Any entrepreneur or executive who manages or knows of a fast-growing company is invited to enter the 2006 PROFIT 100 ranking of Canada's Fastest- Growing Companies by completing the simple online ballot found at PROFIT100.com. But they have to act fast: the entry deadline is March 31, 2006.

Candidates and nominators looking for more information can call the toll- free PROFIT 100 hotline at 1-800-713-GROW, or visit www.PROFIT100.com

March 22, 2006 - Kitchener, Ontario, Coldwell Banker Peter Benninger Realty has been named the Number One Coldwell Banker Office in Canada for the number of real estate sales completed.

Gary Hockey, president, Coldwell Banker Canada, presented the award to Peter Benninger, Broker/Owner of Coldwell Banker Peter Benninger Realty at the company’s annual Award and Recognition Gala held in March 2006 in Toronto at the Westin Prince Hotel. The annual event brings Coldwell Banker sales associates, brokers, managers and employees together for professional development and an awards ceremony.

“Coldwell Banker Peter Benninger Realty exemplifies the standards of excellence for which Coldwell Banker offices are known”, said Hockey. “It is an honour to award the Peter Benninger Realty Company as the number one office in Canada in their office size in Closed Revenue Units.

Coldwell Banker Peter Benninger Realty is a worthy recipient of this award. The sales associates have great expertise in the Kitchener-Waterloo real estate market and are dedicated to helping their customers realize the dream of home ownership. The service that Peter Benninger Realty provides is a significant reason why Coldwell Banker is a first choice for homebuyers.

In receiving this award, Peter Benninger, Broker/Owner of Coldwell Banker Peter Benninger Realty said, “I am very pleased to accept this award on behalf of my sales force. While we are, without a doubt, fortunate to be working in one of Canada’s fastest growing communities, we are by no means in the biggest market; this award is something we can all be proud of.”

Coldwell Banker is a leader in the Canadian real estate industry with a national network of over 200 independently owned and operated offices across Canada. Globally, Coldwell Banker has 120,000 sales professionals in over 3,600 residential and commercial real estate offices. For more information please visit Coldwell Banker Canada’s award-winning website at www.coldwellbanker.ca

Coldwell Banker Peter Benninger Realty serves the area of Waterloo Region with a staff of over 100 specializing in the acquisition and disposition of all real estate property types. The company was founded by Peter Benninger in 1985 and has become one of the leading real estate brokerage offices in the Coldwell Banker International Network.

The Canadian average is 5.5% less.

Two years ago, both the Waterloo Region and Canada as whole had a 9% advantage.  In the intervening period, however, the value of the Canadian dollar has risen 13.6%.

“The latest survey shows a narrowing of the cost differences among the countries surveyed.  This means the spotlight is also on other important locational considerations such as the quality and availability of the best talent, ready access to technology and proximity to customers”, says John Tennant, CEO, Canada’s Technology Triangle Inc. the Economic Development organization that markets Waterloo Region diverse assett base.  

“Fortunately, these are where the Waterloo Region has considerable strength too.  The Waterloo Region can point to its high levels of skill, education and quality assurance”.

The Waterloo Region enjoys its greatest degree of cost advantage vis-à-vis the USA for firms that are R&D intensive firms, according to the study. “These are also areas where the Waterloo Region has been successful in attracting new investment and jobs from firms such as McAfee, Nuvation, and now Google”, notes Bill Elliot, Director of Business Development for Canada’s Technology Triangle Inc.

The study points out that labour costs are a key component of total costs. Here, Canada fares well among the G-7 countries with the lowest labour related costs, including salaries and wages as well as costs for statutory plans and other employer-sponsored benefits.  Canada is also the lowest cost location when it comes to land purchase and building construction costs for a new industrial facility.

The highest cost countries in the survey are Germany and Japan, both of which are important sources of investment in the Waterloo Region and investment attraction priorities for Canada’s Technology Triangle Inc. Compared to the Waterloo Region, the overall German cost index is 13.1% higher while Japan is 12.6% greater.

The study uses an exchange rate of $US 0.852 to the Canadian dollar.

Canada’s Technology Triangle Inc is a sponsor of Competitive
Alternatives: KPMG’s Guide to International Business Costs in order to ensure the inclusion of the Waterloo Region and to provide full access to the comprehensive database.  The analysis enables Canada’s Technology Triangle Inc and its partners to position the Waterloo Region as a destination for business, informs its investment attraction strategies, and contributes to stakeholders’ understanding of important variables related to the future of the Regional economy.

