Trade war threatens over 53,000 small businesses as US bans loom
Second, an SME Desk for Tariff Remissions, a fast-track mechanism for removing Canadian retaliatory tariffs where no domestic alternatives exist or where the tariff causes significant harm to a Canadian sector.
Third, immediate tax relief through a reduction in the small business corporate tax rate from nine per cent to six per cent, retroactive to January 1, 2026, along with an increase in the Small Business Deduction threshold from $500,000 to $700,000, with future indexation to inflation.
The group is particularly critical of the Regional Tariff Response Initiative Programs, which recently lowered their access thresholds to $1 million in annual revenue.
“The Regional Tariff Response Initiative Programs have standardized eligibility criteria and reduced their access thresholds down to $1 million, but it doesn’t go far enough,” Pohlmann said. “A $1-million threshold will still exclude a huge number of businesses. We need a simple, direct support program to help small businesses on the U.S. and Canadian tariff lists in addition to broad-based tax relief to help all small firms that will be hurt by the trade war.”
What this means for advisors and their clients
For wealth managers and financial planners, the CFIB’s figures point to a material shift in the financial position of many business-owner clients. Firms in manufacturing, wholesale and retail – the sectors CFIB identifies as most affected – have long been mainstays of Canadian advisory practices, and the combination of compressed margins, rising input costs and stalled trade negotiations creates planning challenges across cash flow, succession, and long-term investment decisions.
