Over the last few years, the Ontario Restaurant Hotel and Motel Association (ORHMA) has been committed to advocating for a reduction to credit card interchange fees for our members. Those efforts have resulted in some reductions in credit card fees—but not to the level we feel is fair. ORHMA has always maintained that the rates paid by small and medium sized businesses in Canada should be similar to the ones enjoyed by big business in other sectors.
We were pleased to see the Government of Canada’s Budget 2021 stating our goal in reducing the fees to the level large companies are paying. Since the budget there has been silence and a year has gone by, raising concerns on this commitment.
It is the appropriate time to rally our industry to support us in achieving a long term overdue win for you. We need to bring this up to the eyes of all Members of Parliament regardless of party affiliation-to and ask them in turn to contact the Minister of Finance with an urge to honour the budget commitment in lowering interchange fees. Timing is most important. Many operators in our industry are still in recovery mode paying unprecedented inflationary price hikes.
A letter from a local business constituent is much more compelling to a Member of Parliament than one coming from an association that does not vote in their riding. This is why we are asking YOU, our member, to contact your MP to share the concerns of our industry on this topic.
A draft letter template is available to be downloaded and edited. You are welcome to use this template, enter your information, and send to your MP.