Rebuilding Main Street
Canada’s Conservatives will help rebuild Main Streets across Canada and give small businesses the support they need to get back on their feet by:
1. Canada’s Conservatives will launch the Rebuild Main Street Tax Credit.
- This will provide a 25 per cent tax credit on amounts of up to $100,000 that Canadians personally invest in a small business over the next two years.
- This will give a strong incentive for Canadians to invest their money to help entrepreneurs rebuild our country.
2. Launching the Main Street Business Loan to provide loans of up to $200,000.
- The $60,000 Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) loan is too small for thousands of small and medium businesses.
- Canada’s Conservatives will immediately offer a “super-CEBA”, loan of up to four months of pre-pandemic revenue, up to a maximum of $200,000.
- The qualification criteria and terms will be similar to the CEBA.
- Up to 25 per cent will be forgiven depending on a company’s revenue loss.
3. The Canada Investment Accelerator refundable tax credit for small business will provide a five per cent investment tax credit for any capital investment made in 2022 and 2023.
- This is on top of the existing accelerated depreciation measures that will remain in place, compounding the tax advantages of working in Canada.
- The first $25,000 of the tax credit will be refundable for small businesses.
4. Canada’s Conservatives will also:
- Reform the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) to ensure that its loan programs are accessible to small businesses.
- This will include broadening BDC’s mandate to have it guarantee a portion of loans that Canada’s banks make to small business, in the same way that the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation guarantees mortgages.
- Look for ways to make it easier to start a business and reduce the time that entrepreneurs spend dealing with government when they should be concentrating on their business.
- Fix the mortgage stress test to stop discriminating against small business owners, contractors, and other non-permanent employees including casual workers.