The Canadian Federation of Independent Business is urging Parliament to promptly address overdue tax reforms to support struggling entrepreneurs when MPs return on May 26.
The CFIB revealed on Tuesday that 62 per cent of small business owners lack confidence that the new federal government is committed to supporting them.
“Parliament needs to act quickly to address some unfinished business that can provide some much-needed certainty and cost relief to small business owners,” said Corinne Pohlmann, CFIB’s Executive Vice-President of Advocacy. “It’s deeply worrisome and disappointing that the government is not planning to introduce a budget in this sitting.”
The Liberals originally announced they would not file a budget in the coming months, planning only to present a fall fiscal update. This would cause the longest period without a budget since the 1960s. Budgets were delivered yearly during the financial crisis, both world wars, and the Great Depression.
The Liberals are now walking back on the fall economic statement and are considering tabling a federal budget in the fall.
“A so-called budget to be tabled in the fall when half the budget year is over,” said Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre. “In what world does this make sense?”
The CFIB has demanded that Ottawa ensures that money collected through counter tariffs is returned to Canadian small businesses.
Previous tax measures for small businesses did not go over well. For example, between 2019 and 2024, only 0.17 per cent of the $2.5 billion in carbon rebates for small businesses were delivered. The Liberals also flip-flopped back and forth on taxing the rebates.
Another demand was to pass legislation to officially eliminate the carbon tax and return the remaining $600 million in rebates to small businesses.
A previous poll from the CFIB showed that long-term small business confidence had dropped from an index score of 59.8 in November 2024 to 25.0 in March 2025 — a score lower than after the 9/11 terrorist attack, the 2008 financial crisis, or the COVID-19 pandemic.
The CFIB also called on the federal government to deliver on its promise to increase the lifetime capital gains tax exemption to $1.25 million and implement tax initiatives promised that would lower capital gains taxes on business sales.
Additionally, the federation called on the Liberals to lower the small business tax rate from 9 to 0 per cent and work with provinces to eliminate interprovincial trade barriers.
“Ottawa needs to move as quickly as possible on economic and tax reduction policies. The cost of doing business is already high, and tariff-fueled uncertainty could cause irreversible damage if it’s not addressed quickly. This government has a long list of outstanding promises to small business owners that it needs to address quickly. It has to provide a clear roadmap for the months ahead,” said Jasmin Guenette, CFIB’s vice-president of national affairs.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre recently announced the creation of a new Economic Growth Council to diagnose and reverse Canada’s economic stagnation. The council will consult stakeholders across sectors and present its findings at the 2026 Conservative Party convention.
CFIB President Dan Kelly welcomed the move.
“A very positive step by Tory Leader Pierre Poilievre,” he wrote on X. “CFIB looks forward to sharing recommendations from our 100,000 small business members.”
The CFIB has launched a petition for small business owners to sign, asking the federal government to follow through on implementing the CFIB’s demands.
“Canadian businesses have faced a global pandemic, numerous strikes and supply chain disruptions, skyrocketing inflation and an interest rate roller-coaster, all while CPP and EI costs and the carbon tax continued to climb,” reads the petition. “Now we have even more economic uncertainty with the ongoing U.S.-Canada trade war. I need you to provide stability back into our economy.”