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What Justin Trudeau’s Liberals have promised Canadians in their new mandate

After calling a snap election halfway through his term, Trudeau has managed to clinch another minority government

Justin Trudeau’s Liberals won re-election on Sept. 21, 2021 and will lead for the next 18 months with a minority government. The party made dozens of promises during the 36-day campaign. Here’s the full rundown of the Liberals’ new mandate as they lead the 44th Parliament.

Taxes

  • Make the financial institutions with earnings of more than $1 billion pay more by increasing their income tax rates from 15 to 18 per cent. (sourcePBO analysis)
  • Create a minimum tax rule so that those in the top tax bracket pay at least 15 per cent income tax. (source, PBO analysis)
  • Create a Canada Recovery Dividend for the largest financial firms, which have “recovered faster and stronger than many other industries,” at $5.5 billion over five years. (source, PBO analysis)
  • Tax vacant properties of non-residents (See Housing). (source)
  • Create a luxury tax on new cars and private aircraft (worth at least $100,000, excluding motorcycles, racing cars, motor homes, farm vehicles etc.) and pleasure boats (at least $250,000). (source)
  • Increase the income level at which the Canada Workers Benefit starts to be reduced to $22,944 for individuals, and $26,177 for families. The tax refund is up to $2,400. (source)
  • Reduce the tax rates of zero-emission technology firms by 50 per cent (See Environment). (sourcePBO analysis)
  • Investment tax credit for capital in carbon capture projects with a goal of reducing emissions by at least 15 megatonnes of carbon dioxide annually. (source)
  • Change the Climate Action Incentive payment from an annual refundable credit to a quarterly payment. (source)
  • Update the assessments for the Disability Tax Credit, so that an estimated 45,000 additional people will qualify. (source)
  • Implement a Digital Services Tax of three per cent on revenue of digital services from Canadian users for businesses with revenues exceeding the an OECD-set threshold of 750 million euros. (source)
  • Reduce the amount of interest that can be deduced by certain businesses from 40 per cent of earnings in the first year, and then to 30 per cent, to limit excessive deductions by large corporations. (source)
  • Eliminate the tax benefits of so-called hybrid-mismatch arrangements, used largely by multinationals, which should increase revenues by $775 million over four years. (source)
  • Strengthen the Canadian Revenue Agency’s ability to combat complex tax schemes; amend the Income Tax Act to combat tax collection avoidance schemes. (sourcePBO analysis)

Economy & Affordability

  • Establish a $15 per hour federal minimum wage, which will rise with inflation; if lower than provincial or territorial minimum wages, then higher rates prevail. (source)
  • Make it easier for Canadians to find unclaimed federal assets (See Democracy & Governance.) (source)
  • Make Employment Insurance simpler and more accessible, including uniform access to benefits across regions, with $3.9 billion over three years. (source, PBO analysis)
  • Implement the “right to repair” for home appliances, electronics and digital devices. (source, PBO analysis)
  • Help the aerospace sector recover from the pandemic with $250 million over three years. (source)
  • Allow Canadian-controlled private firms to immediately expense up to $1.5 million of eligible investments in each of the next three years, which will reduce federal revenues by $2.2 billion over five years. (sourcePBO analysis)
  • Endow an agency like DARPA in the United States with $2 billion to “unleash bold new research and ideas.” (sourcePBO analysis)
  • Renew the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy with up to $443.8 million over 10 years, including fund to commercialize AI innovations and attract academic talent. (source)
  • Launch a National Quantum Strategy with $360 million over seven years. (source)
  • Provide $400 million for a temporary Community Services Recovery Fund to help charities and non-profits with economic recovery. (source)
  • Start the Regional Development Agency for British Columbia, with $553.1 million over five years. (source)
  • Give $100 million to the Supporting Black Canadian Communities Initiative. (source)

