Government’s Fall Economic Statement

Our Government’s plan to strengthen the middle class and grow the economy is working – and the results speak for themselves. Across Canada, more Canadians are working, wages are growing, and middle class Canadians have more money to save, invest and grow the economy. At the same time, there is an opportunity to do more, and the Government’s Fall Economic Statement is taking action to support Canadian businesses by encouraging them to make investments that will position them for long-term growth, and create jobs across the country. Our Government’s plan to strengthen the middle class and grow the economy is working – and the results speak for themselves. Across Canada, more Canadians are working, wages are growing, and middle class Canadians have more money to save, invest and grow the economy. At the same time, there is an opportunity to do more, and the Government’s Fall Economic Statement is taking action to support Canadian businesses by encouraging them to make investments that will position them for long-term growth, and create jobs across the country.  

We think there are four key pillars of the Fall Economic Statement that may be of interest to you:

1. The Government is taking action now to support Canada’s competitiveness and enhance confidence by making material change to Capital Cost Allowances (CCA). This specifically includes: 

a. Allowing businesses to immediately write off the full cost of machinery and equipment used for the manufacturing or processing of goods;
b. Allowing businesses to immediately write off the full cost of specified clean energy equipment; and
c. Introducing the Accelerated Investment Incentive, which will allow businesses of all sizes and in all sectors of the economy to write off a larger share of the cost of newly acquired assets in the year the investment is made. Capital investments will generally be eligible for a first-year deduction for depreciation equal to up to three times the amount that would otherwise apply in the year an asset is put to use. This provides a true incentive to make capital investments.

2. We are investing $1.1 billion to launch an Export Diversification Strategy, in order to increase Canada’s overseas exports by 50 per cent. This includes: 

a. Investing $184 million to enhance the Trade Commissioner Service;
b. Accelerate investments of $773.9 million in the National Trade Corridors Fund; 
c. A further $100 million is being provided in funding to Canadian SMEs to help them explore new export opportunities, such as with CanExport.
d. We are especially excited about the $10 million being invested to help small and medium-sized businesses with export readiness and export capacity building initiatives.

3. Our government is committed to removing barriers to trade within Canada by working with provinces and territories to enable businesses to transport goods more easily, to harmonize food regulations and inspections, to align regulations in the construction sector (including the harmonization of building codes across Canada), and to facilitate greater trade in alcohol between provinces and territories.

4. Canadian businesses have been clear, and the Government agrees, that there is room to improve Canada’s regulatory system to be simpler, clearer, and more modern. Our Government is taking steps to reform and modernize federal regulations, and encourage the consideration of economic competitiveness when designing and implementing regulations. This will include: 

a. Introducing an annual modernization bill to keep regulations up-to-date;
b. Creating a dedicated External Advisory Committee on Regulatory Competitiveness  to make regulations agile; and
c. Launching a Centre for Regulatory Innovation. 

You may also be interested in some of the investments being made:
• A further $800 million over five years in the Strategic Innovation Fund to support innovation across the country in all economic sectors.  Of this amount: $100 million will focus on providing support to the forest sector; and, $250 million is being made available in light of revenues collected through Canadian surtaxes in response to unjustified U.S. tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum products.
• The government will make available an additional $50 million to increase venture capital available to clean technology firms, under the Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative. 

Much of what our government is doing is in direct response to what we have heard from you over the past three months and so we welcome your continued engagement.

If you would like additional information about the Fall Economic Statement, or would like to discuss the proposals with our team, please contact us: 

• Simon Robertson, Director of Policy: [email protected] 
• AJ Sivam, Advisor, Regional Affairs and Stakeholder Relations (Ontario): [email protected]
• Corinne Advisor, Regional Affairs and Stakeholder Relations (Quebec): [email protected]
• Linda Campbell, Advisor, Regional Affairs and Stakeholder Relations (Western and Northern Canada): [email protected]
• Ryan Nearing, Special Assistant,  Communications and Regional Affairs (Atlantic): [email protected]