Small business owners across BC including the north are feeling a little more confident as we kick off 2020 according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
Entrepreneurial confidence grew by just over a point in January reaching an index of 56.4, surpassing the Canadian average for the first time in over a year.
Policy Analyst, Muriel Protzer told Vista Radio the spike comes at a good time with the provincial budget right around the corner.
“It’s good to see the optimism rise because we have the provincial budget coming up in February and I think what we see in this rise is that businesses are hoping to see some rise in initiatives in that budget.”
She cautions the increase is more of a reflection of what’s going on in Alberta with the economic turmoil and the current climate of a getting a major pipeline built.
In addition, Protzer would still like to see the province make some changes to the employer health tax ahead of this year’s budget.
“First off, in how it is paid, you have to pay the Employer Health Tax based on future projected payroll, you’re not actually paying that tax on a number that currently exists when you pay it.”
“In terms of the tax side, we would like to see that 500-thousand dollar exemption applied to all thresholds of the tax. Ultimately, while these are short-term solutions, we would like to see that Employer Health Tax phased out in the long term as payroll taxes carry the most burden for small business owners.”
She believes the BC Government also needs to shore up the number of job vacancies that still exist in places like the north.
“This is an issue that’s grown over the past five years in British Columbia and is now kind of at a peak and we are hoping that the province is looking at the shortage of labour issue because that is a lot of lost economic opportunity when you have vacant positions.”
Here is a full provincial breakdown of the Business Barometer:
- PEI 65.4
- Quebec 63.5
- Ontario 59.9
- Nova Scotia 59.5
- New Brunswick 59.4
- Manitoba 57.4
- BC 56.4
- Newfoundland and Labrador 48.6
- Saskatchewan 42.7
- Alberta 37.0