Jobs & Skills training

  • Give 10 days paid sick leave for federally-regulated workers. (source)
  • Establish a new apprentice service to help first-year apprentices in Red Seal trades connect with opportunities in smaller employers, at a cost of $470 million over three years. (source)
  • Increase the wage subsidy to $7,500 per person in the Student Work Placement Program for post-secondary students while also expanding employers’ access to the program, for $239.8 million. (source)
  • Expand the Employment Insurance benefit to the self-employed for up to 26 weeks. (sourcePBO analysis)
  • Create an EI Career Insurance Benefit that extends benefits for long-time workers of firms that close. (source, PBO analysis)
  • Create a Labour Mobility Tax Credit so construction workers can deduct up to $4,000 in travel expenses. (sourcePBO analysis)
  • Expand the Employment Insurance sickness benefit from 15 to 26 weeks, as of summer 2022, and ensure job protection for workers in federally-regulated industries. (source)
  • Add $109.3 million for the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy for vulnerable youth. (source)
  • Create at least 85,000 on-the-job learning opportunities through work placements from the non-profit Mitacs, with $708 million over five years. (source)
  • Continue the Canada Recovery Hiring Program to March 31, 2022. (source)
  • Offer wage and rent supports of up to 75% of expenses for the tourism industry for the winter. (source)

Small business

  • Provide $1.4 billion over four years to provide microgrants for small business technology needs and link young people to smaller businesses who need such tech help. (source)
  • Expand the Canada Small Business Financing Program through increasing loan maximums to $500,000 and 15 years; expand eligibility to non-profits, for $560 million a year. (source, PBO analysis)
  • Strengthen access by women entrepreneurs to financing, mentorship and training with $146.9 million over four years. (source)
  • Add $51.7 million over four years to agency funding for the Black Entrepreneurship Program. (source)
  • Create ElevateIP, to help innovators access expert intellectual property services, with $90 million over two years, and another $75 million over three years for a similar Industrial Research Assistance Program for high-growth firms. (source)
  • Design and deliver training, especially to small and medium-sized businesses, with $960 million over three years. (source)
  • Invest $1.9 billion to help the tourist industry recover from the pandemic, including supporting festivals, theatres and amateur sports events. (sourcePBO analysis)
  • Increase capital available to entrepreneurs by adding $450 million over five years to the Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative. (source)
  • Modernize federal procurement and create more opportunities for businesses managed or owned by Indigenous and Black people, for $87.4 million over five years. (source)

Deficits & Debt

  • Estimate that the cost of the Liberal election promises will use roughly half of the five percentage point drop in the projected debt-to-GDP ratio in the federal budget released in April. (source)

Health

  • Provide another $6 billion – in addition to $4 billion in budget – to help provinces and territories clear health-care system backlogs and wait lists caused by the pandemic. (sourcePBO analysis) (source)
  • Amend laws to “deduct health transfers from provinces who enable extra billing for publicly insured services.” (source)
  • Make it a criminal office to obstruct access to healthcare sites or to intimidate professionals. (See Race relations & Justice). (source)
  • Enact regulations that all Canadians have access to sexual and reproductive services; deny charity status to anti-abortion organizations “that provide dishonest counselling to women.”  (source, PBO analysis)
  • Help provinces and territories hire at least 7,500 nurses, nurse practitioners and family doctors, with $3.2 billion. (source, PBO analysis)
  • Work with provinces and territories to expand virtual health services with $400 million over four years. (source, PBO analysis)
  • Increase wages of personal support workers in the long-term care sector to a minimum of $25 an hour (See Retirement & Seniors) (source, PBO analysis)
  • Provide $3 billion to improve long-term care homes (See Seniors & Retirement) (source, PBO analysis)
  • Allocate $4.5 billion to provinces and territories for the delivery of mental health services. (source, PBO analysis)
  • Support Indigenous-led mental health and wellness services with $598 million. (See Indigenous affairs) (source)
  • Invest at least $600 million to fight the opioid crisis. (source)
  • Make the cost of in vitro fertilization an eligible health expense. (source)
  • Increase maximum debt relief to $60,000 that family doctors and residents, nurses and nurse practitioners are eligible under Canada Student Loans forgiveness plan. (source)
  • Allow health care workers at the start of their careers to claim an income tax deduction of up to $15,000 for setting up practices. (source)
  • “Provide free tampons and pads in federally regulated workplaces.” (source, PBO analysis)
  • Implement a Clinical Trials Fund with $250 million over three years to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, as well as $30 million over two years to fund pediatric cancer research. (source)
  • Support people dealing with problematic substance use by adding $116 million over two years to the Substance Use and Addictions Program. (source, PBO analysis)
  • Establish a National Institute for Women’s Health Research with $20 million over five years. (source)
  • Support the creation of a national autism strategy with $15.4 million over two years. (source)
  • Construct eight plasma collection sites across country, with $20 million over three years. (source)
  • Provide better palliative and end-of-life care with $29.8 million over six years, and ensure the medical-assistance-in-dying framework is implemented consistently with $13.2 million over five years. (source)

