FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—PRESS RELEASE
October 21, 2025
TORONTO, ON – Ontario Liberal Finance & Trade Critic Stephanie Bowman, MPP Don Valley West, held a press conference regarding the importance of Small Business Week and issued the following statement:
This week is supposed to be a celebration of Small Businesses and their many contributions to our communities. But it doesn’t feel like one in Doug Ford’s Ontario. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business’ most recent survey showed Ontario with the third lowest small business confidence rate in Canada. And in the next four months, twice the number of Ontario small businesses are planning to reduce staff than hire new ones.
706,000 Ontarians are looking for work. That the largest private sector source of employment, small businesses, are saying they are more likely to reduce staff than hire new ones is a damming indictment of Ford’s economic mismanagement, including his history of voting against small business tax cuts. Ontario is tied for the highest provincial small business tax rate in Canada. In Ontario, over seven in 10 small businesses say taxes are a major input cost constraint.
At a time of economic and trade uncertainty, the provincial government should be doing everything in its power to support the backbone of our economy, small businesses. In the last session, I reintroduced my small business tax cut bill, which would reduce taxes on small businesses by up to $17,800 every year. In good times, that could be the difference between a business expanding or updating their equipment. In lean years, like right now, it could be the difference between whether they lay off an employee.
This week, I hope Ford’s government puts its money where its mouth is and commits to real action to support small businesses.