PRINCE GEORGE – “I don’t really think working a regular job was ever in the cards for me just personally,” says local businessman Eoin Foley, Owner of Nancy O’s.
It takes a certain breed to enter business, especially if it’s a small business. It is not an easy gig.
According to the Government of Canada, as of December 2022, there were 1.22 million employer businesses in the country. Of these, almost 98% were small businesses. And the definition of small business sometimes wavers.
“Two-thirds of private sector employees work for small businesses. And I guess we should couch that because we might think that a small business is 10 or 20 employees, it’s actually 99 or less,” says Neil Godbout, Executive Director For the Prince George Chamber of Commerce. “So when we think of that in the Prince George context, the vast majority, well over 95% of our members are small businesses.”
It wasn’t all that long ago, finding a workforce was challenging for small business people, like Foley.
“Today is a completely different story on the labour front,” says Foley. “We see a lot more qualified applicants. When you put out a job posting the turnover doesn’t seem to be as high as it used to be across the board.”
But the pressures now are at the other end of the spectrum. With the cost of living on the rise, folks may not have the disposable income to buy a restaurant lunch or a new pair of shoes. And, of course, for small business a tax reduction from any level of government would be welcome.
“Everything’s getting more expensive. Every other news story tells us about how much more expensive family life is. If we could get a little bit of a break on the small business front. We already pay so much more in personal taxes as businesses.”
Another potential issue for small businesses comes from Ottawa, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a reduction of new permanent resident numbers by almost 100,000. A 21 pre cent drop. A statistic the Chamber of Commerce is acutely aware of.
“That will further affect new business development and new business startups, because right now, nationally, the big growth in terms of new business startups is coming from our immigrant community.”
And that, too, will affect the availability of the workforce.
