Remarks by the Deputy Prime Minister on attracting investment to boost innovation and create good-paying jobs

April 26, 2024 - Mississauga, ON

Good afternoon, everyone.

I am so glad to be here with my colleagues, Minister Kamal Khera and Peter Fonseca. I want to start by talking about the amazing, inspiring people who are here with us at Next Hydrogen. The work you are doing here is exactly what Canada is counting on to grow our economy and supply the energy we will need for years to come and to create great, middle class jobs and careers.

And that is what I want to talk about today. I want to talk about how we, as a country, can grow our economy, how we can be the leader in the global clean energy transition and create great middle class jobs for today and for the future.

We are living at a pivotal moment for Millennials and Gen Z.

These young Canadians have so much talent and so much potential.

But today, too many young Canadians feel as though the deck is stacked against them. They can get a good job, they can work hard, but far too often, the reward of a middle class life, a life that is secure, comfortable, prosperous, remains out of reach for far too many young Canadians.

We are acting today to ensure a fair chance for each generation. We are acting to build more housing faster. We are reducing the cost of living. And we encourage the kind of economic growth that will allow each generation of Canadians to reach their full potential.

Our country works best when our economy is growing and when there are opportunities for everyone.

To drive the kind of growth that will deliver prosperity for Canadians—and for everyone here at Next Hydrogen—the budget I tabled last week redoubles our efforts to attract investment, increase productivity, boost innovation, and create good-paying, meaningful jobs.

A cornerstone of this effort is our $93 billion suite of investment tax credits. This includes our Clean Tech Manufacturing investment tax credit—which I know will be helping the amazing innovators at Next Hydrogen to manufacture more of their world-class, low-carbon hydrogen electrolysers.

Now, something that I think we as Canadians need to recognize is Canada has the skills. We have the innovators. We have the ideas to really own the podium in this remarkably important economic transformation which is happening in the world.

The energy transition is an economic transition, comparable in scale only to the Industrial Revolution itself. I am absolutely determined that Canada be at the forefront of that transformation and people at Next Hydrogen are some of the people who are going to be sure that that actually happens.

They have the ideas. They have the inventions. They have the patents. And they need us as a country to give them a little bit of support so that our whole country can lead the charge.

Our suite of investment tax credits also includes our Clean Hydrogen investment tax credit, which Next Hydrogen’s clients will be able to take advantage of when they produce clean, green hydrogen using the inventions made here.

As promised in the 2023 Fall Economic Statement, we will soon be tabling legislation detailing both of these investment tax credits in the House of Commons.

Passing this legislation will enshrine these two major investment tax credits into law and give certainty to businesses that want to create good-paying jobs and bring more investment to Canada.

The same applies to another piece of legislation, Bill C-59, that is already in the House of Commons. This legislation would enshrine into law our investment tax credits for Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage and for Clean Technology.

It is absolutely urgent to pass this legislation. Companies like Next Hydrogen and their customers need us to act with alacrity.

And so I am calling on all members of the House of Commons, all members of the Finance Committee to stop filibustering, to stop dilatory motions, and to act. Because Canadians need it. Canadian innovators need it. Young Canadians who want to have great jobs need us to act.

When we first introduced our investment tax credits, we said they would give businesses—like Next Hydrogen—the certainty they needed and the support they needed to make historic investments in Canada.

We said those tax credits would create great careers for Canadians and that they would build stronger communities and help reduce our emissions and the world’s emissions at the same time.

And today, we have the evidence to prove it. The success of Next Hydrogen, which we want to support by getting these tax credits passed into law, is one example.

Yesterday, we had another outstanding example when we welcomed a historic $15 billion investment by Honda. That is Honda’s largest ever investment in North America and is the largest investment in Canada’s history by a single company. They are investing in Canada to create our first full electric vehicle supply chain. For the first time, China is not in the top spot. That is a huge accomplishment. Canadians should be proud of that and that is a source of jobs today and jobs for the future. The Honda investment will create thousands of good-paying jobs across Ontario.

And last November, we welcomed an $11.4 billion investment by Dow to build a first-of-its-kind net-zero emissions facility in Alberta just outside Edmonton. This project will also support thousands of great jobs in Alberta.

Both of these major investments by major international companies were driven by our investment tax credits. And in fact, in 2023, Canada attracted, per capita, more FDI than any other G7 country in total quantum, i.e., the total amount. We were the third in the world behind only the U.S. and Brazil, significantly more populous than we are.

So we really are already seeing that our plan is working. We want to attract even more of that investment.

With this budget we are responding to this demand by introducing the new 10 per cent Electric Vehicle (EV) Supply Chain investment tax credit. It is applicable to the cost of buildings used for important segments of the electric vehicle supply chain, ranging from the assembly of electric vehicles to the production of batteries.

We are also supporting Canadian workers by building labour requirements into many of the investment tax credits. These labour requirements give businesses an incentive to pay a prevailing union wage and to create apprenticeship opportunities.

This is the first time in Canadian history that labour requirements have been attached to tax credits—and that is further proof of our commitment to ensure that our economic plan delivers for Canadian workers and their families.

We’re acting now—and acting with purpose—because the cost of inaction today would be borne chiefly by younger Canadians. We would be leaving them behind. And we will not do that. Instead, we will help them realize the promise of Canada with a responsible plan that creates new career opportunities and grows the economy for every generation.

Today we are saying to our younger generations, and to everyone who cares about them: We are putting the power of government to work for you.

Together, we will unlock the door to the middle class for more Canadians—and renew the promise of our great country.

Thank you.