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The $1 million line: when tariff support is not built for you

If your business earns under $1 million a year, a lot of the trade dispute support may not be open to you. That is frustrating, but it is not the end of the conversation.

October 23, 2026·5 min read·Manny·Sources checked October 2026

Short answer: most federal tariff programs carry a $1 million revenue threshold. If you are below it, look at remission, general funding, reducing your exposure and your lender.

Being shut out of one program does not mean you are shut out of help. It means you have to look in more places, and test each one honestly against your own plan.

Speaking to a House of Commons committee in October, Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), put it plainly: "Almost all of the Government of Canada programs right now have a minimum of $1 million in sales before you're able to participate."

That $1 million revenue threshold is about sales, not profit. The federal Regional Tariff Response Initiative, for example, requires a minimum of $1 million in annual revenue in one of your last two fiscal years. A business can be busy, established and badly exposed to tariffs and still fall below it.

If you run a small business in Alberta, that may sound familiar. The firms most exposed to a trade shock are often the ones with the least room to absorb it.

What the numbers say

The pressure is real, and it is measurable

According to CFIB's August 2026 survey of its members:

  • 26% of small businesses report a major negative impact from U.S. tariffs.
  • For affected exporters, the median cost is about $80,000 a month.
  • 19% of affected exporters say they would stop being financially viable within three months.
  • Kelly told the committee some members have had remission files sitting in Ottawa for a year with no sign anyone has looked at them.

You do not need a survey to tell you whether you are in that group. You already know.

Four places to look

Under the $1 million revenue threshold? Where to look instead

Option 01

The remission route

If you pay counter-tariffs on inputs you genuinely cannot source anywhere but the U.S., there is a relief process. Some files are reportedly waiting a long time, but a complete, well-documented request still puts you in the queue.

Option 02

Support that is not tariff-specific

General financing, training funding and tax relief tied to spending you already plan often have no $1 million floor. They can still change the cost or timing of what you were going to do anyway.

Option 03

Reduce the exposure itself

A neighbouring market, a Canadian buyer you have not registered with, or a supplier closer to home may do more for you than any program.

Option 04

Talk to your lender early

A clear, short business case is worth having before cash gets tight, not after.

The part that matters

Why this matters more than the headline

A threshold like this does two kinds of damage. The obvious one is the money you cannot get. The quieter one is the time owners spend chasing a program that was never going to accept them, while the real problem keeps costing them every month.

The worst outcome is not missing a program. It is spending a quarter applying for the wrong one.

The question I would ask first

Would you still do it without the program?

If the answer is yes, funding is a bonus that changes the timing. If the answer is no, the program is writing your strategy for you.

So what should this business do next?

Sort the cost before you chase the money

Write down what the dispute is actually costing you, line by line. Then sort each cost into three piles: what you can recover, what you can reduce, and what you have to live with for now. Most owners find the second pile is bigger than they expected.

If the answer points to funding, the funding and financing page sets out how that work runs. If it points to a lender, this note on the business case explains what gets checked.

Nothing here can promise that a program will approve you or that a market will open. What it can do is stop you from spending months on the wrong door.

Questions people ask

Common questions

What is the $1 million revenue threshold for tariff support in Canada?
The federal Regional Tariff Response Initiative requires a business to have at least $1 million in annual revenue in one or both of its last two fiscal years. CFIB president Dan Kelly told a House of Commons committee in October 2026 that almost all federal tariff programs carry a similar $1 million sales minimum. The test is revenue, not profit.
Can a business with under $1 million in revenue get tariff help?
Often not from the tariff-specific programs, but other routes may still apply. Remission requests for counter-tariffed inputs, general financing, training funding and tax relief tied to spending you already plan often have no $1 million floor. Check each program's current eligibility with its administrator.
What is a tariff remission request?
It is a request to the federal government for relief from Canadian counter-tariffs on goods that cannot reasonably be sourced anywhere but the United States. CFIB has reported that some members' files have waited about a year, so file a complete, well-documented request early.
How hard has the trade dispute hit Canadian small businesses?
In CFIB's August 2026 member survey, 26% of small businesses reported a major negative impact from U.S. tariffs. Affected exporters reported a median cost of about $80,000 a month, and 19% of affected exporters said they would stop being financially viable within three months.
What should a small business do first if it is shut out of tariff support?
List what the dispute is actually costing you, line by line, and sort each cost into what you can recover, what you can reduce and what you have to live with for now. Then test each funding option by asking whether you would still make the move if no program existed.
Keep reading
Decisions

Is government funding worth applying for?

How to price the real cost of an application before you start one.

 Markets

Expanding into the U.S. market

What to check before you commit to a new market.

 Service

Funding and financing

How the funding work is structured.

Sources, checked October 2026CFIB, U.S.-Canada Trade War: Impact on your Business, August 2026; The Hub, October 22, 2026; Regional Tariff Response Initiative in the Prairie provinces: who can apply, Canada.ca.
Program thresholds and remission processing change. Confirm current details with the administrator before you rely on them. This is general information, not legal, tax or accounting advice.

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