ECONOMY, ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE 

Commitment 1.1.14 – We will reduce taxes on small businesses.

The federal government, provinces and territories offer tax breaks for small businesses in the form of the small business deduction. This recognizes the potential high cost small businesses have to raise capital and allows more after-tax income for reinvestment and expansion. For private corporations that are Canadian-controlled and have less than $15 million in capital, the GNWT has a small business tax rate of 4 per cent on business income less than $500,000.  The NWT has the highest small business corporate income tax rate among the five western provinces and territories but is still below the population-weighted national average of 4.5 per cent.

The GNWT receives about $2.7 million in small business corporate income taxes from NWT corporations eligible for the small business tax rate.

Related Mandate Commitments

• Commitment 1.1.2 – We will strengthen connections with private sector partners in transportation infrastructure (rail, trucking, airline, and marine).
• Commitment 1.1.3 – We will strengthen connections with public sector partners in transportation infrastructure, including working with the federal government to maintain federal community resupply port facilities and marine services in the NWT, to restore safe marine operating conditions in the Port of Hay River and at key sections of the Mackenzie River Corridor, and to improve charting and navigational aids.
• Commitment 1.1.8 – We will support mineral exploration and the mining sector, by implementing the Mineral Development Strategy, capturing opportunities to build transportation infrastructure that enables resources to get to market, closing the skills gap in the mining sector, implementing the Mining Incentive Program, developing and proposing a Mineral Resources Act, and supporting Indigenous governments to build capacity in dealing with mining-related activities.
• Commitment 1.1.9 – We will develop a long-term strategy to attract investment in oil and gas resources that will provide economic and energy benefits to NWT residents and businesses, while recognizing and protecting environmental, social, cultural and economic values.
• Commitment 1.1.12 – We will support the growth of Indigenous business development corporations and the capacity of Indigenous governments, through the completion and implementation of memoranda of understanding that reflect the economic opportunity objectives found in modern land claims.
• Commitment 1.1.13 – We will support small communities by enhancing job-creation programs, building community capacity and supporting new economic opportunities

For more information about this initiative, please contact the Department of Finance.