Open For Business-Cutting Red Tape for Businesses in Nipissing
February 15, 2019NORTH BAY – The government is helping Ontario entrepreneurs to succeed and create jobs by cutting burdensome red tape, including here in Nipissing.
Today, Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli joined Caisse Populaire Regional Manager Norm St. Amour, Vice-President Finances and Risk Luc Racette, and Alterna Savings Regional Manager Dennis Ryan in North Bay to discuss measures to reduce red tape for businesses and allow credit unions in Ontario to participate in group loans led by banks and federally regulated credit unions.
“We want to make sure anyone can start, grow, and invest in a business in Ontario,” said Fedeli. “This will help credit unions better manage risk and compete, while expanding access to financing for their small-business customers.”
In a group loan, also known as loan syndication, each member of a group of lenders funds a varying portion of a loan to a single borrower. The proposed change to regulations would occur under the Credit Unions and Caisses Populaires Act, 1994. The change is supported by the Deposit Insurance Corporation of Ontario.
“Credit unions welcome this announcement,” says Canadian Credit Union Association President and CEO Martha Durdin. “By taking a sensible approach to bank-led loan syndications and red tape reduction, the Ontario Government is helping the province’s 79 credit unions grow and create opportunities for their 1.5 million members and nearly 150,000 small business owners.”
This measure is part of a package of reforms accompanying the recent introduction of Bill 66, the Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act. Other measures to cut job-killing red tape include allowing private employers to merge their single-employer pension plans with jointly sponsored pension plans, thereby reducing pension risks. The government also plans to ensure industrial property tax assessments by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) are based on current permitted uses, not speculative uses.