In a big news day for Canada’s Department of Finance, the former minister, Chrystia Freeland has abruptly tendered her resignation from cabinet, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has appointed a new Finance Minister and the 2024 Fall Economic Statement has been released.
After only hours in the role as Finance Minister, former public safety minister Dominic LeBlanc was tagged in by Trudeau to take on the role.
LeBlanc will fill the shoes of Freeland who had been in Trudeau’s cabinet for over nine years.
Freeland says she resigned because she cannot, in full confidence, support her government’s spending decisions amid a looming “tariff war” with the United States.
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Despite US President-elect Donald Trump’s threat of a 25% across-the-board tariff hike, the Government of Canada has highlighted several positive aspects of the economic state of this country.
According to the Department of Finance, this statement provides updates on investments made to help Canadians and stabilize the economic state of the country.
Trudeau and the current government have been constantly under fire from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre regarding the Carbon Tax and the country’s deficit.
However, according to the Fall Economic Statement, Canada’s debt-to-GDP ratio is projected to decline every year going forward, from 41.9% in 2024-25, to 38.6% in 2029-30.
The Department of Finance says this will keep the deficit under 1% of the GDP in 2026-27 and future years.
In terms of jobs, the federal government is celebrating having more Canadians employed this year than before the pandemic.
The Fall Economic Statement says that over the past 12 months, an average of over 27,000 jobs per month have been created. This pace of job creation is an improvement from the 22,000 average monthly gain in 2019.
Additionally, the statement says that the Canadian economy is now 7.3% larger than it was before COVID first hit, with over 1.4 million more Canadians being employed today in comparison to pre-pandemic.
The 2024 Fall Economic Statement has been broken down into several aspects that the country is actively trying to improve upon, economically speaking.
Some highlights of the statement that may help those living on Vancouver Island are:
- Reducing costs to Canadians by:
- The current tax-break for Canadians on some items and services GST/HST
- The $10-a-day childcare program will be opening 250,000 new spaces by 2026
- Additional carbon rebate top-ups for rural Canadians, who will receive up to 20% more than urban residents
- Create tools to help Canadians make budgets, manage expenses and save
- Create more no-cost or low-cost bank accounts with 13 of Canada’s financial institutions
- Working toward automatic tax-filing being a reality to help the nearly 20 per cent of Canadians with an income below $20,000 who do not file a tax return
- Improving the Canadian Pension Plan to provide seniors more money
- Exempting those taking Canadian Disability Benefit payments from having those payments taxes
- Helping Canadians buy a home by:
- Investing in building more homes, and reducing barriers to building
- Lowering down payments and mortgage payments by expanding 30-year mortgages
- Allowing larger loans for those seeking to build a second suite on their property
- Supporting jobs and the economy:
- Investing in artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives
- Introducing a Bill that would require the government to help small and medium-sized businesses in their procurement
- Providing more money to scientific endeavours
- Investing $1.3 billion in initiatives that would better protect Canada’s border
- Introducing tariffs to combat “unfair Chinese trade practices”
- Restricting trade with countries that harm Canada, by restricting the importation or exportation of items in response to actions of another country
- Creating a safer Canada by:
- Investing in anti-assault weapon plans
- Protecting women’s reproductive health by perpetually investing money into the Sexual and Reproductive Health Fund as well as supporting women’s organizations
- Establishing a Black Justice Strategy to reduce discrimination and racism, as well as supporting Black entrepreneurs and community organizations
For more on what the Fall Economic Statement entails, click here.
To conclude the 2024 Fall Economic Statement, the government said they will continue to leverage Canada’s economic advantages to protect Canadian jobs, businesses and the economy from threats to the country’s national interest and economic security.
