Reference to the CFA’s Advocacy Update from June 16, 2022

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has presented a multi-pronged “affordability plan” outlining how the government intends to address inflation, based on pre-existing commitments at B.ay Street’s Empire Club in Toronto on Thursday

The measures, totalling $8.9 billion in spending this year, include planned boosts to certain benefit programs, as well as the federal government’s child and dental care plans. Freeland also cited “respect” for the Bank of Canada, fiscal restraint, and creating “good jobs,” as measures that will help steer the economy through the current turbulence.

Freeland spoke about the state of the Canadian economy and about the federal government’s next steps as it relates to measures rolling out to eligible Canadians soon. Specifically, in signalling that the Liberals do not plan to roll out new government spending to address the current cost-of-living crunch, Freeland cited a series of “real and tangible steps” that she promised would “get inflation under control.”

The federal plan meant to improve affordability includes:

• The anticipated enhancement of the Canada Workers Benefit that will see the eligible estimated three million full-time, minimum-wage workers receiving up to $1,200 more through their tax return.
• The expected cutting of child care fees for Canadian families, estimated at an average of 50 per cent by the end of the year.
• The enacting of the longstanding commitment to increase the Old Age Security pension for seniors 75 years and older by 10 per cent, providing more than $766 to full pensioners in the first year.
• The issuing of a one-time housing affordability payment providing a $500 payment to nearly one million low-income Canadians this year.
• The commitment to enact a dental care program that in 2022 will provide coverage for Canadians who earn less than $90,000, starting with children under the age of 12.
• The increase expected to a host of other benefits, because they are indexed to inflation. This includes the Guaranteed Income Supplement, Canada Pension Plan, the Canada Child Benefit, and the GST Credit.

All of the initiatives cited by Freeland on Thursday, stem from the last two federal budgets. Still, the finance minister suggested that the spending is still “new money for the Canadians receiving it this year.”

In the speech—the first major remarks from Freeland on the topic since the 2022 federal budget was tabled in April—the deputy prime minister painted a picture of where Canada stands compared to other countries.

Click here to read the text of Minister Freeland’s speech

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