Budget 2021
LOCATION: NATIONAL
Issue/Source: budget 2021 implications FOR transport canada
Date: MAY 3, 2021
Suggested Responses
- Budget 2021 was recently released on April 19, 2021. It underscores that the Government’s top priority remains protecting the health and safety of Canadians, particularly during the current third wave of the virus and its variants.
- The Budget sets out a plan to support Canadians and Canadian businesses through the crisis and lead them towards a recovery that drives future growth.
- For the transportation sector, the Budget includes funding to support a number of important priorities, many of which relate to my mandate letter commitments, such as:
- the Safer Skies Initiative to protect Canadians and reduce safety risks;
- recapitalizing the National Trade Corridors Fund to improve fluidity in Canada’s transportation system; and
- making unparalleled investments in VIA Rail’s infrastructure to advance the high frequency rail project in the Toronto-Quebec City corridor.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
- On April 19, 2021, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance released Budget 2021: A Recovery Plan for Jobs, Growth, and Resilience, which is framed around three main themes:
- Finishing the Fight Against COVID-19;
- Creating Jobs and Growth; and
- A Resilient and Inclusive Recovery.
- It proposes $101.4 billion (B) in investments over three years as part of the Government’s growth plan to create jobs and support a resilient and inclusive recovery.
- The deficit in 2020-21 was $354B, less than the $382B predicted in the 2020 Fall Economic Statement, due to a stronger-than-expected economic recovery.
- The Government is committed to reducing the federal debt as a share of the economy over the medium-term and unwinding COVID-related deficits. The federal debt-to-GDP ratio is expected to fall to 49.2% by 2025-26, and the deficit to 1.1% of GDP that same year.
- Budget 2021 provides a plan for a green recovery that fights climate change, builds a net-zero economy by investing in world-class technologies that make industry cleaner, and helps Canada reach its goal of conserving 25% of our lands and oceans by 2025.