TORONTO, ONTARIO - March 21 - Ready access to high quality, reliable, useful information still eludes 82% of Canadian companies

The vast majority of businesses across Canada (82%), and the rest of the world, are making fundamental strategic decisions without the benefit of accurate and timely financial and operational information. 65% of Canadian executives surveyed admit that information quality (IQ) remains a key issue citing disparate, non-integrated IT systems and the variability of business processes as problems.

IQ Matters, Deloitte's study of senior finance and IT executives from 385 companies across Canada, the U.S., Europe and Asia, revealed that despite significant investments in technology, the state of IQ is not acceptable. When surveyed on ten categories of information quality, including in relation to timeliness, reliability and accuracy of financial and operating information, Canadian executives reported 'room for improvement' in every category. But recognizing the problem is only the first step; companies must then figure out how to go about boosting their IQ.

"IQ is one of the most critical business issues facing companies today. Information is a valuable corporate asset and can bring a significant competitive advantage. Currently, overly complex and non-standardized processes and systems are resulting in real business costs and risks," says Gordon Shields, Partner, Deloitte. "Business decision-makers need timely, accurate information to effectively develop strategy and manage risk. Canadian executives need to ask themselves the question, 'do I have total confidence that every bit of information I utilize, or release to the market, is 100% accurate? If the answer is anything but 'yes', the next question is how do I ensure it is?"

Deloitte's IQ Matters Study: Highlights of Main Findings

The comprehensive study indicated that the most significant problem area is the quality of operational and financial information used for forward-looking planning and strategy development (by 71% of Canadian respondents, 85% worldwide). Canadian executives feel they are buried in information (85%) and that they feel there are 'multiple versions of the truth' (82%), which limits their ability to reach a useful decision.

Alarmingly, in an environment of increased compliance for financial disclosure rules and shareholder demands for transparency, 65% of Canadian companies said they could do a better job of ensuring financial information accurately reflects the performance of their business.

"Information management is not a new phenomenon," says Todd Genton, Partner, Deloitte. "But given today's business environment of increased regulatory scrutiny and intensifying competition, no Canadian company can risk the serious repercussions of releasing or using unreliable information. Improving IQ is not a 'nice to do', it is a 'must do' for every business."

The 'level of integration of business units' and 'not clearly defining the information required' are considered the biggest contributors to poor IQ within corporate Canada (each cited by 41% of Canadian respondents).

On a positive note, the study findings clearly indicate that finance and IT executives recognize the tangible advantages of better IQ. 82% of both Canadian and global respondents believe that improved information would enable them to make more effective and efficient management decisions, with 79% believing improving IQ would enhance the effectiveness of annual planning.

Recognizing the impact of IQ on both operational and financial performance, business leaders are earmarking funds to make sure IQ is improved. Over 90% of Canadian companies are currently undertaking, or planning to undertake initiatives or investments to improve IQ over the next two years. Canadian finance and IT executives are also working together more closely to ensure technology, business processes, and financial and operating information meet the requirements of internal and external stakeholders, with 59% of Canadian companies (57% of global companies) reporting closer collaboration between their CFO and CIO.

Deloitte points to the main components of the long-term commitment required from Canadian companies to address the problem of IQ, including:

- Foster greater collaboration between finance and IT
- Promote IQ to the strategic level and align IT strategy with overall business strategy
- Identify and remove barriers to IQ
- Identify stakeholders responsible for relevant processes
- Measure and reward success
- Long-term: culture of responsibility for IQ, including effective policies, clear accountability structures, goals, metrics and training

"Although it is encouraging that Canadian companies understand the benefits of improved IQ and are committed to making the required investments, this is a progressive journey involving a 360 degree approach of assessing, reviewing and refining a hybrid of complex business components, staring with the closer collaboration between the CFO and CIO roles." commented Doug Wilkinson, Partner, Deloitte."

OTTAWA - The Competition Bureau, in collaboration with Shred-it, local police forces and Better Business Bureaus, is participating in the first ever national community shredding event on Saturday, March 25 in 20 cities across Canada.

From 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. (local time), consumers are invited to bring their unwanted personal documents to any of the locations listed below. Shred-it mobile trucks will shred documents onsite, while local police and others will offer tips on how you can protect yourself against identity theft.

