Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Quebec have lost nearly $10.7 billion over the past year due to the labor shortage, says the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).
According to the CFIB, the lack of labor is the second most important challenge for SMEs, after the increase in certain costs, such as inputs and insurance. The main effects of the shortage are felt by owners and other employees, who have to work longer hours.
The data comes from a survey conducted in the spring of 1,332 Quebec members of the CFIB as well as information from Statistics Canada on the revenues of SMEs.
More than a third of respondents also indicated that they had refused sales or contracts because of the lack of manpower. This “comes at a very bad time, after two years of a pandemic that has weakened and indebted too many SMEs”, according to the CFIB.
Amounts injected elsewhere
“While lost sales and contracts are significant for small business owners, it is important to note that they do not necessarily represent net losses to the province’s economy. These uninvested amounts may have been injected into different projects or constituted other expenses for SMEs, and the lost customers were able to spend their money in another way in Quebec”, nuances the author of the report, Laure-Anna Bomal, research analyst for the CFIB.
Although lost sales and contracts are significant for small business owners, it is important to note that they do not necessarily represent net losses to the province’s economy.
All sectors are affected by the shortage, but it is those of construction and professional and administrative services that show the greatest losses, with 2 billion.
The CFIB takes this opportunity to reiterate its recommendations made last December, even if its vice-president for Quebec, François Vincent, recognizes that the province has adopted many measures to support businesses.
“That said, it must be noted that additional actions are possible and necessary to help them, particularly in terms of taxation, because Quebec is the country’s champion in terms of taxation. Entrepreneurs are losing billions of dollars in contracts and cannot run their business at full capacity,” adds Vincent.