Minister Marci Ien highlights Budget 2023 investments that advance reconciliation and support businesses

HAMILTON, ON, April 14, 2023 /CNW/ - Today the Honourable Marci Ien, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth, was in Hamilton, Ontario to meet with staff of the Hamilton Regional Indian Centre to highlight Budget 2023 investments that advance reconciliation. She also met with staff at the Aeon Studio Group to highlight supports for businesses.

Canada has made a remarkable recovery from the COVID recession. Canada's economic growth was the strongest in the G7 over the last year, and today, 830,000 more Canadians are employed than before the pandemic, including 361,600 in Ontario. Inflation in Canada has fallen for eight months in a row, our unemployment rate is near its record low, and, supported by our Canada-wide system of affordable early learning and child care, the labour force participation rate for women aged 25 to 54 reached at a record high of 85.7 per cent in February.

Budget 2023 builds on this important progress.

To make life more affordable, Budget 2023 delivers the new Grocery Rebate, offering targeted inflation relief for 11 million Canadians and families who need it most with up to an additional $467 for eligible couples with children; an additional $234 for single Canadians without children; and an additional $225 for seniors, on average. The Government is also taking action to crack down on junk fees and predatory lending, lower credit card transaction fees for small businesses, and help Canadians keep more money in their pockets.

To strengthen Canada's universal public health care system, the Budget delivers $198.3 billion, including $77 billion in Ontario to reduce backlogs, expand access to family health services, and ensure provinces and territories can provide the high quality and timely health care Canadians expect and deserve. Budget 2023 also introduces a new Canadian Dental Care Plan, to help up to nine million Canadians and ensure no Canadian has to choose between taking care of their health and paying the bills at the end of the month.

To build Canada's clean economy, the budget makes transformative investments to fight climate change and create new opportunities for Canadian businesses and workers. This includes significant measures that will deliver cleaner and more affordable energy, support investment in our communities, and create good-paying jobs.

With a responsible fiscal plan that will see Canada maintain the lowest deficit and the lowest net debt-to-GDP ratio in the G7, Budget 2023 will help to build a Canada that is more secure, more sustainable, and more affordable for people from coast to coast to coast.

Quotes

"The investments in Budget 2023, like the investments that advance reconciliation increase economic opportunities and support strong healthy Indigenous communities with forward looking, Indigenous-led solutions."

The Honourable Marci Ien, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth

Related Products

• Budget 2023: A Made-in-Canada Plan: Strong Middle Class, Affordable Economy, Healthy Future
• Budget 2023: Address by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance
• Backgrounder: Stronger Public Health Care
• Backgrounder: Making Life More Affordable
• Backgrounder: An Affordable Place to Call Home
• Backgrounder: A Made-in-Canada Plan: Affordable Energy, Good Jobs, and a Growing Clean Economy
• Backgrounder: Advancing Reconciliation 
• Backgrounder: Stronger and More Inclusive Communities
• Backgrounder: Improving Service Delivery 

SOURCE Women and Gender Equality Canada

Media may contact: Johise Namwira, Press Secretary and Issues Manager, Office of the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth, 873-353-0985, [email protected]; Media Relations, Women and Gender Equality Canada, 819-420-6530, [email protected]