Budget 2021: Minister Fortier highlights Budget 2021 investments on Montreal’s South Shore

News release

April 27, 2021 - Ottawa, Ontario - Department of Finance Canada

Today, Minister of Middle Class Prosperity and Associate Minister of Finance, the Honourable Mona Fortier, continued her tour to discuss Budget 2021: A Recovery Plan for Jobs, Growth, and Resilience by meeting virtually with members of the Chambre de commerce et d'industrie de la Rive-Sud de Montréal.

Budget 2021 is an historic investment to address the specific wounds of the COVID-19 recession, put people first, create jobs, grow the middle class, set businesses on a track for long-term growth, and ensure that Canada’s future will be healthier, more equitable, greener, and more prosperous.

The pandemic has laid bare long-standing inequities in our economy. COVID-19 has affected all Canadians, but women have been disproportionately affected. Long-standing gender inequities have only been amplified over the course of the pandemic—and it has put decades of hard-fought gains for women in the workplace at risk. Today, more than 16,000 women have dropped out of the labour force completely, while the male labour force has grown by 91,000. This is a problem – and this is a she-cession.

To enable women’s participation in the workforce, the Government of Canada will look to the early learning and childcare model that has been successfully implemented by Quebec. This is the very best example of the economic power of an affordable, well-run early learning and child care system in the world. This province has among the highest labour force participation of women with children under three. The federal plan will look to build on this approach by aiming to reduce fees for parents with children in regulated child care by 50 per cent on average, by 2022, with a goal of reaching $10 per day on average by 2026, everywhere outside of Quebec. 

Quotes

“The Government of Canada’s plan for recovery and growth will ensure women across Canada are given the equal chance to fully participate in our economy.”

Minister of Middle Class Prosperity and Associate Minister of Finance, the Honourable Mona Fortier

Quick facts

  • Budget 2021 includes $101.4 billion over three years in proposed investments as part of the Government of Canada’s growth plan that will create good jobs and support a resilient and inclusive recovery. Key measures include:

    • Establishing a Canada-wide early learning and child care system, in partnership with provincial, territorial, and Indigenous partners, which will help all families access affordable, high-quality, and flexible child care no matter where they live, and no longer shoulder the burden of high child care costs. The budget proposes new investments totalling almost $30 billion over the next five years. Combined with previous investments, a minimum of $9.2 billion per year ongoing will be invested in child care, starting in 2025-26.
    • Investing $601.3 million over five years, starting in 2021-22, to advance towards a new National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence.
    • Enhancing support for Indigenous women’s and 2SLGBTQQIA+ organizations.
    • Investing $1.5 billion for the Rapid Housing Initiative to address the urgent housing needs of vulnerable Canadians by providing them with adequate affordable housing in short order. At least 25 per cent of this funding would go towards women-focused housing projects.
    • Providing $315.4 million through the Canada Housing Benefit, to increase direct financial assistance for low-income women and children fleeing violence to help with their rent payments.
    • Reallocating $250 million in funding to support the construction, repair, and operating costs of an estimated 560 units of transitional housing and shelter spaces for women and children fleeing violence.
    • Providing $45 million to fund community-based organizations that help make sexual and reproductive health care information and services more accessible for vulnerable populations.
    • Providing $20 million over five years, starting in 2021-22, to support a new National Institute for Women’s Health Research.

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Contacts

Media may contact:

Isabella Brisson
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Middle Class Prosperity and Associate Minister of Finance
isabella.brisson@canada.ca

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

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Phone: 1-833-712-2292
Facsimile: 613-369-4065
TTY: 613-369-3230
E-mail: fin.financepublic-financepublique.fin@canada.ca

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