Toronto, May 8, 2024

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Last week, federal Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland introduced thegovernment’s 2024 Budget Bill, which contains exciting new updates about their made-in-Canada employee ownership strategy.

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The Canadian Employee Ownership Coalition (CEOC) is thrilled that the government has introduced anew tax incentive that will level the playing field with competing succession options and lead to thewidespread adoption of employee ownership in Canada.

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“This new incentive, combined with the government’s recently created Employee Ownership Truststructure, is poised to create tens of thousands of employee-owners over the next few years” said JonShell, a member of the CEOC’s Steering Committee.

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This policy initiative comes at a critically important time. Over the next decade, 76% of Canadianbusiness owners intend to retire, and the vast majority have no succession plan in place. The creation ofan Employee Ownership Trust and accompanying tax incentive will, for the first time, provide businessowners with a viable alternative to selling their businesses to international private equity firms orcompetitors.

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“This is smart business” said Tiara Letourneau, CEOC Steering Committee member. “With every sale toan Employee Ownership Trust, we’re increasing the likelihood that companies stay Canadian-owned,remain resilient in the face of economic turbulence, and provide meaningful wealth for workingCanadians.”

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Employee Ownership Trusts are proven public policy. In the U.S., where these policies have been inplace since the 1970s, 14 million American workers are already sharing in $2.1 trillion of wealth. Sincethe U.K. introduced these policies in 2014 it has witnessed rapid adoption, with more than 1,650companies becoming employee-owned.

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“As the CEO of an employee-owned company in a small town, I have seen firsthand what a difference itmakes in culture, purpose and performance.” said Chad Friesen, CEO of Friesens Corporation, andmember of the CEOC Steering Committee.

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With these policies in place, the CEOC looks forward to working with governments across the country tosupport substantial growth in employee ownership.For more information email info@employee-ownership.ca