Last week, the federal government delivered the 2013 federal budget.
Over the last number of months, I have reached out and talked to many local residents about what they would like to see in the federal budget. Overwhelmingly, I was told that the focus should be on job creation, economic growth and deficit reduction. The federal budget delivers on those fronts.
Since January 2006, nearly 1.5 million net new jobs have been created, representing the best job creation record of all G-7 countries.
Over 950,000 of those net new jobs have been created since July 2009, 90 per cent of which have been full-time jobs and most of them good, high-skilled jobs. Yet thousands more jobs go unfilled because of a lack of people with the right skills.
The budget will help with job creation by getting Canadians into those available jobs. To do this, we are increasing skills and training support through the new Canada Job Grant. This grant, which will be available in 2014, will provide $15,000 per person for skills training. This will help Canadians connect with the nearly 130,000 available high-quality and well-paying positions that are currently going unfilled.
We are also going to make it easier for Canadian apprentices to get the work experience needed to become accredited by changing contracting requirements to encourage companies to hire apprentices in order to get federal work.
The budget will also help with small business job creation. To encourage new employee hiring, we are extending the successful Hiring Credit for Small Business for an additional year, helping small Canadian businesses save $225 million in 2013.
There is also help for manufacturing in Ontario. Manufacturers will receive $1.4 billion in tax relief through a two-year extension of the Accelerated Capital Cost Allowance for the purchase of new machinery and equipment. We have also created a $200 million Advanced Manufacturing Fund for southern Ontario to encourage corporate investments in new technology and production methods.
We are laying the foundation for economic growth with a record $70 billion investment in the Building Canada Plan, a 10-year plan for infrastructure. This money will help build and repair roads, bridges, subways, rail, and more in communities across Canada. This represents the largest and longest federal investment in Canadian history.
We are also creating economic growth by investing nearly $1.9 billion in funding over five years to create more affordable housing and to combat homelessness.
Finally, the federal budget reiterates our plan to balance the budget in 2015, in two short years.
By reducing government waste, closing tax loopholes and controlling spending, we will balance our budget without raising income taxes or the HST. In fact, federal taxes are at their lowest level in 50 years.
To find out more about our plan for jobs and growth, visit www.actionplan.gc.ca.
I encourage you to contact me if you have any questions about the federal budget. You can reach me by phone at 866-878-5556 or by email at michael.chong@parl.gc.ca.