CANADA IS A SOCIAL DEMOCRACY
$15B: The cost of the Liberal-NDP pact in the federal budget 2022
TO RULE JOINTLY TILL 2025
© Provided by National Post
TO RULE JOINTLY TILL 2025
© Provided by National Post
The Liberal-NDP pact adds costly elements such as a national dental care plan, to the Federal budget 2022.
Anja Karadeglija - Yesterday
National Post
The Liberal government’s 2022 budget includes about $15 billion in spending on major initiatives related to its supply and confidence deal with the NDP – enough to satisfy NDP leader Jagmeet Singh.
Singh said the NDP would support the budget, telling reporters though his party disagrees with some of the budget’s measures, it’s “an example of good faith shown.”
A number of the budget measures related to housing and health initiatives, including a dental care program, were included in the Liberal-NDP deal announced last month. The budget expects to bring in roughly $6.1 billion over five years from new taxes on banks and financial institutions, another NDP ask.
Some of the spending measures, like $4 billion for a new Housing Accelerator Fund, were also in the Liberals’ election platform prior to being listed as priorities in the NDP-Liberal agreement. Others, particularly dental care, came from the NDP.
The budget allocates $5.3 billion over five years and then $1.7 billion on an ongoing basis for the dental care program. Children under 12 will be covered this year, with the program than expanding to those who are under 18, seniors and people with a disability the following year. The program, which will be available to families with an annual income of less than $90,000, will be fully implemented by 2025.
Pharmacare was another high-profile NDP priority, with the two parties agreeing to continue making progress on a universal national pharmacare plan. The budget doesn’t allocate any funding towards pharmacare, but says the government will table a Canada Pharmacare bill and work to have it passed by the end of 2023, and task the “Canadian Drug Agency to develop a national formulary of essential medicines and bulk purchasing plan.”
Singh said Wednesday that the NDP-Liberal agreement specifies a bill in 2023, meaning that work was “still on track.” He said “it wasn’t something we envisioned for this year.”
Carson Jerema: Buckle up for the Jagmeet Singh budget
John Ivison: What's the difference between a Liberal and a New Democrat these days? Accountability
The budget also outlines about $6 billion on various housing initiatives that were referenced in the agreement between the two parties.
The biggest of those is $4 billion over five years for the Housing Accelerator Fund, which is focused on increasing supply of housing – a total of 100,000 net new housing units in the next five years. “To make housing more affordable, more housing needs to be built,” the budget said. The goal is to “incentivize the cities and towns that are stepping up to get more housing built, while also ensuring that municipalities are able to get the support they need to modernize and build new homes.”
While those $4 billion were promised by the Liberals in the last election, two additional housing-related measures were not. The budget allocates $1.5 billion over two years to extend the Rapid Housing Initiative, which the government expects to create “at least 6,000 new affordable housing units.” A further $475 million will go to the Canada Housing Benefit to provide a “one-time $500 payment to those facing housing affordability challenges.”
Singh said there are changes to the definition of affordability and $4 billion for Indigenous housing that wouldn’t have happened without his party.
NDP-Liberal agreement called for the government to make a “significant additional investment” for Indigenous housing, and the budget includes $4 billion over seven years in new money that will go to Indigenous Services Canada and Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada “to accelerate work in closing Indigenous housing gaps” on reserves and in Indigenous communities.
Singh said there is a “significant increase in housing for Indigenous communities that would not have been there but for the fact that we fought for it. We fought for an additional $4 billion…in addition to what the government was going to do.”
The budget also promises to reform the Rental Construction Financing Initiative to include an increased focus on affordability. Singh said that changes to the definition of affordability his party pushed – from 80 per cent of median income to 80 per cent of market rent rate – will make a big difference.
“All the investments that this government’s going to make in affordable housing would have resulted in not affordable housing. That definition alone significantly changed the entire outlook on the affordability of homes that are going to be built,” Singh said.
