Canadian Federation of Independent Business

Last updated
Canadian Federation of Independent Business
Formation1971;53 years ago (1971)
FounderJohn Bulloch
Headquarters Toronto, Ontario
President
Dan Kelly
Website www.cfib.ca OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is a non-profit business organization representing Canadian owners of small and mid-size enterprises (SMEs). The CFIB advocates on behalf of small business to improve tax policy, laws, and regulation. It also provides advice and support to its members on regulations and human resource issues. [1]

Contents

The CFIB had approximately 97,000 member businesses in 2023. [1] It has offices located across the country. [2]

In 2012, Dan Kelly became the CFIB president and CEO. He succeeded Catherine Swift. [3]

History

Born out of a 1969 tax protest, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business was officially founded in 1971 by John Bulloch, a small business owner and business professor at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute (now TMU). Bulloch had formed The Canadian Council for Fair Taxation in 1969 to fight the White Paper on Taxation proposed by the then Minister of Finance, Edgar Benson. Under the terms of the White Paper, Canadian small businesses faced the prospect of an increased tax rate of 50%. The White Paper was ultimately withdrawn and the CCFT was succeeded by the enduring CFIB. [1]

Membership

Members must be Canadian-based privately owned companies. Business size is not a criterion for membership.

Fundraising

CFIB's sole source of funding is membership dues; it receives no donations or government funds. As of 2015, the fees ranged from a minimum of $250 a year to $3,500 a year, depending on the size of the business. [4]

Political activity

The CFIB describes itself as a non-partisan political advocacy organization that is willing to work with all federal and provincial parties. [4] [1] Telfer School of Business professor Gilles LeVasseur says political parties all look at the CFIB as "the only credible organization that deals with small and medium-sized businesses." [4] In 2015, the CFIB had evolved from an organization that exclusively courted the Conservative party to one that strives for a broader appeal, according to LeVasseur. [4] CFIB CEO Dan Kelly countered that the perception of ties to the Conservative Party existed only because the Tories had been in power for a long time, and the CFIB had a good relationship with Paul Martin's Liberal Party when they were in power. [4]

Political positions

The CFIB has lobbied for a reduction in government red tape, and for no increase to payroll taxes. [5] It advocates for freezes to Canada Pension Plan contributions, employment insurance premiums, and additional sick days. [1]

In 2015, CFIB CEO Dan Kelly said increasing to $15 the minimum wage for employees in federally-regulated industries was a "dumb policy." [4] The CFIB has opposed big bank mergers in Canada. [4] It opposed changes to the temporary foreign worker program in 2014. [4]

The CFIB was at odds with the Harper government when it ended the long-form census. [4]

Positions during the 2019 Federal election

During the 2019 Canadian federal election, the CFIB sided with the United States in criticizing the longstanding Universal Postal Union fees for Chinese shipments. A spokesperson stated that "the United States is raising a valid point about unfairness in international trade. Businesses in China have an unfair advantage when they can ship to a customer in the US or Canada for less than it would cost a Canadian business to ship to that same customer." [6] The Canadian government ultimately supported the United States' position at an extraordinary congress of the union. [7]

Positions during the 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic

In March 2020, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the CFIB released a survey of their member businesses that found one third feared imminent closures without significant government assistance. [8] The CFIB criticized Prime Minister Trudeau's March 24 proposal of a 10% wage subsidy for businesses for a maximum of $25,000 as "a drop in the bucket of what is absolutely necessary right now, and certainly a fraction of what is happening in Western Europe." [9] The next year, in July 2021, the CFIB asked the federal government for further subsidies for businesses. [10]

Emergency benefit programs became a flashpoint when employers wanted to recall workers. [11] CFIB president Dan Kelly said that the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) "created a disincentive to return to work for some staff" especially in industries like hospitality where 45% of recalled employees declined the offer to return to work. [11] [12] A poll by the CFIB in July 2020 found around 27% of 3,389 employers polled indicated that some of their laid-off staff refused to return to work. Of the nearly 870 businesses that provided reasons their employees gave, 62% reported workers prefer the CERB. (More than one explanation could be provided, and 47% of employers said workers cited concern for health, and 27% cited childcare obligations). [11] In a Canadian Press interview, Ian Robb, Canadian director of the Unite Here union that represents hospitality workers said that safety concerns were the issue, not the CERB, since "Nobody wants to stay home and make two grand when they can make double that by working." [11]

Following changes to employee support programs announced in August 2020, CFIB president Dan Kelly said he was concerned that some workers would become able to collect employment insurance benefits for up to 26 weeks after showing only 120 hours of work over the past year, saying "This is just too low a bar and will serve as a disincentive for many part-time workers to return to their pre-COVID employment." He added that retail, hospitality, and service sector businesses, the sectors hardest hit by the pandemic, would struggle to bring back their part-time workforce. [13]

