Small business a Focus of Ptbo Policy Resolutions

This weekend Chamber of Commerce delegates from across Canada will be gathering to debate a series of policy resolutions.  The resolutions, if passed, will set the policy agenda for the coming year for the Canadian Chamber of Commerce (CCC).

The Peterborough Chamber of Commerce has submitted two resolutions for consideration and is a co-sponsor on two others.  One of the threads tying each together is a focus on small business. 
 
In Assisting Small Business with Minimizing the Risk and Recovery from Cybercrime, we are asking the government to “allow SMEs to write off 100% of their business investments in cybersecurity-related software, equipment and other costs (support services and outsourcing costs) in the year those investments are made."

The rationale behind the resolution is to encourage more small businesses to invest in this area of their business and to help address financial challenges that may keep SMEs away from cybersecurity measures.  According to
StaySafeOnline.org, 71% of data breaches happen to small businesses, nearly half of all small businesses have been the victim of a cyber attack, and that the dollar value of attacks is also on the rise (CCC’s Cyber Security in Canada).

The second policy resolution is titled “Driving Innovation in Canada”. This policy resolution turns the spotlight on intellectual property with four recommendations:

1. Implement for 2018-2019 an “innovation box” approach to encourage more business investment in innovation processes in Canada
2. Consult with senior business leaders/technologists to define what intellectual property would qualify e.g. patents, copyright, industrial design
3. Ensure that any such regime adopted in Canada delivers the clarity and simplicity that encourages participation in innovation from both SMEs and large companies
4. Develop a Canada-wide “My First Patent” program using the Quebec model as a guideline

These recommendations are designed to help encourage new listing of intellectual property in Canada in the hopes that more innovation started in Canada will stay Canada.

We thank our members and co-sponsoring Chambers for their feedback and support of these resolutions.
One of the resolutions on which the Peterborough Chamber is a co-sponsor asks the federal government to "reevaluate the existing business categories identified by number of employees to determine if the current definition of small business is accurately reflected by 100 employees or less."

The resolution, put forward by the Trent Hills Chamber of Commerce, also identifies that businesses with 19 employees or less account for 86.2% of employer businesses and according to the Key Small Business Statistics Report, June 2016, “…the contribution to net employment change between 2005 and 2015 (1.2 million jobs) was 87.7% attributable to small business.”

The second resolution on which we are a co-sponsor asks for a concierge service geared toward helping businesses with regulation and compliance.  The recommendations stress the need for this type of service to span the varying levels of government and for swift implementation and integration into the Canada Business Network.

​Delegates will debate these and 70 other resolutions in Fredericton, NB this weekend as part of the
Canadian Chamber of Commerce AGM.

---