Present and past award winners with the Honorable Bardish Chagger, Minister of Small Business and Tourism, and Andrea Stairs, Managing Director for eBay Canada
On Wednesday, February 24, eBay Canada hosted its annual Entrepreneur of the Year event in Ottawa to celebrate three outstanding Canadian small businesses that use eBay.ca to drive connected commerce. The event brought together eBay sellers and Canadian policymakers for a reception to honor the award winners. Among those honored were:
BoutiqueStepUp, Entrepreneur of the Year
Lumbermart1984, Exporter of the Year
Canadiansilvercoinexchange, Made in Canada Entrepreneur
Other notable attendees and award presenters included The Hon. Bardish Chagger, Minister of Small Business and Tourism, Vicki Heyman and her husband U.S. Ambassador Bruce Heyman, and Industry Committee Vice Chairs Brian Masse and Earl Dreeshen.
Andrea Stairs, Managing Director for eBay Canada, described the incredible economic contributions eBay entrepreneurs make to their communities and country. Small businesses using the eBay platform make a global impact as well. According to Andrea, “99.8% of Canadian small businesses using eBay export internationally, compared to 10.4% of traditional bricks and mortar small businesses.”
Unfortunately, eBay’s small business exporters confront challenges when doing business internationally in the form of customs frictions. Canada’s low $20 de minimis threshold –the threshold below which goods can be imported before duty is charged – subjects significant volumes of low-value goods to red tape that make it difficult for small businesses to meet buyer expectations.
Increasing the Canadian de minimis would improve access to global supply chains and speed up international returns, while allowing consumers in remote regions to fairly access the global marketplace. Additionally, research from Sidley Austin has found that an increase in the threshold could promote savings for the Canadian government, consumers and small businesses by driving efficiency in how goods are treated at the Canadian border.
eBay will continue to advocate for these and other small businesses across the globe that use the Internet to succeed through connected commerce. To learn more about the inspiring sellers honored at this event, visit our Entrepreneur of the Year page.