A new report from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) shows that despite rapid federal public service growth, small businesses are getting “acceptable” service at best and are often facing slow and inconsistent responses from key government departments.
Michelle Auger
“Over the past decade the public service has ballooned by 36%, far outpacing both population and private sector job growth, yet on average only 16% of SMEs rate the service as good,” said Michelle Auger, CFIB’s director of trade and marketplace competitiveness and lead author of the report. “We’re seeing government get bigger but there’s been no clear payoff.”
CFIB said it analyzed small business interactions with the five most dealt with federal departments: Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), Statistics Canada, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
Among those who interacted with CRA, only 18% felt they received “good” quality service, and just 15% rated the timeliness of responses as good. Small businesses were most unhappy with IRCC, while CBSA ranked second to last. Those who interacted with ESDC and Statistics Canada had more mixed reviews, it said.
Small business owners reported the lack of accessible information, rigid rules and processes, slow response times, and technical issues, as major challenges when interacting with government departments, added the CFIB.
As the federal government prepares the fall budget and reviews its spending, CFIB said it recommends:
- Publishing transparent and ambitious service standards across all departments
- Implementing hiring limits based on population or GDP
- Speeding up regulatory reforms, such as adopting a “two-for-one” rule that applies to all regulations, legislation and policies
- Leveraging technology to improve customer service
- Committing to fiscal prudence to limit the growth of the bureaucracy
Jasmin Guénette
“Small business owners are not measuring government’s success by how many people they’re hiring. It’s about how quickly they’re picking up the phone, how consistently they’re resolving issues and how clearly they’re sharing information. Too many departments are not delivering the results expected for the price we pay. Ottawa needs to reduce the size and costs of bureaucracy and focus on improving service and response times. Small businesses deserve better, and they expect the public sector to do better,” said Jasmin Guenette, CFIB’s vice-president of national affairs.
The CFIB is Canada’s largest association of small and medium-sized businesses with 100,000 members across every industry and region.
Mario Toneguzzi
Mario Toneguzzi is Managing Editor of Canada’s Entrepreneur. He has more than 40 years of experience as a daily newspaper writer, columnist, and editor. He was named in 2021 and 2024 as one of the top business journalists in the world by PR News. He was also named by RETHINK to its global list of Top Retail Experts 2024 and 2025.
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