On Tuesday March 28th, Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance delivered a 250-page budget titled “A Made-in-Canada Plan”. This outlined the governing Liberals’ fiscal plans to the House of Commons. The highlights include:
- $46 Billion in net new spending is proposed over the next six years.
- The federal deficit is projected at $40.1 Billion in 2023/24, which is $9.5 Billion higher than the projection from autumn 2022.
- Their three main priorities:
- Healthcare and dental care
- $13 Billion over the next five years to implement the dental care plan for families earning less than $90,000 per year. Direct, tax-free payments of up to $1,300 per child for dental expense for children under 12.
- Increased Canada Health Transfers, which total $49.4 Billion for 2023/4
- Affordability
- To offset the increased cost of groceries, the GST rebate has been extended with payouts of $467 and $234 for families and individuals, respectively, with an estimated 11 million Canadians entitled to these benefits, which will cost up to $2.5 Billion.
- Predatory lending rates have been reduced to 35% per annum, and fees have been reduced to protect those least able to afford high interest or financial charges.
- Credit card fees have not been capped, but an agreement has been reached between the government and major credit companies to reduce the interchange fee by about 27% for about 90% of businesses that accept credit cards.
- Old Age Security (OAS) has been increased by 10% for those over 75.
- Clean/sustainable economy
- A refundable 30% tax credit for investments in new machinery, equipment to manufacture or process clean technologies, or extract, process or recycle key minerals.
- A refundable tax credit of 15% on investment in clean electricity including production from wind, solar, hydro, tidal, nuclear, and abated natural gas.
- Healthcare and dental care
Many additional programs and descriptions can be found in the source budget documents. If you would like to review them, we have provided a link, please click below.