Public Health & Pandemic preparedness

  • Require a vaccine mandate for federal public servants plus for employees of federally regulated air, rail and marine transportation sectors as well as commercial passengers on planes, interprovincial trains and overnight marine vessels. (source)
  • Introduce legislation to “ensure that every business and organization that decides to require a proof of vaccination from employees or customers can do so without fear of a legal challenge.” (source)
  • Support vaccine mandates in provinces and territories through a $1 billion COVID-19 Proof of Vaccine fund. (source, PBO analysis)
  • Procure and distribute for free COVID-19 booster shots and next-generation vaccines. (source)
  • Top up the Safe Return to Class Fund with $100 million for ventilation improvements. (source)
  • Aid trauma and PTSD programs for populations at highest risk of COVID-19 trauma with $50 million over two years. (source)
  • Invest $100 million in the study of “long COVID,” especially for vulnerable groups such as children. (source)
  • Allocate up to $375 million to our international COVID-19 response, especially health issues in developing nations (source)
  • Give $2.2 billion over seven years to build and expand the life sciences sector including $60 million for the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization and $45 million to the Stem Cell Network. (source)
  • Support large airports invest in COVID-19 testing infrastructure with $82.5 million. (source)
  • Help the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority improve screening practices to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 with $271 million. (source)

Food security & Hunger

  • Commit $1 billion to developing a national school nutritious meal program. (source)
  • Create a No-Waste Food Fund to “eliminate, reduce, or repurpose” food waste. (source)
  • Amend the Nutrition North Canada program to “make the program more transparent and responsive to Inuit needs.” (source)
  • Introduce additional restrictions on the commercial marketing of food and beverages aimed at children; and establish new labels for food packaging to “promote healthy eating.” (source)
  • Commit $100 million to the Emergency Food Security Fund in 2021-22 to go towards food banks and local food organizations that operated throughout the pandemic (in addition to $100 million committed in April 2020).

Housing

  • Introduce First Home Savings Accounts for Canadians under 40 to save up to $40,000 toward their first house; deposits and withdrawals are tax-free. (sourcePBO analysis)
  • Give $1 billion in grants and loans to develop rent-to-own projects. (source, PBO analysis)
  • Add the option of a deferred mortgage loan to the First Time Home Buyer Incentive. (sourcePBO analysis)
  • Reduce the price of home insurance by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. by 25 per cent; increase the mortgage insurance purchase maximum to $1.25 million and index to inflation.  (source)
  • Double the Home Buyers Tax Credit claim amount to $10,000. (sourcePBO analysis)
  • Spend $2 billion on Indigenous housing (See Indigenous affairs) (source)
  • “Build, preserve or repair” 1.4 million homes in four years by putting $4 billion in a Housing Accelerator Fund to support municipalities’ housing efforts; increasing the funding to the National Housing Co-investment fund to $2.7 billion over four years; and introducing a Multigenerational Home Renovation tax credit for families adding secondary units for relatives. (sourcePBO analysis)
  • Introduce a Home Buyers’ Bill of Rights that will ban blind bidding, create a legal right to a home inspection and ban new foreign ownership of homes for two years. (source)
  • Have landlords report rent received before and after renovations and impose a surtax on “excessive” rent to stop renovictions. (source)
  • Introduce a national tax of one per cent annually on the value of non-resident, non-Canadian owned residential real estate that is vacant or underused (source)
  • Create an anti-flipping tax for residential properties sold less than 12 months after purchase. (source, PBO analysis)
  • Reallocate $300 million from the Rental Construction Financing Initiative to help convert excess commercial property to rental housing. (source)

