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Results: 31 - 45 of 71
View Brad Vis Profile
CPC (BC)
That would be very helpful because I found it odd, given how much we know indigenous people don't have adequate housing, that CMHC paid dividends to the federal government.
Ben Segel-Brown
View Ben Segel-Brown Profile
Ben Segel-Brown
2021-02-16 17:50
I guess I would clarify that there are separate business lines, so the dividends don't arise from the assisted housing programs. The assisted housing programs are funded by appropriations from the Government of Canada, so they're not using the profits from their mortgage insurance business to cover the cost of assisted housing programs.
View Nathaniel Erskine-Smith Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Ghiz, I don't want to put you entirely on the spot, but I did read recently in the Financial Post that Rogers and Telus received, I think it was $63 million, from the wage subsidy but then Telus paid out dividends. That makes me uncomfortable.
Does it make you uncomfortable?
Robert Ghiz
View Robert Ghiz Profile
Robert Ghiz
2020-12-08 11:50
I can't answer questions about individual member of our association.
Nonetheless, I believe you were at the committee hearing the other day when the chair of the CRTC, Ian Scott, was there. He talked about how our industry has stepped up to put out programs to help individuals and customers, as well as companies, in health care and governments, during COVID-19. So our industry did respond to some of the issues out there.
View Matthew Green Profile
NDP (ON)
Could you comment quickly on how Canada seemed to be an outlier, relative to the European market, in that it provided a significant bailout to banks without the requirement that they stop dividend payments?
Yves Giroux
View Yves Giroux Profile
Yves Giroux
2020-12-02 17:52
I don't think there were that many restrictions imposed on corporations, banks or otherwise, when receiving financial assistance, loans or grants from the government. I'm not aware that there were that many restrictions, if any at all, compared to other jurisdictions that did impose some more stringent requirements. I'm not aware that there were any conditions or—
View Matthew Green Profile
NDP (ON)
It's just straight economics. It doesn't even have to be.... I mean, I think any economist would look at it and say that, if you're taking taxpayer dollars and giving them to big banks and then allowing them to send them out in the way of dividends, that, too, is super-problematic economic theory. Can you answer that very quickly?
Yves Giroux
View Yves Giroux Profile
Yves Giroux
2020-12-02 17:53
That certainly raises questions as to the need for government subsidies in the first place, if a corporation turns around and pays a dividend.
Corinne Pohlmann
View Corinne Pohlmann Profile
Corinne Pohlmann
2020-11-17 12:02
Thank you for the opportunity to be here today. I'll be focusing my remarks on the impacts of COVID-19 on female entrepreneurs. I'll be walking you through a slide deck that I hope you all have in front of you.
Right away, I want to talk a bit about CFIB. It's a not-for-profit member-based organization that represents the interests of independently owned Canadian companies. Our 110,000 members come from every sector of the economy and are found in every region of the country.
During COVID-19, CFIB has been very active. Our help line call volumes tripled, with small business owners looking for information to help them get through the crisis. We've also undertaken regular surveys since the beginning of the pandemic to determine how small businesses are doing and how well government programs are working, and I want to share some of that with you today.
If we move to slide three, I want to start with how small businesses are doing right now.
As of early November, 66% of small businesses were fully open, 42% were fully staffed, and only 28% were at normal sales, all of which has actually decreased since October as more jurisdictions impose further restrictions. The bottom line is that this pandemic remains a significant challenge for many small businesses.
As you can see on slide four, small businesses are not homogeneous. About 30% have been in business for 10 years or less, and 96% have fewer than 50 employees. Just under one in two small businesses are owned by men, almost one in four are owned by women, and 28% have multiple owners, which might have a combination of genders.
Slide five looks at the share of ownership by gender, with 23% of firms being either entirely or majority owned by women and another 28% owned equally by women and men. This means that around 50% of businesses have women playing some type of role in the ownership.
Female business owners are also more highly represented in certain sectors, such as social services, enterprise and administration management, retail, professional services and personal services. In addition, as you can see on slide six, women-owned businesses also tend to be newer and smaller than their male counterparts, which might also explain some of the additional challenges they have faced.
As you can see on slide seven, those challenges are substantial. Only 63% of female-owned businesses are fully open, which is 10% less than male-owned businesses. Just 35% are fully staffed, which is 13% less than their male counterparts, and only 24% are back to normal sales, which is 8% less than men-owned businesses.
As you can see on slide eight, most small businesses are worried about the uncertainty around a second wave, and about two-thirds worry about the economic repercussions. About half are worried that consumer spending will be reduced even after COVID, and a similar number are worried about their business cash flow, the physical health impacts and their growing debt.
When we dissect the data further, you will see on slide nine that female-owned businesses are much more likely to be worried about consumer spending being reduced even after COVID, about their mounting debt, about their business cash flow, and about dealing with overwhelming stress than their male counterparts. Clearly, female entrepreneurs could use some financial and emotional support.
