By Chris Gray, Grassroots Public Affairs
Last week, the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, presented the annual Economic and Fiscal Update remotely to the House of Commons.
The fall economic statement provides a current accounting of federal finances and outlines the steps Canada is taking to protect the economic well-being of Canadians and businesses across the country, which include targeted investments aimed at finishing the fight against COVID-19.
The update follows up on April budget projections delivered during a different stage of the COVID-19 pandemic and before the Liberals were re-elected in September.
Moving forward, the government has committed to:
- Providing 10 days of paid sick leave per year to workers in the federally regulated private sector
- Refundable Small Business Air Quality Improvement Tax Credit of 25% on eligible air quality improvement expenses incurred by small businesses
- Providing an addition $30 million over 3 years (starting in 2022-23) to Infrastructure Canada for the Canada Healthy Communities Initiative
- Up to $742.4 million for one-time payments to alleviate the financial hardship of GIS and Allowance recipients who received the CERB or the Canada Recovery Benefit in 2020
- Debt relief to students who received, but were ineligible for the CERB but were eligible for the Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB)
- Extend simplified rules for deducting home office expenses and increase the temporary flat rate to $500 annually
- Moving forward on legislation to amend the Criminal Code to enhance protections for healthcare workers
- Extending Canada Recovery Benefit and Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit
- Extending the Canada Recovery Hiring Program
- Implementing Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit to provide income support to workers whose employment is interrupted as a result of a government-imposed public health lockdown
- Providing $85 million in 2022-2023 to process more permanent and temporary resident applications and reduce processing times in key areas affected by the pandemic
- Targeting supports for businesses affected by the pandemic:
- Tourism and Hospital Recovery Program to provide support through wage and rent subsidies with a subsidy rate up to 75%
- Hardest-Hit Business Recovery Program to provide support through wage and rent subsidies with a subsidy rate up to 50%
- Local Lockdown Program to provide organizations facing new local COVID-19 lockdowns with up to maximum amount available through wage and rent subsidy programs
- Introducing a new targeted call for proposals under National Trade Corridors Fund (with $50 million dedicated) to assist Canadian ports with the acquisition of cargo storage capacity and other measures
- Returning fuel charge proceeds directly to farming businesses in backstop jurisdictions via a refundable tax credits
- Implementing Underused Housing Tax
- Provisioning for $5 billion in 2021-2022 for its share of recovery costs under the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements as well as other costs related to recent natural disasters in British Columbia
- Publishing green bond framework in final quarter of 2021-22, with inaugural issuance to target $5 billion
- Funding to Health Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, and Environment Canada to strengthen the Pest Management Regulatory Agency, including increasing availability of independent data to further support pesticide review decisions
Supporting Documents
Chris Gray is a Senior Consultant with Grassroots Public Affairs. www.grassrootspa.ca