Energy

  • Aid large-scale clean energy technology projects with $1 billion over five years. (source)
  • Create a Critical Battery Minerals Centre of Excellence (See Climate Change and Environment). (source)
  • Support public transit agencies with their switch to zero-emission buses. (source)
  • Help create the Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy in British Columbia, with $35 million. (source)
  • Support hydro and grid interconnection projects in the North with $40.4 million over three years, and invest $36 million over three years for sustainable clean energy projects in Indigenous communities. (source)

Climate change & Environment

  • Reduce emissions by 40-45 per cent by 2030, compared to 2005 levels. (source)
  • Have energy firms reduce methane emissions by 75 per cent or more below 2012 levels by 2030. (source)
  • Achieve a “100 percent net-zero emitting electricity system by 2035.” (source)
  • Promote zero-emission vehicles by providing $5,000 toward the purchase of such a car for more than 500,000 Canadians; require more than half of passenger vehicles sold be zero emission by 2030 and 100 per cent by 2035; build 50,000 more zero-emission vehicle chargers. (source, PBO analysis)
  • Implement a Low-Carbon Fuel Procurement Program for the federal government, with $227.9 million over eight years. (source, PBO analysis)
  • Build a net-zero electricity grid by 2035. (source)
  • Phase out thermal coal exports by 2030. (source)
  • Recycle plastic bottles through deposit-return systems with a target of 90 per cent by 2029. (source, PBO analysis)
  • Require all plastic packaging contain 50 per cent recycled material by 2030; make producers of waste responsible for collecting and recycling. (source, PBO analysis)
  • Create a “census of the environment” to monitor trends, with $25.6 million over five years to Statistics Canada. (source)
  • Invest $5 billion over seven years in the Net Zero Accelerator to help companies reduce emissions (source)
  • Aid clean energy technology projects (See Energy) (source)
  • Reduce by 50 per cent the corporate and small business income tax rates for firms that manufacture zero-emission technologies. (source)
  • Train 1,000 new community-based firefighters and purchase equipment because of extreme weather events. (sourcePBO analysis)
  • End cosmetic testing on animals by 2023 and toxicity testing by 2035. (source)
  • Create 10 new national parks and 10 marine conservative areas in the next five years; provide $2.3 billion over five years to achieve the 2025 target of protecting 25 per cent of the nation’s area, plus $976.8 million to meet the same goal in the oceans (source, PBO analysis)
  • Protect old growth forests in British Columbia by reaching an agreement with the province to expand those areas and through a $50 million B.C. Old Growth Nature Fund. (sourcePBO analysis)
  • Establish a Natural Infrastructure Fund for natural spaces and crossings to support biodiversity, such as in Toronto’s ravines, with $200 million over three years. (source, PBO analysis)
  • Change the Climate Action Incentive payment to a quarterly payment (See Taxes). (source)
  • Return to farmers in “backstop” jurisdictions—including Alberta and Ontario—an estimated $100 million from the price of pollution. (source, PBO analysis)
  • Issue federal green bonds, with a target of $5 billion, to fund projects such as conservation and green infrastructure. (source)
  • Improve the commercial viability of carbon capture, utilization and storage technologies, with $319 million over seven years. (source)
  • Help homeowners undertake energy efficiency upgrades through interest-free loans of up to $40,000, through giving $4.4 billion over five years to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. (source, PBO analysis)
  • Enhance wildlife preparedness in national parks with $100.6 million over five years, plus another $28.7 million to map areas in northern Canada at risk of wildfires. (source)
  • Stabilize and conserve wild Pacific salmon and create a Pacific salmon secretariat and restoration centre of expertise with $647.1 million over five years. (source)
  • Invest $1 billion over 10 years to fully meet the country’s obligations under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. (source)
  • Update the Canada Water Act to address Indigenous water rights, climate change and other issues. (source)
  • Have Crown corporations with at least $1 billion in assets report their climate-related financial risks as part of their corporate reporting as of 2022, with smaller organizations having until 2024. (source)

