By Maria Cheng
OTTAWA, Nov 5 (Reuters) –
The Canadian government released its proposed budget on Thursday, the second by Prime Minister Mark Carney. Here are some of its key measures:
INVESTMENTS
The government is proposing to spend C$142.1 billion ($101.69 billion) in the next five years, including C$51.9 billion on efforts to attract capital and boost innovation, C$15.1 billion for infrastructure, C$30.6 billion in affordability measures, and C$34.6 billion for Canadian parks, natural resources and reconciliation efforts with Indigenous peoples.
INCREASED DEFENSE SPENDING
The government will spend C$2.3 billion over five years, beginning in 2027, on a drone initiative announced in July. Canada is also spending C$7.6 billion over the next five years to extend its biggest overseas deployment in Europe “to deter Russian aggression on NATO’s Eastern flank.”
IMMIGRATION LEVELS
The new plan sets targets of 380,000 permanent resident admissions a year from 2027 to 2029, in line with what the government announced last year. The plan also sets a target of 370,000 temporary resident arrivals for each of the next three years, the same target it set last year for 2027 and 2028.
HOUSING
Canada will allow private lenders to offer mortgages on three- and four-unit homes starting in February and plans to introduce national anti-fraud legislation by next summer.
The government will spend C$11 billion on social housing to address homelessness, which has been high since the pandemic.
STRENGTHENING FINANCIAL OVERSIGHT
Canada will improve data sharing between its financial regulators to strengthen consumer safeguards and stop scammers.
The government will also expand authorities’ ability to obtain information from regulated entities and extend its anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing registration efforts, including to dealers in precious metals and stones.
AFFORDABILITY MEASURES
Canada will provide a new tax rebate for 12 million low-income Canadians to partially offset high grocery prices. The government will also provide C$610.3 million over four years for a program in the north to lower the cost of imported foods and support local food harvesting in remote communities.
CLIMATE
Canada will allocate C$400 million over seven years to speed the adoption of energy-saving technologies at industrial and manufacturing facilities.
It will also help more than 800,000 households obtain an electric heat pump and install up to 55,000 electric vehicle charging stations.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
The government will create about 90,000 AI-related jobs for young Canadians in the next five years. It will also invest in projects such as Xanadu Quantum Technologies and Cohere.
CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
Canada will spend more than C$50 billion on doubling the country’s electricity supply by 2050. It is also working to double the size of Canada’s nuclear workforce and has earmarked C$2.3 billion for a critical minerals strategy designed to promote domestic production and processing.
($1 = 1.3984 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting by Maria Cheng and David Ljunggren; Editing by Caroline Stauffer and Rod Nickel)
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