what is impacting small businesses the most in eight municipalities across Western Canada.

In this video interview, Emily Boston, Policy Analyst with the CFIB, discusses the Municipal Business Report which analyzes the business friendliness of these municipalities.

PRESS RELEASE

Western Canada, Feb 8, 2023 – The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) has released a brand-new report that challenges municipal governments across western Canada to make it easier for business owners to do what they do best: run their business.

The Municipal Business Report analyzes the business friendliness of eight major municipalities in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Three major cost and regulatory performance categories are examined: revenue and expenditures, red tape reduction and small business friendliness policies.

According to the report, 70% of small business owners in the west think that their municipal government does not understand the cost pressures they face.

“Small businesses are struggling with a challenging economic climate that is exacerbated by increasing property taxes, rising inflation, ongoing labour shortages, and pandemic-related debt. They are unable to shoulder additional costs from their municipal governments at this time,” said Emily Boston at CFIB. “CFIB asks that elected municipal leaders consider the needs of their local businesses when determining their budgets, spending and taxation levels.”

“We hope that this report serves as a benchmark for what municipal governments should do to serve the needs of the small business communities better and that it will act as a catalyst for change,” said Seo Rhin Yoo, Policy Analyst at CFIB.

CFIB urges municipal policymakers to keep costs down and reduce the regulatory burden for local businesses. The recommendations include:

• Halt cost increases for small businesses (property taxes, utility fees, permit costs, etc.)
• Offer permanent and inter-municipal business licenses
• Implement a permanent public feedback mechanism for businesses and citizens to report their regulatory frustrations and red tape irritants
• Make target timelines (and their actual processing times) for licensing and permitting processing publicly available
• Create or improve dedicated pages for small business information with updated contact information
• Increase the accessibility of budget consultation processes to include small business owners
• Adopt a construction mitigation policy for public projects

Read CFIB’s Municipal Business Report.

About CFIB
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is Canada’s largest association of small and medium-sized businesses with 97,000 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.

(Mario Toneguzzi is Managing Editor of Canada’s Podcast. He has more than 40 years of experience as a daily newspaper writer, columnist, and editor. He worked for 35 years at the Calgary Herald, covering sports, crime, politics, health, faith, city and breaking news, and business. He works as well as a freelance writer for several national publications and as a consultant in communications and media relations/training. Mario was named in 2021 as one of the Top 10 Business Journalists in the World by PR News – the only Canadian to make the list)