City Address

Calgary AB Office Depot Chinook Station, 306 Glenmore Trail South

Cambridge ON 135 Pinebush Road

Charlottetown PE Charlottetown Police Station, 10 Kirkwood Drive

Edmonton AB Office Depot Oliver Square, 11808 104 Avenue

Halifax NS Halifax Regional Police, West Division, 15 Convoy Run, Bedford

Kelowna BC Canadian Tire, 1655 Leckie Road

London ON London Police Reporting Centre, 1001 Brydges Street

Moncton NB TBC

Montreal QC Place Versailles, 7275 rue Sherbrooke Est

North Bay ON North Bay Police Station, 135 Princess Street West

Ottawa ON Vanier Police Centre, 252 McArthur Road

Quebec City QC Galeries de la Capitale, 5401 boulevard des Galeries

Saskatoon SK Saskatoon Police Service, 130-4th Avenue North

Scott Jonction QC Surete du Quebec Police Station, 1442 route du President Kennedy

Sherbrooke QC Carrefour de l'Estrie, 3050 boulevard Portland

Ste Hyacinthe QC Galeries Ste Hyacinthe, 3200 boulevard Laframboise

St. John's NL Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, 1 Fort Townshend

Toronto ON Toronto Police Service, Property & Evidence Management Unit, 799 Islington Ave.

Vancouver BC Canadian Tire, 6312 200 Street (Langley)

Winnipeg MB Winnipeg Police, District 6, 1350 Pembina Highway

March is Fraud Prevention Month in Canada. As Chair of the Fraud Prevention Forum, the Competition Bureau is working closely with over 75 partners in law enforcement, consumer and volunteer groups, government and the private sector to raise awareness of the dangers of fraud, while educating the public on how to "Recognize it, Report it and Stop it."

For more information on the Fraud Prevention Forum, please visit: www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/fraud

• Central region in Barrie on April 6;
• Eastern region in Kingston on April 12;
• Northern region in North Bay on April 27.

Regional Gold level award recipients will compete for the provincial honours in Toronto on May 31.

All winners are selected from a competitive pool of nominees evaluated by an independent judging panel that includes leaders from the business, education and economic development sectors.

“The success our exporters are experiencing in international markets is helping make Ontario synonymous with quality and innovation worldwide. The Ontario government applauds their accomplishments and will continue to support them in their drive to succeed,” Cordiano said

- Malcolm Gladwell, New York Times best selling Author of, "Blink and "The Tipping Point"

- Stacey Allerton Firth, Vice President, Human Resources, Ford Motor Company (Primary Negotiator with CAW, Fall 2005)

- John Thompson, Board Chair, Toronto-Dominion Bank; Director Thomson Corporation, Philips Electronics and Hospital for Sick Children

Participating academic leaders include:

- Brian Golden, academic co-director of The Judy Project, Sandra Rotman Chaired Professor of Strategic Management, The Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto

- Jill Ker Conway, Author, Former President, Smith College, Boards of Nike, Merrill Lynch, Colgate-Palmolive and Lend Lease Corporation

- Dr. Ruth Collins-Nakai, President , Canadian Medical Association

- Herminia Ibarra, Chaired Professor of Organization Behaviour, INSEAD, France: formerly full professor, Harvard Business School

- Brenda Zimmerman, associate professor of policy, Schulich School of Business, York University

- Frank Clegg, former President Microsoft Canada

Canada's Corporations earned $57.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2005, up 4.4% from the third quarter reported Statscan in the Quarterly financial statistics for enterprises. Profits have risen in all but 2 of the past 16 quarters, nearly doubling over that period. Financial industries' operating profits swelled 8.5% to $14.1 billion in the fourth quarter, while the non-financial industries reported profits of $43.4 billion (+3.2%).

Crude oil prices retreated from their third quarter record highs, pulling down fourth quarter operating profits in the oil and gas industry to $8.3 billion (-5.5%). The price decline was attributed to increased supplies, as normal oil and gas production resumed in the US Gulf Coast following the late summer hurricanes.

The manufacturing sector gained ground in the fourth quarter, their operating profits rising 5.1% to $10.6 billion. Despite the improvement, profits remained well below the recent high of $12.5 billion earned in the second quarter of 2004. Manufacturers of wood and paper (+23.9%), computers and electronics (+34.2%) and petroleum and coal (+25.2%) all contributed to the fourth quarter increase. However, Manufacturers of motor vehicles and parts lost ground, as their profits lessened by more than two-thirds.

Retailers reported a 5.7% rise in fourth quarter operating profits, with retailers of clothing and department stores showing the biggest gain (+17.6%). Wholesalers' operating profits edged up 3.2% in the same quarter.