Indigenous affairs

  • Build housing for Indigenous communities with $2 billion over four years, including more than 50 per cent of that funding available for the 2022 construction season. (source, PBO analysis)
  • Support access to trauma-informed, Indigenous-led mental health and wellness services, for $2 billion over five years, including renewing funding of the Indian Residential Schools Health Supports Program and Crisis Line. (source, PBO analysis)
  • Manage the health impacts of climate change on First Nations and Inuit communities, including impacts of extreme weather events, with $125.2 million over four years. (source)
  • Provide more than $6 billion over five years to support infrastructure maintenance and construction in Indigenous communities, as well as continue First Nations’ community access to clean water and services with $125.2 million over four years. (source)
  • Invest in Indigenous early learning and child care with $1.4 billion over five years, including $264 million to repair and renovate existing centres and $420 million to build new ones. (source)
  • Increase the hiring of nurses and other medical professionals in isolated First Nations communities, at a cost of $354 million over five years. (source)
  • Reduce travel costs for Northerners without employer benefits by allowing claims of up to $1,200 in eligible expenses, for a cost of $125 million over five years. (source)
  • Expand the Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Program to support Indigenous-led businesses and communities, with an investment of $42 million over three years; invest $22 million over three years to increase the number of Indigenous women entrepreneurs. (sourcePBO analysis)
  • Invest an additional $2.2 billion over five years to build a safer and more inclusive society, in response to the national tragedy of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, including $275 million to support Indigenous peoples’ reclamation of Indigenous languages and $126.7 million to promote health systems free of racism and discrimination. (source)
  • Provide $12.4 million over five years to Canadian Heritage to honour the survivors of residential schools and commemorate their legacy. (source)
  • Develop an Indigenous data governance strategy so as to unmask inequalities and ensure effective program deliveries with $81.5 million over three years. (source)
  • Negotiate agreements with interested Indigenous governments to enable them to raise tax revenues on their lands. (source)
  • Create opportunities in federal procurement for Indigenous and Black businesses (source)

Race relations & Justice

  • Introduce legislation to make it a criminal offence to obstruct access to sites providing health services and to “intimidate or threaten any healthcare professional carrying out their professional duties.” (source)
  • Provide $21.5 million over five years for the Racialized Communities Legal Support Initiative. (source)
  • Add $216.4 million over five years to the Youth Justice Services Funding Program to support diversion programs and help the overrepresentation of Indigenous, Black and other racialized groups. (source)
  • Tighten weapons laws by limiting long gun magazines to five rounds; providing at least $1 billion to jurisdictions who ban handguns; requiring owners to sell banned assault weapons to the government or render them inoperable. (source, PBO analysis)
  • Combat harmful online content, including hate speech, with legislation introduced within the first 100 days; draft a plan for combating hate, including anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, by 2022. (source)
  • Reform the RCMP, including outside reviews of harassment and banning neck restraints and “use of tear gas or rubber bullets for crowd control.” (source)
  • Reduce pardon application fees and create an online application portal with $88.2 million over five years. (source)
  • Amend the Judges Act to freeze the pension entitlements of a judge, as of when the Canadian Judicial Council recommends that person’s removal from office. (source)
  • Re-establish the Law Commission of Canada to provide guidance on key legal questions. (source, PBO analysis)

Immigration & Refugees

  • Resettle 20,000 Afghans threatened by the Taliban, including women leaders, human rights workers, LGBTI individuals, family of previously resettled interpreters. (source, PBO analysis)
  • Amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to give the minister the authority to help select permanent resident candidates who best meet the needs of the labour market. (source)
  • Eliminate citizen application process fees for permanent residents who have obtained the requisite criteria. (source, PBO analysis)
  • “Introduce electronic applications for family reunification.” (source)
  • Develop a digital platform to replace the Global Case Management System for the immigration system as of 2023, spending $428.9 million over five years. (source)
  • Fund migrant worker-centric programs and services, with $49.5 million over three years. (source)
  • Increase workplace inspections and ensure rights of temporary foreign workers are respected, spending $54.9 million over three years. (source)

