Unleash small business by exempting them from corporate taxes

We’ve got to stop stifling our entrepreneurs by taxing them into the ground and making them jump through countless bureaucratic hoops

Published May 02, 2023  •  Last updated 2 days ago  •  3 minute read

Small businesses are often described as the backbone of our economy — and that’s because they are. They develop new products and technologies that drive economic growth and create new jobs. But if small businesses are so important, why aren’t we doing more to support their success and foster even greater growth?

Small businesses bore the brunt of the economic fallout during the pandemic. The on-again, off-again lockdowns dried up revenue, drove away customers and made employee retention very difficult. I often wonder how many of the small businesses that went under during the pandemic could have become another Magna International?

Legendary entrepreneur Richard Branson famously said that all big businesses start small. When I started Magna, I opened up a one-man shop in a rented garage at the corner of Dufferin and Dupont streets in Toronto. I bought

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Corner Brook cuts business taxes for new women-led enterprises

The City of Corner Brook is launching the Assistance to Women Entrepreneurs of Small or Medium Enterprises Program. (CBC)

The City of Corner Brook is launching a new program to provide assistance to women entrepreneurs during the early stages of growing their businesses. 

The Assistance to Women Entrepreneurs of Small or Medium Enterprises Program (AWESOME) is designed to help new women-run businesses and start-ups by waiving business taxes for up to two years.

The city says they hope to officially launch the program by the end of April, and that there’s already been interest.

An application form will be shared when the program begins, but any new business that registers with the city — or any business that started in the last three years, with some exceptions — can be part of the program if the business is solely or majority owned by women.

Kayla Butler started her photography business in the city three years ago, and sees it as an exciting opportunity to cultivate more female entrepreneurship.

A woman with tattoos and long blonde hair stands in front of several poofy dresses. She's holding a camera in her right hand.
Kayla Butler is a photographer in Corner Brook. (Alex Kennedy/CBC)

“I think that could bring immense help, because taxes is a very scary time for a lot of people,” Butler told CBC News on Friday.

“I think Corner Brook is probably the perfect sized place to start it. There’s emerging entrepreneurs, women entrepreneurs.”

Jennifer Bessell, CEO of the Newfoundland and Labrador Organization of Women Entrepreneurs, said her organization is delighted to see the city look at female entrepreneurship under the microscope.

She says many women who want to start a business can face gender-specific hurdles, like access to capital or unconscious biases in their fields.

“There’s more awareness of the fact that we need to make change, and there’s more of a commitment in order to make that change,” Bessell said.

A woman wearing a pink blouse smiles for a headshot.
Jennifer Bessell is the CEO of the Newfoundland and Labrador Organization of Women Entrepreneurs. She’s applauding the City of Corner Brook for looking at ways to help female entrepreneurship grow. (Submitted by Jennifer Bessell)

“Businesses in their early days, that’s when they’re more susceptible to failure, and it’s because of lack of access to capital. So by suspending the business tax, they’re therefore putting more opportunities for that capital to be used in different ways by the business. And making them more likely to succeed.”

Bessell encouraged other regions across Newfoundland and Labrador to look out for how the project develops,

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