When it comes to financial support, as you can see on slide 10, female-owned businesses are more likely to need rent relief, and getting that relief significantly increases their odds of staying open. This is why the new Canada emergency rent subsidy needs to be implemented as soon as possible.
As you can see on slide 11, the Canada emergency wage subsidy tends to be more heavily used by more established firms. As female-owned businesses are more likely to be newer and smaller, we can assume they are probably not using the wage subsidy quite as much, and they are more likely to have used the Canada emergency response benefit to help themselves get through the tougher periods of the pandemic. It was also sometimes the only financial support many very small and newer business owners could get.
Quickly, in summary, before I get to some recommendations, female-owned businesses are more likely to be smaller and newer businesses, which also tend to be the businesses that are more likely to fall through the cracks of the various emergency relief programs, so it really should be no surprise that they also tend to be more worried about their businesses, and with good reason. The data tells us that they are less likely to be fully open, have normal or better revenues, be fully staffed or be able to pay their rent.
To help these entrepreneurs weather the storm, we need to make adjustments to the various emergency relief programs. First, we need to expand all emergency support programs to include microsized and newer firms, as this will likely help more female-owned businesses and also those that are owned by visible minorities.
For example, the Canada emergency business account loan requires a smaller company with less than $20,000 in payroll to submit documents showing they have more than $40,000 in non-deferrable expenses. The problem is that the application process is complex and some of the rules make it very difficult to comply. It needs to be simplified and made more flexible.
Second, as rent tends to be a more important expense to female-owned businesses, government needs to introduce the Canada emergency rent subsidy immediately, as December 1 is not that far away.
It would also be important for government to look at providing 50% of rent retroactively to those who qualified under the old rent program but did not get relief, as their landlord did not apply. Those businesses have likely accumulated a lot of debt and deserve to be provided with some assistance to help them through.
Third, even though women entrepreneurs are less likely to use the wage subsidy, it is still the most generous program being offered to small businesses. We want to make sure it is accessible to those who really need it. For example, many small business owners pay themselves in dividends, so they're not able to include their own income in the wage subsidy, nor can they use their dividend income to get CEBA. These programs should allow at least some dividend income to be included.
We would also suggest that the new lockdown support, which allows businesses to get up to 90% of their rent covered if they are forced to shut down due to a public health order, be expanded to the wage subsidy. Businesses want to hold on to their staff, and if they must close, they may have no choice but to let them go. Increasing the wage subsidy to 90% during these periods may help many more hang on to their staff until they can open.
Finally, I just want to mention something that is starting to emerge with seasonal businesses. They're now in their low season and may no longer have the revenue losses they did during the summer, but their needs have not changed. Without having made their usual higher revenues during the high season, it will be difficult for many of them to get through to next year. Finding some alternative ways for them to illustrate their circumstances in order to get a higher wage subsidy would be welcome.
There are many more ideas, but I will leave it at that for today. Thank you for your attention. I look forward to answering any questions you may have.
View Tracy Gray Profile
CPC (BC)
Great. Thank you, Minister.
I heard through Export Development Canada that they were instructed not to pay the government the yearly dividend this year as is obligated for Crown corporations. Would you say that was accurate for this year?
View Nathaniel Erskine-Smith Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Medline, you have indicated that all resources have been put into your teammates. Your company has described them as family members. Describe the recent increase to shareholder dividends and how that accords with what you described to this committee in relation to putting all of the resources into your teammates, family members and your essential workers.
Michael Medline
View Michael Medline Profile
Michael Medline
2020-07-10 15:41
We have a lot of stakeholders. We have to do everything we can for our teammates. We put every penny we could and every effort we could into the safety and health of our teammates. In fact, I was on a call with Chinese and Italian grocers early on in the pandemic, heard about plexiglass and put plexiglass in without knowing how much it was going to cost.
In terms of why we pay dividends, it's because ordinary Canadians count on those dividends to retire and to put their kids through school. There's a balance, but teammates, as you said—and you quoted me there—are so important.
View Nathaniel Erskine-Smith Profile
Lib. (ON)
Correct me if I'm wrong, but you paid just over $100 million in pandemic pay, additional pay. What's the number represented by the increase in shareholder payout?
Michael Medline
View Michael Medline Profile
Michael Medline
2020-07-10 15:42
The increase in dividends was four cents per quarter. I'd have to do the math. I'll send it to your office.
View Alain Rayes Profile
CPC (QC)
Mr. Chair, one month ago, the Prime Minister announced with great fanfare that the eligibility criteria for the $40,000 emergency loans for businesses would be more flexible to help self-employed entrepreneurs and businesses that pay themselves dividends to have access to them.
However, as of today—it has been four weeks since that announcement—businesses are still banging their heads on the doors of their financial institutions. They do not have access to the information because it is not available on official websites. In addition, even senior officials confirmed to me during a technical call on June 2, last Tuesday, that this information would not be available for several weeks.
Can the Minister of Finance, who says he wants to act quickly to help our businesses, explain why, after four weeks, it is still not possible to get the information the Prime Minister promised us from his doorstep?
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