LOCKE: How Toronto’s subsequent mayor might help town’s small companies

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Toronto has lengthy been a metropolis with a powerful and vibrant small enterprise group.

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Whereas that continues to be the case, we will not ignore that the previous three years have been notably troublesome for small companies within the metropolis. Because the post-pandemic restoration chugs alongside, companies proceed to face many challenges.

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With the June twenty sixth mayoral by-election simply days away, it is crucial for town’s subsequent mayor to make Toronto’s small enterprise priorities Metropolis Corridor’s priorities.

The newest survey from the Canadian Federation of Unbiased Enterprise (CFIB) discovered that Toronto small enterprise house owners wish to see the subsequent main focus above all on decreasing crime (68%), adopting a development mitigation coverage (66%), bettering public transit ( 53%), and decrease taxes (50%).

For small enterprise house owners, it’s extremely vital that clients and staff really feel secure and might simply transfer across the metropolis at any time of the day or evening.

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Lots of the metropolis’s small companies have discovered {that a} lack of foot site visitors within the downtown core has been a problem of their restoration. The town’s subsequent mayor ought to work on reviving the downtown financial system by getting extra folks within the metropolis’s core and within the doorways of small companies. Eliminating purple tape in applications like CafeTO – a measure that is free – would scale back paperwork, permitting companies to give attention to attracting clients.

The fixed disruption that comes with main development tasks has turn into extremely tiresome for Toronto’s small companies. It’s properly previous time for town to offer direct monetary compensation to companies closely affected by prolonged, city-funded development tasks.

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Whereas everybody loves a completed undertaking, those that have lived with over a decade of development alongside the Eglinton LRT line can take a look at that you need to survive the constructing part to profit. A complete development mitigation program is a should for a Toronto that can see loads extra digging within the coming years.

Small companies additionally need the subsequent main to keep up a “do no hurt” strategy. This implies avoiding new prices and costs on companies. An amazing 83% of small companies oppose property tax will increase as a revenue-generating instrument; 87% opposes a municipal gross sales tax; and 68% opposes a business parking levy.

The town also needs to work on bettering good coverage that is already in play, just like the small enterprise property tax subclass. Eligible small companies in Toronto are seeing a 15% discount of their property taxes which might be being matched by the province.

Toronto’s mayoral race contains candidates with a thirst for brand spanking new concepts. It is vital to remind them that they need to work with small companies – not in opposition to them – to assist all of them get again on their toes and develop Toronto’s financial system.

Riley Locke is a coverage analyst with the Canadian Federation of Unbiased Enterprise

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