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February 19 2021 Calgary Chamber

Calgary Chamber’s Submission on Budget 2021

The Honourable Chrystia Freeland

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance
Delivered via Department of Finance Canada submission portal

Re: Submission to the Minister of Finance regarding Budget 2021

Dear Minister Freeland:

Thank you for the opportunity to provide a written submission to the Ministry of Finance regarding Budget 2021, and for your consideration of our recommendations.

The Calgary Chamber is the voice of the Calgary business community, and our submission reflects what we have heard at our industry roundtables and ongoing feedback we received through continued engagement with our members and stakeholders.

Over the past several months, the Calgary business community has faced unprecedented challenges. Our city continues to demonstrate grit, resiliency, and determination, coupled with an entrepreneurial spirit and deep-seated commitment to innovation. That said, in times of sustained hardship, we need government support to ensure that both our businesses and the citizens they employ emerge stronger. With crisis comes opportunity, and we must use this moment of economic recovery to springboard to a more resilient and sustainable future.

In preparing Budget 2021, we recommend that the Government of Canada consider the following recommendations to provide certainty, create a climate of growth and optimism, and to position all Canadians from coast to coast to coast for a future where we emerge stronger than before from the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, we’d ask the Government to: (1) focus on providing short-term financial support and long-term fiscal stability, (2) invest in the long-term strength of our regional economies, (3) invest in our competitiveness, (4) support trade and market access, and (5) prioritize an inclusive recovery for all Canadians.

Our submission expands on each of these recommendations. If you would like more information regarding our recommendations, please do not hesitate to contact me at msigler@calgarychamber.com.

Thank you in advance for your consideration and we look forward to working with you to realize a sustainable and prosperous future for all Canadians.

Sincerely,

Murray Sigler
Interim CEO
Calgary Chamber of Commerce

Calgary Chamber’s Submission on Budget 2021

Our submission to the Government of Canada’s Budget 2021 consultations reflects work with members, experts, and stakeholders to understand the opportunities and challenges facing Calgary’s business community. It puts forth our recommendations on how we believe the government can support a sustainable and prosperous future for all Calgarians and Canadians today and in the years to come.

To realize a sustainable and prosperous future for all, we recommend Budget 2021 be developed, and that the policies below be viewed, through the following lens:

  1. Prioritize fiscal responsibility and a return to balance over the long-term;
  2. Enable certainty and stability for businesses and those they serve and employ;
  3. Facilitate inclusive growth and expand our economy by bringing more people to the table, particularly historically marginalized and underrepresented groups. Vibrant communities lead to vibrant businesses, which means social issues cannot be separated from economic issues; and
  4. Encourage collaboration between all orders of government and strategically leverage the tools each level of government has to support our economy.

SUMMARY

1. Support business in the short-term and fiscal sustainability in the long-term

1.1. Focus on the health of Canadians and stop the spread of COVID-19 to enable the economy to reopen.

1.2. Provide direct financial support to businesses to ensure they can survive during necessary COVID-19 restrictions and emerge stronger than before.

1.3. After helping businesses get through this challenging time, focus on long-term sustainability and a plan to balance.

1.4. Develop information and public communications strategies that focus on providing certainty for Canadian businesses.

2. Invest in the long-term strength of regional economies

2.1. Support diversification within and outside of Alberta’s traditional sectors of strength.

2.2. Promote and invest in Alberta’s position as a leader in the lower-carbon economy.

2.3. Invest in excellence and long-term stability of the Canadian workforce.

3. Invest in Canada’s competitiveness

3.1. Reduce the regulatory burden and provide certainty for businesses.

3.2 Review the Canadian tax system to strengthen long-term competitiveness.

3.3. Invest in Calgary’s vibrancy to help attract and retain top talent.

4. Support trade and market access

4.1. Aggressively dismantle barriers to interprovincial trade and strengthen supply chains to boost our local economies and tap into secure markets.

4.2. Facilitate international market access.

4.3. Support and invest in commercialization of technologies.

5. Build an inclusive recovery for all Canadians

5.1. Support our economic recovery through inclusive growth; adding more seats to the table, with a particular focus on those who have historically been excluded.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. SUPPORT BUSINESS IN THE SHORT-TERM AND FISCAL SUSTAINABILITY IN THE LONG-TERM

Businesses continue to face significant challenges, and most continue to feel the impact of the pandemic each day. In the short-term, Canadian businesses will continue to need support through the COVID-19 pandemic. In the long-term, economic diversification and job creation will be required to rebuild resiliency in our economy and ensure fiscal sustainability. A critical focus on fiscal responsibility should be maintained throughout the budget planning process.

