Yesterday Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, released the 2022 Fall Economic Statement, with a focus on building an economy that works for everyone. The statement outlines the government’s plan to help Canadians cope with increasing costs, make housing more affordable, and strengthen industry.

New measures proposed include:

• Making life more affordable  - through eliminating interest on federal student loads, creating a new quarterly Canada Workers Benefit, delivering on previously announced housing commitments, and lowering credit card transaction fees for small business
• Investing in jobs, growth and an economy that works for everyone – through launching the Canada Growth Fund, introducing investment tax credits for clean technologies and clean hydrogen, implementing a new tax on share buybacks by public corporations in Canada, and creating the Sustainable Jobs Training Centre and investing in a new sustainable jobs steam of the Union Training and Innovation Program to equip workers with the skills required for the good jobs of today and the future

The statement projects that the federal deficit is at $36.4 billion in 2022-23, down from the $52.8 billion forecast in the April 2022 federal budget. Canada’s net debt-to-GDP ratio is 30.5% and the economy is now 102.6% of the size that it was before the pandemic.

Fall Economic Statement
News Release: Government of Canada releases 2022 Fall Economic Statement
Ontario’s response to the Fall Economic Statement: Ontario Responds to Federal Fall Economic Statement