Extending emergency supports and initiatives to get businesses hiring post COVID-19 will be among the key highlights of the federal budget on Monday.
Posted Apr 19, 2021, 05:28AM EDT
Extending emergency supports and initiatives to get businesses hiring post COVID-19 will be among the key highlights of the federal budget on Monday.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will present the document in the House of Commons, more than two years after the Liberals’ last such spending plan was unveiled.
While the Liberals have portrayed the budget as their vision for shaping Canada’s economy for a post-pandemic world, they are also facing pressure to better support people and businesses now struggling with the third wave of COVID-19.
Sources confirm to CityNews Parliament Hill reporter Cormac Mac Sweeney that a national child care plan will be the centerpiece of the budget. While the plan still requires additional work with the provinces, the expectation is it could be up and running within two years.
With much of the country suffering through a third wave of COVID-19, the Trudeau government is expected to extend main emergency supports until the fall while also introducing a new hiring program that will incentivize businesses to hire as the economy emerges from the ravages of the pandemic.
There will also be programs targeting supports for marginalized Canadians, women and young people who have been hardest hit with job losses throughout the pandemic.
According to a report from Reuters, the budget will also include a sales tax for online platforms and e-commerce warehouses, a digital services tax for Web giants, and a tax on vacant residential property owned by non-resident, non-Canadian owners. While there is also expected to be a luxury tax on items such as new cars, private aircraft and yachts, the budget is not expected to include a so-called wealth tax.
The one thing the budget will not do is provide a date for when the federal books will be back in the black. The deficit is expected to come in around $400 billion after the fall economic statement pegged it at $381.6 billion.
Opposition parties have spent the past few weeks laying out their demands and will be watching to see whether the government has responded before deciding whether to support the budget or not.
The Liberals need at least one party to support the budget to prevent a snap election, which opinion polls suggest most Canadians do not want at the moment.
