Skip to content

Budget 2021: focus on business support & recovery

Top takeaways by the Oakville Chamber of Commerce
Budget
Budget

Yesterday the Federal Government revealed the 2021 Budget. We are pleased to see the focus on business support and recovery, providing businesses with much-needed supports to navigate the pandemic.

In the Ontario Chamber Network’s pre-budget submission, we called for policies that focused on resilience, growth and modernization. We specifically called for economic support to those hit hardest by the pandemic, such as small businesses and women. The 2021 Budget delivers on many of these asks, including the extension of business supports like the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) and the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS).

We are pleased to see the budget propose policies to foster trade between Canada’s provinces and territories. This has been a priority ask for our members, the Ontario Chamber Network, and the Canadian Chamber Network.

It is encouraging to see the government focus on economic recovery. However, we will continue to advocate for measures to ensure long-term growth and a plan to reduce the deficit.

Our top takeaways for business:
  • Extension of the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS), Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS) and lockdown support to September 25, 2021. 
  • Extension of the application deadline for the Regional Relief and Recovery Fund until June 30, 2021. 
  • Creation of the Canada Recovery Hiring Program to help the hardest-hit businesses hire staff when they are ready for recovery.
  • Reskilling and upskilling to get Canadians back to work and produce better data on labour market demand in individual communities and build talent pipelines based on employer needs.
  • National leadership reduces interprovincial trade barriers by collecting data, identifying barriers, and allocating federal transfers to provinces and territories to address these issues.
  • Recapitalization of the National Trade Corridors Fund to support trade-enabling infrastructure.
  • Support for SME technology adoption through capital expenditures and financing to improve Canadian productivity.
  • Replacing fiscal guardrails and a medium-term debt-to-GDP target with a fiscal anchor to encourage long-term fiscal sustainability.
  • Focusing on supporting working mothers now with support for childcare through tax credits instead of creating a national program.
  • Working through the OECD on a multilateral approach to a digital services tax instead of creating a one-off Canadian model that may not align with our trading partners.