Also not costed but included in the budget, and also previously promised in the Liberal platform, is a promise to move ahead with a Home Buyers Bill of Rights, which could include measures such as ensuring homebuyers have a legal right to a home inspection.
The budget also provides unspecified amount of a total $209.8 million pot “to increase the support provided to communities to document, locate, and memorialize burial sites at former residential schools,” another priority included in the agreement.
One measure that was also included in the Liberal-NDP deal is expected to bring in revenue to the government. Banks and life insurance groups will “pay a one-time 15 per cent tax on taxable income above $1 billion for the 2021 tax year,” the budget said. It’s expected to bring in $4 billion in the next five years. The government is also permanently raising tax rates for some bank and life insurance groups, which will bring in an additional $2 billion.
“While many sectors continue to recover, Canada’s major financial institutions made significant profits during the pandemic and have recovered faster than other parts of our economy—in part due to the federal pandemic supports for people and businesses that helped de-risk the balance sheets of some of Canada’s largest financial institutions,” the budget said. “The federal government is accordingly proposing two measures to ensure those large financial institutions help support Canada’s broader recovery.”
Though not costed and not included in the NDP-Liberal agreement, the budget also includes a reference to increased taxes for Canada’s wealthiest – something the NDP has been campaigning on for years.
The budget said 28 per cent of tax payers with gross income above $400,000 pay a federal rate of 15 per cent or less, by making “significant use of deductions and tax credits.” It noted that’s “less than some middle class Canadians pay.” The Liberals also promised such a tax in their election platform.
The budget promised to examine a new minimum tax regime, which it said would “go further towards ensuring that all wealthy Canadians pay their fair share of tax.” It said it would provide additional details on that measure in its fiscal update later this fall.
Anja Karadeglija - Yesterday
National Post
The Liberal government’s 2022 budget includes about $15 billion in spending on major initiatives related to its supply and confidence deal with the NDP – enough to satisfy NDP leader Jagmeet Singh.
Singh said the NDP would support the budget, telling reporters though his party disagrees with some of the budget’s measures, it’s “an example of good faith shown.”
A number of the budget measures related to housing and health initiatives, including a dental care program, were included in the Liberal-NDP deal announced last month. The budget expects to bring in roughly $6.1 billion over five years from new taxes on banks and financial institutions, another NDP ask.
Some of the spending measures, like $4 billion for a new Housing Accelerator Fund, were also in the Liberals’ election platform prior to being listed as priorities in the NDP-Liberal agreement. Others, particularly dental care, came from the NDP.
The budget allocates $5.3 billion over five years and then $1.7 billion on an ongoing basis for the dental care program. Children under 12 will be covered this year, with the program than expanding to those who are under 18, seniors and people with a disability the following year. The program, which will be available to families with an annual income of less than $90,000, will be fully implemented by 2025.
Pharmacare was another high-profile NDP priority, with the two parties agreeing to continue making progress on a universal national pharmacare plan. The budget doesn’t allocate any funding towards pharmacare, but says the government will table a Canada Pharmacare bill and work to have it passed by the end of 2023, and task the “Canadian Drug Agency to develop a national formulary of essential medicines and bulk purchasing plan.”
Singh said Wednesday that the NDP-Liberal agreement specifies a bill in 2023, meaning that work was “still on track.” He said “it wasn’t something we envisioned for this year.”
Carson Jerema: Buckle up for the Jagmeet Singh budget
John Ivison: What's the difference between a Liberal and a New Democrat these days? Accountability
The budget also outlines about $6 billion on various housing initiatives that were referenced in the agreement between the two parties.
The biggest of those is $4 billion over five years for the Housing Accelerator Fund, which is focused on increasing supply of housing – a total of 100,000 net new housing units in the next five years. “To make housing more affordable, more housing needs to be built,” the budget said. The goal is to “incentivize the cities and towns that are stepping up to get more housing built, while also ensuring that municipalities are able to get the support they need to modernize and build new homes.”
