Federal Budget 2009

Background

On January 27, 2009, the federal government released the details of Budget 2009, including information about a stimulus package to support the Canadian economy. The budget includes a number of initiatives related to Canada’s charities and nonprofits.

We were pleased that it included funds for key areas such as arts and culture, sport facilities, workforce issues and housing, among others, but were disappointed it did not introduce any measures to stimulate charitable giving nor underline the critical role played by nonprofits and charities in addressing the economic turmoil. We will continue to monitor and assess the impact of this budget as the details are released.

CCVO Budget 2009 Outreach

As part of CCVO’s work on policy issues at all levels of government, we submitted letters with budget requests to the Prime Minister, The Minister of Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, and the ministers of key departments that work with the sector including Human Resources and Skill Development Canada, and Canadian Heritage and Official Languages. The letter to the Prime Minister was also forwarded to all of Calgary’s Members of Parliament.

Overview of Sector-Related Initiatives in the Budget
The following is an initial list of Budget 2009 announcements are related to the work on Canada’s nonprofits and charities in the following areas: housing; sports and recreation; arts and culture; employment, skills and training; skills and transition strategy; environment; aboriginal Canadians; tax measures for low income earners and seniors; and supporting communities. Click here to see the full details for Budget 2009.

Housing

  • $1 billion over two years for renovations and energy retrofits for up to 200,000 social housing units on a 50–50 cost-shared basis with provinces.
  • $400 million over two years for the construction of social housing units for low-income seniors.
  • $75 million over two years for the construction of social housing units for persons with disabilities.
  • $400 million over two years to new social housing projects and to remediation of existing social housing stock on First Nations reserves.
  • Providing first-time home buyers with additional access to their Registered Retirement Savings Plan savings to purchase or build a home by increasing the Home Buyers’ Plan withdrawal limit to $25,000 from $20,000.
  • Assisting first-time home buyers by providing up to $750 in tax relief to help with the purchase of a first home.

Sports and Recreation

  • $500 million over two years to build and renew community recreation facilities.
  • Over $1.4 billion for aboriginal schools, health, water, housing, community services and training.
  • $40 million to the Canadian Tourism Commission over two years to support marketing activities, such as the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Arts and Culture

  • $20 million over the next two years and $13 million per year thereafter to the National Arts Training Contribution Program.
  • $60 million to support infrastructure-related costs for local and community cultural and heritage institutions such as local theatres, libraries and small museums.
  • $28.6 million over the next two years to the Canada New Media Fund, and $14.3 million annually thereafter
  • $200 million over next two years for the Canadian Television Fund
  • $100 million over two years for marquee festivals and events

Employment, Skills and Training

  • Increasing funding for training delivered through the Employment Insurance program by $1 billion over two years.
  • $500 million over two years for a Strategic Training and Transition Fund to support the particular needs of individuals who do not qualify for EI training, such as the self-employed or those who have been out of work for a prolonged period of time.
  • $60 million over three years for the Targeted Initiative for Older Workers
  • $50 million over two years for a national foreign credential recognition framework in partnership with provinces and territories.
  • Additional $100 million over three years in the Aboriginal Skills and Employment Partnership (ASEP)
  • $75 million for a two-year Aboriginal Skills and Training Strategic Investment Fund.
  • $500 million over two years to extend EI income benefits for Canadians participating in longer-term training.

Skills and Transition Strategy

  • $1.9 billion to strengthen benefits that give workers more time to find the right job and get the training they need, provide companies using work-sharing arrangements more time to restructure and better position themselves to emerge from the economic downturn, and better protect workers’ wages and severance packages in the event of their employer’s bankruptcy.
  • $1.9 billion to enhance the availability of training by providing unprecedented levels of short- and long-term skills upgrading opportunities for workers in all sectors of the Canadian economy, including investments in the long-term potential of under-represented groups.
  • $4.5 billion to freeze Employment Insurance (EI) rates for 2009 and 2010

Environment

  • $1 billion over five years for a Green Infrastructure Fund to support projects such as sustainable energy.
  • Clean Energy Fund that supports clean energy research development and demonstration projects, including carbon capture and storage.
  • Providing an additional $300 million over two years to the ecoENERGY Retrofit program to support an estimated 200,000 additional home retrofits.

Aboriginal Canadians

  • $305 million over the next two years to improve health outcomes for First Nations and Inuit individuals.
  • $20 million over the next two years to extend partnerships with provinces to further improve child and family services on reserves.

Tax Measures for Low Income Earners & Seniors

  • Increasing the basic personal amount and the top of the two lowest personal income tax brackets by 7.5 per cent above their 2008 levels.
  • Raising the level at which the National Child Benefit supplement for low-income families and the Canada Child Tax Benefit are phased out, providing a benefit of up to $436 for a family with two children.
  • Doubling the tax relief provided by the Working Income Tax Benefit to encourage low-income Canadians to find and retain a job.
  • Providing up to an additional $150 of annual tax savings for low- and middle-income seniors through a $1,000 increase to the Age Credit amount.

Supporting Communities

  • $2 billion over two years in direct, low-cost loans to municipalities to finance improvements to housing related infrastructure, such as sewers, water lines, and neighbourhood regeneration projects.
  • A two-year, $1-billion Community Adjustment Fund to help communities adjust to economic hardship.

Related Information

Imagine Canada’s Budget Submission