Highlights from Freeland’s Fall Economic Statement

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland released a fall economic statement today that outlined a better-than-expected economic rebound, but also billions more in spending, including the response to the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

Here are some other measures outlined in the tax update.

Immigration arrears

The federal government plans to invest $ 85 million to overcome massive delays in processing immigration applications beginning in fiscal year 2022-23.

The government acknowledged that the pandemic drastically slowed down the pace of processing immigration applications and many resources were redirected to focus on bringing Afghans in crisis to Canada after the country fell to the Taliban.

Although Canada will meet its immigration target of 401,000 permanent residents this year, opposition parties have criticized the government for allowing the backlog of applications to rise to 1.8 million.

The government said immigration is increasing, and that the average monthly number of new permanent residents is reaching pre-pandemic levels.

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Resettlement of refugees from Afghanistan

The cost of resettling Afghan refugees in Canada is expected to be $ 1.3 billion over six years, starting in the current fiscal year, and $ 66.6 million in future years.

Last week, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said he hopes it will take two years to fulfill the government’s promise to bring 40,000 Afghan refugees to Canada.

Many of those people will be women, children, religious and ethnic minorities fleeing the Taliban, and people who supported Canada and its allies during their mission in Afghanistan.

The government has faced strong criticism for being slow to get people out of the country. As of December 8, only 5,485 Afghans had arrived in Canada.

MPs voted last week to establish a special committee to look at efforts to evacuate people from the country.

Natural disasters in British Columbia

Heavy rains that washed away major infrastructure in British Columbia earlier this year are also expected to put pressure on the government’s fiscal outlook. The province suffered floods, landslides, landslides, and rock slides.

The first estimates of the federal participation in the recovery of the province are placed in 5.000 million dollars. Those costs are covered by the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements, in addition to other costs related to the large number of natural disasters that have devastated the West Coast this year.

The disasters have also hampered Canada’s supply chains, particularly through the Port of Vancouver, and are expected to have significant economic impacts.

The government says the full economic cost of the floods will depend on how quickly trade links are reopened, what supply chains can be adapted, and whether the flow of goods can be diverted. Provincial and federal officials are working on Canada’s first National Adaptation Strategy, but it is unlikely to be completed before the end of next year.

Live Presentation Help

The government has promised new support for the live performance industry. The collection limits imposed by the government were a severe blow to an industry that relies entirely on crowds. The fund is expected to help the tens of thousands of workers who depend on live performances.

The industry’s recovery has been delayed in part due to the time it takes to fund, develop, and rehearse live performances, contradicting the ebbs and flows of public health restrictions over the past two years.

In response, the government has launched a $ 60 million temporary fund to be implemented in fiscal year 2022 to temporarily fund industry-led proposals that would improve the economic, professional and personal circumstances of workers in the performance sector.

Canadian Heritage will also receive an additional $ 2.3 million to manage the fund.

Carbon price discounts for small and medium-sized businesses

The government announced a new program to return a portion of the carbon pricing revenue to small and medium-sized enterprises to support the provinces without their own carbon pricing program.

Currently, rebates are sent to individual families in provinces that pay the federal carbon price, while small businesses can apply for some funds to help reduce their emissions.

The government expects to announce the details early next year, but has already earmarked $ 200 million for the program, which would benefit businesses in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario.

Tax credit for teachers

Teachers will soon be able to claim school supplies for home learning on their taxes and get even higher returns this fiscal year. The government has proposed increasing its refundable tax credit for teachers from 15 percent to 25 percent, up to $ 1,000.

The change would also ensure that teachers can reclaim the supplies, whether they are used in the classroom or for distance learning.

The list of eligible supplies will now include electronic devices such as graphing calculators, digital timers, and remote learning tools.

The expanded tax refund is expected to cost the government about $ 4 million in fiscal year 2021-2022 and $ 5 million each year thereafter.

This Canadian Press report was first published on December 14, 2021.