Yukon budget provides little relief for struggling small businesses

Whitehorse, March 3, 2022 – The Yukon budget provides little for small businesses hoping to see measures to reduce costs and help with recovery, says the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).

CFIB appreciates the Yukon government did not introduce new tax increases or additional costs. However, small businesses are still feeling the impact of two years of pandemic restrictions along with cost increases due to inflation, supply chain disruptions, and rising payroll costs.

“Many small businesses are still in survival mode,” said Kathleen Cook, CFIB director for Yukon. “We are coming up to two years of the pandemic and only 34% of Canadian small businesses are back to normal sales. Consumer confidence remains low even as restrictions are being lifted, and businesses are carrying an average of $158,000 in pandemic-related debt. The budget was a missed opportunity to help businesses through the current and ongoing crisis with cost relief measures and a plan to help them to recover in the long-term."

Recent CFIB survey results show the challenges Yukon small businesses are currently facing: 

  • Rising prices (fuel, food, insurance and etc.) (82%)
  • Supply chain challenges (70%)
  • Government increasing costs (CPP premiums, taxes, minimum wage) (67%)
  • Labour shortages (54%)
  • Cost of COVID restrictions and lockdowns (47%)

CFIB remains very concerned the government may mandate permanent employer-paid sick leave later this year when the Yukon Paid Sick Leave Rebate program expires. “This would be a significant additional cost for small businesses at a time when they can least afford it,” said Cook. “Measures to offset these costs and provide pandemic recovery assistance were absent from today’s budget.”

For media enquiries or interviews, please contact:

Kathleen Cook
Director, Yukon 
431-388-2395

kathleen.cook@cfib.ca  

About CFIB

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is Canada’s largest association of small and medium-sized businesses with 95,000 members (9,000 in BC) 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.