2023 Federal Budget

In his address to Parliament, President Joe Biden said "a country is never more optimistic than its leaders." I couldn't agree more with this sentiment. 

Canada’s economy has made a remarkable recovery after the COVID recession. The unemployment rate is near its record low, and today, more Canadians have good jobs than ever before.

But people are concerned about what lies ahead and many are faced with real affordability challenges. While inflation has fallen in Canada for eight straight months, it remains elevated—both in Canada and around the world. That’s why we’re going to stay focused on helping to make life more affordable for Canadians, strengthening our universal public health care system, and building a clean economy that will create good jobs across the country.

Yesterday, The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Finance, tabled the 2023 federal budget. The budget makes significant investments in:

Affordability:

• A one-time grocery rebate, providing $2.5 billion in targeted inflation relief for 11 million low- and modest-income Canadians and families;
• $4 billion to support Urban, Rural and Northern Indigenous housing;
• Increasing Canada Student Grants by 40 percent to provide up to $4,200 for full-time students;
• Freezing excise tax on beer, wine and alcohol at 2% for one year;
• Adjusting the Criminal Code’s payday lending exemption to require payday lenders to charge no more than $14 per $100 borrowed;
• Working to implement a right to repair, with the aim of introducing a targeted framework for home appliances and electronics in 2024;
• An enhanced Canada Workers Benefit, which means families could receive up to $2,461 this year, and a single Canadian without children could receive up to $1,428;
• Direct, tax-free payments of up to $1,300 per child over two years to eligible families to cover dental expenses for their children under 12;
• A cross-Canada reduction of fees for regulated child care of 50 per cent on average, with six provinces and territories reducing child care fees to $10-a-day or less by April 2, 2023.

Health Care:

• $198 billion over 10 years in public health care;
• 13 billion over 5 years for new dental care plan expansion;
• $359.2 million over five years and $1.3 million in remaining amortization to support a renewed Canadian Drugs and Substances Strategy to fight the ongoing opiod crisis and save lives;
• $36 million over three years to renew the Sexual and Reproductive Health Fund;
• $158.4 million over three years to support the implementation and operation of the 988 Suicide Prevention Hotline.

Clean Economy: 

• $500 million over ten years to the Strategic Innovation Fund to attract and spur high-quality business investments to support the development and application of clean technologies in Canada;
• $3 billion over 13 years to support clean energy projects, including clean electrcity;
• Clean Electricity Investment Tax Credit: a 15% refundable credit to support non-emitting generation systems storage and transmission ($6.3 billion over 4 years);
• Clean Technology Manufacturing Tax Credit: a 30% refundable credit to support manufactuiong of key clean technologies and critical minerals extraction processing and recycling ($4.5 billion over 5 years);
• Clean Hydrogen Tax Credit: between 15-40% refundable tax credit for production of clean hydrogen and conversion into ammonia ($5.5 billion over 5 years);
• Clean Technology Investment Tax Credit expanded to include geothermal.

The full budget can be found here: Budget 2023 — A Made-in-Canada Plan: Strong Middle Class, Affordable Economy, Healthy Future