The Canadian Federation of Independent Business is a non-profit business organization representing the interests and concerns of over 110,000 Canadian owners of small and mid-size enterprises to all three levels of government. Their areas of concerns include tax policy, labour policies and regulatory policy. Traditionally, the CFIB has lobbied against most aspects of the social safety net, including employment insurance, Income assistance, Old age security and universal medicare. CFIB describes itself as a non-partisan political advocacy organization working with all federal and provincial parties. The organization's head office is located in Toronto and there is a regional office located in each province. There is also a national office located in Ottawa.
History
Born out of a 1969 tax protest, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business was officially founded in 1971 by John Bulloch, a small business owner and business professor at Ryerson. Bulloch had formed The Canadian Council for Fair Taxation in 1969 to fight the White Paper on Taxation proposed by the then Minister of Finance, Edgar Benson. Under the terms of the White Paper, Canadian small businesses faced the prospect of an increased tax rate of 50%. The White Paper was ultimately withdrawn and the CCFT was succeeded by the enduring CFIB. Catherine Swift succeeded John Bulloch and has been chairwoman, president and chief executive officer since 1999. Dan Kelly succeeded Catherine Swift as president and CEO as of 2012, and chair of the board in 2014.
Membership
Members must be Canadian-based privately owned companies. While business size is not a criterion for membership, ninety-six percent of CFIB members have less than fifty people on their payrolls. Fifteen percent are self-employed. Members come from a wide array of industries in the Canadian economy.
Fundraising
CFIB's sole source of funding is membership dues; it receives no donations or government funds. As of 2015, the fees ranged from a minimum of $250 a year to $3,500 a year, depending on the size of the business.
Political activity
CFIB describes itself as a non-partisan political advocacy organization working with all federal and provincial parties. However, for a long time, they courted exclusively the Conservative Party, and then evolved to strive for a broader appeal among all federal parties in the 21th century. According to Dan Kelly, the perception that the CFIB is tied to the conservative party only existed in the mid-2010s because the Tories had been in power for a log time. Kelly says that the organisation also had a close relationship with the Paul Martin's Liberal Party when they were in power.
Against increasing the minimum wage, calling the idea of a $15 minimum wage a "dumb policy"
Dan Kelly stood at the podium with finance ministerJoe Oliver when he announced cut to Employment Insurance rates for small businesses. However, the CFIB was at odds with the Harper government when they ended the long-form census. They also opposed the reforms made to the temporary foreign worker program in 2014. The CFIB had also opposed big bank mergers in Canada.
Positions during the 2019 Federal election
During the 2019 Canadian federal election, the CFIB came out strongly against the UPU subsidy for Chinese shipments, when a spokesperson noted that: Donald Trump had tweeted his disfavour to the status quo in April 2018 when he said He had indicated his upset prior to the October 2018 passage of the Ending Needless Delivery Subsidies Act.
The CFIB exercised its notoriety during the COVID-19 pandemic as a leading voice for Canadian small businesses during the crisis. March 2020, CFIB released a survey of Canadian businesses which revealed that 1/3 of Canadian small businesses feared imminent closures without significant government assistance. CFIB criticized Prime Minister Trudeau's March 24th poposal of a 10% wage subsidy for businesses for a maximum of $25,000 as "a drop in the bucket of what is absolutely necessary right now, and certainly a fraction of what is happening in Western Europe."
Research
CFIB produces research on the Canadian small and medium-sized business sector, based on the views and experiences its members. Issues of concern to the Canadian SME community are identified by CFIB members through surveys, opinion polls and face-to-face visits. Those views and opinions are then delivered to all three levels of government in the form of research reports, meetings and testimony. These concerns are far ranging but typically include tax policy, labour policies and regulatory policy. One of CFIB's regular reports is the "Business Barometer", a monthly research report detailing the economic expectations of Canada's small businesses. CFIB also holds an annual "Red Tape Awareness Week" during which they release a number of research reports advocating for deregulation of small business.
