The number of Canadian businesses behind on their taxes has soared 83% over the past decade, according to new Canada Revenue Agency figures that span the pandemic-era collapse of thousands of small businesses.Blacklock's Reporter says CRA records show the number of delinquent corporate accounts climbed from 243,590 in 2016 to 446,230 in 2026.“The Revenue Agency has defined ‘delinquent’ accounts as those that have unpaid tax debt outstanding after the payment due date,” cabinet said in an Inquiry Of Ministry tabled in the Commons.The figures were requested by Conservative MP Pat Kelly (Calgary Crowfoot), who asked the CRA to disclose the number of delinquent accounts for each year from 2016 through 2026.The agency reported an increase of more than 202,000 delinquent corporate accounts over the decade, or 83%. No explanation was provided for the increase.Delinquency among individual taxpayers also increased, though at a considerably slower rate.The number of delinquent personal accounts rose from 3,044,492 in 2016 to 3,670,705 in 2026, an increase of 21%.Kelly also asked how many taxpayers cited cost-of-living pressures as a reason for failing to pay their taxes. The CRA said it does not track taxpayers’ reasons for becoming delinquent.The decade included the COVID-19 pandemic and government restrictions that hit Canadian small businesses particularly hard.The number of small businesses operating in Canada fell 10% from pre-pandemic levels, according to Key Small Business Statistics compiled by the Department of Industry. The figures cover businesses with fewer than 100 employees.Small businesses remain major private-sector employers, with 6,824,200 workers last year. About 58% of small businesses had fewer than five employees..A separate 2025 Statistics Canada analysis found nearly half of small and medium-sized businesses suffered declining profits during pandemic lockdowns and travel restrictions.“From 2019 to 2020 approximately 47% of all small and medium sized businesses, those with annual salary expenses of less than $1.5 million, experienced a drop in gross profits totaling a loss of nearly $60 billion,” analysts wrote.Statistics Canada based the analysis on businesses that applied for the Canada Emergency Business Account program, which provided interest-free loans of up to $60,000.Restaurants and hotels were among the hardest hit, with revenues falling between roughly 30% and 60%, according to the report Borrowing, Repayments And Bankruptcies By Industry: Results From The Canada Emergency Business Account Program.“This was due in part to successive waves of health restrictions,” said the report.Retailers, construction companies and manufacturers suffered revenue declines of roughly 20% to 25% but recovered more quickly, analysts said.“Many of the businesses that applied for and received funding were in client-facing industries,” the report said.