While those $4 billion were promised by the Liberals in the last election, two additional housing-related measures were not. The budget allocates $1.5 billion over two years to extend the Rapid Housing Initiative, which the government expects to create “at least 6,000 new affordable housing units.” A further $475 million will go to the Canada Housing Benefit to provide a “one-time $500 payment to those facing housing affordability challenges.”
Singh said there are changes to the definition of affordability and $4 billion for Indigenous housing that wouldn’t have happened without his party.
NDP-Liberal agreement called for the government to make a “significant additional investment” for Indigenous housing, and the budget includes $4 billion over seven years in new money that will go to Indigenous Services Canada and Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada “to accelerate work in closing Indigenous housing gaps” on reserves and in Indigenous communities.
Singh said there is a “significant increase in housing for Indigenous communities that would not have been there but for the fact that we fought for it. We fought for an additional $4 billion…in addition to what the government was going to do.”
The budget also promises to reform the Rental Construction Financing Initiative to include an increased focus on affordability. Singh said that changes to the definition of affordability his party pushed – from 80 per cent of median income to 80 per cent of market rent rate – will make a big difference.
“All the investments that this government’s going to make in affordable housing would have resulted in not affordable housing. That definition alone significantly changed the entire outlook on the affordability of homes that are going to be built,” Singh said.
Also not costed but included in the budget, and also previously promised in the Liberal platform, is a promise to move ahead with a Home Buyers Bill of Rights, which could include measures such as ensuring homebuyers have a legal right to a home inspection.
The budget also provides unspecified amount of a total $209.8 million pot “to increase the support provided to communities to document, locate, and memorialize burial sites at former residential schools,” another priority included in the agreement.
One measure that was also included in the Liberal-NDP deal is expected to bring in revenue to the government. Banks and life insurance groups will “pay a one-time 15 per cent tax on taxable income above $1 billion for the 2021 tax year,” the budget said. It’s expected to bring in $4 billion in the next five years. The government is also permanently raising tax rates for some bank and life insurance groups, which will bring in an additional $2 billion.
“While many sectors continue to recover, Canada’s major financial institutions made significant profits during the pandemic and have recovered faster than other parts of our economy—in part due to the federal pandemic supports for people and businesses that helped de-risk the balance sheets of some of Canada’s largest financial institutions,” the budget said. “The federal government is accordingly proposing two measures to ensure those large financial institutions help support Canada’s broader recovery.”
Though not costed and not included in the NDP-Liberal agreement, the budget also includes a reference to increased taxes for Canada’s wealthiest – something the NDP has been campaigning on for years.
The budget said 28 per cent of tax payers with gross income above $400,000 pay a federal rate of 15 per cent or less, by making “significant use of deductions and tax credits.” It noted that’s “less than some middle class Canadians pay.” The Liberals also promised such a tax in their election platform.
The budget promised to examine a new minimum tax regime, which it said would “go further towards ensuring that all wealthy Canadians pay their fair share of tax.” It said it would provide additional details on that measure in its fiscal update later this fall.
Factbox:
Budget 2022: A look at some of the promises you might have missed
The Canadian Press
OTTAWA — Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland tabled the 2022 federal budget on Thursday. Here are some of the smaller promises that you might have missed:
— $1.9 billion over 24 years to build and operate the new Canadarm3 for the next generation NASA Lunar Gateway project.
— $1.3 billion over the next five years and $331.2 million on going to support the long-term stability of Canada’s asylum system to better help people seeking refuge from violence and persecution.
— $159 million over five years, starting in 2022-23, to protect Canadian post-secondary and research institutions from foreign intelligence agencies.
— $593.3 million over five years, starting in 2022-23, to help provinces and territories support projects to prevent gender-based violence and help survivors.
— $20 million over five years, starting in 2022-23, to better understand the long-term impacts of COVID-19.
— $16 million over two years to help detect and protect Prince Edward Island from potato wart, which has disrupted sales of the province’s potatoes to the United States.
— $40.9 million over five years and $9.7 million ongoing to federal granting councils to support scholarships for promising Black student researchers.
