“Outward Ho!” Canada’s business community says

MISSISSAUGA — Most small and medium-sized business operators think Canada’s deficit is too large, and the country should be putting more resources into international trade.

The survey, released last week, found little concern about the strengthening loonie and more interest in reaching international markets.

Big Brown regularly takes the economic temperature of small- and medium-sized (SME) Canadian businesses to get a sense of Canada’s willingness to trade internationally and the survey would indicated Canadian SMEs are becoming increasingly global-minded.

According to the survey, conducted by Angus Reid, SMEs overwhelmingly state that the Canadian economy must become more globally competitive, with 73% of SMEs opining that Canadian businesses should disregard the current strength of the loonie and put more resources into international trade.

Almost two thirds are concerned that Canada continues to maintain an international trade deficit and an equal number believe the government should either abolish all tariffs between Canada and other nations or provide tax incentives to export-based businesses to stimulate global trade.

“More than half of Canada’s SMEs have told us that unless Canada significantly improves value-add innovations and diversifies its export base beyond its traditional focus on natural resources, the country could be in serious trouble in the long-term,” said UPS Canada president Mike Tierney.