Thank you, Mr. Chair and honourable members.

We are pleased to appear before you on behalf of 400 chambers of commerce and more than 200,000 companies of all sizes from every sector of the economy and every region of the country.

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce's main concern today is that Canada's economic competitiveness is declining at the same time as our productivity has shrunk in 11 of the past 12 quarters. This means that Canadians have fewer opportunities to pursue their personal goals and that they have to spend more to maintain the same lifestyle.

The government should treat all businesses, whatever their size, as essential partners in our collective successful endeavours, because they can generate investment and growth, and help meet the productivity challenge.

The committee has already received our formal submission on Bill C‑59, which included seven specific recommendations and proposed amendments. Today we will focus our comments on investment tax credits, competition policy and the digital services tax.

First, on Canada's new investment tax credits, overall the Canadian Chamber of Commerce applauds new investment tax credits such as the CCUS ITC as tools to unlock private sector investment in a low-carbon economy. In order to maximize the impact of the clean technology manufacturing tax credits, we recommend that they be refined to include intangible property and mine development investments.

Further, we believe the clean technology ITC should be expanded to include pension plans, similar to the fall economic statement inclusion of real estate investment trusts. We recommend expanding the eligibility of this tax credit to encourage investment in housing and in commercial real estate that supports the decarbonization of Canada's economy.

Given the current uncertainty around the permitting environment in Canada, we also recommend extending the timeline for phasing out the clean technology manufacturing ITC and the clean electricity ITC in order to secure large investments within the Canadian mining, manufacturing and electricity sectors.

Finally, it is imperative that all the new ITCs be implemented as soon as possible, with clarity on procedure and eligibility, so that the private sector can fuel the next wave of long-term investment in our economy.

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