Good afternoon, my name is Jasmin Guénette. I am the Vice-President, National Affairs, of the CFIB, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
I am going to make today's presentation in my mother tongue, French, but I will be able to answer some of the questions in English.
Before starting, I would like to thank the committee members for this invitation, of course.
The CFIB represents 95,000 small businesses in all regions of Canada and in all sectors of the economy. We are funded exclusively by our members. Our recommendations come out of the results of surveys of our members that we carry out regularly.
You have received a presentation on which I am basing my comments and recommendations today. If you have it with you, you can refer to page 2. Some small businesses are still experiencing hard times because of the pandemic. The various waves of full or partial closures have had a major impact on the viability of some businesses.
On page 3, I set out the data from a research report we published in December 2021 concerning labour shortages in Canadian small businesses.
As you see on page 4, 55 per cent of Canadian small businesses say they are affected by labour shortages. The 16 per cent of small businesses that say they are affected by the consequences of labour shortages have to be added to that. This might be, for example, a supplier that isn't able to deliver an order on time because of a shortage of employees. So the labour shortage is both a lack of staff for current operations and a lack of the staff needed to expand. On page 4, there is a breakdown by province and sector.
On page 5, it talks about wage increases as a miracle cure for labour shortage problems. Eighty-two per cent of small businesses have raised their employees' wages. Of the 82 per cent that have done so, 22 per cent say it was helpful and 47 per cent say it was not. Even if the business raises wages, that doesn't mean it will find all the applicants it needs or it can offer wages that meet the expectations of potential applicants.
Page 6 provides a list of solutions. The one with the highest success rate is automation. As you can see, 33 per cent of small businesses have tried this and 81 per cent of those say it was a success. It must be pointed out that automation isn't just buying expensive equipment; it's also automating certain internal processes, by purchasing software, for example.
The second solution that has the most success in filling vacant positions is hiring temporary foreign workers. The TFWP, the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, has been used by only 16 per cent of small businesses to date, but has a success rate of 52 per cent. That is why we are making a number of recommendations based on the results obtained from businesses themselves.
On page 7 of the presentation, the CFIB's recommendations include improving and simplifying the processes for the TFWP and the permanent immigration system to bring foreign workers to Canada faster.
We also recommend opening the TFWP to all types of jobs and all sectors, regardless of the prevailing regional unemployment rate, to address labour shortages caused by the pandemic.
In the announcement this morning, the government adopted a number of recommendations that we have made over time to help alleviate labour shortages.
The government also has to stimulate automation through programs or tax credits, since this solution has proved to produce results in small and medium-sized businesses, or SMEs.
It is also important to ensure that programs offered under the employment insurance scheme do not discourage returning to work.
You will find more recommendations on page 7 in the document we sent you.
I will be happy to answer your questions about our presentation, our recommendations, or other subjects relating to labour shortages in small businesses.
Thank you very much for your attention.