Bryan May

[Questions on the Order Paper, April 15th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, with regard to (a), the program was announced in budget 2021, on April 19, 2021, with ambitious targets to support all small and medium sized businesses across Canada looking to adopt digital technologies. Although uptake was slower to ramp up in the first year, the Canada digital adoption program saw continued growth in the number of signed grant agreements month over month throughout 2023, and into early 2024. Increased demand combined with reductions under the refocusing government spending initiative announced in budget 2023 resulted in the program being fully subscribed to the end of the program.

With regard to (b), due to the overwhelming demand, combined with these budget reductions, the Boost Your Business Technology grant was fully subscribed on February 19, 2024, and the program subsequently closed intake for new applications.

With regard to (c)(i), since the program launched in March 2022, about 56,000 businesses have benefited from a digital needs assessment.

With regard to (c)(ii), over 36,500 businesses signed grant agreements since the program launched.

With regard to (c)(iii), since launch, the Boost Your Business Technology grant has disbursed over $260 million in grants to over 18,000 businesses. Those grants remaining are either currently being processed by the program or the businesses are continuing to work with digital advisors on developing their digital adoption plans. As of February 19, 2024, The Boost Your Business Technology grant is no longer accepting new applications.

With regard to (d), as of January 31, 2024, the Business Development Bank of Canada has provided over $314 million in loans to over 5,500 businesses who have an approved Boost Your Business Technology grant.

Note that aggregate data from program intermediaries for the Grow Your Business Online funding stream, Magnet, and the Business Development Bank of Canada is reported to the Canada digital adoption program on a monthly basis.

As a result, aggregate data for Grow Your Business Online and Magnet is available as of February 21, 2024. Aggregate data for the Business Development Bank of Canada is available as of January 31, 2024.

Data for the Boost Your Business Technology funding stream is available daily, and is up to date as of the date the request was made.

With regard to (e)(i), as of February 21, 2024, under the Boost Your Business Technology stream, there have been a total of 1,094 work placements through Magnet.

With regard to (ii), as of February 21, 2024, service providers delivering the Grow Your Business Online grant have supported approximately 4,000 youth placements.

With regard to (f), approximately $8 million has been provided to Magnet to date, covering wage subsidy payments to medium-sized enterprises, direct delivery costs such as providing training to youth to prepare them for their work placements, and administrative costs.

[Small Business, March 22nd, 2024]

Madam Speaker, as we move forward from the pandemic, small businesses have nearly three years, until the end of 2026, to repay their CEBA loans, and they have access to interest rates as low as 5%.

Meanwhile we are investing in communities in order to strengthen our economy. Earlier this month we announced $2.5 million in federal funding to enhance the indigenous women's entrepreneur program and create an indigenous youth entrepreneurship program.

[Small Business, March 22nd, 2024]

Madam Speaker, the CEBA program supported over 900,000 small businesses through the pandemic, and we estimate that 80% of them have repaid their loans so far.

As we move away from the pandemic, we are taking serious, concrete action to support small businesses, both by providing funding and by cutting costs. We recently finalized an agreement to cut credit card fees by up to 27%, which will save small businesses across Canada $1 billion.

[Small Business, December 15th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, we are offering additional flexibilities for small businesses to repay their CEBA loans. This includes a full one-year extension on the term loan repayment deadline, more flexibility on refinancing and more time to access the loan forgiveness, which is a balanced and fiscally responsible approach.

We know that times are tough, which is why our government will also be cutting taxes for growing small businesses and lowering their credit card fees by up to a quarter.

[Small Business, December 15th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, the CEBA program provided unprecedented support to nearly 900,000 small businesses and helped keep their doors open and their lights on. Last year, our government extended the forgiveness qualification deadline by one year, to the end of this year. We know that times are still tough and that is why our government has extended the full loan for another year.

We are going to continue to listen to small businesses throughout this time and we are going to continue to have their backs.

[Small Business, December 6th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, I am not surprised that the member opposite does not want to talk about the supports we provided to small businesses, because, frankly, I wonder whether they would have done so if they had been in power.

We know that inflation is a global phenomenon that is a lingering result of the pandemic and exacerbated by worldwide events. It is making life harder for many businesses, particularly restaurants. The government has introduced measures to ensure that doing business in Canada is as easy as possible, including cutting taxes for growing small businesses, lowering their credit card fees by up to a quarter and helping them access more financing to grow their businesses.

We will continue to support small businesses and restaurants across the country as we deal with the very real challenges of the global economy and inflation.

