Finance Minister Champagne says upcoming budget will add tax measures for small businesses

Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne told a business audience in Toronto that the federal budget slated for Thursday will contain new tax measures to help small- and medium-sized businesses. Speaking at the Canadian Club Toronto, he said Canada’s triple-A credit rating gives the government fiscal space to invest in long-term growth and to simplify “a number of boutique things” in the tax code that often require specialist advice.

“I think you will see in this budget a journey to fixing a number of things, to make things more simple. To simplify the life of small- and medium-sized businesses,” Champagne said.

He added that the budget is “about entrepreneurs, innovators and creators” and that those who represent small businesses will see themselves reflected in the measures.

Industry leaders expressed cautious optimism. Benjamin Bergin, chief executive of the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association, said his members hope the budget will include capital-gains incentives for startups and tax changes to retain Canadian entrepreneurs. Rebekah Young, a Scotiabank economist and former Finance Department official, noted a recent report that the government may launch a targeted review of tax expenditures, a step short of broader tax reform.

Champagne also indicated that the budget will provide details on major policies such as the Canada Strong Fund and a plan to modernize the ownership structure of Canada’s largest airports, suggesting that Canadian pension funds could manage domestic airports as they do abroad.

The budget will be the second delivered under Prime Minister Mark Carney, who succeeded Justin Trudeau last year. It follows the government’s first budget, which focused on funding campaign promises, and comes amid trade tensions with the United States, where President Donald Trump’s high-tariff policies have become a key issue ahead of U.S. midterm elections.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre released an open letter to Prime Minister Carney urging cuts to wasteful spending, debt reduction and the elimination of fuel taxes, arguing that the government’s deficit-reduction targets are unrealistic without a change in government.