Research

CFIB produces research on the Canadian small and medium-sized business sector, based on the views and experiences its members. Issues of concern to the Canadian SME community are identified by CFIB members through surveys, opinion polls and face-to-face visits. Those views and opinions are then delivered to all three levels of government in the form of research reports, meetings and testimony. These concerns are far ranging but typically include tax policy, [14] labour policies [15] [16] and regulatory policy. [17] One of CFIB's regular reports is the "Business Barometer", a monthly research report detailing the economic expectations of Canada's small businesses. CFIB also holds an annual "Red Tape Awareness Week" when they release research reports that advocate for the elimination or improvement of outdated or redundant regulations. [18]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Social Security (United States)</span> American retirement system

In the United States, Social Security is the commonly used term for the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program and is administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA). The Social Security Act was passed in 1935, and the existing version of the Act, as amended, encompasses several social welfare and social insurance programs.

Unemployment benefits, also called unemployment insurance, unemployment payment, unemployment compensation, or simply unemployment, are payments made by governmental bodies to unemployed people. Depending on the country and the status of the person, those sums may be small, covering only basic needs, or may compensate the lost time proportionally to the previous earned salary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Payroll tax</span> Tax imposed on employers or employees

Payroll taxes are taxes imposed on employers or employees, and are usually calculated as a percentage of the salaries that employers pay their employees. By law, some payroll taxes are the responsibility of the employee and others fall on the employer, but almost all economists agree that the true economic incidence of a payroll tax is unaffected by this distinction, and falls largely or entirely on workers in the form of lower wages. Because payroll taxes fall exclusively on wages and not on returns to financial or physical investments, payroll taxes may contribute to underinvestment in human capital, such as higher education.

Red tape is an idiom referring to regulations or conformity to formal rules or standards which are claimed to be excessive, rigid or redundant, or to bureaucracy claimed to hinder or prevent action or decision-making. It is usually applied to governments, corporations, and other large organizations. Things often described as "red tape" include filling in paperwork, obtaining licenses, having multiple people or committees approve a decision and various low-level rules that make conducting one's affairs slower, more difficult, or both. Red tape has been found to hamper organizational performance and employee wellbeing across countries and contexts by a meta-analysis and meta-regression in 2021, and especially internal red tape imposed by the organization itself on its employees was identified as particularly harmful. A related concept, administrative burden, refers to the costs citizens may experience in their interaction with government even if bureaucratic regulations or procedures serve legitimate purposes.

The Canada Revenue Agency is the revenue service of the Canadian federal government, and most provincial and territorial governments. The CRA collects taxes, administers tax law and policy, and delivers benefit programs and tax credits. Legislation administered by the CRA includes the Income Tax Act, parts of the Excise Tax Act, and parts of laws relating to the Canada Pension Plan, employment insurance (EI), tariffs and duties. The agency also oversees the registration of charities in Canada, and enforces much of the country's tax laws.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federal Insurance Contributions Act</span> US federal payroll tax to fund Social Security and Medicare

The Federal Insurance Contributions Act is a United States federal payroll tax payable by both employees and employers to fund Social Security and Medicare—federal programs that provide benefits for retirees, people with disabilities, and children of deceased workers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985</span> U.S. Law

The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) is a law passed by the U.S. Congress on a reconciliation basis and signed by President Ronald Reagan that, among other things, mandates an insurance program which gives some employees the ability to continue health insurance coverage after leaving employment. COBRA includes amendments to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). The law deals with a great variety of subjects, such as tobacco price supports, railroads, private pension plans, emergency department treatment, disability insurance, and the postal service, but it is perhaps best known for Title X, which amends the Internal Revenue Code and the Public Health Service Act to deny income tax deductions to employers for contributions to a group health plan unless such plan meets certain continuing coverage requirements. The violation for failing to meet those criteria was subsequently changed to an excise tax.

An independent contractor is a person, business, or corporation that provides goods or services under a written contract or a verbal agreement. Unlike employees, independent contractors do not work regularly for an employer but work as required, when they may be subject to law of agency. Independent contractors are usually paid on a freelance basis. Contractors often work through a limited company or franchise, which they themselves own, or may work through an umbrella company.

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) is an association of small businesses in the United States. It is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, with offices in Washington, D.C., and all 50 state capitals. The stated goal of NFIB is to advance the interests of small businesses. There has been debate about how representative of American small businesses NFIB is, noting its very conservative and pro-Republican record.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938</span> United States wage law

The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 29 U.S.C. § 203 (FLSA) is a United States labor law that creates the right to a minimum wage, and "time-and-a-half" overtime pay when people work over forty hours a week. It also prohibits employment of minors in "oppressive child labor". It applies to employees engaged in interstate commerce or employed by an enterprise engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, unless the employer can claim an exemption from coverage. The Act was enacted by the 75th Congress and signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938.