[Small Business, December 6th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, I am happy to respond to comments made earlier by the hon. member for Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon regarding support for small businesses and restaurants. The government understands the important role that small businesses and restaurants play in communities from coast to coast to coast. Let me outline some of the measures the government is taking to support businesses dealing with inflation, which is affecting all Canadians.

The government was there through the pandemic and provided direct support to businesses. We introduced wage and rent subsidies, advice and training to help businesses adapt to a digital marketplace, and loans to provide liquidity relief to ensure businesses' survival through the recovery period. The Canada emergency business account, or CEBA, provided $49 billion in support to nearly 900,000 businesses across the country. The program offered interest-free, partially forgivable loans of up to $60,000 to eligible small businesses. It kept their lights on and helped workers remain employed. We recently extended the deadline for partial forgiveness, and the CEBA term loans deadline was extended by one year, to December 31, 2026, to offer more time to businesses for their loan repayment.

The government is also supporting small businesses by cutting credit card transaction fees and by cutting the small business tax rate from 11% to 9%, which is essential to businesses coming out of the pandemic. We have enhanced the Canadian small business financing program by increasing annual financing to small businesses by an estimated annual $560 million, helping businesses access liquidity for start-up costs and intangible assets. For businesses looking to bring their offerings to the digital marketplace, the Canada digital adoption program has supported enterprises of all sizes to digitize and reach more markets. The government is supporting businesses in their efforts to strive for even greater inclusivity, with the women entrepreneurship strategy, the Black entrepreneurship program, the 2SLGBTQI+ entrepreneurship program and targeted supports for indigenous businesses.

The government will continue to work hard for Canadian small businesses and restaurants because we know that they are the backbone of our economy.

[Small Business, November 8th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, the government has heard loud and clear that small businesses needed additional flexibility and options in these difficult times and we are taking action. This includes an extension of the CEBA loan repayment deadline, more flexibility on refinancing and more time to access loan forgiveness. Through these measures, we are giving small businesses additional breathing room.

The government will continue to support small businesses across the country while we grow our economy, fight climate change and create an economy that works for all Canadians.

[Small Business, November 8th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, I am happy to respond to the comments made by the hon. member for Kitchener Centre regarding supports for small businesses and the Canada emergency business account payment deadline and loan forgiveness.

Since the beginning of the COVID–19 pandemic, the government has been there to provide unprecedented support to Canada's small businesses across the country. That is why, at the onset of the pandemic, we launched the Canada emergency business account program. This is in addition to critical and much-needed supports like the rent and wage subsidies, which were put in place to assist small businesses. CEBA provided $49 billion in support to nearly 900,000 businesses across the country. The program offered interest-free partial forgivable loans up to $60,000 to eligible small businesses. It kept their lights on and helped workers remain employed.

Early last year, to help business owners as they continue to recover from the pandemic, the government announced that the CEBA repayment deadline for partial forgiveness would be extended by one year. The government understands that the current global economic environment is having a major impact on entrepreneurs and Canadians. We recently announced several changes to the CEBA program aimed at supporting economic recovery. Recognizing the challenges that small businesses continue to face in the current economic context, we have yet again extended the deadline for partial forgiveness to January 2024 and have extended the CEBA term loans by one year, to December 31, 2026, to offer businesses more time for their loan repayments.

Small businesses asked for more flexibility and the government listened. It is also supporting small businesses by cutting credit card transaction fees and reducing the small business tax rate from 11% to 9%. We have enhanced the Canada small business financing program by increasing annual financing to small businesses by an estimated $560 million annually through the introduction of a working line of capital to help businesses access liquidity for start-up costs and intangible assets. For businesses looking to bring their offerings to the digital marketplace, the Canada digital adoption program has supported enterprises of all sizes to digitize and reach more markets.

Moreover, we are ensuring that all entrepreneurs have the opportunities they deserve. That is why we launched the historic women entrepreneurship strategy, the Black entrepreneurship program, the 2SLGBTQI+ entrepreneurship program and targeted supports for indigenous entrepreneurs.

The government is focusing on growing our economy and building a stronger, more resilient Canada for everyone. We will continue to support Canadian businesses throughout this recovery process, because, quite frankly, that is common sense.

[Small Business, October 27th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, the bottom line is that we have been listening to business owners across the country. If someone is a small business owner and does not currently have the funds to repay their CEBA loan, they now have three years to repay it in full. The additional flexibility that we announced is significant support for small business owners who might still be struggling to make ends meet. The CEBA program delivered more than $49 billion to nearly 900,000 small business owners.

We are going to support small business owners as we all recover from the pandemic.