Our fourth recommendation urges the government to further encourage private, public and non-profit organizations that want to support research and innovation. As we know, most of the businesses, over 95%, that make up the industrial fabric of Quebec and Canada are micro-businesses or small and medium-sized businesses. They do not have the means or the resources to better equip themselves with technology or to be globally competitive.
We suggest that these small businesses that lack such means call upon the services of Canadian colleges, with whom they already have close ties, for help with research and technology transfer, among other things. In order to encourage businesses in that regard, we propose that they be given access to a more generous and worthwhile tax credit program that will enable them to improve their technology and perhaps also compensate for the labour shortage we are currently experiencing.
Non-profit organizations working in the social arena will not derive any benefit from a tax credit since they generally do not pay taxes. In their case, a direct subsidy would be preferable. All of these organizations that use the research done by colleges in the social innovation sector could do more to help social services resolve large-scale societal issues that are costing the government a lot of money and having an impact on public finances and the deficit.