April 28, 2022

On April 7, Minister of Finance, the Hon. Chrystia Freeland presented the Federal Budget for 2022, which repeats the promise of a “Full and Fair Compensation for Supply Managed Sectors.” The budget states that more details should be announced at the fall 2022 economic budget update for full and fair compensation for CUSMA impacts.

Budget Highlights:

Full and Fair compensation for supply managed sectors

  • Working with sector representatives, the government will announce full and fair compensation for the supply managed sector related to the new NAFTA in the 2022 fall economic and fiscal update.

Agriculture and Agri-Food

  • Renewing the Canadian Agricultural Partnership: Federal, provincial, and territorial governments will work together over the coming year to renew the programs under the next agricultural policy framework that begins in 2023.
  • Funding for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to support the creation of a $120 million AgriRecovery response initiative to help agricultural producers recover from flood damages in British Columbia.
  • Creation of a National School Food Policy. The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development will work with provinces, territories, municipalities, Indigenous partners, and stakeholders to develop the policy and to explore increased access to school food programs.

Transport/Supply Chain

  • To address supply chain issues, Budget 2022 proposes to provide $603.2 million over five years, starting in 2022-23, to Transport Canada, including: 
    • $450 million over five years, starting in 2022-23, to support supply chain projects through the National Trade Corridors Fund, which will help ease the movement of goods across Canada’s transportation networks.
    • $136.3 million over five years, starting in 2022-23, to develop industry-driven solutions to use data to make our supply chains more efficient, building on the success of initiatives like the West Coast Supply Chain Visibility Program.
    • $16.9 million over five years, starting in 2022-23, to continue making Canada’s supply chains more competitive by cutting needless red tape, including working to ensure that regulations across various modes of cargo transportation (e.g., ship, rail) work effectively together.

Trade

  • Announcement that the government intends to introduce amendments to the Special Import Measures Act and the Canadian International Trade Tribunal Act to strengthen Canada’s trade remedy system by better ensuring unfairly traded goods are subject to duties, and increasing the participation of workers.
  • $4.7 million over five years, starting in 2022-23, and $1.1 million ongoing, to the Canada Border Services Agency to create a Trade Remedy Counselling Unit that will assist companies, with a focus on small and medium-sized enterprises.
  • Proposal to introduce amendments to the Customs Act to implement electronic payments and clarify importer responsibility for duties and taxes.

Programs for workers

  • Expanding the Canada Workers Benefit to support an estimated one million additional Canadians, which could mean $1,000 more per year for a full-time, minimum-wage worker.
  • More than $3 billion over three years for close to 500,000 new job and training opportunities, including by helping mid-career workers transition to in-demand jobs, and helping young Canadians gain valuable work experience.
  • Introducing a $15 per hour federal minimum wage and legislating 10 days of paid sick leave to improve the working conditions for the nearly one million workers in the federally-regulated private sector. Increasing the length of Employment Insurance sickness benefits from 15 to 26 weeks, as of summer 2022.
  • Amendments to Part II of the Employment Insurance Act, providing employers with direct support to re-train their workers.
  • Building on announcements earlier this week on the Temporary Foreign Worker program, the Budget includes: 
    • Up to $48.2 million over three years to implement a new foreign labour program for agriculture and fish processing.
    • $29.3 million over three years for a Trusted Employer Model that reduces red tape for repeat employers who meet the highest standards for working and living conditions, protections, and wages in high-demand fields. Further details on this program to be announced.
    • $64.6 million over three years to increase capacity to process employer applications within established service standards. 

Business 

  • In response to recent developments and emerging opportunities in the global economy, the government will act to improve business investment in innovation and technology and help Canadian businesses to grow and strengthen Canada’s critical supply chains, and its ability to produce strategic commodities.
    • 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.
    • Create the Employee Ownership Trust—a new, dedicated type of trust under the Income Tax Act to support employee ownership.
    • Investments in the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) to address cyber threats, including $875.2 million over five years (beginning in 2022-23), and $238.2 million ongoing for additional measures.
  • Renewed funding for the Innovation Clusters program, focusing on climate change and addressing supply chain disruptions. Funding includes $750 million over six years, starting in 2022-23.
  • Creation of the Canadian Innovation and Investment Agency – will proactively work with new and established Canadian industries and businesses to help them make the investments they need to innovate, grow, create jobs, and be competitive in the changing global economy.
    • An operationally independent federal innovation and investment agency. $1 billion over five years, starting in 2022-23, to support its initial operations; final details on the operating budget will be determined following consultation later this year.
  • $1.5 billion for regional development agencies to support the country’s economic recovery through programs like the Jobs and Growth Fund and the Canada Community Revitalization Fund.

Sustainability

  • Up to $30 million over two years, starting in 2022-23, to Environment and Climate Change Canada to administer direct payments to support emission-intensive, trade-exposed small and medium-sized enterprises in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario where federal pollution pricing systems are in effect.
  • The Department of Finance Canada will begin work on an investment tax credit of up to 30%, focused on net-zero technologies, battery storage solutions, and clean hydrogen.
  • Development of a new agency in support net-zero commitments: 
    • The Canada Growth Fund: $15 billion government investment fund aimed at accelerating private capital investment in decarbonization and clean technology projects and promoting the diversification of Canada’s economy
  • Budget 2022 included investments in on-farm sustainability, including:
    • An additional $329.4 million over six years, starting in 2022-23 to triple the size of the Agricultural Clean Technology Program.
    • $469.5 million over six years starting in 2022-23, to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to expand the Agricultural Climate Solutions program’s On-Farm Climate Action Fund.
    • $150 million for a resilient agricultural landscape program to support carbon sequestration, adaptation, and address other environmental co-benefits, to be discussed with provinces and territories.
    • $100 million over six years, starting in 2022-23, to the federal granting councils to support post-secondary research in developing technologies and crop varieties that will allow for net-zero emission agriculture.