Democracy & Governance

  • Modernize the federal unclaimed assets regime by making it easier for Canadians to be matched with their unclaimed assets, such as bank accounts, and expanding it to include terminated federally regulated pension plans as well as bank accounts in foreign denominations. (source)
  • Update the Fiscal Stabilization Program for provinces facing sudden drops in revenues that will nearly triple the maximum payment to $170 per person, as of 2019-20. (source)
  • Give Statistics Canada $41.3 million over six years to improve its data collection on supportive care, primary care, and pharmaceuticals, as well as update its infrastructure; and $25.6 million over five years to create a Census of the Environment; and $172 million over five years to implement a plan to fill data gaps. (source)
  • Reduce internal trade barriers and work toward a repository of accessible internal trade data to identify barriers, including licensing, at a cost of $21 million over three years. (source)
  • Strengthen the Competition Bureau’s enforcement capabilities with $96 million over five years. (source)
  • Create a Data Commissioner to ensure personal data is used responsibly, at a cost of $17.6 million over five years, and provide $8.4 million over five years to the Standards Council of Canada for industry-wide data standards. (source)

National defence

  • Address sexual misconduct and gender-based violence in the Canadian Armed Forces with $236.2 million over five years, including free independent legal advice to victims. (source)
  • Modernize the North Warning System and NORAD. (source)
  • Maintain an additional six fighter aircraft and a frigate with the NATO Readiness Initiative, for $541.2 million over five years. (source)

Public safety & National security

  • Build two Arctic ice breakers—one in Quebec, one in B.C. —with at least one ship ready by 2030. (source)
  • Give $105.3 million over five years for Transport Canada to continue its work with partners for the Known Traveller Digital Identity pilot project. (source)
  • Top up the Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund with $1.4 billion over 12 years, including $670 million for new small projects, and 10 per cent for Indigenous recipients. (source)
  • Complete flood maps for higher-risk areas with $63.8 million over three years (source)
  • Introduce touchless and automated interactions at the border, and modernize other procedures, including pre-clearance pilot projects in the United States. (source)

Infrastructure

  • Build dedicated passenger rail tracks in the Toronto-to-Quebec City corridor for high frequency trains; procurement process launching in fall 2021. (source)
  • Support high-speed internet access in rural and remote areas with $1 billion over six years for the Universal Broadband Fund (source)
  • Recapitalize the National Trade Corridors Fund with $1.9 billion over four years to aid upgrades to transport routes, with 15 per cent dedicated to the North. (source)
  • Upgrade satellite ground-based infrastructure and plan for new satellites with $90 million over 11 years. (source)
  • Conduct the first National Infrastructure Assessment to identify needs and priorities, for $22.6 million over four years. (source)
  • Renovate small craft harbours with $300 million over two years. (source)

Retirement & Seniors

  • Provide a taxable $500 payment for Old Age Security pensioners who are at least 75 as of June 2022 and increase the maximum benefit by 10 per cent. (source)
  • Increase the survivor Canada (and Quebec) Pension Plan benefit by 25 per cent by working with provinces and territories. (source)
  • Provide $3 billion over five years, starting in 2022-23, to ensure provinces and territories provide a standard of care in their long-term care homes. (source, PBO analysis)
  • Increase the Guaranteed Income Supplement for seniors by $500 for singles and $750 for couples. (source, PBO analysis)
  • Double the Home Accessibility Tax Credit claim amount from $750 to $1,500 to keep seniors in their own homes. (source, PBO analysis)
  • Work with provinces and territories to train up to 50,000 new personal support workers in long-term care facilities and raise their wages to a minimum of $25 an hour. (source, PBO analysis)
  • Start the Aging Well at Home initiative with $90 million over three years to assist community organizations offer practical support to low-income and vulnerable seniors. (source)

Child care

  • Build a $10-a-day day care system by committing up to $30 billion over five years, aiming for a 50 per cent cut in average fees by 2022 and to $10 a day in 5 years (outside of Quebec). (sourcePBO analysis)
  • Give adoptive parents another 15 weeks of parental leave so that it matches the level of other new parents. (sourcePBO analysis)
  • Help children with disabilities by improving the physical accessibility of child-care centres through funding of $29.2 million over two years. (source)
  • Invest in Indigenous early learning and child care (See Indigenous affairs.) (source)

