Recap of Supports for Small Business Month

Small businesses create more than 80% of the jobs in this country, a powerhouse of economic growth. The federal government believes small businesses are essential to Canada’s economic growth, so it is doing everything it can to keep them viable and ever-growing. 

Just this month, we announced that we’re: 

1: Delivering over $2.5 billion dollars to about 600,000 Canadian businesses through the new Canada Carbon Rebate for Small Businesses

• A portion of the price on pollution proceeds from 2019-20 through 2023-24 will be returned to around 600,000 small and medium size corporations with 1 to 499 employees through this new refundable tax credit. 

• Corporations that filed their tax return for 2023 by July 15, 2024, will receive their Canada Carbon Rebate for Small Businesses by the end of this year. We are also extending the tax filing deadline to December 31st, 2024. 

• Proceeds from the price on pollution from this year and future years will be returned to small businesses in a similar manner each year. 

Table 1 

Specified Amounts to be Returned to Small- and Medium-Sized Businesses, by province, 2019-20 to 2023-2024 ($ millions)

* As the federal fuel charge only came into effect as of January 1, 2020 in Alberta, and as of July 1, 2023 in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador, small businesses in these provinces will receive payments for proceeds collected after those respective dates.

Note: Provinces excluded from this chart have their own carbon pricing system. To learn about British Columbia’s Carbon Tax, go here.

2: Lowering credit card transaction fees by up to 27 per cent – which is set to help small businesses save $1 billion over the next five years

• Our government negotiated with Visa and Mastercard to lower credit card interchange fees by up to 27%. This will benefit over 90% of SMEs and will take effect on October 19th, 2024. 

• These fee reductions are expected to save eligible SMEs about $1 billion over five years. 

• We expect all members of the credit card industry, including payment processors, to pass these savings on directly to small businesses. 

• For example, if a store processes $300,000 in credit card payments, they currently pay nearly $4,000 in annual fees. With these new agreements, the store could save $1,080 in fees every year.

3: Making it easier for businesses to find the best deal when selecting card processing providers.

• We are revising the payment card code of conduct to protect over 1 million SMEs that accept credit and debit payments. 

• Starting on October 30, 2024, the revised Code will help businesses compare prices and offers from different payment processors, and shorten the complaint handling response time by nearly 80 per cent to just 20 business days. 

4: Other small business supports.

• We lowered taxes for small businesses from 11% in 2015 to 9% today. 

• We lowered taxes again through Budget 2022 by making the 9% federal small business tax rate available to more businesses as they grow. 

• We made changes to repayment of Canada Emergency Business Account loans for small business owners, to give you more wiggle room. Deadline to repay your loan in full is December 31, 2026. 

• We are also supporting more Canadian entrepreneurs through our Women Entrepreneurship Strategy, Black Entrepreneurship Program, 2SLGBTQI+ Entrepreneurship Program, support for Futurpreneur, and investments in Indigenous entrepreneurs. 

The CPC talks a big game about supporting mom-and-pop shops, but the fact is, the small business tax rate was HIGHER under the Harper/Poilievre government than it is today. 

Lower fees and taxes for small businesses: promise made, promise kept. 

Check out this page for tax resources, tools, and services to help you tackle the challenges of running a business.