MP Sahota highlights budget investments to make life more affordable, strengthen public health care & build Canada’s clean economy
The Voice of Canada News:
Last week, Canada’s Federal Liberal Government tabled the budget for 2023. This budget advances support to strengthen Canada’s universal healthcare system, boosts our immigration system, creates good clean jobs, and assists Canadians through inflation relief measures.
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 – 361,600 right here 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.
Affordability for Canadians
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. However, this
is not the sole measure our government is putting in place to offset the high cost of living for Canadians. We recognize Canadians are struggling due to global inflation which is why we have already implemented the following inflation relief measures, in addition to the grocery rebate:
• Doubling the GST Credit for six months providing relief to 4.2 million Canadians, up to $234 for a single person and up to $467 for a couple with two children.
• Enhancing the Canada Workers Benefit for 1.2 million Canadians providing up to $1428 for a single person and $2,461 for a family
• Increasing Old Age Security by 10% for approx., 1.2 million seniors providing over $800 for full pensioners in the first year
• Implementing Canada-wide Early Learning & child care program for parents of children under 6, providing annual savings up to $11,300 for families in Brampton North.
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.
Strengthening Public Health Care System
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.
Building Canada’s Clean Economy
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.
Making Life Affordable for Students
Budget 2023 proposes to provide enhanced student financial assistance in the 2023 school year, including a 40 per cent increase to the Canada Student Grants – providing full-time students with up to $4,200 – and an increase in the interest-free Canada Student Loan limit from $210 to $300 per week. The requirement for mature students aged 22 or older to undergo credit screening in order to access student grants and loans would also be waived for the coming year.
In Ontario, approximately 464,000 post-secondary students with financial need would be eligible to receive up to $14,400 in the 2023 school year (August 1, 2023 – July 31, 2024) as a result of this enhanced support, in addition to support from the Government of Ontario.
Growing our Labour Force & Improving Immigration Processes
By 2025, Canada will welcome 500,000 new permanent residents each year—the majority of whom will be skilled workers. In 2022, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
(IRCC) processed 5.2 million applications – double the amount from 2021. Our Federal Liberal Government understands the importance of immigration to the Canadian economy. That’s why we’re investing another $10 million into IRCC over the next five years. Our budget also proposes funding to implement biometrics for citizenship applications which will lead to accelerated processing times.
Budget 2023 also proposes to provide $43.5 million in 2023-24 to Justice Canada to maintain federal support for immigration and refugee legal aid services.
“It is a challenging time in a challenging world, but there is no better place to be than Canada. With this new budget, we are proactively building on the progress our government has already made. Budget 2023 is our plan to make life more affordable, strengthen public health care, and build a stronger, more sustainable, and more secure Canadian economy—for everyone.”-Ruby Sahota, Member of Parliament for Brampton North