— $183.1 million over five years, starting in 2022-23, to reduce plastic waste, building on a 2018 G7 commitment.
— $55.1 million over three years, starting in 2022-23, to protect British Columbia’s old growth forests.
— $329.4 million over six years, starting in 2022-23, to triple the size of the Agricultural Clean Technology Program
— $469.5 million over six years, starting in 2022-23, to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to expand the Agricultural Climate Solutions program’s On-Farm Climate Action Fund.
— $100 million over three years, starting in 2022-23, to help Health Canada deal with the opioid addiction crisis.
— $25 million over two years, starting in 2022-23, to start a pilot project to make menstrual products more widely available to those facing barriers to them.
— $100 million over five years, starting in 2022-23, to create a forthcoming federal action plan to support LGTBQ2 rights.
— $89.9 million over five years and $8.8 million ongoing to help the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
— $4 million in 2022-23 to help Canadian Heritage support the Muslims in Canada Archive to acquire, preserve and make accessible records of the Muslim people in Canada.
— $15 million to media initiatives to support local journalism and stories about diversity.
— $20 million over two years, starting in 2022-23, to expand the New Horizons for Seniors Program to raise the quality of community participation for seniors.
— $20 million over five years, starting in 2022-23, for research to better understand dementia and support brain health research.
— Eliminating the excise duty on low-alcohol beer, with no more than 0.5 per cent alcohol, on Canada Day 2022.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 7, 2022.
The Canadian Press
Housing, green tech in focus in Canada budget
(Reuters) - The Canadian government unveiled a budget focused on boosting housing affordability on Thursday, in addition to funds to reach climate goals and modestly higher taxes on banks.
Here are the key measures:
* A ban on foreign investment in Canadian housing for two years.
* To introduce new rules to tax profits of property speculators.
* To raise corporate tax rate for banks and life insurers to 16.5% from 15% for all taxable income above C$100 million.
* To boost military spending by C$8 billion over five years, review defense goals
* Proposes 60% refundable tax credit for investment in equipment to capture carbon in direct air capture projects; 50% for investment in equipment to capture carbon in all other carbon capture, utilization, and storage projects, starting in 2022.
* To invest up to C$3.8 billion ($3 billion) over eight years to accelerate critical mineral exploration, extraction and processing.
* To establish the Canada Growth Fund to attract private sector investment in climate change, supply chain; fund will initially be capitalized at C$15 billion over the next five years.
* To double the first home buyers' tax credit to C$10,000
* To introduce tax-free first home savings account to save up to C$40,000.
* To provide C$4 billion over five years, starting in
2022-23, to launch a new Housing Accelerator Fund to build 100,000 net new units over the next five years.
(Compiled by Denny Thomas)
(Reuters) - The Canadian government unveiled a budget focused on boosting housing affordability on Thursday, in addition to funds to reach climate goals and modestly higher taxes on banks.
Here are the key measures:
* A ban on foreign investment in Canadian housing for two years.
* To introduce new rules to tax profits of property speculators.
* To raise corporate tax rate for banks and life insurers to 16.5% from 15% for all taxable income above C$100 million.
* To boost military spending by C$8 billion over five years, review defense goals
* Proposes 60% refundable tax credit for investment in equipment to capture carbon in direct air capture projects; 50% for investment in equipment to capture carbon in all other carbon capture, utilization, and storage projects, starting in 2022.
* To invest up to C$3.8 billion ($3 billion) over eight years to accelerate critical mineral exploration, extraction and processing.
* To establish the Canada Growth Fund to attract private sector investment in climate change, supply chain; fund will initially be capitalized at C$15 billion over the next five years.
* To double the first home buyers' tax credit to C$10,000
* To introduce tax-free first home savings account to save up to C$40,000.
* To provide C$4 billion over five years, starting in
2022-23, to launch a new Housing Accelerator Fund to build 100,000 net new units over the next five years.
