Thank you. I'm here on behalf of the Retail Council of Canada.
My appearance was a late addition, but we will be presenting to this committee next week, from what I understand. My colleagues will be doing that, but I thought that since I'm here, I would give you a little teaser on what will be coming next week and maybe give it a little Atlantic spin.
We're here on the de minimis level. We respect the opinions of eBay, which presented here today. They're good members of ours, but on this issue we couldn't disagree more with their comments. If you want to look at the impact this could have on the economy, retail is the number one private sector employer in every single province in this country. There are over two million employees nationally, over 60,000 of them here in Nova Scotia alone. We're talking about an economy in a province like Nova Scotia that's over $12 billion annually in retail revenue.
It's a moving target with eBay. They used to talk about an $800 de minimis. That didn't fly. Up until late this summer, they were talking about a $200 de minimis, and now they have come here today talking about an $80 to $100 de minimis, so we're not quite sure where they're going to land next. We're sticking with $200 because that's the one they've used the most.
If you were to look at it, they talk about the customs duties, and that's one, but there's also provincial and federal tax revenue. We talked to every provincial finance minister this summer. We pointed out—I'm responsible for Atlantic Canada—that you're looking at shippable goods between $20 and $200 if we stick with their $200 de minimis level. For a province like New Brunswick, that would be about $2.05 billion in shippable goods that fall into that category. A lot of our members have crunched the numbers, and over time, if you were to allow this type of huge advantage to U.S. online retailers, you'd see about a 20% change in the spending habits of Canadians. That could result in a loss of about $40 million annually to the Province of New Brunswick. In Nova Scotia, you'd be looking at $48 million annually. Even in your province, Mr. Chair, there would be a $1.42 million loss in HST revenue. That pays for a lot of roads, as well as the social services we all want and need.
The point is, why would government here in Canada provide a tax incentive for consumers to shop everywhere else but Canada? It seems like a no-brainer for us. Again, we're the largest private sector employer. Even our American retailers that have set up shop here in Canada are paying taxes. They're employing people. They're contributing to communities. Just look at the drought here on the south shore over the last summer. It was Walmart, it was Loblaws, it was Canadian Tire, American and Canadian retailers, all jumping to provide free water and supplies to folks down there whose wells had gone dry. These people contribute to communities because they're in these communities.
eBay is not in those communities. We are providing the people with the retail products they want and need. If it gets to a point where Costco can just build a bigger distribution centre in the northern U.S. and ship it on through, they will. It's a business decision. That means fewer Costcos or fewer retailers of other types here in Canada. It also has an impact on small independent retailers.
I'll end with this. Folks like the Bookmark in downtown Charlottetown or Proud Shoes out in Sherwood Parkdale have been active members on this file because they know that this would devastate their businesses. These are small businesses. Maritime Hobbies and Crafts , three blocks away from here, a small third generation hobby shop, would basically have to close up shop, because people could easily ship a board game from the U.S. into Canada. That puts them out of business.
I'll leave it at that. That's the teaser for next week. Thank you for your time.