Ottawa, November 5, 2026 – After weeks of raising expectations among small business owners, today’s federal budget is a big let down, according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).
“While there is a reannounced Mega Deduction and a focus on mega projects, small business owners will find the 2026 budget mega disappointing,” said Dan Kelly, CFIB president. “If you are a small business owner struggling to keep your business going in the face of rapidly rising costs and a trade war, the budget will provide you with no help whatsoever.”
“Small business owners are looking for tax reductions and tariff relief, and the budget provides neither. I find it appalling that, a year and a half into the trade war, the government hasn’t even bothered to fix the failing tariff relief measures. The budget speech says government will be at the side of Canadian businesses for as long as it takes. Sadly, this remains untrue as small firms with less than $1 million in sales do not qualify for any of the existing tariff support programs, despite Canada having collected more than $14 billion in counter-tariff revenue," Kelly added.
On the positive side, the budget focuses on the expanded Mega Deduction and enhances Small Business Rollovers, both of which are good measures to help with small business investments. There are also several tax simplification measures that build on earlier announcements to reduce the red tape burden by $2 for every $1 of new regulatory costs.
The new Canadian Growth Incentive (CGI) contains a promising $15 million capital gains exemption, which if properly designed, could be a significant catalyst for investments in small businesses.
“The CGI has a lot of potential to help address the decline in business starts that Canada has been facing in recent years,” Kelly said. “But, as usual, Ottawa has decided to limit the initiative by adding a bunch of complicated rules which result in excluding about half of the businesses that could otherwise use it. It makes absolutely no sense that a family farm, a hotel, restaurant, forestry or fishing business, engineering firm or arts/entertainment business would be excluded. CFIB strongly supports the spirit of this proposal, but will immediately lobby to simplify it by including all sectors covered by the Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption.”
“While the government is introducing some helpful measures that focus on tax simplification and regulatory reduction, small businesses appear to remain in the government’s blind spot,” Kelly said. “And as Canada’s debt grows close to $1.4 trillion, it is critical that we look at new approaches to stimulate business creation and small business growth to help get us out of this mess.”
For media enquiries or interviews, please contact:
Dariya Baiguzhiyeva, CFIB
647-464-2814
Public.affairs@cfib.ca
About CFIB
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is Canada’s largest association of small and medium-sized businesses with 103,000 members across every industry and region. CFIB is dedicated to increasing business owners’ chances of success by driving policy change at all levels of government, providing expert advice and tools, and negotiating exclusive savings. Learn more at cfib.ca.
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