Canada's Global Markets Action Plan

In March 2015, Harper permitted a $50 million financial assistance over a period of five years to facilitate the Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on market research and participating trade missions; the funding would help approximately 500 to 1000 entrepreneurs in Canada yearly to reach their full export capacity.[6]

Global Markets Action Plan outlined how to support Canada's critical SME sector to establish in emerging markets. The ultimate goal of the strategy was to increase SME export presence in emerging markets from 29 percent to 50 percent by 2018 and from 11,000 to 21,000 companies; this growth would create over 40,000 net new jobs.[4]

In a fiercely competitive global economy, Canada cannot be complacent.

We must be more aggressive and effective than the intense competition we face as we advance Canada's commercial interests in key global markets. This new plan represents a sea change in the way Canada's diplomatic assets are deployed around the world, and in so doing, we are ensuring that the commercial success of Canadian firms and investors is entrenched as one of our core foreign policy objectives.

Ed Fast - Minister of International Trade[4]

• reducing the small-business tax rate to 11 percent;
• increasing the income limit for the small-business tax rate from $300,000 to $500,000;
• implementing the "one-for-one rule" to cut unnecessary red tape, saving Canadian businesses more than $22 million in administrative burden as of June 2014, as well as 290,000 hours in time spent dealing with red tape;
• improving access to capital for innovative entrepreneurs by launching the Venture Capital Action Plan;
• supporting the hiring of apprentices with the Apprenticeship Job Creation Tax Credit, a non-refundable tax credit equal to 10 percent of the eligible salaries and wages payable to eligible apprentices; and
• increasing the lifetime capital gains exemption (LCGE) for small business owners from $500,000 to $800,000, and indexing this new limit to inflation. On account of indexation, the LCGE limit increased to $813,600 for 2015.[6]

Harper extended another $42 million over five years to enhance the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service, with $9.2 million per year thereafter. The funding would facilitate the expanded trade services: Canada opened four new trade offices in China, bringing the total number of offices there to 15, with more than 100 trade commissioners; and it strengthened its support network in India, where there are eight offices and nearly 50 trade commissioners. There were more than 25 trade commissioners being trained placing in number of business associations in order to gain better understanding of the Canadian exports.[6]