The government of Saskatchewan is celebrating the work of small businesses as Small Business Week is being observed.
The Business Development Bank of Canada initiative has been celebrated for over 40 years in Canada. By definition a small business has less than 50 staff.
For last year, small businesses in Saskatchewan employed 30 per cent of the province’s workforce and paid about $6.8 billion in wages and salaries. That’s a quarter of the province’s total payroll. Small businesses contributed nearly 30 per cent of the province’s gross domestic product (GDP).
The number of small businesses have increased by 54 per cent in the 10-year period since 2010 numbering over 146,000 operations.
The government highlights several initiatives to support small businesses including:
- The Saskatchewan Technology Start-Up Incentive, which offers a 45 per cent non-refundable tax credit for individual and corporate equity investments in eligible technology start-up businesses;
- The Canada-Saskatchewan Job Grant, an employer-driven program which helps employers train new or existing workers to meet their specific workforce needs;
- Small Business Corporate Tax Rate of 0 per cent until July 2022 and 1 per cent until July 2023 when it will revert back to 2 per cent. The reduced rate applies to up to $600,000 taxable income per year in Saskatchewan and will be pro-rated for taxation years that include periods with different tax rates.
More information on the Saskatchewan Small Business Profile 2021 can be found on the government website.