(Compiled by Denny Thomas)
Budget 2022: A look at some of the promises you might have missed
The Canadian Press
OTTAWA — Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland tabled the 2022 federal budget on Thursday. Here are some of the smaller promises that you might have missed:
— $1.9 billion over 24 years to build and operate the new Canadarm3 for the next generation NASA Lunar Gateway project.
— $1.3 billion over the next five years and $331.2 million on going to support the long-term stability of Canada’s asylum system to better help people seeking refuge from violence and persecution.
— $159 million over five years, starting in 2022-23, to protect Canadian post-secondary and research institutions from foreign intelligence agencies.
— $593.3 million over five years, starting in 2022-23, to help provinces and territories support projects to prevent gender-based violence and help survivors.
— $20 million over five years, starting in 2022-23, to better understand the long-term impacts of COVID-19.
— $16 million over two years to help detect and protect Prince Edward Island from potato wart, which has disrupted sales of the province’s potatoes to the United States.
— $40.9 million over five years and $9.7 million ongoing to federal granting councils to support scholarships for promising Black student researchers.
— $183.1 million over five years, starting in 2022-23, to reduce plastic waste, building on a 2018 G7 commitment.
— $55.1 million over three years, starting in 2022-23, to protect British Columbia’s old growth forests.
— $329.4 million over six years, starting in 2022-23, to triple the size of the Agricultural Clean Technology Program
— $469.5 million over six years, starting in 2022-23, to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to expand the Agricultural Climate Solutions program’s On-Farm Climate Action Fund.
— $100 million over three years, starting in 2022-23, to help Health Canada deal with the opioid addiction crisis.
— $25 million over two years, starting in 2022-23, to start a pilot project to make menstrual products more widely available to those facing barriers to them.
— $100 million over five years, starting in 2022-23, to create a forthcoming federal action plan to support LGTBQ2 rights.
— $89.9 million over five years and $8.8 million ongoing to help the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
— $4 million in 2022-23 to help Canadian Heritage support the Muslims in Canada Archive to acquire, preserve and make accessible records of the Muslim people in Canada.
— $15 million to media initiatives to support local journalism and stories about diversity.
— $20 million over two years, starting in 2022-23, to expand the New Horizons for Seniors Program to raise the quality of community participation for seniors.
— $20 million over five years, starting in 2022-23, for research to better understand dementia and support brain health research.
— Eliminating the excise duty on low-alcohol beer, with no more than 0.5 per cent alcohol, on Canada Day 2022.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 7, 2022.
The Canadian Press
Canada targets housing, banks in modest-spending budget
By Julie Gordon and Steve Scherer - Yesterday
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's Liberals put red-hot real estate markets squarely in their sights on Thursday, laying out a budget geared at boosting housing affordability amid soaring inflation, while promising modest new spending to encourage medium-term growth.
Canada's Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland buys a pair of shoes purchased a day ahead of her delivering the 2022 Budget
The 2022 budget set out C$9.5 billion ($7.5 billion) over five years in net new spending on housing initiatives and promised to legally ban foreign investors from buying Canadian homes for two years, though it gave no timeline for that legislation.
Canada's Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland delivers the 2022-23 budget, in Ottawa
It also pledged to target domestic housing speculators with new taxes, double new-home construction over the next decade and boost tax credits for first-time buyers. Most measures were outlined in the Liberal's re-election campaign last year.
"Our economy is built by people, and people need homes in which to live," Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said as she presented the budget to lawmakers.
"We will prevent foreign investors from parking their money in Canada by buying up homes," she continued.
But Freeland later added there was no single "silver bullet" to solve Canada's housing crisis.
The budget also hiked corporate taxes for the country's most profitable banks and insurers to 16.5% from 15% on all taxable income over C$100 million, less than the 3% rise pledged in last year's election campaign. That, along with a one-time recovery dividend, will boost revenues by C$6.1 billion over the five-year budget time frame.
All told, the budget included a net C$29 billion in new spending over five years, as the waning COVID-19 pandemic allowed the government to ease off on emergency stimulus.
While that was less spending than some feared, economists said it would not help ease inflationary pressures.
