Minister Morneau in Halifax to Talk Affordability and Progress for the Middle Class

News release

August 13, 2019 – Halifax, Nova Scotia – Department of Finance Canada

In 2015, Canadians chose a plan for the economy that would invest in the middle class and offer help to people working hard to join it. This plan is working—delivering results and putting more money in the pockets of hard-working Canadians while at the same time helping to create more than a million new jobs.

Today, Finance Minister Bill Morneau was in the Halifax area, where he visited campers at the Cheema Aquatic Club Day Camp and Sackawa Canoe Club. These programs, and others like them, are some of the many ways parents are using their Canada Child Benefit — a tax-free benefit that helps about 3.4 million families with the high cost of raising their children.

While in the region, Minister Morneau also visited Kinsmen First Lake Beach to speak with local families and hear their concerns, highlighting what the Government has done to make life more affordable — including cutting taxes for the middle class and creating new benefits for seniors, students and low-income workers.

Quotes

“Canada’s economy is doing well, with more than a million new jobs created since late 2015, including more than 14,000 new jobs here in Nova Scotia. But there is more work to do. The people I speak with are still concerned about the cost of living, of getting an education, and of doing business, and that’s why our government will continue to invest in Canadians — so that more people can look to the future with confidence.”

Bill Morneau, Minister of Finance

Quick facts

  • To support businesses in the region, Budget 2019 invested up to $24.9 million in the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.

  • Budget 2019 also invested $6.3 million to create and expand tourism-related infrastructure and experiences in Nova Scotia and other Atlantic provinces.

  • Canada is expected to be the second-fastest growing G7 economy in 2019, and to tie for fastest in 2020.

  • Over a million jobs have been created since November 2015 — the majority of them full-time positions.

  • About 17,000 Halifax parents received more than $6,100 on average from the Canada Child Benefit in the 2017-18 benefit year.

  • To support seniors, the Government increased the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) top-up benefit for single seniors by up to $947 in 2016.  Combined with quarterly indexation of Old Age Security (OAS) and GIS benefits, this means that benefits for the most vulnerable single seniors will have increased by up to $2,000 between 2015 and 2019. Additionally, the Government restored the age of eligibility for OAS and GIS to age 65.

  • Canada has achieved its targeted 20 per cent reduction of poverty three years ahead of schedule, lifting over 825,000 Canadians out of poverty compared to 2015 and causing the poverty rate to reach its lowest level on record.

  • The Government cut the small business tax rate to 10 per cent, effective January 2018, and as of January 1, 2019, further reduced it to 9 per cent.

  • Canadian families now have the lowest effective tax rate among G7 countries, with a typical family of four now keeping 85% of their income.

  • The First Time Home Buyer Incentive will make home ownership more affordable for as many as 100,000 Canadians. For example, a family that buys a $380,000 home will be able to reduce their monthly mortgage payments by $228 a month thanks to this new measure.

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Contacts

Media may contact:

Pierre-Olivier Herbert 
Director of Media Relations
Office of the Minister of Finance
pierre-olivier.herbert@canada.ca 
613-369-5696

Media Relations
Department of Finance Canada
fin.media-media.fin@canada.ca
613-369-4000

General Enquiries

Phone: 613-369-3710
Facsimile: 613-369-4065
TTY: 613-369-3230
E-mail: fin.financepublic-financepublique.fin@canada.ca

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