Almost 90 per cent of small business owner-operators in Canada say they are making personal sacrifices to keep their businesses afloat through U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war and the ongoing economic uncertainty over the past year, a new survey shows.
A small business survey conducted by fintech platform Merchant Growth, released on Wednesday, found that 69 per cent of Canadian small business owners reported reducing or eliminating their own salaries over the past year to stay afloat.
More than half (55 per cent) said they delayed a major life event, like retiring or buying a home, and one in four (24.5 per cent) said they sold assets to keep their cash flow going.
“The sacrifices that small business owners need to make just to be able to continue on in this environment is mind blowing,” said Joe Cote, chief growth officer for Merchant Growth.
“There’s an element of resilience to manage through this really critical time for small business owners. They’re doing what they need to do to pull out all the stops,” he added.
A recent Ipsos poll conducted exclusively for Global News showed support for the ‘Buy Canadian‘ movement remains strong.
The Ipsos poll found 56 per cent of respondents said they have bought Canadian products or investments in the past two weeks as a result of the trade tensions between Canada and the United States.
Get daily National news
Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
Elizabeth Mywaart co-owns Edmonton-based Pendennis Weddings and Events with her husband. The couple have slashed their salaries in the past and plans to do so again in the months to come.
“I have had to do that in the past, and we are preparing to have to do it again in the future,” she said.
“We are looking at January and even December, and just seeing that there has been a slowdown in the market, especially considering what last year looked like. And so yeah, we’re preparing for that decision to be made again.”
The economic climate caused by tariffs is causing her clients to spend less, Mywaart said.
“That comes up probably every time we sit down with a client,” she said.
“They’re talking about how their budgets are a lot smaller now,” she added.
A U.S. trade policy that has hurt small businesses in particular is the decision to end de minimis exemptions, Cote said.
Previously, packages costing $800 or less were allowed duty-free entry into the U.S.
In July, Trump signed an executive order ending that exemption. This has “ratcheted up the tension” for small businesses in Canada, Cote said.
“That was such a key aspect for small businesses, the ability to cross the border for transactions (that were) relatively smaller but very important to the lifeblood of small businesses,” he said.
While the federal government wants to build on Canada’s other trade relationships to lessen dependence on the U.S., Cote said small businesses often lack the money to push into a new market.
“Starting from scratch into a new market, finding the presence, being able to find the right product and fit, get the marketing out, all those carry additional costs,” he said.
A small ray of hope for small Canadian businesses has been the rise of the ‘Buy Canadian’ movement, the survey shows.
According to the Merchant Growth consumer survey, conducted by Angus Reid, 99 per cent of Canadians said they bought from a Canadian small business in the past year, and 56 per cent said they bought more than in previous years.
Mywaart said she started removing California wine from their wine list for weddings after hearing from clients. But it was easier to get French or Italian wines than to procure wine from neighbouring British Columbia in some cases, she said.
“I can bring something from across the ocean and pay much less,” she said, adding that Canada’s interprovincial trade barriers posed a significant challenge for businesses like hers.
“I think it would be fantastic if we could start bringing stuff from Saskatchewan to Alberta or B.C. to Alberta, and it not cost so much more than bringing something up from California,” she said.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