"At the end of the day, we still are adding stimulus to the economy at a time when the Bank of Canada is actively trying to cool down inflation," said Robert Kavcic, senior economist at BMO Economics.
"I think it just reinforces what we're already expecting, which is pretty aggressive near-term tightening from the Bank of Canada," he added.
Inflation hit 5.7% in February and is expected to go higher before easing off later this year as supply chain bottlenecks unwind and the central bank increases interest rates.
The Bank of Canada is widely expected to make a rare 50-basis-point interest rate hike next week after raising its policy rate to 0.5% in March.
"This budget had one job - reverse the taxes and deficits that have ballooned inflation to a 30-year high," said Pierre Poilievre, a frontrunner to lead the opposition Conservatives. "When your house is on fire, you don't douse it in gasoline."
The budget bill should pass in parliament after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last month struck a support deal with the left-leaning New Democratic Party (NDP) to keep his minority government in power until 2025.
HOUSING AFFORDABILITY
Fast rising home prices - up 50.6% in two years - have become a political liability for politicians, as Canadians of all stripes struggle to find an affordable place to live.
While foreigners represent a small overall segment of home buyers in Canada, they can have an outsized impact on price escalation and are an easy target for politicians, experts say.
Experts also questioned plans to double the pace of homebuilding over the next decade, noting that most supply measures would depend on other levels of government playing ball.
"I'm not sure the federal government has any real levers here to influence supply," said Robert Asselin, senior vice-president for policy at the Business Council of Canada, adding the whole housing strategy was "a bit gimmicky."
The budget offered a substantial incentive to companies investing in carbon-capture technologies and set aside as much as C$3.8 billion over eight years to accelerate critical mineral exploration.
Military spending will see a C$8 billion boost over five years.
The budget also outlined C$5.3 billion over five years on a national dental care program for lower-income families, a key NDP demand for propping up the Trudeau government.
The budget deficit for the current fiscal year is nearly 10% lower than forecast in a December fiscal update, mostly due to higher revenues. The debt-to-GDP ratio is forecast to be 45.1% this fiscal year and to decline over the budget's timeframe.
($1 = 1.2600 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting by Julie Gordon and Steve Scherer in Ottawa; Editing by Denny Thomas and Aurora Ellis)
By Julie Gordon and Steve Scherer - Yesterday
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's Liberals put red-hot real estate markets squarely in their sights on Thursday, laying out a budget geared at boosting housing affordability amid soaring inflation, while promising modest new spending to encourage medium-term growth.
Canada's Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland buys a pair of shoes purchased a day ahead of her delivering the 2022 Budget
The 2022 budget set out C$9.5 billion ($7.5 billion) over five years in net new spending on housing initiatives and promised to legally ban foreign investors from buying Canadian homes for two years, though it gave no timeline for that legislation.
Canada's Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland delivers the 2022-23 budget, in Ottawa
It also pledged to target domestic housing speculators with new taxes, double new-home construction over the next decade and boost tax credits for first-time buyers. Most measures were outlined in the Liberal's re-election campaign last year.
"Our economy is built by people, and people need homes in which to live," Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said as she presented the budget to lawmakers.
"We will prevent foreign investors from parking their money in Canada by buying up homes," she continued.
But Freeland later added there was no single "silver bullet" to solve Canada's housing crisis.
Graphic: Canada fiscal projections in Budget 2022 - https://graphics.reuters.com/CANADA-BUDGET/PROJECTIONS/mopanbzggva/chart.png
The budget also hiked corporate taxes for the country's most profitable banks and insurers to 16.5% from 15% on all taxable income over C$100 million, less than the 3% rise pledged in last year's election campaign. That, along with a one-time recovery dividend, will boost revenues by C$6.1 billion over the five-year budget time frame.
All told, the budget included a net C$29 billion in new spending over five years, as the waning COVID-19 pandemic allowed the government to ease off on emergency stimulus.
While that was less spending than some feared, economists said it would not help ease inflationary pressures.