In the financial sector, the depository credit intermediaries' operating profits were up sharply, rising 20.8% to $6.4 billion. Higher dividend income, foreign exchange and trading gains, and lower provisions for litigation costs contributed to the fourth quarter improvement.

Profitability ratios

The operating profit margin increased for a fourth consecutive year in 2005, expanding to 8.2%, from 7.7% in 2004. The return on average shareholders' equity also improved, reaching 11.0% in 2005, compared to 10.6% in 2004. The return on equity has almost doubled since falling to 5.7% in 2002.

The operating profit margin edged up to 8.5% in the fourth quarter, from 8.3% in the third quarter. Similarly, the return on shareholders' equity showed a slight increase to 11.6%, compared to 11.4% in the previous quarter.

“Engineering and environmental firms traditionally have been risk-averse,” said ASFE Executive Vice President John P. Bachner. “By contrast, organizations whose business is risk – like insurance companies – seem to thrive. We believe that ASFE member firms understand risk and are in a position to manage it not only for themselves, but for their clients as well, and to do so profitably.”

Irvin E. Richter, chairman and chief executive officer of Hill International, will keynote the event. Hill International is a highly regarded construction risk management firm established in 1976. He will provide insights that ASFE’s Project Risk Evaluation Process (PREP) Task Force will apply in development of a groundbreaking, new ASFE program.

Patrick J. McCarthy will also discuss project risk management, providing an underwriter’s perspective on project insurance policies. He will explain how underground conditions and subsurface exploration factor into a project and who the experts are when it comes to evaluating project risks.

ASFE meeting attendees will also hear case histories of the Project Risk Evaluation Process in practice, when three members present case histories. URS’ Ken Lyon will discuss the state of the art in North American project risk evaluations from a front-line perspective. Jan Hellings (Dr. Jan Hellings & Associates) will address “A European Perspective on Risk,” and Donald “Don” Richardson (BEM Systems, Inc.) will talk about “Balancing Risks and Rewards in Performance-Based Contracts for Environmental Remediation Services.”

ASFE will also address disaster management, when a panel of ASFE member firm CEOs shares their experiences of managing firms through: the unexpected death of a sole owner, the devastating experience of Hurricane Katrina, and a fire that ravaged a firm’s offices.

Dr. Peter G. Nicholson, Ph.D., P.E. (University of Hawaii) will also present a keynote address, when he discusses “Why the New Orleans Flood Prevention System Failed.” He will share his experiences as a lead investigator on the ground soon after the disaster, and will reveal why the system failed and what is being done to prevent a recurrence.

Also on the schedule, Paul H. Goldsmith (Harley Ellis Devereaux) will discuss the U. S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program, and Vern Petersen of the International Code Council will focus on special inspection: what it is, when it is required, who can provide the service, and duties of the inspectors.

Among the smallest firms included in the survey (those run by an entrepreneur with no employees) only 15% sought debt financing in 2004, down from 19% in 2000.

In contrast, one-third (33%) of larger firms with 20 to 99 employees sought external financing, the highest proportion. This was slightly below the proportion of 36% four years earlier.

Businesses in the manufacturing sector had a noticeably lower approval rate (64%) than in 2000 (78%). It appears that credit suppliers were more cautious lending to manufacturers. This is possibly because profits for small- and medium-sized enterprises in this sector fell in tandem with those of larger firms between 2000 and 2004.

If corporations in the booming energy sector were excluded, and if inflation were taken into account, profits of larger Canadian corporations rose by 8.6% during this four-year period. On the other hand, profits of manufacturers fell by 13.4%, as shown by Statistics Canada's quarterly financial statistics.
more...

In spite of their declining presence in Ontario, the LSVCCs and other retail funds remain the largest investor category across Canada with $572 million invested in 2005, or 31% of the total. This represents a decline of approximately 4% from the $595 million disbursed by this investor group in 2004. Private independent venture fund investment grew to $337 million in 2005 from $287 million in 2004. Investment by American and other foreign funds remained important to Canadian companies in 2005, with $466 million disbursed (representing 26% of all venture investment in Canada), and down about 9% from the $510 million reported in 2004.

North American Context

The CVCA has released for the first time, new data showing where the major Canadian markets rank in reported venture capital investment relative to activity in individual U.S. states. Ontario and Quebec finished in 7th and 9th place, respectively, with British Columbia ending 2005 in 20th place (out of the total of 60 jurisdictions).

