Minister Khera highlights budget investments to build Canada’s 21st-century clean economy

April 5, 2023                 Mississauga, Ontario                   Employment and Social Development Canada

Today, the Honourable Kamal Khera, Minister of Seniors, and Member of Parliament Charles Sousa were in Mississauga to highlight Budget 2023’s investments in affordable energy, good jobs and a growing clean economy, which includes a set of clear and predictable investment tax credits.

The Minister highlighted how Budget 2023 makes transformative investments to build Canada’s clean economy, fight climate change and create new opportunities for Canadian businesses and Canadian workers. This includes allowing the Canada Infrastructure Bank to invest at least $20 billion to support the building of major clean electricity and clean growth infrastructure projects, providing $3 billion over 13 years to support clean electricity projects, and securing major battery manufacturing in Canada. The Minister also highlighted the introduction of a new suite of tax credits for investments in clean electricity, hydrogen, manufacturing and carbon capture technologies. These significant measures will deliver cleaner and more affordable energy, support investment in our communities and foster the creation of good-paying jobs.

Canada has made a remarkable recovery from the COVID recession. Canada’s economic growth was the strongest in the G7 over the last year, and today, 830,000 more Canadians are employed than before the pandemic. Inflation in Canada has fallen for eight months in a row and our unemployment rate is near its record low. Supported by a Canada-wide system of affordable early learning and child care, the labour force participation rate for women aged 25 to 54 reached a record high of 85.7% in February.

Budget 2023 builds on this important progress.

To strengthen Canada’s universal public health care system, the Budget delivers $198.3 billion, including $77 billion in Ontario, to reduce backlogs, expand access to family health services, and ensure provinces and territories can provide the high-quality and timely health care Canadians expect and deserve. Budget 2023 also introduces the new Canadian Dental Care Plan. It will help up to 9 million Canadians and ensure no Canadian has to choose between taking care of their health and paying the bills at the end of the month.

With a responsible fiscal plan that will see Canada maintain the lowest deficit and the lowest net debt-to-GDP ratio in the G7, Budget 2023 will help to build a Canada that is more secure, more sustainable and more affordable for people from coast to coast to coast.