"At the end of the day, we still are adding stimulus to the economy at a time when the Bank of Canada is actively trying to cool down inflation," said Robert Kavcic, senior economist at BMO Economics.
"I think it just reinforces what we're already expecting, which is pretty aggressive near-term tightening from the Bank of Canada," he added.
Inflation hit 5.7% in February and is expected to go higher before easing off later this year as supply chain bottlenecks unwind and the central bank increases interest rates.
The Bank of Canada is widely expected to make a rare 50-basis-point interest rate hike next week after raising its policy rate to 0.5% in March.
"This budget had one job - reverse the taxes and deficits that have ballooned inflation to a 30-year high," said Pierre Poilievre, a frontrunner to lead the opposition Conservatives. "When your house is on fire, you don't douse it in gasoline."
The budget bill should pass in parliament after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last month struck a support deal with the left-leaning New Democratic Party (NDP) to keep his minority government in power until 2025.
HOUSING AFFORDABILITY
Fast rising home prices - up 50.6% in two years - have become a political liability for politicians, as Canadians of all stripes struggle to find an affordable place to live.
While foreigners represent a small overall segment of home buyers in Canada, they can have an outsized impact on price escalation and are an easy target for politicians, experts say.
Experts also questioned plans to double the pace of homebuilding over the next decade, noting that most supply measures would depend on other levels of government playing ball.
"I'm not sure the federal government has any real levers here to influence supply," said Robert Asselin, senior vice-president for policy at the Business Council of Canada, adding the whole housing strategy was "a bit gimmicky."
The budget offered a substantial incentive to companies investing in carbon-capture technologies and set aside as much as C$3.8 billion over eight years to accelerate critical mineral exploration.
Military spending will see a C$8 billion boost over five years.
The budget also outlined C$5.3 billion over five years on a national dental care program for lower-income families, a key NDP demand for propping up the Trudeau government.
The budget deficit for the current fiscal year is nearly 10% lower than forecast in a December fiscal update, mostly due to higher revenues. The debt-to-GDP ratio is forecast to be 45.1% this fiscal year and to decline over the budget's timeframe.
($1 = 1.2600 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting by Julie Gordon and Steve Scherer in Ottawa; Editing by Denny Thomas and Aurora Ellis)
Budget 2022: A checklist of promises that were in the Liberal-NDP confidence deal
The Canadian Press
OTTAWA — The Liberals and New Democrats published a confidence and supply agreement last month in an effort to keep the minority Parliament working until the next fixed election in 2025.
The deal would have the NDP vote with the Liberals on key parliamentary votes — such as those pertaining to the federal budget — in exchange for the federal government investing in and moving on some NDP priorities.
Thursday's 2022 budget is the first test of that pact.
Here is a look at what the spending plan does to reflect its promises.
Dental care
The budget promises $5.3 billion over the next five years, and $1.7 billion annually after that, to help pay for dental care for Canadians with household incomes under $90,000.
The program will start with kids under 12 this year, expand to teenagers and people with disabilities in 2023, and be fully implemented by 2025.
Pharmacare
The budget promises to table and pass a pharmacare bill by the end of 2023 and ask the Canadian Drug Agency to develop a list of essential medicines and make a bulk-purchasing plan. This is almost word-for-word what was in the confidence and supply agreement. There is no funding for the effort in this budget. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said that will come in future years.
Housing
The budget includes several items on the NDP’s housing wish list, including a $1.5-billion, two-year expansion to the Rapid Housing Initiative. It also works to redefine what affordable housing means in the Rental Construction Financing Initiative, provides $4 billion over five years to help municipalities build new housing units, introduce a Homebuyer’s Bill of Rights, and $475 million to provide a one-time $500 payment to Canadians struggling to afford housing.
A Clean Jobs Training Centre
This is mentioned in one line in the budget, but with no detail.
End federal fossil-fuel subsidies
The Liberals have promised to get rid of “inefficient” fossil-fuel subsidies by the end of 2023. The budget plans to eliminate a flow-through share regime, no longer allowing investments in oil, gas or goal to be renounced to flow-through share investors.
