In late June, Opportunities New Brunswick (ONB)—the province’s economic development agency—announced it had signed a payroll rebate agreement with Xerox. The company, a release said, would expand its digital sales operations, creating “up to 138 new full-time positions by the end of 2027”. The provincial government would kick in up to $725,000 to make it happen.

The most remarkable thing about the announcement was how unremarkable it was. Payroll rebates have become so common in the region that they rarely merit any notice. “In the past, let’s say five years, I think there was one news release” announcing a payroll rebate agreement, said Invest Nova Scotia spokesperson Shawn Hirtle during a telephone interview. “This program has been around for every colour of administration, from red, to blue, to orange, to red, to blue again. It’s long-standing.”

Payroll rebate programs reward job creation. As the name implies, they refund a percentage of payroll costs for new jobs, over a certain number of years. “Normally, it’s based on some percentage of total new job wage growth,” says Saint Mary’s University accounting professor Matthew Boland. “For example, if there are $1 million worth of new jobs created and the rate is five per cent, then that rebate would be $50,000.”

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