A new report by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) has revealed growing frustration among small business owners in Atlantic Canada over restrictive municipal policies, with 72 percent of survey respondents finding municipal policies unhelpful for business growth.
“Many municipal policies are having largely negative impacts on businesses across the region,” said Duncan Robertson, CFIB’s senior policy analyst for Nova Scotia, in the federation’s news release.
According to the CFIB’s Atlantic Municipal Report for 2024, 69 percent of small businesses in the region felt that property taxes did not provide good value for money.
The report identified property taxes as the top concern for small businesses in the region for the second consecutive year, with 60 percent of businesses seeing high property taxes as a significant issue. Other concerns mentioned by the report included red tape at 35 percent, affordability at 30 percent, crime and safety at 30 percent, and traffic congestion at 19 percent.
“High property tax burdens on commercial properties, expensive and inefficient permitting systems, and the lack of available resources for businesses affected by crime and construction are all hurting the bottom lines of business owners,” said Robertson in the news release.
Positive steps
“Municipalities need to find innovative solutions and implement new policies if they want small businesses to not only survive, but thrive within their city,” said Robertson in CFIB’s news release.
The report highlighted positive steps that some municipalities have taken to help small businesses grow.
Fredericton, for example, received the first-ever CFIB Atlantic Improvement Award, the news release said. It was one of only two municipalities in the region to see its commercial tax rate go down from 2023. Fredericton's efforts also included an updated directory and business portal to improve communication with local business owners.
Halifax, Moncton, and Charlottetown have also worked on improving the online process for business owners to apply for and track licenses and permits, the news release shared. On the other hand, Cape Breton Regional Municipality lowered its commercial tax rate.
“There’s a lot more work to be done, but it’s promising to see municipalities starting to respond to their small business needs,” said Robertson in the news release. “We’ll continue advocating for Atlantic businesses, and we hope municipalities will listen and develop the policies that will allow their local communities to succeed.”
The data for the report was collected through an online survey conducted from June 20 to July 11. The survey included responses from nearly 240 CFIB members owning independent businesses in Atlantic Canada across various sectors.