On March 19, the Federal Government presented the 2019 Budget. Some highlights are below:
An Affordable Place to Call Home
- Make homeownership more affordable for first-time buyers by implementing a First-Time Home Buyer Incentive, a shared equity mortgage program that would reduce the mortgage payments required to own a home; and by providing greater access to their Registered Retirement Savings Plan savings to buy a home.
- Increasing housing supply through partnerships and targeted investments.
- Strengthening Rules and Compliance in Canada’s Housing Market.
- For more information on the above three items, please visit https://www.budget.gc.ca/2019/docs/themes/housing-logement-en.html#improving-affordability-today-support-for-first-time-home-buyers.
The Canada Training Benefit
- A new, non-taxable Canada Training Credit to help Canadians with the cost of training fees.
- A new Employment Insurance Training Support Benefit to provide workers with up to four weeks of income support through the Employment Insurance (EI) system.
- New leave provisions to protect workers’ ability to take time away from work to pursue training.
- For more information on the above three items, please visit https://www.budget.gc.ca/2019/docs/themes/good-jobs-de-bons-emplois-en.html
A Secure and Dignified Retirement for Canadians
- Improving the economic security of low-income seniors by enhancing the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) earning exemption.
- Additional funding for the New Horizons for Seniors Program
- Making sure eligible Canadians receive their pension benefits.
- For information on the above three items, please visit https://www.budget.gc.ca/2019/docs/themes/seniors-aines-en.html
Moving Forward on Implementing National Pharmacare
- Introducing the Canadian Drug Agency
- A new national formulary of prescribed drugs
- Making high-cost drugs for rare diseases more accessible
- For more information on the above three items, please visit https://www.budget.gc.ca/2019/docs/themes/pharmacare-assurance-medicaments-en.html
For an overview of the entire 2019 Budget, please click below for more information: