OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada will present a budget on Monday with billions of dollars for pandemic recovery measures as COVID-19 infections skyrocket, C$2 billion ($1.6 billion) toward national childcare, and new taxes on luxury goods.
Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s first budget in two years will also set aside C$12 billion ($9.6 billion) to extend wage and rent subsidy programs to the autumn, the Toronto Star reported on Sunday.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is due to present the budget at about 4 p.m. (2000 GMT).
The document promises in excess of C$2 billion as a “starting point” for a national childcare program, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp said, adding that the 2020-2021 federal deficit had come in under C$400 billion.
In November, the government forecast a deficit of C$381.6 billion, which would be its highest level since World War Two. [https://tmsnrt.rs/3wSJPcm]
The budget will also include a luxury tax effective from 2022 on new cars and private aircraft valued at more than C$100,000 ($79,970), and boats worth over C$250,000, government sources familiar with the document told Reuters.
There will be a sales tax for online platforms and e-commerce warehouses from July, and a digital services tax for Web giants like Alphabet Inc’s Google and Facebook Inc from 2022.
Freeland promised in November up to C$100 billion in stimulus over three years to “jump-start” an economic recovery during what is likely to be an election year, and the government so far not backed away from that commitment.
Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, speaking to the CBC, confirmed that the budget would be “ambitious” and that the government would “invest for jobs and growth to rebuild this economy,” although he added there would be “fiscal guardrails” to put spending on a “sustainable track.”
Amid a spiking third wave of infections, Ontario, Canada’s most-populous province, announced new public health restrictions on Friday, including closing the province’s borders to non-essential domestic travel.
Canada has been ramping up its vaccination campaign but still has a smaller percentage of its population inoculated than dozens of other countries, including the United States and Britain.
($1 = 1.2514 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting by Steve Scherer; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Peter Cooney)