“This is important information for the performance of our industry which we intend to follow closely, “ added Mr. Nathan, “Given the size of Canada’s capital markets and the available technology and talent, our goal should be to move up in these rankings over time.”

U.S. venture capital funds continue to invest substantially larger amounts than their Canadian counterparts in each of their portfolio companies. The average investment made in each Canadian venture-backed company in 2005 amounted to $3.1 million, or only about 30% of the $10.5 million average invested in each U.S. based portfolio company.

VC Industry Fundraising

Fundraising by the Canadian VC industry increased in 2005, with a total of $2.2 billion of new capital committed, up by 32% from the $1.7 billion of 2004. This represents the first year-over-year growth in new commitments since 2001.

“Venture capital investment levels in Canadian companies ultimately depend on the successful fundraising efforts of our venture funds raising their own pools of capital to deploy,” said Mr. Nathan, “The increase in VC fundraising levels in 2005 leads me to be optimistic that we will see growth in VC investment into Canadian companies in 2006.”

LSVCC and other retail funds brought in $1.2 billion in new 2005 commitments, or 8% more than the $1.1 billion they accounted for in the previous year. However, there was clear regional divergence in retail fund-raising, as gains were realized predominantly in Quebec with $929 million raised through retail funds, 22% more than in 2004. In Ontario, retail funds raised only $133 million, down by a third from 2004.

Canadian private independent funds raised $672 million in new commitments in 2005, which is up for a third straight year and 51% higher than the $445 million raised in 2004.

VC Investment by Sector

Activity in the IT sectors continued to drive industry investment in 2005, with $924 million placed into 236 companies representing 51% of all disbursements (compared to $955 million in 2004). Biopharmaceutical and other life science investments held steady in 2005 with 91 companies receiving $447 million in new venture capital (compared to $467 in 2004). Reported activity in non-technology sectors amounted to $348 million in 209 firms (compared to $321 million in 2004).

The following additional tables, are found on CVCA’s web site at http://www.cvca.ca/resources/statistics/

Table 1 New vs. Follow-on Investments

Table 2 Venture Capital Investment by Activity by Stage of Development

Table 3 Venture Capital Investment by Sector

Table 4 Venture Capital Investment by Province of Investee

Table 5 Resources & Liquidity

See TimetripperT and Identity Crisis this Saturday Jan. 28 - Monday Jan. 30 at Canadian Toy and Hobby Fair

Toronto, Ontario - More eagerly anticipated for some than the arrival of the Xbox, two of the world's greatest game inventors are stepping back into the limelight to unveil their new creations at the Canadian Toy and Hobby Fair in Toronto Saturday Jan. 28 - Monday Jan. 30.

Chris Haney, co-inventor of Trivial Pursuitr, the world's number one board game, has developed TimetripperT, an exciting new trivia guessing game with a past and an attitude. At the same booth, Laura Robinson, co-inventor of BalderdashT and a Canadian actress, is launching !dentity Crisis, a fast-paced, hilarious celebrity guessing game.

"We are extremely proud to represent these toy industry giants at our booth this year and to bring two very exciting new games to Canadians," says Fred Bates, President of Mad Hatter Toys & Games. "It's going to be a great year for gamers."

According to Haney, "With TimetripperT, baby boomers, smart Gen-X-ers, and people everywhere can have a blast guessing the year of great events of the 20th century. A handicap cube heats things up because you don't have to be exactly right with your answer. Players are amazed by memories that they might not have thought about in a long time."

Like its predecessor BalderdashT, !dentity Crisis is also based on a popular parlor game. !dentity Crisis brings teams together to guess the names of the famous (and infamous) - from Madonna to Tiger Woods, George Washington to Donald Trump. Three rounds of play become progressively more challenging and crisis cards add extra laughs.

"We've updated a concept called 'Celebrity' for modern gamers and thrown in a few curve balls to make it even more fun and exciting to play," says Robinson, who will fly in from L.A. for the annual fair. "It's a riot!"

TimetripperT and !dentity Crisis are among 10 new games being launched at Booth 1109 to celebrate home-grown talent.

"Call it our long winters or pioneering spirit, but Canadians are renowned as the world's most innovative board game inventors, from Crokinole in the 1800's to Yahtzee, BalderdashT, ScruplesT and Trivial Pursuitr."

According to industry monitor, the NPD Group, the timing for board games couldn't be better. Board game sales rose by more than 12% during 2005, outpacing the entire toy sector.

