April 28, 2021

(York Region, Ontario) Last week, The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, released Budget 2021: A Recovery Plan for Jobs, Growth, and Resilience, the Government of Canada’s plan to finish the fight against COVID-19 and ensure a robust economic recovery for all Canadians.

Today, the York Region Liberal Caucus hosted a virtual post-budget breakfast with over 60 organizations, including York Regional Chair Wayne Emerson, Whitchurch-Stouffville Mayor Iain Lovatt, Regional Councillor Jack Heath, Markham Councillor Khalid Usman, Whitchurch-Stouffville Councillor Sue Sherban and organizations from across York Region that play a key role in supporting our communities.

Riding residents also had an opportunity to submit questions to the Members of Parliament.

During the discussion, members highlighted investments outlined in Budget 2021 and heard from community leaders.

This budget provides significant investment to address the impact of COVID-19, create jobs, grow the middle class, set businesses on track for long-term growth, and ensure that Canada’s future will be healthier, more equitable, greener, and more prosperous. The Government of Canada’s top priority remains protecting the health and safety of Canadians, particularly during this third wave of the virus and its variants, especially here in Ontario and York Region.

QUOTES

“This budget is about finishing the fight against COVID-19. It’s about healing the wounds left by the COVID-19 recession. And it’s about creating more jobs and prosperity for Canadians in the days – and decades – to come.”

- Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Honourable Chrystia Freeland

“There is no doubt that COVID-19 has been one of the greatest crises of our time, and York Region has not been immune to this pandemic. Our priority is to continue supporting Canadians and Canadian businesses through this pandemic, finish our fight against the virus, and ensure a resilient economic recovery that creates jobs and growth for all.”

- York Region Liberal Caucus

“These investments will make a difference in Markham-Stouffville. The purpose of today’s event was to provide York Region residents, businesses and organizations with an opportunity to learn more about how the federal Budget would help them. It was also a chance for them to ask questions and provide feedback. Thank you to everyone who took part!”

- Helena Jaczek, MP for Markham-Stouffville

QUICK FACTS

Budget 2021 includes $101.4 billion over three years in proposed investments as part of the Government of Canada’s growth plan that will create good jobs and support a resilient and inclusive recovery. Key Measures include:

• Establishing a Canada-wide early learning and child care system, in partnership with provincial, territorial, and Indigenous partners, which will help all families access affordable, high-quality, and flexible child care no matter where they live, and no longer shoulder the burden of high child care costs. The budget proposes new investments totaling almost $30 billion over the next five years and $8.3 billion ongoing to support this vision.
• Extending emergency supports to bridge Canadians and Canadian businesses through to recovery, including:
  • Extending the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, the Canada Emergency
  • Rent Subsidy and Lockdown Support until September 25, 2021.
  • Extending the number of weeks available for important income support for Canadians such as the Canada Recovery Benefit and the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit.
• Enhancing Employment Insurance sickness benefits from 15 to 26 weeks.
• Increasing Old Age Security for seniors age 75 and older to provide them with better financial security.
• Supporting small and medium-sized businesses through several transformative programs, such as:
  • A new Canada Digital Adoption Program that will assist over 160,000 businesses with the cost of new technology. And it will provide them with the advice they need to get the most of new technology with the help of 28,000 young Canadians who will be trained to work with them.
  • Allowing Canadian small businesses to fully expense up to $1.5 million in capital investments in a broad range of assets, including digital technology and intellectual property. This represents an additional $2.2 billion investment in the growth of Canada’s entrepreneurs over the next five years.
  • Revitalizing Canada’s tourism sector through $1 billion to help tourism businesses recover and support festivals and cultural events that provide jobs and growth in many of our cities and communities.
• Establishing a $15 federal minimum wage.
• Investing in the Canada Workers Benefit, which will support about 1 million more Canadians and lift nearly 100,000 people out of poverty. This will result in additional support of $8.9 billion over six years for Canada’s low-wage workers.
• Helping build, repair, and support 35,000 affordable housing units for vulnerable Canadians through an investment of $2.5 billion and a reallocation of $1.3 billion in existing funding.
• Investing $17.6 billion in a green recovery that will help Canada to reach its target to conserve 25 per cent of Canada’s lands and oceans by 2025, exceed its Paris climate targets and reduce emissions by 36 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, and move forward on a path to reach net-zero emission by 2050..

LINK:

Budget 2021: A Plan for Recovery, Growth and Resilience