In advance of a weekend meeting of federal, provincial and territorial finance ministers, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is urging governments to drop their calls for an increase to Canada Pension Plan (CPP) premiums.
“With ongoing hikes to employment insurance premiums, many workers’ compensation levies – as well as provincial minimum wages – small employers cannot afford another increase in mandatory payroll taxes,” Dan Kelly, CFIB’s senior vice-president of legislative affairs, said in a statement.
To address the need for additional retirement savings options of small business owners, the self-employed and their employees, the CFIB is supporting federal legislation for Pooled Registered Pension Plans (PRPPs).
The CFIB is also supporting a recommendation by the Federal Standing Committee on Finance to “review public sector pensions to ensure their ongoing cost and sustainability.”
The CFIB has collected more than 20,000 signed petitions from small-business owners across Canada urging action to address a $227 billion unfunded federal public service pension liability.
Yesterday, the CFIB launched a report advising the federal government on small-business priorities for the federal budget. Again, a key area the organization targeted was payroll taxes – specifically, employment insurance.
(See “CFIB asks feds to buffer small business from EI hike” – BIV Business Today, December 15.)
Jenny Wagler
@JennyWagler_BIV