Ten days of paid sick leave
The budget promises to amend Bill C-3 to include 10 days of paid medical leave for workers in the federally regulated private sector
Significant investments in Indigenous housing in 2022
There is $4.3 billion for Indigenous housing over seven years, including in First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities.
Addressing the harmful legacy of residential schools
The agreement called for support to help First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities with burial searches at the former sites of residential schools. The budget includes $209.8 million over five years to help document, locate and memorialize burial sites, support the new building for the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, and ensure the disclosure of federal documents related to residential schools.
Taxing excess bank profits
The budget introduces the temporary Canada Recovery Dividend, a one-time 15 per cent tax for financial institutions on income above $1 billion for the 2021 tax year.
The federal government also plans to permanently increase the corporate income tax rate for banking and life insurance groups by 1.5 percentage points for taxable income above $100 million.
Publicly accessible beneficial ownership registry
Such a registry would require the disclosure of the real names of people who own or control companies. The budget promises to work with provinces to establish a Canadian version based on those in other countries, including the United Kingdom.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 7, 2022.
The Canadian Press
The Canadian Press
OTTAWA — The Liberals and New Democrats published a confidence and supply agreement last month in an effort to keep the minority Parliament working until the next fixed election in 2025.
The deal would have the NDP vote with the Liberals on key parliamentary votes — such as those pertaining to the federal budget — in exchange for the federal government investing in and moving on some NDP priorities.
Thursday's 2022 budget is the first test of that pact.
Here is a look at what the spending plan does to reflect its promises.
Dental care
The budget promises $5.3 billion over the next five years, and $1.7 billion annually after that, to help pay for dental care for Canadians with household incomes under $90,000.
The program will start with kids under 12 this year, expand to teenagers and people with disabilities in 2023, and be fully implemented by 2025.
Pharmacare
The budget promises to table and pass a pharmacare bill by the end of 2023 and ask the Canadian Drug Agency to develop a list of essential medicines and make a bulk-purchasing plan. This is almost word-for-word what was in the confidence and supply agreement. There is no funding for the effort in this budget. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said that will come in future years.
Housing
The budget includes several items on the NDP’s housing wish list, including a $1.5-billion, two-year expansion to the Rapid Housing Initiative. It also works to redefine what affordable housing means in the Rental Construction Financing Initiative, provides $4 billion over five years to help municipalities build new housing units, introduce a Homebuyer’s Bill of Rights, and $475 million to provide a one-time $500 payment to Canadians struggling to afford housing.
A Clean Jobs Training Centre
This is mentioned in one line in the budget, but with no detail.
End federal fossil-fuel subsidies
The Liberals have promised to get rid of “inefficient” fossil-fuel subsidies by the end of 2023. The budget plans to eliminate a flow-through share regime, no longer allowing investments in oil, gas or goal to be renounced to flow-through share investors.
Ten days of paid sick leave
The budget promises to amend Bill C-3 to include 10 days of paid medical leave for workers in the federally regulated private sector
Significant investments in Indigenous housing in 2022
There is $4.3 billion for Indigenous housing over seven years, including in First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities.
Addressing the harmful legacy of residential schools
The agreement called for support to help First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities with burial searches at the former sites of residential schools. The budget includes $209.8 million over five years to help document, locate and memorialize burial sites, support the new building for the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, and ensure the disclosure of federal documents related to residential schools.
Taxing excess bank profits
The budget introduces the temporary Canada Recovery Dividend, a one-time 15 per cent tax for financial institutions on income above $1 billion for the 2021 tax year.
The federal government also plans to permanently increase the corporate income tax rate for banking and life insurance groups by 1.5 percentage points for taxable income above $100 million.
Publicly accessible beneficial ownership registry
Such a registry would require the disclosure of the real names of people who own or control companies. The budget promises to work with provinces to establish a Canadian version based on those in other countries, including the United Kingdom.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 7, 2022.
The Canadian Press
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