Archived - Harper Government Creating Jobs & Growth While Returning to Balanced Budgets With Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1
March 28, 2014 – Ottawa, Ontario – Department of Finance
Finance Minister Joe Oliver today welcomed the introduction of the Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1. The Act proposes to legislate key elements of Economic Action Plan 2014, which commits to a return to balanced budgets in 2015. These elements include measures to help connect Canadians with available jobs and foster job creation; support families and communities; and invest in infrastructure, trade and responsible resource development.
Highlights of the Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1 include:
- Investing $11 million over two years and $3.5 million per year ongoing to strengthen the Labour Market Opinion process, to ensure Canadians are given the first chance at available jobs.
- Providing $14 million over two years and $4.7 million per year ongoing towards the successful implementation of an Expression of Interest economic immigration system, to support Canada’s labour market needs.
- Providing apprentices registered in the Red Seal trades with access to interest-free loans of up to $4,000 per period of technical training.
- Cutting red tape on more than 50,000 employers by reducing the maximum number of required payments on account of source deductions.
- Encouraging competition and lower prices in the telecommunications market by capping wholesale domestic wireless roaming rates, to prevent wireless providers from charging other companies who may be their competitors more than they charge their own customers for mobile voice, data and text services.
- Introducing a Search and Rescue Volunteers Tax Credit for search and rescue volunteers who perform at least 200 hours of service in a year.
- Increasing the maximum amount of the Adoption Expense Tax Credit to $15,000 to help make adoption more affordable for Canadian families.
- Exempting acupuncturists’ and naturopathic doctors’ professional services from the Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized Sales Tax.
- Expanding the list of eligible expenses under the Medical Expense Tax Credit to include costs associated with service animals that are specially trained to assist individuals with severe diabetes, such as diabetes alert dogs, as well as amounts paid for the design of an eligible individualized therapy plan.
- Enhancing access to Employment Insurance sickness benefits for claimants who receive Parents of Critically Ill Children and Compassionate Care benefits.
- Reducing barriers to the international and domestic flow of goods and services.
- Supporting mineral exploration by junior companies by extending the 15-per-cent Mineral Exploration Tax Credit for flow-through share investors for an additional year.
- Eliminating tariffs on mobile offshore drilling units used in offshore oil and gas exploration and development.
- Doubling to 10 years, for income tax purposes, the carry-forward period for donations of ecologically sensitive land to conservation charities.
- Advancing the construction and operation of a new bridge over the St. Lawrence by ensuring that authorities required for the implementation of the project are in place.
- Since the Government first introduced its Economic Action Plan to respond to the global recession, Canada has recovered more than all of the output and all of the jobs lost during the recession.
- Since July 2009, employment has increased by over 1 million and is over 600,000 above its pre-recession peak—the strongest job growth among Group of Seven (G-7) countries over the recovery.
- Almost 90 per cent of all jobs created since July 2009 are full-time positions, close to 85 per cent are in the private sector and over two-thirds are in high-wage industries.
- Real gross domestic product is significantly above pre-recession levels—the best performance in the G-7.
- Background Document: Bill C-31 – Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No.1
Melissa Lantsman
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister of Finance
613-996-7861
Jack Aubry
Media Relations
Department of Finance
613-996-8080
