CPAs are on the front lines of business in this province, and they see firsthand what issues are affecting investment and the economy. Based on our members’ input from CPABC’s annual Business Outlook Survey, and economic analysis from the BC Check-Up, CPABC’s recommendations focused on four policy areas that would improve BC's business productivity.
Read more at www.bccpa.ca.
2. BC should take advantage of its strong economic outlook and
encourage the diversification and maturation of the economy by
focusing on improving business productivity by:
1. Establishing input tax credits for businesses;
2. Developing BC’s skilled talent pool;
3. Fostering head office growth; and
4. Growing small businesses.
3. INPUT TAX CREDITS
The Provincial Sales Tax, in its current form,
is an outdated tax. It hinders investment
and productivity, adding approximately 10%
to input costs from when the Harmonized
Sales Tax was in place.
4. INPUT TAX CREDITS
Recommendation: Implement input tax credits
to encourage business capital investment and
to maintain our province’s competitiveness and
drive productivity.
5. SKILLED TALENT POOL
83.2% of BC CPAs identified the ability to attract
and retain skilled talent as a “moderate” or
“major” challenge to business success in the
latest CPABC Business Outlook Survey.
6. SKILLED TALENT POOL
Recommendation: Expand current initiatives and
work with other government partners, universities
& colleges, and industry to develop a policy that
better equips students with needed skills and
efficiently integrates graduates into the workforce.
7. HEAD OFFICE GROWTH
Head offices are important contributors to the
growth of local small businesses and creation
of industry clusters. Currently, only 7.5% of
head offices in Canada are located in BC.
8. HEAD OFFICE GROWTH
Recommendation: Continue to support HQ
Vancouver and consider implementing similar
initiatives in other BC urban centers and
industrial hubs.
9. SMALL BUSINESS
Small businesses make up 98% of all
BC businesses, but only generate
about a third of our GDP. It is important
to BC’s economy that the province
encourages small businesses to
pursue growth.
