CFIB calls on Saskatchewan government to help with rising costs, address healthcare challenges, and reduce tax burden in upcoming budget

Regina, March 13, 2023 - On behalf of over 4,000 small businesses in Saskatchewan, CFIB is calling on the provincial government to make economic recovery for small businesses a priority in the upcoming 2023-24 provincial budget.

In response to a recent CFIB survey, Saskatchewan small business owners indicated that over the next year, they would like to see the provincial government:

• Address the rising costs of doing business (95%);
• Address healthcare challenges (93%);
• Reduce the overall tax burden (89%); and
• Ensure labour policies are reasonable for employers (87%).

“Business owners have been forced to work longer hours and take on staggering debt loads just to stay open,” said Brianna Solberg, CFIB director of provincial affairs. “The average small business owner in Saskatchewan is still staring down roughly $63,000 in pandemic-related debt. With these challenges in mind, the Saskatchewan government needs to ensure business owners are not burdened with additional costs at this time.”

According to CFIB’s latest Monthly Business Barometer – which tracks business confidence levels – small business owners in Saskatchewan tend to be more optimistic about the coming year than businesses across the rest of the country. This is a positive indicator, and could be due in part to the actions already taken by the province to help relieve some cost pressures for businesses, such as:

• Extending the small business corporate tax rate reduction until 2024;
• Removing fitness/gym memberships from last year’s PST expansion; and
• Ensuring minimum wage increases will be gradual (as opposed to a sudden jump to $15/hour).

We would be encouraged to see the government continue to build upon these measures in this year’s budget. To that end, CFIB met with the finance minister last December to present our recommendations as to how the Saskatchewan government can further support small business recovery in Budget 2023-24.

Some examples of our recommendations include:

• Freeze education property tax mill rates, or consider phasing out these taxes (like Manitoba);
• Legislate the Worker’s Compensation Board’s surplus refund policy - requiring the Board to refund 100% of its annual surplus to employers; and
• Continue efforts to reduce the complexity, red tape, and costs associated with hiring new Canadians.

“CFIB is calling on the Saskatchewan government to take a ‘do no harm’ approach in this year’s budget in order to give small businesses the chance to get back on track,” concluded Solberg.

Click here to view CFIB’s pre-budget presentation.

For media enquiries or interviews, please contact:

Brianna Solberg
CFIB provincial affairs director
(306)-713-8071
Brianna.Solberg@cfib.ca

About CFIB

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is Canada’s largest association of small and medium-sized businesses with 97,000 members (4,000 in Saskatchewan) 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.