https://www.thestar.com/politics/fe...urce=LI&li_medium=thestar_recommended_for_you
https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/bud...new-spending-with-deficit-declining-1.5393525
Yesterday the Canadian government announced its budget, lots of spending, but also with a declining deficit
The budget— titled
“A Recovery Plan for Jobs, Growth, and Resilience”— shows that the federal deficit is projected to sit at $354.2 billion for the year that just ended, with it slated to drop to $154.7 billion in the current 2021-22 fiscal year.
- Extending emergency supports to bridge Canadians and Canadian businesses through to recovery, including extending the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy and Lockdown Support until Sept. 25, 2021. Extending the number of weeks available for important income support for Canadians such as the Canada Recovery Benefit and the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit. (COVID help)
- $12 billion over five years to increase Old Age Security for seniors age 75 and older to provide them with better financial security. (OLD PEOPLE VOTE)
- $2.2 billion in biomanufacturing and life-sciences to build back a homegrown drug treatment and vaccine industry. (a little late, but I guess better than never)
- Expand the Canada Workers Benefit, to invest $8.9 billion over six years for low-wage workers.
- Introduce a $15 an hour federal minimum wage, expected to benefit 26,000 workers in federally-regulated private sector jobs. (Ontario already at $14)
- $5.7 billion over five years to aid young Canadians, whether students, recent graduates or trainees, or skilled tradespeople. Includes doubling student grants for two additional years, more student debt relief through a reformed Canada Student Loans Program and money to bolster job training and placements and skills development. It eyes creating 215,000 training and work opportunities for youth
- Up to $30 billion over five years, reaching $8.3 billion every year, permanently, to build a high-quality, affordable and accessible early learning and child-care system across Canada. Ottawa says it wants to reduce fees for parents with children in regulated child care by 50 per cent on average, by 2022, with a goal of reaching $10 per day on average by 2026, everywhere outside of Quebec, which already has such a program.
- $4 billion to help up to 160,000 small- and medium-sized businesses buy and adopt the new technologies they need to grow. A Canada Digital Adoption Program will train 28,000 Canadians — a Canadian technology corps — and send them out to work with small- and medium-sized businesses. (Good to see a focus on small and medium businesses)
- Invest $17.6 billion “in a green recovery that will help Canada to reach its target to conserve 25 per cent of Canada’s lands and oceans by 2025, exceed its Paris climate targets and reduce emissions by 36 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, and move forward on a path to reach net-zero emission by 2050.” The budget said this includes $5 billion over seven years (on top of $3 billion committed in December), starting in 2021-22, in the Net Zero Accelerator, a plan to help achieve GHG emissions reductions of 36 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030. Ottawa said this will put Canada on a path to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. New tax measures will support the development of zero emissions technology, carbon capture and storage, and green hydrogen.
- New spending of $2.5 billion and reallocate $1.3 billion in existing funding to help build, repair and support 35,000 existing housing units.
- On Jan. 1, 2022, Ottawa will introduce Canada’s first national tax on vacant property owned by non-resident, non-Canadians. (good to see this in place, hopefully making housing a little more affordable)
