Mr. Chair and members of the committee, my name is Michael Rowe, and I'm the vice-president and chief financial officer of Home Depot Canada. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before the committee to share Home Depot Canada's perspective on the importance of timely passage of Bill C-51.
By way of a brief introduction, Home Depot is the world's largest home improvement retailer. It currently operates more than 2,200 stores, including 179 across Canada. Globally, our company employs more than 300,000 people, including more than 27,000 Canadians.
I am pleased to be here today to voice Home Depot Canada's support for Bill C-51, and in particular for the home renovation tax credit.
Since the Government of Canada announced the tax credit as an economic stimulus measure in the 2009 federal budget, Home Depot Canada can attest that it has been a motivating force for consumers. Whether Canadians are looking to install new windows or doors, renovate their kitchens, or even landscape their family homes, a potential $1,350 in tax savings has given them the incentive to undertake and complete these projects.
We have seen the results of the stimulus in increased demand for products and services and believe that the stimulus did much to temper the impact of a rapidly worsening sales environment across our industry beginning in the fourth quarter of 2008. Home Depot Canada is such a firm believer in the home renovation tax credit as an economic stimulus that we offered our own retail incentive program to align our promotions with the value the credit offered our customers.
In March 2009 Home Depot launched its home renovation tax credit top-up program. Customers, during specific promotional periods, had the opportunity to earn up to $1,000 over and above the federal tax credit in Home Depot gift cards. We also implemented a robust advertising and media campaign, ensuring that consumers knew about both the federal tax credit and our top-up program. Many of our industry counterparts stepped forward with campaigns of their own.
In the first month after the Government of Canada introduced the initiative, our website page dedicated to the HRTC received more than 75,000 page views, well exceeding our expectations. As we launched our top-up program, this number swelled to more than 225,000 in the second month and is now closing in on 600,000 page views. That's significant, and it's telling.
From the beginning, the HRTC captured Canadians' interest. But the HRTC has done more than capture interest. It kept many contractors in work and put other contractors back to work. It restored consumer confidence, improved retail sales, and directly and positively enhanced the sustainability and growth of the Canadian home improvement industry. Home Depot's top-up program, along with our new lower prices program, helped Canadians take on projects big and small and encouraged them to continue investing in their homes.
To put a finer point on this discussion, many of the products and services we sell in our stores are HRTC-eligible, but some are not. We know that HRTC-eligible products have significantly outsold ineligible products since the introduction of the program. To date, more than 200,000 consumers have taken advantage of our top-up program to varying degrees. And because this program involves the distribution of gift cards, we anticipate that it will continue to bring customers back to our stores and will keep them engaged with the contractor community well into 2010. Already Home Depot has given millions of dollars back to customers in gift cards.
In conclusion, I would like to underscore the importance of the home renovation tax credit to the Canadian home improvement industry, to contractors, and to the many Canadian consumers who, with the help of the federal tax credit, are investing their own dollars to help spur the economy. We have seen the benefit of the tax credit to our business, through consumer tracking, and have seen an increase in consumer spending, particularly this past summer and this fall, as a result of both government and industry advertising campaigns.
On the topic of advertising, we have one minor but important request. The industry would value greater clarity in government marketing collateral related to eligibility requirements before the tax credit end date.
The home renovation tax credit is a key component of Bill C-51, and many contractors and retailers, including Home Depot Canada, have invested considerable resources to promote it. Many Canadians have already made renovations in good faith that Bill C-51 will be passed into law. For this reason, I urge committee members to ensure its timely passage in Parliament.
Thank you.