Minister Gould highlights Budget 2022 investments in Job Growth and Cutting Taxes for Canada's Growing Small Businesses

MILTON, ON, April 12, 2022 /CNW/ - Through Budget 2022: A Plan to Grow Our Economy and Make Life More Affordable, the Government of Canada makes targeted and responsible investments to create good jobs, grow our economy, and build a Canada where nobody gets left behind.

Today, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development Karina Gould, met with business owners to discuss how cutting taxes for small businesses will help them grow, hire more workers and make life more affordable

Canada's economy has recovered 112 percent of the jobs lost at the outset of the pandemic. Canada entered the pandemic with the lowest net debt-to-GDP ratio of all G7 countries—an advantage that has since increased relative to other countries. Canada has seen the best jobs recovery in the G7, and as of March 2022, has recovered 115 per cent of the jobs lost at the height of the pandemic, with an unemployment rate that sits at just 5.3 per cent—the lowest rate on record since 1976.

Despite our unemployment rate hitting near-record lows, some businesses are still struggling to find workers. A strong and prosperous economy requires a diverse, talented, and constantly growing workforce.

Budget 2022 is putting in place important measures that will meet the needs of our workers, our businesses, and the Canadian economy so that it can keep growing stronger for years to come. These measures include steps to build more resilient supply chains, and to cut taxes for Canada's growing small businesses. They will also create new, good-paying jobs for Canadians; help more people join the middle class; and set Canada up to be an economic leader for decades to come.

With Budget 2022, Canada will maintain this leading position, and maintain its fiscally responsible approach to economic growth and to building an economy that works for everyone. Crucially, it upholds the government's fiscal anchor—a declining debt-to-GDP ratio and the unwinding of COVID-19-related deficits, which will ensure that Canada's finances, remain sustainable in the long-term.

Quotes

 "Budget 2022 is about growing our economy, creating good jobs, and building a Canada where nobody gets left behind. Our plan is responsible and considered, and it is going to mean more homes and good-paying jobs for Canadians; cleaner air and cleaner water for our children; and a stronger and more resilient economy for years to come".
– Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Chrystia Freeland

"Cutting taxes for growing small businesses and removing barriers to find meaningful and well-paid work will make life more affordable for Canadians, and ensure Canada continues to be a prosperous and supportive place to live, work and raise a family".
 – Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Karina Gould

Quick Facts

• Budget 2022 proposes to introduce a Labour Mobility Deduction, which would provide tax recognition on up to $4,000 per year in eligible travel and temporary relocation expenses to eligible tradespersons and apprentices. This measure would apply to the 2022 and subsequent taxation years.
• Budget 2022 proposes to provide $84.2 million over four years to double funding for the Union Training and Innovation Program, which would each year help 3,500 apprentices from underrepresented groups—including women, newcomers, persons with disabilities, Indigenous peoples, and Black and racialized Canadians—begin and succeed in careers in the skilled trades through mentorship, career services, and job-matching.
• Budget 2022 proposes to phase out access to the small business tax rate more gradually, with access to be fully phased out when taxable capital reaches $50 million, rather than at $15 million.
• The Budget 2022 tax cut for small businesses would apply to taxation years that begin on or after April 7, 2022.

Further significant measures in Budget 2022 include:

• $5.3 billion over five years to provide dental care for Canadians with family incomes of less than $90,000 annually, starting with under 12 years-olds in 2022, expanding to under 18 years-olds, seniors, and persons living with a disability in 2023, and with full implementation by 2025. The program would be restricted to families with an income of less than $90,000 annually, with no co-pays for those under $70,000 annually in income;
• Up to $3.8 billion to implement Canada's first Critical Minerals Strategy;
• $11 billion in additional funding to continue to support Indigenous children and their families, and help Indigenous communities continue to grow and shape their futures;
• More than $8 billion in new funding to better equip the Canadian Armed Forces, strengthen Canada's contributions to our core alliances like NATO and NORAD, and reinforce Canada's cyber security;
• Further support for Ukraine and its people in the face of Russia's illegal invasion, including up to $1 billion in new loan resources to the Ukrainian government through a new Administered Account for Ukraine at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and an additional $500 million in military aid;
• A temporary Canada Recovery Dividend, representing a one-time 15 per cent tax on  the 2021 taxable income above $1 billion of Canada's largest banking and life insurers' groups, to help support Canada's broader recovery; and
• A permanent 1.5 percentage point increase in the corporate income tax rate of banking and life insurance groups on taxable income above $100 million.

Associated Links

• Budget 2022: A Plan to Grow Our Economy and Make Life More Affordable
• Budget 2022: Speech
• Budget 2022: Creating Good Middle Class Jobs Backgrounder
• Budget 2022: Tax Fairness Backgrounder

SOURCE Employment and Social Development Canada

For media enquiries, please contact: Mohammad Hussain, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Karina Gould, [email protected]; Media Relations, Department of Finance Canada, [email protected], 613-369-4000