Budget 2009: What Does It Mean For Waterloo?

The Federal Government recently announced its 2009 budget, but what does this mean for your average start up in the Kitchener-Waterloo region? The main area of interest for entrepreneurs could be found in the budgets small business measures which include;

- Reduction of federal tax rates on small businesses. The amount of income small businesses are eligible to receive a reduced 11% federal tax rate rose from $400,000 to $500,000.

- Introduction of a temporary 100% capital cost allowance rate for any computers purchased between January 27th, 2009 and February 1, 2011.

- Increased credit via amendments to the Canada Small Business Financing program and the Business Development Bank of Canada.

- $30 million in funding over two years for the Canada Business Network.

- $10 million in funding for the Canadian Youth Business Foundation.

- $200 million over two years for the National Research Council’s Industrial Research Assistance Program.

The Kitchener-Waterloo region also received some funding for additional projects which include;

- $28.6 million over two years, and then $14.3 million after for the Canada New Media Fund which will be used towards the new digital media corridor.

- $50 million for the Institute for Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo.

There was a number of other budget 2009 highlights which may be relevant to your start up, to view these you can check out the full 2009 Federal Budget or have a look at Communitech’s excellent 2009 Federal Budget Summary.