Semacode Corporation (http://semacode.com)

A private company founded by Simon Woodside, Chief Executive Officer. Its product enables "ubiquitous computing" by allowing camera phones to recognize globally standard barcodes and automatically access web pages offering more details.

Woodside, who graduated from the University of Waterloo Computer Science program, has 10 years of experience in the high-tech industry. He worked as a Software Developer at RightPoint and more recently was an Engineering Program Manager at Apple Computer headquarters in Cupertino, Calif.

"I believe the Accelerator Centre can assist our company to build a strong business network and access to potential investors. It offers impartial advice, evaluation of our business model, exposure to local business people and investors, potential employees and executives, as well as access to researchers at UW," Woodside said.

Miovision Technologies (http://www.miovision.com)

A private company founded by three UW graduates and one from Queen's, Miovision Technologies develops groundbreaking "intelligent vision" products.

The core business is an intelligent computer vision server able to identify and classify temporal events in visually complex environments. It can track objects through situations of strong occlusion and clutter and can be used in numerous applications. The technology will incorporate advanced data analysis and reporting capabilities for industries including transportation, security, gaming, retail and manufacturing.

"Miovision is driven by the desire to create a revolutionary technology that changes the way visual information is gathered and analyzed. The technology has a number of potential verticals. From transportation to retail demographics, there are many industries that could benefit from the visual information capability that we're developing," said Kevin Madill, Vice-President Business Development and Marketing.

"We exist to make it easier for these individuals and companies to gather, view, analyze and profit from data that has traditionally been difficult, time consuming, inaccurate and expensive to collect and interpret," he added.

The founders are Kurtis McBride, President; Kevin Madill, Vice-President Business Development and Marketing; Tony Brijpaul and Nick Miller, Managing Partners.

TORONTO - Thinking about starting, building or spinning off a business? Entrepreneurs will not to want to miss the 10th annual business opportunity guide in the issue of PROFIT magazine hitting newsstands today. Here are five highlights:

1. Private healthcare
First, let's debunk a myth: Canada has never had an entirely public
health-care system. One health organization estimates 30% of the
$130 billion spent on health care in Canada in 2004 was for privately
delivered services. The Supreme Court of Canada's landmark June
ruling pertaining to delays due to the ban on private insurance opens
the door for private clinics.

2. Disaster planning
The recent disaster wave has made risk management a hot topic for
businesses, especially publicly traded ones, which increasingly see
crisis readiness as a competitive edge.

3. Energy conservation
Price-shocked consumers and business are keen to cut consumption. The
price run-up is fueling demand for high-efficiency furnaces,
insulation, weatherstripping, doors and windows.

4. Pampered kids
Parents are perhaps keener than ever to turn their children into
superkids. Statistics Canada data shows real after-tax family income
grew 9.5% from 1998 to 2003. Combine that with a 4.3% drop in the
number of kids 12 and under and the result is parents with more money
to spend per child.

5. Wireless services
Cell TV's growth promises to accelerate if cellphones equipped with
Wi-Fi, an increasingly popular broadband wireless platform, prove a
hit. As Wi-Fi-enabled devices spread, including almost every new
laptop, demand for access promises to make Wi-Fi almost as ubiquitous
as phone service - finally paving the way for long-promised mobile
mapping and product-location applications.

This compares with general business income tax rates ranging from 8.9 percent in Quebec to 17.0 percent in Saskatchewan. The federal government also offers a substantial discount: 12.0 percent for small businesses compared to 21.0 percent for general businesses.

The combined federal and provincial preferential small business income tax rates, while designed with good intentions, have resulted in marked increases in statutory business income tax rates for growing businesses. The smallest increases experienced by expanding firms that move from the preferential small business income tax rate to the general business income tax rate occur in British Columbia, Ontario, and Prince Edward Island, where the applicable statutory rates double. The largest increase occurs in New Brunswick where the statutory rate jumps 142.9 percent.

The study also includes research examining the behaviour of firms claiming the preferential small business tax rate over time. It concludes that the preferential tax rates largely benefit mature and existing firms rather than financing new start ups. In addition, the study also concludes that firms respond strongly to the tax incentives to remain small over time.

"Governments across the country have tried to support small business and entrepreneurs by offering preferential tax treatment. However, by ignoring the effect of tax rate increases as firms grow, governments have actually created a barrier to small business growth and entrepreneurial activity," concluded Clemens. "A far better policy is to encourage business development broadly by lowering general business income tax rates."

This study is the first in a series examining tax barriers to the growth and development of small businesses and entrepreneurship.