HALIFAX/FALL RIVER: The 2023 fall sitting of the Nova Scotia Legislature has resulted in very little for small businesses in Nova Scotia, the CFIB said in a release.
Eight out of ten businesses had cited the cost of doing business as their top concern prior to the Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) meeting in Province House this fall.
“Small businesses are heartened, however, to see an end to the “better paycheque guarantee” conversation,” said Duncan Robertson, a senior policy analyst at CFIB.
“With questions around the uncertainty of eligibility, its impact on employee-employer relations, and how this policy would impact self-employed entrepreneurs going answered for the past two years, small businesses now have the clarity they need.”
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CFIB will continue to call on the Government of Nova Scotia to take action to improve the province’s small business environment, such as increasing the small business tax threshold or lowering the tax rate itself.
Policies such as these would ensure small businesses can catch their breath, stay afloat, and continue to do what they do best – build Nova Scotia’s economy.
Tax relief would benefit small businesses across the province that are currently saddled with the third highest payroll tax burden in the country.
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If the provincial government provided tax relief this winter, seven in ten small businesses would use those savings to pay down debt, and close to six in ten would increase employee compensation via wages or benefits.
“With the holiday season approaching, over half of the province’s small businesses will be looking to holiday sales to stay in the black. T
“he government may be leaving coal in the stockings of small businesses, but consumers still have the chance to help local small businesses thrive,” Robertson added.
“When shopping at a local small business this holiday season, 66 cents out of every dollar stays local compared to only 11 cents when shopping at a multinational and only eight cents when shopping at an online giant.
“When small businesses thrive, our communities thrive.”
