The Government of Canada released their Fall Economic Statement last week. The statement includes a focus on the challenges of a post-covid recovery due to high inflation, increase in interest rates, and the increased risk of a recession, initiatives to make life more affordable, investing in jobs, growth and an economy that works for everyone, details of economic and fiscal projections, and an update on debt management strategies.
New measures proposed in the 2022 Fall Economic Statement include:
1. Making Life More Affordable:
- Permanently eliminating interest on federal student and apprentice loans;
- Creating a new, quarterly Canada Workers Benefit with automatic advance payments to put more money back in the pockets of our lowest-paid workers, sooner;
- Delivering on key pillars of the government’s plan to make housing more affordable, including the creation of a new Tax-Free First Home Savings Account, a doubling of the First-Time Home Buyers’ Tax Credit, and ensuring that property flippers pay their fair share; and,
- Lowering credit card transaction fees for small business.
2. Investing in Jobs, Growth, and an Economy That Works for Everyone:
- Launching the new Canada Growth Fund which will help bring to Canada the billions of dollars in new private investment required to reduce our emissions, grow our economy, and create good jobs;
- Introducing major investment tax credits for clean technologies and clean hydrogen that will help create good jobs and make Canada a leader in the net-zero transition;
- Implementing a new tax on share buybacks by public corporations in Canada; and,
- Creating the Sustainable Jobs Training Centre and investing in a new sustainable jobs stream of the Union Training and Innovation Program to equip workers with the skills required for the good jobs of today and the future.
Unfortunately, the Fall Economic Statement did not include any new initiatives for tourism.