Small businesses are divided on how helpful the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy will be, according to the latest survey by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

The survey, which was released on Monday, found that 29 per cent of respondents said it will help them avoid further layoffs or recall staff, 37 per cent said it will not help them, while 21 per cent are unsure.

“The federal government took a big step by increasing the wage subsidy to 75 per cent and opening it up to businesses of all sizes and structures. It will help many, but there are still a lot of businesses in dire need of help that report they will not be able to access it,” said CFIB president Dan Kelly, in a news release. “In order to meet the program’s objective of helping businesses retain staff and avoid layoffs, more work remains to be done to make this program successful.”

For the 29 per cent of businesses reporting the CEWS would be helpful, CFIB found:

  • 44 per cent said it will help them retain some staff still on payroll
  • 35 per cent said it will help them retain all staff
  • 29 per cent said it will help them recall some laid off staff
  • 9 per cent said it will help them recall all laid off staff

For the 37 per cent of businesses reporting CEWS would not help them retain staff, CFIB found:

  • 38 per cent said it is too late as layoffs have already happened and can’t be easily reversed
  • 30 per cent said they cannot wait up to six weeks for the wage subsidy
  • 21 per cent said they are worried they may not be able to prove the 30 per cent drop in revenue required to qualify
  • 17 per cent said they would not qualify based on the current conditions
  • 17 per cent said the wage support would not be enough to retain jobs

“Businesses are facing a lot of cost pressures right now. Only 19 per cent remain fully open, down from 21 per cent last week. We’re hoping the government won’t be too prescriptive when it interprets who qualifies for the subsidy,” said Corinne Pohlmann, CFIB’s senior vice-president of national affairs. “Some firms have very tight profit margins which makes it very difficult to continue to operate with a 30 per cent drop in revenues. New businesses, seasonal businesses, firms facing increasing costs and high-growth firms believe it will also be difficult to prove they meet the requirement.”