Montréal, February 18, 2021 – The Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal is releasing the highlights of its survey to identify business priorities for the next Government of Canada budget. The 483 respondents to the survey were also asked about the scope of the challenges facing their organizations, particularly in terms of innovation, financing, labour, interprovincial and international trade, and sector aid for industries hit hardest by the crisis.
Invest massively in the relaunch and ensure sound financial management
The survey highlighted priorities that businesses would like to see reflected in the next Government of Canada budget. Investing massively in the economic relaunch is at the top of the list of efforts the Government of Canada should prioritize (55.8% of respondents). 43.4% of those surveyed believe that the government should accelerate the shift to a lower-carbon economy, while 42% support increasing measures to stimulate business investment.
Asked about the management of public finances, 85.5% of respondents consider it essential that the Government of Canada adopt a strategy to balance the budget. More than half (55.4%) believe that the budget should be balanced within the next ten years, while 36.8% think it should happen within five.
Quickly adopt sector aid programs
The deployment of aid measures to support downtown Montréal and sectors hit hard by the crisis remains a major concern for many respondents. This is evidenced by the fact that 86.6% of them believe that the relaunch of downtown Montréal must be a central priority for the Government of Canada. At the top of the list of sectors of activity that require targeted aid are restaurants and hotels (89.4%), tourism (85.8%), and aerospace (83%), according to respondents.
Focus on innovation to foster the relaunch
Consultations as part of the Relaunch MTL movement gave the business community a chance to identify avenues for action to steer the relaunch of the city’s economy. Those surveyed had a chance to weigh in on avenues identified as part of the exercise that should be federal budget priorities. Acting as a catalyst for innovation through public policies and targeted, flexible initiatives was at the top of the list of responses (48.2% of respondents).
Respondents also identified the main barriers to innovation businesses encounter. Leading the list are challenges recruiting qualified personnel (41.2% of respondents), and difficulty accessing financing (own funds, external capital and sinking funds) ranked second (40.4% of respondents).
Facilitate interprovincial and international trade
Asked to weigh in on their activities on Canadian and international markets, the vast majority of those surveyed (87%) believe that eliminating barriers to interprovincial trade should be a priority for the Canadian government. Finally, over a quarter of those surveyed (27%) point out that the COVID-19 crisis delayed their activities on international markets by six months to one year.
Survey data was collected from February 8 to 11, 2021. The Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal will continue to survey members regularly in the coming weeks.
About the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal (CCMM)
With a network of over 8,000 members, the CCMM is active on two fronts: being the voice of the Montréal business community and delivering specialized services to businesses and their representatives. With its finger on the pulse of current events, it acts on issues that are decisive for the prosperity of the city’s businesses. With the support of the Acclr experts, the CCMM’s goal is to accelerate the creation and growth of businesses of all sizes, at home and around the world.
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Source:
Dominique Talbot
Advisor, Media Relations
Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal
Tel.: 514 871-4000, ext. 4052
dtalbot@ccmm.ca
Facebook: www.facebook.com/chambremontreal
Twitter: @chambremontreal
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