The tipped wage is base wage paid to an employee in the United States who receives a substantial portion of their compensation from tips. According to a common labor law provision referred to as a "tip credit", the employee must earn at least the state's minimum wage when tips and wages are combined or the employer is required to increase the wage to fulfill that threshold. This ensures that all tipped employees earn at least the minimum wage: significantly more than the tipped minimum wage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gig worker</span> Independent on-demand temporary workers

Gig workers are independent contractors, online platform workers, contract firm workers, on-call workers, and temporary workers. Gig workers enter into formal agreements with on-demand companies to provide services to the company's clients.

A wage subsidy is a payment to workers by the state, made either directly, or through their employers. Its purposes are to redistribute income, and to obviate the welfare trap attributed to other forms of relief, thereby reducing unemployment. It is most naturally implemented as a modification to the income tax system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the restaurant industry in the United States</span> Impact of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the United States restaurant industry via government closures, resulting in layoffs of workers and loss of income for restaurants and owners and threatening the survival of independent restaurants as a category. Within a week after the first closures, industry groups representing independent restaurateurs were asking for immediate relief measures from local, state, and federal governments, saying that as many as 75 percent of independent restaurants could not survive closures of more than a few weeks. By late July, nearly 16,000 restaurants had permanently closed.

The Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (COVID-19) Act 2020 was an Act of the Oireachtas which provided for additional powers for the state in the extraordinary circumstances of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federal aid during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada</span> National economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic

The Government of Canada introduced multiple temporary social security and financial aid programs in response to the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. The initial CA$82-billion aid package was announced on March 18, 2020 by Justin Trudeau.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland</span> Overview of the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Rescue Plan Act of 2021</span> Act to address economic effects of COVID-19

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, also called the COVID-19 Stimulus Package or American Rescue Plan, is a US$1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill passed by the 117th United States Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 11, 2021, to speed up the country's recovery from the economic and health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and recession. First proposed on January 14, 2021, the package builds upon many of the measures in the CARES Act from March 2020 and in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, from December.

The Economic Recovery Plan 2021 is a €3.5 billion stimulus package announced by the Government of Ireland on 1 June 2021 to achieve rapid job creation and economic growth after the COVID-19 pandemic. The plan sets out a new phase of supports, investment and policies for a new stage of economic recovery and renewal, with new measures for businesses and affected sectors, and details for existing emergency pandemic financial supports including the COVID-19 Restrictions Support Scheme, Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme and Pandemic Unemployment Payment, giving certainty to businesses and employees and for those who need it most.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "About Us". Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
  2. "CFIB Careers: Join the Largest Small Business Association in Canada". Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
  3. "Our Board". Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Business group's influence in Ottawa reaches new heights". thestar.com. 2015-02-09. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  5. "CFIB: Membership Benefits". Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
  6. "U.S. withdrawal from postal treaty could have implications for Canadian e-commerce businesses". The Globe and Mail Inc. 16 September 2019.
  7. "World Postal Union Rejects Trump's Favored Reform Plan". Associated Press. 24 September 2019.
  8. "Coronavirus: Third of Canadian small businesses fear imminent closure without help, survey says". Global News. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  9. "Business owners call for direct wage subsidies to prevent a cascade of layoffs, bankruptcies". ca.news.yahoo.com. CBC News. Archived from the original on 2020-03-25. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  10. Villella, Stephanie (27 July 2021). "'How are we going to survive?': CFIB petitioning to have wage and rent subsidy extended". CTV. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Balakrishnan, Anita (16 July 2020). "Some employees cite CERB as reason to refuse return to work, CFIB survey says". CP24.com.
  12. Guadagnolo, Dan (17 August 2020). "No, COVID Support Cash Doesn't Make Workers Lazy. Here's Who Pushed that Myth". The Tyee. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  13. Harris, Kathleen (20 August 2020). "New $37B COVID-19 aid package extends CERB, expands EI and adds 'recovery' benefits". CBC News.
  14. "CFIB Tax Research Program - www.cfib-fcei.ca" Archived 2013-01-15 at archive.today
  15. "Minimum Wage: Reframing the Debate" February 2011 Archived 2013-09-11 at archive.today
  16. Workers' compensation boards under the microscope
  17. Red Tape Awareness Week 2014 Archived 2012-10-27 at the Wayback Machine
  18. "Red Tape Awareness Week: Why do we put red tape in the spotlight? To fix it!". Canadian Federation of Independent Business.