On April 21, Finance Minister Joe Oliver delivered the 2015 federal budget, titled Strong Leadership: A Balanced Budget Tax Plan for Jobs, Growth and Prosperity. Several items are of interest to members of the Canadian Digital Media Network, particularly those relating to support for entrepreneurship, export development and investments in research and digital infrastructure.

Support for entrepreneurship

Budget 2015 calls for reducing the small business tax rate from 11 per cent to nine per cent by 2019, and pledges to increase access to venture capital financing to help high-growth companies grow. New measures also take aim at addressing the talent pressures facing innovation-based businesses, including investments of $56.4 million over four years (starting in 2016–17) for the Mitacs Accelerate program. Mitacs Accelerate will increase the number of internships it delivers by 1,500 per year. Going forward, Mitacs Accelerate will also become the primary delivery vehicle for federally funded graduate-level industrial research and development internships, as the NSERC Industrial Postgraduate Scholarships Program winds down.

 Other measures related to supporting entrepreneurs include $14 million over two years to Futurpreneur Canada and the launch of a new “Action Plan for Women Entrepreneurs,” which will include: an online networking platform; a mentorship campaign; enhanced trade missions for companies led by women entrepreneurs; Business Development Bank of Canada investments of up to $700 million over three years to finance women-owned businesses; and a national forum to bring together women entrepreneurs and provide them with tools and connections.

Support for export development

A significant theme in Budget 2015 is the need to support Canada’s small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) as they enter export markets. Proposed measures include new financial assistance for entrepreneurs looking to develop opportunities in high-growth emerging markets, as well as programs to help SMEs conduct market research, participate in trade fairs and missions, ship prototypes, and undertake pilot projects. The government aims to help 500 to 1,000 exporters each year with these new activities. Complementing this program are new investments pledged to expand the footprint and resources of the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service. Details will be announced in the coming months.

Both the Business Development Bank of Canada and Export Development Canada will expand their support to help SMEs export. BDC will commit $200 million per year in loans and $300 million in venture capital investments for information and communications technology (ICT) firms. EDC will launch an online self-service application that provides selective sales insurance coverage for small companies, and will also increase its risk appetite in specific areas, such as providing a 100 per cent loan guarantee to domestic banks to encourage them to increase credit for Canadian SMEs, and increasing the approval rate of SME requests for accounts receivable insurance for foreign buyers.

Investment in research and digital infrastructure

Measures related to research and digital infrastructure include new funds to support the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the granting councils, and investments in the National Research Council’s industry-partnered research and development activities. There is also a commitment to invest $105 million over five years in CANARIE, and reference to the development of a digital research infrastructure strategy that will cover research data management and storage, and a co-ordinated long-term approach to the funding and provision of networking, high-performance computing, and software tools.

Full details of the federal budget can be found on the Finance Canada website.