Archived - Minister Oliver Welcomes Royal Assent of Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 2

December 17, 2014 – Ottawa, Ontario – Department of Finance

Finance Minister Joe Oliver today welcomed the Royal Assent of Bill C-43, Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 2.

Elements of the Act include:

• Supporting job creation and growing Canada’s economy by introducing the new Small Business Job Credit
• Making the tax system simpler and fairer for farming and fishing businesses
• Introducing new reporting standards to meet Canada’s 2013 Group of Eight (G-8) commitment to increase transparency for entities operating in the extractive sector
• Continuing to ensure that Canadian businesses and investors have the market access they need to succeed in the global economy

• Doubling the Children’s Fitness Tax Credit to $1,000 and making it refundable
• Ending “pay-to-pay” billing practices by telecommunications service providers whereby subscribers are charged to receive bills in paper form, fulfilling a commitment in the 2013 Speech from the Throne
• Reducing the administrative burden on charities by allowing them to use modern electronic tools to raise funds
• Creating a national DNA-based Missing Persons Index to assist law enforcement in investigations and help bring closure to the families of missing persons through DNA matching

• Eliminating graduated rate taxation for trusts and certain estates
• Protecting the tax base by preventing the shifting of certain Canadian source income to no- or low-tax jurisdictions
• Adjusting the policy that encourages the exchange of tax information
• Adding new conditions for qualifying under the regulated foreign financial institution tax rules

• Since the Government introduced the Economic Action Plan to respond to the global recession, Canada has recovered both more than all of the output and all of the jobs lost during the recession.
• Both the International Monetary Fund and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development expect Canada to be among the strongest growing economies in the G-7 over this year and next.
• Real gross domestic product is significantly above pre-recession levels—the best performance in the G-7.
• According to KPMG, total business tax costs in Canada are the lowest in the G-7 and 46% lower than those in the United States.

• Background Document: Bill C-43 – Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 2.

• Bill C-43: A second Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on February 11, 2014 and other measures
• Economic Action Plan 2014

Nicholas Bergamini
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Finance
613-369-5696

Stéphanie Rubec
Media Relations
Department of Finance
613-369-4000