Federal budget includes spending for construction sector

Ontario Construction News staff writer

The federal government tabled its first budget in more than two years on Monday. Here are some ways the construction industry could be impacted:

  • Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced a plan to increase the 10-year, $40-billion housing strategy with an additional $2.5 billion.
  • About 60 per cent will go to construction of 4,500 new units under the Rapid Housing Initiative, and the budget also included a plan to build or repair 35,000 units across the country.
  • Freeland also reannounced an eight-year, $15-billion pledge from February for public transit projects ranging from new subway lines to electric buses and $23 million over four years for Infrastructure Canada to conduct a national infrastructure assessment.
  • The budget also includes $2.4 billion over three years for skills and trades, with about 40 per cent for training in sectors ranging from health care to construction.
  • $5.7 billion was announced over five years to help post-secondary students, doubling federal student grants and waiving interest on federal student loans until March 2023.
  • Increasing the federal minimum wage to $15, and committing $300 million to programs for Black and women entrepreneurs and other underrepresented groups.
  • The federal government says it will add $1 billion to a fund for improving high-speed communications in rural and remote areas of Canada, bringing the total to $2.75 billion by 2026. This is in addition to $1.75 billion projected by the federal government’s November fiscal update.
  • More than $6 billion was included for infrastructure in Indigenous communities.

Budget reaction

RESCON applauds federal government’s 2021 budget

RCCAO, CBTU, see good and bad in federal budget

CCA: Budget 2021 affirms the value of infrastructure investment in driving economic recovery

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