Small businesses weigh in on how the new federal administration can keep its promises

Small businesses in Canada are wondering how the latest iteration of the federal government will help them amid growing economic tensions. 

Newly elected Prime Minister Mark Carney campaigned heavily on helping small businesses manage economic hostilities, specifically by remedying financial ailments tied to the cost-of-living crisis, tariffs, and the ongoing trade war with the Trump administration.

Leading up to election day, he proposed solutions such as deferring corporate income tax payments and eliminating federal barriers to interprovincial trade. 

With Carney now settling into his position, and a fresh visit to the White House under his belt, where do small businesses in Canada think the focus on helping small businesses should be if it happens? 

A recent poll by Merchant Growth, a Canadian company helping local enterprises, found that priorities are fractured when it comes to how businesses want to stay above water, with results showing that:

• 38 per cent of small businesses want better access to low-interest loans
• 28 per cent want select tax deferrals 
• 22 per cent cited a desire for permanent tax incentives (i.e., credit for expenses on non-U.S. supplier use)
• 22 per cent cited relief and wage subsidies 
• 13 per cent cited dissolving barriers to provincial trade

Regarding the dominant desire for access to emergency capital through low-interest loans, Merchant Growth CEO and founder David Gens isn’t that surprised.

“Cash flow is the lifeblood of all businesses. Cash comes in, cash comes out. Now, the standard is that most small businesses struggle with getting the credit they need, and they are running things pretty tight. They are maneuvering increases to their operating costs, and margins are getting squeezed,” Gens told INsauga.com.

On the other end of the spectrum, while some attest that easier capital is a golden ticket, other businesses believe secondary solutions may work more efficiently. 

“For me, and while I cannot say the same for other industries, I think that the reduction of trade barriers between provinces would be the ideal,” Elizabeth Mywaart, CEO of Pendennis Weddings & Events, told INsauga.com. 

Mywaar–who responded to Merchant Growth’s poll–believes that efficient trade between provincial neighbours would be an ideal economic band-aid for her Edmonton-based hospitality enterprise. 

Especially since B.C., an ideal trade partner for wines and other wedding-adjacent goods, is right next door to her home province of Alberta. 

While the poll did show that the number of those who want to prioritize smoother province-to-province commerce is low (13 per cent), Gens believes that is likely not because most don’t care, but instead, would prefer to focus on what’s in front of them first.

“For many small businesses, their storefronts are more physical, correlating to a local clientele, resulting in less anxiety around looking to other provinces for help and focusing more on what is at home.”

A sentiment that, despite her preferences, Mywaart shares when looking at the wider economy. 

“Access to cash is probably the most helpful thing you can get when massive uncertainty and changes are threatening to impact you, because it quite literally ‘buys’ you time to pivot,” she says.

Until there is any follow-through, no one party is certain how the Carney administration will cushion the Canadian economy.

For Gens, however, the solution may be quite simple. Looking at the broader spectrum of Canadian economic desires, a lot can be solved if Canada makes itself a more enticing prospect for would-be international investors.

“The bigger rabbit hole that one can fall into is that there is capital investment leaving and not enough coming into the country…. Time will tell whether or not we can get that back into Canada in a meaningful way. Whether or not Carney’s policies are enough to drive that change will take time, and likely won’t happen overnight,” says Gens.

As for Carney’s potential solutions, Gens believes that the country will likely not see anything in the way of meaningful change until things get more severe. Whether that comes in the form of more aggressive tariffs or a full-scale recession remains to be seen.

Until then, Gens believes that the U.S., despite its current hostility, can function as a canary in a coal mine on what Canadians can expect in terms of economic burden, and just maybe, potential solutions if the feds keep their promises.

“We have seen recently that the U.S. may be even in a de facto recession right now. What does that do to the global economy? Well, we may be in for tougher times, but that’s how these cycles work.”