The Canadian economic landscape is blessed with thousands of small- and medium-sized businesses and the federal government intends to keep these sectors strong and prosperous.

The recent Small Business Week celebration is a reminder that the government depends on small business to provide jobs and economic stimulus all year ‘round. Considering that small businesses represent 98 percent of the total businesses in Canada and they employ half of the workforce, it’s a small wonder the government values these enterprises so much.

What is the government doing in return to make life easier and less expensive for small business owners? For starters, our government has reduced the tax burden by increasing the earning threshold from $300,000 to $500,000. This means many more businesses will qualify for the small business tax rate of 11 percent.

The crushing burden of red tape for small business was using up too much time and energy, and we listened. The government has already achieved its commitment to reduce red tape by 20 percent for small- and medium-sized businesses.

We recognized the need to improve access to financing during the recent global economic downturn, and therefore raised the minimum loan amount under the Canadian Small Business Financing Program from $250,000 to $350,000, and up to $500,000 for acquiring real estate. This will increase lending to small business under the program by about $300 million a year. The Business Credit Availability Program will provide an additional $5 billion in direct lending and other support to qualified businesses whose access to financing has been restricted due to tightened credit conditions.

When this government took office, it believed that Canadians were paying too much tax, which had a crippling trickle-down effect with less disposable income diminishing purchasing-power. That hurts small business. This year, Canadians and Canadian businesses will pay $31 billion less in taxes than before we took office. We also froze Employment Insurance rates for 2009 and 2010 at $1.73 per $100 of insurable earnings. As a result, small businesses in Canada will pay the lowest payroll taxes since 1982, and that rate is now among the lowest in the world. In fact, an average company reporting $500,000 in taxable income this year will save $8,000 in federal taxes.

Keeping those tax dollars in the pockets of the people and on the books for small business helps more money change hands for goods and services. And, those purchases are helping Canada to maintain one of most robust economies in the G7.

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The audio version of Garry's October 26, 2009 op-ed column can be heard by clicking here