Thanks to all who came out to protect our environment
It was heartening to see so many residents come together in April to pick up garbage, clean up our neighbourhoods, and learn more about how we can protect our environment. Every day is an opportunity to protect our planet, and I want to thank all the organizers, volunteers and community members who made this happen!
Federal Budget 2024
While the past few months have not been easy, there are encouraging signs in Canada’s economic outlook: inflation has steadily declined to 2.9% in March, and we are expecting interest rate cuts in the summer. This year’s federal budget remains focused on lowering the cost of living while also making life better for every generation. Please read some of the budget highlights below or find the full list of investments at budget.canada.ca/2024
More Affordable Homes
Every Canadian should have an opportunity to find an affordable place of their own. Our government is taking decisive action to meet this moment, with Budget 2024 laying out a bold but feasible plan to unlock 3.87 million new homes by 2031. This includes:
- Building at least 250,000 new homes on public lands by converting unused or underused office towers and parking lots and acquiring other public lands for housing.
- Converting underused federal offices into homes with $1.1 billion over 10 years to transform 50% of the federal office portfolio into housing.
- A New $6 billion Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund to help communities build the essential infrastructure needed to support more homes, and more vibrant and liveable neighbourhoods.
- Scaling up modular housing so that home construction can occur year-round, and a Housing Design Catalogue to speed up the approval and construction of new homes nationwide.
- Increasing the Home Buyers’ Plan from $35,000 to $60,000 to enable first-time home buyers to use the tax benefits of an RRSP to save up to $25,000 more for their down payment.
- Better aligning immigration with housing capacity to help balance housing demand with housing supply.
- Allowing renters to receive credit for paying rent, making it easier to qualify for a mortgage and possibly at a lower rate.
A Stronger Social Safety Net
From universal public health care to the Canada Child Benefit to robust pensions like the Canada Pension Plan, our country has benefited from having a strong social safety net that helps people get ahead. Budget 2024 will further strengthen this through investments in:
- A National School Food Program to provide $1 billion over five years to expand access to school food programs for over 400,000 children. The average participating family with two children will save up to $800 in grocery costs, with lower-income families saving the most.
- Low-cost loans and grants to help Ontario build more child care spaces and train more educators – saving families thousands of dollars and helping more parents return to their careers.
- Extending increased Canada Student Grants for 587,000 students and enhanced Canada Student Loans for 652,000 students in the upcoming academic year.
- Creating 90,000 youth jobs and employment opportunities by investing $351.2 million between Canada Summer Jobs and the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy Program.
- Providing free coverage for diabetes medications to around 3.7 million Canadians living with diabetes, as well as free contraceptives for over 9 million Canadians.
- Bolstering recent federal investments in health care, which currently total $77.52 billion in Ontario and $198.82 billion nationally.
Connect With Us
For help on any federal matter, please contact my team at Gary.Anand@parl.gc.ca or 416-283-1414.