Canadian Federation of Independent Business

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 Polytechnical Institute, now Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU). Bulloch had formed The Canadian Council for Fair Taxation in 1969 to fight a 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 The proposal was ultimately withdrawn and the CCFT was succeeded by the enduring CFIB. ==Membership==

Members must be Canadian-based privately owned companies. Business size is not a criterion for membership. == Fundraising ==

CFIB's sole source of funding is membership dues; it receives no donations or government funds. , the fees ranged from a minimum of $250 a year to $3,500 a year, depending on the size of the business. ==Political activity==

The CFIB describes itself as a non-partisan political advocacy organization that is willing to work with all federal and provincial parties. Telfer School of Business professor Gilles LeVasseur says political parties all look at the CFIB as "the only credible organization that deals with small and medium-sized businesses". It advocates for freezes to Canada Pension Plan contributions, employment insurance premiums, and additional sick days, In 2015, Kelly said that increasing the minimum wage for employees in federally-regulated industries to $15 was a "dumb policy". The Canadian government ultimately supported the United States' position at an extraordinary congress of the union. Positions during the 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic In March 2020, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the CFIB released a survey of their member businesses that found one third feared imminent closures without significant government assistance. The CFIB criticized Prime Minister Trudeau's March 24 proposal 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." The next year, in July 2021, the CFIB asked the federal government for further subsidies for businesses. Emergency benefit programs became a flashpoint when employers wanted to recall workers. CFIB president Dan Kelly said that the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) "created a disincentive to return to work for some staff" especially in industries like hospitality where 45% of recalled employees declined the offer to return to work. A poll by the CFIB in July 2020 found around 27% of 3,389 employers polled indicated that some of their laid-off staff refused to return to work. Of the nearly 870 businesses that provided reasons their employees gave, 62% reported workers prefer the CERB. (More than one explanation could be provided, and 47% of employers said workers cited concern for health, and 27% cited childcare obligations). ==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" when they release research reports that advocate for the elimination or improvement of outdated or redundant regulations. ==Notes==