Trade war puts more than 50,000 Canadian small businesses at risk: CFIB

Toronto, ON (Sept. 10, 2026) – New estimates from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business find that 53,112 businesses are directly impacted by either U.S. tariffs, Canadian counter-tariffs, or both.

Of that total, 13,160 are exporters, while 45,414 are importers.

“While government has made a few important and welcome changes to the main tariff supports, the programs continue to exclude about half of the small business community,” said Corinne Pohlmann, CFIB executive vice-president, advocacy. “We have been telling government that the counter-tariffs would have a far broader impact than the U.S. tariffs. Programs that only help a few thousand businesses are unacceptable when tens of thousands need support. This week’s announcement that some Canadian goods will be outright banned from US import at the end of the month only underscores the need to get supports right ASAP.”

CFIB is proposing three important measures:

• A dedicated Small Business Tariff Relief (SBTR) program, where impacted exporters and importers who can provide direct evidence they paid the tariffs directly, or adjusted prices to absorb part or all of the tariff, would be eligible to receive initial tariff relief up to $70,000 CAD.
• An SME Desk for Tariff Remissions to speed up decisions on eliminating Canadian retaliatory tariffs if there are major negative impacts on the industry or if alternatives to the U.S. product are not readily available.
• Immediate tax relief for all small businesses in the form of a Small Business Corporate Tax Rate cut from 9% to 6%, retroactive to January 1, 2026, and an increase to the Small Business Deduction threshold from $500,000 to $700,000 with future indexation to inflation.

“The Regional Tariff Response Initiative Programs have standardized eligibility criteria and reduced their access thresholds down to $1 million, but it doesn’t go far enough,” Pohlmann added. “A $1-million threshold will still exclude a huge number of businesses. We need a simple, direct support program to help small businesses on the U.S. and Canadian tariff lists in addition to broad-based tax relief to help all small firms that will be hurt by the trade war.”

About CFIB

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is Canada’s largest association of small and medium-sized businesses with 103,000 members across every industry and region. CFIB is dedicated to increasing business owners’ chances of success by driving policy change at all levels of government, providing expert advice and tools, and negotiating exclusive savings. Learn more at cfib.ca.

Source: Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB)

Tags: Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), market dynamics, small business