Minister Morneau Highlights Support for Families and Plan for Middle Class Progress

October 25, 2017 – Ottawa, Ontario – Department of Finance Canada

When you have an economy that works for the middle class and those working hard to join it, you have a country that works for everyone. The investments the Government has made in Canadians and their families, in our communities and in our economy are working. Canada now has the fastest growing economy in the G7 and among the best job growth in a decade, giving our Government the ability to reinvest the benefits of that growth back into the people who contributed most to that success.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau today met with mothers and their children at Youville Centre in Ottawa, a non-profit, registered charity that serves adolescent mothers and their children, to highlight what the Government is doing for Canada's middle class and those working hard to join it. Since coming into office, the Government has focused on transforming Canada's economy by investing in our people and putting more money in the pockets of those who need it most, giving them confidence in our economy and in their future, while creating more opportunities and good, well-paying jobs.

The Fall Economic Statement builds on this progress by proposing to:

• Strengthen the Canada Child Benefit (CCB) by making annual cost of living increases to the CCB starting in July 2018—two years ahead of schedule. For a single mother of two children making $35,000, a strengthened CCB will contribute $560 in the 2019–20 benefit year towards the cost of raising them. That means more money, tax-free, for books, skating lessons or warm clothes for winter. The added confidence the CCB brings to families has proven to have an immediate positive impact on economic growth.
• Put more money in the pockets of low-income workers—including young single workers just getting a foothold in the workforce—by further enhancing the Working Income Tax Benefit by an additional $500 million per year.
• Help small businesses invest, grow and create jobs by lowering the small business tax rate to 10 per cent, effective January 1, 2018, and to 9 per cent, effective January 1, 2019. This will provide a small business with up to $7,500 in federal corporate tax savings per year to reinvest in and grow their business.
• Make important changes to the tax system that will ensure Canada's low corporate tax rates go towards supporting businesses, not to providing unfair tax advantages to the top 1 per cent wealthiest Canadians.

The Fall Economic Statement also provides an update on how investing in the economy and the middle class is delivering real results for Canadians:

• Canada is the fastest growing economy in the G7—by a wide margin—growing at an average rate of 3.7 per cent over the last year, which is the fastest pace of growth since early 2006.
• Job creation is strong, with over 450,000 new jobs created in the last two years, and the unemployment rate at its lowest level since 2008. Youth unemployment is an all-time low.
• Growth is forecast to be 3.1 per cent in 2017—significantly above expectations at the beginning of the year. The fiscal outlook has improved by more than $6.5 billion annually on average from what was projected in Budget 2017 last March.

The Government's plan works to strengthen the middle class and ensure Canadians have the support, resources and confidence they need to succeed, create jobs and grow our economy. Canada's growing economy means a better bottom line for the Government. Canada's fiscal position remains strong, and the Government will keep Canada's debt-to-GDP (gross domestic product) ratio on a downward track—preserving Canada's sound fiscal position so that we can continue to invest in the people who contribute to our success.