Education

  • Increase the threshold for repayment assistance for student loans from $25,000 to $40,000 a year and reduce cap on monthly payments from 20 to 10 per cent of household income. (source)
  • Permanently wave federal interest on Canada Student Loans and Canada Apprentice Loans; increase to $50,000 the income threshold for repayment of Canada Student Loans. (source, PBO analysis)
  • Extend the doubling of the Canada Student Grants to $6,000 for full-time students until July 2023. (source)
  • Expand enhanced grants and repayment assistance for students whose disabilities are prolonged but not always permanent, at a cost of $429 over four years. (source)
  • Help keep vulnerable children and youth in school through after-school programs and other supports with a $118.4-million, two-year pilot expansion of federal investments. (source)
  • Help three million students gain coding and digital skills through CanCode, with $80 million over three years. (source)
  • Up the Eligible Educator School Supply Tax Credit from 15 to 25 per cent and expand its eligibility criteria. (source)
  • Add 1,000 Canada Research Chairs to “help attract and retain top talent at Canadian universities and support graduate research.” (source, PBO analysis)
  • Increase funding to $80 million a year for post-secondary institutions in minority languages. (source)
  • Transform Aurora College in the Northwest Territories to a polytechnic university, with $8 million over two years. (source)

Veterans

  • Provide $45 million over two years for a pilot program aimed at reducing veteran homelessness through rent subsidies and social services. (source)
  • Finance a program to cover mental health care costs of veterans with PTSD and other mental issues while their benefit applications are processed, with $140 million over five years. (source)

Arts & Culture

  • Invest $1.9 billion to help the tourist industry recover from the pandemic (See Small business) (sourcePBO analysis)
  • Allow artists to have resale rights by amending the Copyright Act. (source)
  • Provide $300 million over two years for the Recovery Fund for Heritage, Arts, Culture, Heritage and Sport Sectors, plus $70 million over three years for the Canada Music Fund and $15 million for arts and heritage institutions to meet public health guidelines. (sourcePBO analysis)
  • Update the Broadcasting Act to include foreign streaming giants; modernize federal organizations such as TeleFilm, and the Canada Media Fund.(source)
  • Help reduce CBC/Radio-Canada’s reliance on advertising by giving $400 million over four years. (source, PBO analysis)
  • Revitalize farmers’ markets, main streets and other local gathering sites with $500 million over two years. (source)
  • Provide $28.7 million over five years for Parks Canada Agency to implement legislation that will create a legal obligation to protect the heritage value of more than 300 federally-owned historic places. (source)
  • Match ticket sales for arts and cultural venues to help with reduced capacity through the Arts and Culture Recovery Program. (source)
  • Launch a transitional support program for creative industry workers affected by the pandemic. (source)

Agriculture

  • Launch an on-farm climate scheme for projects including improving nitrogen management and cover cropping, with $200 million over two years. (source)
  • Start the Canada Water Agency, including supporting irrigation infrastructure (See Climate Change and Environment). (source)
  • Help the wine sector adapt to emerging challenges, including Canada’s changing trade commitments, with $101 million over two years.) (source)
  • Add another $292.5 million to help processors of supply-managed agricultural products adapt to new trade rules. (source)
  • Expand the Ghost Gear Program to remove abandoned fishing equipment and plastics. (source)

Foreign affairs

  • Provide funds for Canada’s international COVID-19 response (See Public Health & Pandemic Preparedness) (source)
  • Protect “Canadians from unacceptable surveillance, harassment, and intimidation by foreign actors.” (sourcePBO analysis)
  • Allocate another $165 million for humanitarian assistance, as well as $288 million over three years for the Rohingya crisis. (source)
  • Accelerate and complete the purchase of shares of the African Development Bank by five years to help with the impact of the pandemic. (source)

International trade

  • Review the Investment Canada Act governing economic security threats from foreign investments. (source)
  • Create a federal hub so businesses can benefit from trade agreements. (source, PBO analysis)
  • Pursue bilateral trade agreements with Asia-Pacific nations. (source)
  • Ensure Canadian firms do not use or benefit from forced labour. (source)

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