Yesterday, our Government tabled Budget 2021 to show you how we plan on supporting Canadians through the pandemic and into the future. We're spending money now to grow the economy, create well-paying jobs, and put Canada on the path to recovery. 

Our budget focuses on three key areas of growth and success:

• Conquering COVID-19
• Ensuring a speedy recovery 
• Building a resilient Canada

We’ve included important investments such as funding to create a national childcare program, expanding pandemic supports, supporting our seniors through increased income support and reforming long-term care, addressing affordable housing and more. Here's what we're committing to in Budget 2021.

Conquering COVID-19

Our priority right now is to procure vaccines for Canadians and ensure we support individuals and businesses in overcoming the challenges the pandemic brings. 

• To better support Canadians, we’re extending key pandemic supports:
  • The Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy will be extended to September 2021
  • The Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy will be extended to September 2021
  • The Canada Response Benefit will be extended by 12 weeks to a total of 50 weeks for those who are underemployed 
  • The Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit will also be extended to a total of 42 weeks
• $916 million in 5 years for the life sciences and bio manufacturing sector to boost Canada's capacity to produce vaccines and other medical products
• We’re investing $3 billion over 5 years to improve the standards in our long-term care homes and ensure our seniors get the care they deserve

Ensuring A Speedy Recovery

We know that to attain full economic recovery, we need to invest in women, our racialized minorities, our small-businesses, hard-impacted sectors, and workers. 

We’re investing:

• To establish a $15 federal minimum wage 
• $275 million over the next 5 years on mental health services to develop new national mental health standards and also set up mental health services for those who need it most 
• $595 million into the Canada Recovery Hiring Program that businesses can use instead of the CEWS to help offset the cost of hiring back workers, which will run from June 6- November 20 and cover as much as 50% of incremental pay to workers
• $9 billion over 7 years into the Canada Workers Benefit, which supports low-wage workers
• $1 billion to help the tourism sector recover and to support festivals and cultural events 
• Providing a one-time $500 top-up in August to OAS recipients aged 75 and older
  • We’re also giving a 10% increase in OAS payments as of July 2022
• $300 million to fund Black-led initiatives to fight racism and support Black-led non-profit organizations 
• $300 million to enhance initiatives such as the Black Entrepreneurship Program and the Women Entrepreneurship Strategy 

Building a Resilient Canada 

To build a resilient Canada, we need to ensure we're dedicated to reconciliation, protecting our environment, building affordable housing, fostering innovation, and creating a national childcare system. 

We’re investing:

• A historic commitment to bring down the average cost of childcare to $10 per day across Canada by 2026. We’re going to ensure that all families have access to affordable, high-quality, and flexible childcare no matter where they live.
  • We’re spending $30 billion on childcare in 5 years and will spend $8.3 billion each year after that to accomplish this goal 
  • We’re aiming to cut the costs of childcare by 50% by 2022 
• $18 billion to narrow the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples to help rebuild their communities and advance reconciliation 
• We’re also providing funding to develop Indigenous infrastructure 
• $5 billion over 7 years in the Net Zero Accelerator to help companies reduce their greenhouse gas emissions
• $7 billion  for the Canada Digital Adoption Program that will help 160,000 small and medium sized businesses adapt and expand their digital operations after the pandemic
  • Our plan involves hiring 28,000 young Canadians to help businesses adapt to new technology 
• $3.8 billion in new and existing funding to build, repair, or covert 35,000 affordable housing units
• $17.6 billion in a green recovery to help us achieve our target to conserve 25% of our land and oceans by 2025, reduce emissions by 36% below 2005 levels by 2030 and get us onto the path to net-zero emissions by 2050 
• We will be gaining $700 million in revenue by imposing a %1 tax on non-resident owned residential real-estate that is considered vacant or underused 
• We're also putting a luxury tax on pleasure boats and fancy cars and the Government will receive $640 in revenue

To learn more about Budget 2021 and about all the programs we’re investing in, check out the budget website here: https://www.budget.gc.ca/2021/home-accueil-en.html or, sign up for our Weekly Updates to learn more about how the budget will benefit you