Thank you, Mr. Chair, and members of the committee for inviting RCC to present some of the key issues that we had outlined in our pre-budget submission for the upcoming federal budget.
Before beginning my specific remarks, I would like to take time to express the condolences of our association, as well as those of mine personally, for the losses to our military last week. As Corporal Cirillo is laid to rest today, I think it's important to take time to pause and reflect on that.
I would also like to reiterate what was said by my colleague and thank the members of this House for getting back to work so quickly. I've often said that it is an honour and a privilege that part of my job allows me to be here in these buildings and take part in this process, and I'm very glad that we're back to work. So, thank you very much.
As many of you well know, the Retail Council of Canada is the voice of retail across this country. Let me illustrate three key facts that demonstrate the importance that the retail industry has to the economy of this land. Retailers sell over $486 billion worth of goods in communities from coast to coast. Our employees, within our membership and within our industry, generate over $53 billion in salary on an annual basis. We are the country's largest employer employing over 2 million Canadians, or one in nine jobs across the country.
The Retail Council of Canada represents some 45,000 store fronts and our members include grocers, specialty retailers, clothiers, and electronic retailers. Our membership ranges from small independent retailers to large multi-store companies.
As we sat back with our members and developed the recommendations that we wanted to bring forward to the committee, we ensured that we focused on those areas that were identified as the themes. One, we wanted to bring forward recommendations that would support families and help vulnerable Canadians; and two, provide opportunities for improving taxation policies that govern our land.
Mr. Chair, we have focused on two key areas that are consistent with these themes. First, we want to recommend further elimination of import tariffs that are no longer serving their original purpose of protecting domestic manufacturing and are just adding costs or taxes to the system. Secondly, we want to ensure that the budget commitment that was made in 2014 to lower interchange fees from merchants, that started with credit card costs, is brought to its closure and fruition.
Let me focus the majority of my introductory remarks on tariffs. As members of this committee may recall, in Budget 2013 there was an initial reduction of $79 million in tariffs for baby clothes and certain sporting goods. This has had a real impact on Canadian families and shortly I'll show you the savings by way of example that have been generated for hockey equipment. We believe the time is now for more tariff free elimination because of a couple of other factors that are being introduced in the economy in the coming year. The first and probably most significant is the transfer of over 72 of our trading partners from GPT tariff status to MFN. This includes large trading partners like China, India, and Brazil, and by the government's own calculation will result in $333 million more in additional tariffs across the economy.
I'd also like to highlight a tax or an import levy that the Minister of Agriculture is considering on fresh raspberries and strawberries, as well as some other products, which could add an additional $2.4 million in cost for these basic products that Canadian families rely on every day to have a healthy diet.
I just illustrate these by way of example that there is an opportunity to level this playing field to continue to reduce costs for Canadians and to continue to update our taxation policy.
The Retail Council has highlighted four areas which are noted on the screen here—children's clothing, linens, gloves and mitts, and footwear—where we believe there is an opportunity for further tariff relief. The criteria that we have used is articulated in the box on the left-hand side.
As I mentioned, we have seen real benefits for our consumers. For the youth hockey player that you equip from helmet to skates, a family that was doing that would save approximately $51 in cost.
Our story on tariffs is an important one because Canadians are not only looking to shop around the corner, but we're seeing that more and more Canadians are going online to research and purchase their goods. It is vital that we continue to level the playing field between our two economies.
My final slide is a quick one. We are appreciative of the government's commitment to address interchange fees. This need has only grown since that time and we're looking forward to conclusion on this file.
Mr. Chair, thank you very much. We are very keen for the questions and discussion that follow, and I thank you for the opportunity to present our views.