Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland introduced Budget 2024 Tuesday afternoon with Canadian corporations paying more tax and people who earn more than $250,000 in capital gains will also be paying more.Those earning more than $250,000 will now have to pay taxes from one-half to two-thirds. The government estimates that will involve 0.13% of the population.The capital gains tax increase will all affect companies and trusts, expected to impact approximately 12% of Canada's corporations and Canadians with an average income of $1.42 million.The change comes into effect on June 25.The Liberal government says the changes will impact around 40,000 individuals and 307,000 companies.The increase in the capital gains tax inclusion rate will further exacerbate Canada’s productivity lag, said the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI) in response to the publication of the federal budget this afternoon.“Canada’s productivity is in crisis and the best way to get it back up is to attract new investments,” said Renaud Brossard, Vice-President of Communications at the MEI.“And few are those who have been able to lure investments and job creators with promises of higher taxes.“With this budget, the Trudeau government is shooting us in the foot.”That’s because it adds $52.9 billion in new spending with a forecast shortfall of $39.8 billion for the year. Deficits are projected to fall gradually to $20 billion by 2028-29.The MEI says high interest rates are contributing to this situation, with interest payments on the federal debt estimated to reach $54.1 billion dollars this year, up 14.6 per cent over last year.The budget includes previously announced cash for the CBC."CBC/Radio-Canada is key to our democracy. As Canada's national public broadcaster, CBC/Radio-Canada ensures people in all parts of Canada, including rural, remote, and Indigenous communities, have access to local and Canadian news and entertainment, in their preferred official language," says the budget."Like many media organizations, CBC/Radio-Canada has experienced declining advertising and subscription revenues that threaten its ability to fulfill its mandate of providing public television and radio programming."Budget 2024 proposes to provide $42 million in 2024-25 for CBC/Radio-Canada news and entertainment programming, in addition to the $1.3 billion it gets annual.The budget includes $23 billion in housing funding, comprised of $15 billion in loans and $8 billion in new spending.Also included are $1.8 billion for AI research, $5 billion for Indigenous loans and $93 billion in investment tax credits for clean energy initiatives.The government also added $8.1 billion over five years for defence and $73 billion over 20 years. Those numbers include money for frigates and money to ramp up production of ammunition.The government also allocated $2.4 billion in loans for Ukraine and another $1.6 billion over five years in military aid. Since the beginning of the conflict, Canada has committed more than $4 billioN in military aid for Ukraine, as part of over $14 billion in total support to Ukraine since February 2022.In her address Freeland said the bottom line is generational fairness.“Our renewed focus today is unlocking the door to the middle class for millions of younger Canadians. We’ll build more housing and help make life cost less,” she said. “We will drive our economy toward growth that lifts everyone up. Because that is what you have earned, and that is what you deserve. And that is what your parents and grandparents want for you, too.”
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland introduced Budget 2024 Tuesday afternoon with Canadian corporations paying more tax and people who earn more than $250,000 in capital gains will also be paying more.Those earning more than $250,000 will now have to pay taxes from one-half to two-thirds. The government estimates that will involve 0.13% of the population.The capital gains tax increase will all affect companies and trusts, expected to impact approximately 12% of Canada's corporations and Canadians with an average income of $1.42 million.The change comes into effect on June 25.The Liberal government says the changes will impact around 40,000 individuals and 307,000 companies.The increase in the capital gains tax inclusion rate will further exacerbate Canada’s productivity lag, said the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI) in response to the publication of the federal budget this afternoon.“Canada’s productivity is in crisis and the best way to get it back up is to attract new investments,” said Renaud Brossard, Vice-President of Communications at the MEI.“And few are those who have been able to lure investments and job creators with promises of higher taxes.“With this budget, the Trudeau government is shooting us in the foot.”That’s because it adds $52.9 billion in new spending with a forecast shortfall of $39.8 billion for the year. Deficits are projected to fall gradually to $20 billion by 2028-29.The MEI says high interest rates are contributing to this situation, with interest payments on the federal debt estimated to reach $54.1 billion dollars this year, up 14.6 per cent over last year.The budget includes previously announced cash for the CBC."CBC/Radio-Canada is key to our democracy. As Canada's national public broadcaster, CBC/Radio-Canada ensures people in all parts of Canada, including rural, remote, and Indigenous communities, have access to local and Canadian news and entertainment, in their preferred official language," says the budget."Like many media organizations, CBC/Radio-Canada has experienced declining advertising and subscription revenues that threaten its ability to fulfill its mandate of providing public television and radio programming."Budget 2024 proposes to provide $42 million in 2024-25 for CBC/Radio-Canada news and entertainment programming, in addition to the $1.3 billion it gets annual.The budget includes $23 billion in housing funding, comprised of $15 billion in loans and $8 billion in new spending.Also included are $1.8 billion for AI research, $5 billion for Indigenous loans and $93 billion in investment tax credits for clean energy initiatives.The government also added $8.1 billion over five years for defence and $73 billion over 20 years. Those numbers include money for frigates and money to ramp up production of ammunition.The government also allocated $2.4 billion in loans for Ukraine and another $1.6 billion over five years in military aid. Since the beginning of the conflict, Canada has committed more than $4 billioN in military aid for Ukraine, as part of over $14 billion in total support to Ukraine since February 2022.In her address Freeland said the bottom line is generational fairness.“Our renewed focus today is unlocking the door to the middle class for millions of younger Canadians. We’ll build more housing and help make life cost less,” she said. “We will drive our economy toward growth that lifts everyone up. Because that is what you have earned, and that is what you deserve. And that is what your parents and grandparents want for you, too.”
