MSCI, Coalition Call For Strong Focus On Business Investment In Canada

As part of the Canadian Manufacturing Coalition (CMC), the Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI) last week submitted a letter to William Francis Morneau, Canada’s Minister of Finance, regarding his department’s upcoming fall economic statement.

The letter said coalition members are “deeply concerned about Canada’s ability to retain and attract domestic and foreign investment” due to tax and regulatory changes in the United States and called for “aggressive action focused on business investment in Canada.” A recent Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters (CME) study highlighted two deeply concerning trends that prompted the letter: declining business capital expenditures and an increase in capital outflow from Canadian companies. The letter noted, “The most at risk were almost all in the industrial sectors and their integrated supply chains.”

The coalition urged the Canadian government to take “urgent action as part the fall economic statement” by:

• Improving the Accelerated Capital Cost Allowance by updating it to match several recent U.S. changes, including broadening the credit to include more types of investments and shortening the period for investment write-downs to one year.
• Reducing the headline corporate tax rate and working with the provinces to bring the combined corporate tax rate to 20 percent.
• Reinforcing the government’s commitment to innovation strategy by supporting the results of the Economic Tables which are due to report to the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development in the coming weeks.