October 19, 2009

KENORA, ON – October 18th to the 24th is the 30th Anniversary of Small Business Week in Canada. It is an excellent opportunity to recognize and celebrate the contribution of our Canadian entrepreneurs to our communities and to our country as a whole.
 
The last year has been a turbulent one for the global economy. Recognizing the challenges that were ahead our Conservative Government has acted quickly and introduced an Economic Action Plan to help stimulate the economy and support small businesses.
 
“Locally this Economic Action Plan has resulted in significant infrastructure investments which will improve the business climate and environment in which Northwestern Ontario businesses operate,” said Rickford. “I would like to applaud and celebrate all the business owners in the great Kenora riding. Small businesses are critical to the success of our economy. Our Conservative government continues to deliver real results to empower entrepreneurs and their businesses in our communities.”
 
The Plan is delivering several new initiatives to help ensure that small businesses in Canada come out of the recession stronger than ever. Our economy is already showing signs of recovery. And that recovery is being led by small businesses.
 
The Conservative government is delivering for small business with:

• Tax Savings – More businesses now qualify for the small business tax rate of 11% because we have increased the earnings threshold from $300,000 to $500,000.
• Reducing Red Tape – Small businesses can spend a little more time on their success and less time on their paper burden since our we achieved our commitment of a 20% reduction in the federal government’s paperwork burden for small and medium-sized enterprises.
• Better Access to Financing – To help small businesses manage the challenge of the global economic downturn, we are investing in new loan programs through the Business Development Bank of Canada, as well as increasing loan limits in existing programs.

“Small businesses are the backbone of our communities in Northwestern Ontario; as well they represent 98% of the companies in Canada, and employ just under half of the workforce. Our government is working to help ensure Canada’s small businesses thrive,” said Rickford.
Locally the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) and Northwestern Business Centre have activities planned to support small business.  See details at: http://www.kenora.ca/NWBC/Events/Events.aspx
 
The Northwestern Business Centre also hosts weekly workshops at a nominal charge to help entrepreneurs, for more information check out their web site http://www.nwbiz.ca/nwbc/ or phone 807.467.4643.
 
Please visit www.actionplan.gc.ca to discover how your Conservative Government is continuing to deliver for small business.




Backgrounder

Small Business Week: Celebrating and Supporting Small Businesses
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the foundation of the economy, as they account for 98 percent of all businesses in Canada. As of 2008, SMEs employed approximately 5 million Canadians. A quarter of Canada’s gross domestic product is provided by small businesses with fewer than 50 employees, and this amount has been increasing.

Industry Canada defines small businesses as having fewer than 100 employees, while medium-sized businesses consist of 100 to 499 employees. Canada has one of the highest rates of small businesses entering the marketplace among industrialized countries — approximately 130 000 new small businesses are created annually. SMEs created 70 000 jobs and employed 48 percent of the labour force in 2008. In the same year, small business employees in Canada earned around $735 per week.

The survival rate for small businesses in Canada is strong. About 96 percent of small businesses in Canada survive for one full year after they enter the marketplace, 85 percent survive for three years and 70 percent survive for five years. Three quarters of SMEs operate in the service industries, while one quarter is in the goods-producing sector.

SMEs encourage expansion and prosperity of the Canadian economy and have helped secure a more stable position for Canada in the economic recession. These enterprises extend Canadian international trade, as they account for 20 percent of the total value of Canada’s exports.
The Government of Canada is committed to supporting small businesses and has established programs and services to stimulate economic growth, create more jobs for Canadians and help businesses compete and succeed in the global marketplace.

Access to Financing
In the current economic conditions, one of the greatest concerns for business is access to credit.
The Canada Small Business Financing Program (CSBF) makes it easier for businesses to obtain loans from financial institutions by sharing the risk with lenders. Annually, the CSBF delivers approximately $1 billion in financing through thousands of loans that support start-up businesses and help established enterprises improve and expand. As part of Canada’s Economic Action Plan, the program’s maximum loan amount was increased from $250 000 to $350 000. And for real estate, the maximum loan size was raised to $500 000. These measures support SMEs in Canada and, in so doing, stimulate economic growth and create jobs for Canadians.

The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) provides 28 000 clients across Canada with complementary financing, venture capital, and consulting and financial services exclusively for SMEs. In this capacity, the BDC plays a key role in creating the right conditions in which SMEs can grow and prosper. Current market developments have increased the demand for BDC financing and other services. The government has responded by putting in place a number of measures to improve access to financing.

Young entrepreneurs are the future of Canadian business. Canada’s Economic Action Plan provided the Canadian Youth Business Foundation with $10 million to give young entrepreneurs access to business loans and mentoring services to help them start up and operate new businesses. Since its creation in 1996, the Canadian Youth Business Foundation has helped more than 2800 new entrepreneurs. Their businesses have generated more than $300 million in sales revenues in this country and have created more than 15 000 new jobs.

The Small Business Internship Program (SBIP) allows SMEs to hire qualified student interns to assist with e-business and communications projects by reimbursing up to 75 percent of the students’ wage and benefit expenses. At the same time, the SBIP offers promising post-secondary students valuable, hands-on job experience working on e-business and information technology projects under the guidance of entrepreneurs. Student interns gain an appreciation of entrepreneurship and the opportunity to explore career possibilities while making money to continue their education.

Tax Relief
The Government of Canada is providing tax relief measures to help SMEs invest more earnings in development and expansion, which helps to create more jobs. Canada’s Economic Action Plan has raised the amount of business income eligible for the small business tax rate of 11 percent to $500 000 from $400 000, and Employment Insurance premium rates will remain frozen at the 2009 levels.

Business Services
The Canada Business Network (CBN) consolidates business resources into one convenient service, providing a single point of access to relevant information from multi-levels of government and not-for-profit organizations to aid in the start-up and growth of small businesses. Renewed funding for CBN — $30 million over two years — ensures continuation of this valuable resource and enhanced service, including the new national CBN website. The renewed funding means that small businesses in Canada will have continued support from the CBN and enhanced service including:

•  more emphasis placed on the needs of existing small businesses to help them survive their critical first three years and to continue to grow their businesses

• an improved national website that:

• provides new content and higher-value customized services to address the priorities of small business owners
• allows clients to personalize the information they access — by industry, geographic location, topic of interest and their stage within the business lifecycle

Another time-saving service for business is BizPaL, which offers entrepreneurs and businesses simplified access to permit and license information from multiple levels of government. To date, 11 provinces and territories are participating in BizPaL, along with more than 330 municipalities. BizPaL is convenient and efficient and helps reduce the paperwork burden faced by Canadian SMEs.

SMEs are the backbone of the Canadian economy. The government is working closely with entrepreneurs and business owners to strengthen this foundation and make Canada an innovative and competitive leader on the global stage.