Finance Minister Jim Flaherty tabled the 2013 Federal Budget last Thursday (March 21), and officials in the Sea to Sky saw it as a boon for the region's infrastructure, small businesses and youth labour market.
A major commitment in the budget was the renewed Building Canada Fund for infrastructure for cities, worth $14 billion over 10 years, which will replace the existing deal worth nearly $9 billion, set to expire next year. The effort should give municipal governments more time to plan projects and secure matching funding for infrastructure projects. The fund is part of a $53.5-billion package to improve infrastructure in cities, provinces and territories over the next decade, beginning in 2014.
"There was certainly a big commitment to infrastructure. I was really pleased to hear the (finance) minister say he'd heard from people like (Whistler) Mayor Nancy Wilhelm-Morden and the Squamish Lillooet Regional District," said West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country MP John Weston. "Infrastructure is key and the way he put it, it's the longest-running commitment to infrastructure that Canada has ever seen."
Ottawa will also index its gas tax fund by two per cent annually, to be used to fund municipal infrastructure projects. The fund's eligibility criteria will be expanded to include projects such as highways, tourism, culture, sports, Internet connectivity and disaster mitigation. Previously, funding was only provided for infrastructure projects like public transit, solid waste management and local roads.
Citing Canadians' need for more job skills training, Flaherty and the Conservative government introduced the Canada Job Grant, which would provide $15,000 or more to help individuals get essential training, with the feds, the employer and the province or territory splitting the costs.
Under the measure, the $2.5 billion the federal government currently provides to provinces for job training would instead go to the training program of an employer's choice, provided the employer and provincial governments match the amount.
A program giving small businesses across Canada up to $1,000 against the increase in its employment insurance premiums for new employees has also been renewed, a move that was called "good news for small businesses" in the Sea to Sky, said Weston. Ottawa will also focus on Canada's fledgling manufacturing sector, offering tax breaks for "new manufacturing machinery and equipment, which should help stimulate jobs in the area," according to Weston.
Also included in the new budget was $241 million over five years for First Nations skills training, $119 million over five years to help combat homelessness and a new tax credit for first-time charitable donors.