1.1. Focus on the health of Canadians and stop the spread of COVID-19 to enable the economy to reopen.

1.2. Provide direct financial support to businesses to ensure they can survive during necessary COVID-19 restrictions and emerge stronger than before.

1.3. After helping businesses get through this challenging time, focus on long-term sustainability and a plan to balance.

1.4. Develop information and public communications strategies that focus on providing certainty for Canadian businesses.

2. INVEST IN THE LONG-TERM STRENGTH OF REGIONAL ECONOMIES

With an entrepreneurial spirit, access to immense natural and human resources, and the most educated population in Canada, Alberta is well-positioned to thrive in areas we have succeeded in traditionally, as well as in new areas that will allow us to expand our industries, sources of revenue, and collective skill set.

At the same time, we know that recovery will not be equal, and the road ahead will be bumpy. To that end, Canada must support struggling sectors, while also helping emerging sectors use this as a springboard to maximize their growth at an opportune time.

2.1. Support Alberta’s diversification within and outside of Alberta’s traditional sectors of strength.

2.2. Promote and invest in Alberta’s position as a leader in the lower-carbon economy.

2.3. Invest in excellence and long-term stability of the Canadian workforce.

3. INVEST IN CANADA’S COMPETITIVENESS

As a trade-exposed province, Alberta must be able to compete. This involves creating a cost-competitive environment, avoiding red tape and duplicative regulation, and providing certainty for business. Our competitiveness is also supported by our ability to attract capital and top talent, and lead innovation in emerging areas such as the low-carbon economy.

3.1. Reduce the regulatory burden and provide certainty for businesses

3.2 Review the Canadian tax system to strengthen long-term competitiveness

3.3. Invest in Calgary’s vibrancy to help attract and retain top talent.

4. SUPPORT TRADE AND MARKET ACCESS

Access to markets, internationally and within our borders, is a necessity for growth for businesses across the country no matter their size. We have seen this directly with our energy industry, however barriers to market access impact almost all sectors in Alberta, as many families rely on our trade-exposed sectors. Interprovincial trade barriers limit the growth for businesses in our country geographically, often forcing small to medium sized business owners to operate in smaller and more saturated markets.

4.1. Aggressively dismantle barriers to interprovincial trade and strengthen supply chains to boost our local economies and tap into secure markets.

4.2. Facilitate international market access

4.3. Support and invest in commercialization of technologies.

5. BUILD AN INCLUSIVE RECOVERY FOR ALL CANADIANS

For our fiscal future to be sustainable long-term, we must invest in our communities, social services, and facilitate inclusive growth. Failure to invest in our communities will lead to long-term economic costs, which will be borne by government budgets. Inclusive growth is about enlarging the size of the economy through productive employment to allow the benefits of growth to be realized for all citizens, with a particular focus on historically excluded groups. Through the inclusion of more people, with diverse skillsets and backgrounds, Canada can accelerate its economic recovery, increase economic opportunity, and ‘grow the pie’ for all of us.

5.1. Support our economic recovery by enlarging the size of our economy by adding more seats to the table, with a particular focus on those who have historically been excluded.

We face a long and difficult road that will demand both an ongoing pandemic response, and our economic recovery. The decisions the Government of Canada makes in Budget 2021 provide an opportunity to chart a path forward towards a more robust, stable, and inclusive economy.

Our future can be one where Canada has the talent and skills for the economy of tomorrow, and where we can trade and export our products here at home and around the world. A future where Canada has an economy that includes all of us, and where we remain the energy leader of the world as we transition to the low-carbon economy of the future. Canada can have a future where we continue to diversify its economy, and further showcase why our country is a destination to visit and live. In all of this, we can also secure our fiscal future for the generations that follow us.

ABOUT THE CALGARY CHAMBER

The Calgary Chamber is an independent non-profit, non-partisan business organization. For 130 years the Chamber has worked to build a business community that nourishes, powers and inspires the world.