Minister Jordan highlight Budget 2021 investments to support small businesses, including Canada’s wine sector

April 29, 2021

Ottawa, Ontario - The Government of Canada is providing support where COVID has struck hardest – to women, to young people, to low-wage workers, and to small and medium-sized businesses, especially in tourism and hospitality. Budget 2021 is a plan to finish the fight against COVID-19 and ensure a robust economic recovery that is inclusive of all Canadians.

Today, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, the Honourable Bernadette Jordan, and Member of Parliament, Kody Blois, met with the Executive Director of Wine Growers Nova Scotia, Haley Brown, as well as Proprietor and Founder of L’Acadie Vineyards, Bruce Ewert, to discuss investments wineries from Budget 2021: A Recovery Plan for Jobs, Growth, and Resilience.

The growth of the Canadian wine sector over the last 15 years has been a success story of Canada’s agri-food sector. With over twenty vineyards and nearly 1000 acres of grapes planted in Nova Scotia, the sector has become an economic driver in the province's economy. It continues to provide growth opportunities for grape growers and tourism businesses.

Budget 2021 proposes to provide $101 million over two years, starting in 2022-23, from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, to implement a program for the wine sector that will support wineries in adapting to ongoing and emerging challenges, in line with Canada’s trade obligations.

For too long, trade barriers within our country have held back Canadian businesses from reaching the full force of the Canadian market. Removing barriers to trade between provinces and territories will help build a more prosperous economy—creating jobs, fueling business expansion, expanding consumer choice of Canadian goods and services, and helping regional economies grow.

Budget 2021 proposes to allocate $21 million over three years, starting in 2021-22, to:

• Work with provincial and territorial partners to enhance the capacity of the Internal Trade Secretariat that supports the Canadian Free Trade Agreement in order to accelerate the reduction of trade barriers within Canada.
• Advance work with willing partners towards creating a repository of open and accessible pan-Canadian internal trade data to identify barriers, including licensing and professional certification requirements, that we can work together to reduce them. Pursue internal trade objectives through new or renewed discretionary federal transfers to provinces and territories.

Budget 2021 is a plan to bridge Canadians and Canadian businesses through the crisis and towards a robust recovery. It proposes to extend business and income support measures through to the fall and to make investments to create jobs and help businesses across the economy come roaring back. It will support almost 500,000 new training and work opportunities including 215,000 opportunities for youth; support businesses in our most affected sectors such as tourism and arts and culture; and accelerate investment and digital transformation at small and medium-sized businesses. Budget 2021 is a plan that puts Canada on track to meet its commitment to create 1 million jobs by the end of the year.

Canada entered the pandemic in a strong fiscal position. This allowed the government to take quick and decisive action, supporting people and businesses, and put it in the position to make historic investments in the recovery.