Over 1,000 CEOs and Canadian tech business leaders have signed an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland calling for a halt to the capital gains tax hike.
The letter, organized by the Canadian Council of Innovators (CCI), says the tax hike is going to hinder investment in the country.
“You cannot tax your way to prosperity. But in the 2024 federal budget, we see a government trying to hike taxes on investment,” the letter said. “Anybody with experience in entrepreneurship and investment can see how this will stifle growth.”
Ottawa’s 2024 budget looks to hike the taxable portion of capital gains to two-thirds, from one-half. The move is expected to bring in $20 billion in government revenues over the next five years.
- Roustem Karimov, Founder, 1Password
- Dominique Simoneau-Ritchie, Chief Technology Officer, Affinity
- Alisha Gamble, Manager, Program Management, Amazon Web Services
- Jean-François Séguin, BMO Capital Markets
- Ross Slaneff, Associate Portfolio Manager, BMO Nesbitt Burns
- Carly Steinberg, Head of Marketing, Canada, DoorDash, Inc.
- Gregory Hogeboom, Executive VP, La-Z-Boy Furniture
- Sumayra Chowdhury, Director, Executive Recruitment, McCain Foods
- Chris Simair, COO & Co-founder, Neo Financial, SkipTheDishes
- David Steckel, Chief Product Officer, Sears Home Services
- Shez Samji, Vice President, TD Bank, Toronto
- Tom Lowden, Director, TD Bank, Toronto
‘Not Just for the Rich’
The capital gains tax doesn’t just target the wealthy, according to Jake Fuss, director of fiscal studies at the Fraser Institute.Productivity Crisis
Business leaders who signed the letter also said that a hike in the tax could further hurt Canada’s labour force.“Highly skilled talent is more mobile than ever before, and among innovative high-growth companies, stock options—subject to capital gains tax—are a key form of compensation,” the letter said.
“Canada’s economy needs productivity growth, innovation and above all, we need investment.”