Put CPP expansion on hold: Ontario employers

84 per cent of small business owners want expansion delayed: Survey

Put CPP expansion on hold: Ontario employers
Many Ontario small businesses are struggling with the legacy of high costs imposed by past decisions, said Plamen Petkov, CFIB's vice-president for Ontario. Google Street View

With significant hikes in Canada Pension Plan (CPP) premiums set to go ahead on Jan. 1, 2019, small business owners want the newly elected Ontario government to put the plan on hold or cancel it altogether, according to a survey.

Eighty-four per cent of Ontario business owners think the provincial government should delay CPP expansion pending a review of other options (52 per cent) or withdraw its support entirely (32 per cent), found a survey of 2,065 business owners by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).

In 2016, the federal government met the required level of provincial support to raise premiums by 20 per cent and increase the maximum pensionable earnings to nearly $80,000. Changes to CPP require the support of two-thirds of the provinces representing two-thirds of the population, giving Ontario an effective veto as Canada's largest province, said the federation.

"Small business owners are calling on Premier (Doug) Ford and Finance Minister (Vic) Fedeli to press pause on the previous government's decision to raise payroll taxes on small employers," said Dan Kelly, CFIB president.

Many Ontario small businesses are struggling with the legacy of high costs imposed by past decisions, said Plamen Petkov, CFIB's vice-president for Ontario.

"Massive hikes in the costs of energy, the minimum wage and new labour rules will have negative effects for many years, and small firms simply cannot afford to pay even higher payroll taxes."

 2,065 responses from business owners located in Ontario. The responses are statistically accurate within +/- 2.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. These survey results were collected between July 18 and 20, 2018.

 

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