Federal Budget 2022 Highlights

Apartment building under construction
Publishing Date

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland tabled the 2022 federal budget in the House of Commons yesterday.  The budget focusses largely on funding a range of new measures in housing and climate action.  After the budget measures, Canada will have a $113 billion deficit in 2021-2022 with a federal debt of 46.5% of GDP.

Housing

  • $4 billion over five years, starting in 2022-23, to launch a new Housing Accelerator Fund that could include support such as an annual per-door incentive for municipalities, or upfront funding for investments in municipal housing planning and delivery processes for speeding up development;
  • $1.5 billion over two years, starting in 2022-23, to extend the Rapid Housing Initiative that is expected to create 6000 new affordable housing units;
  • $2.9 billion of advance funding for the National Housing Co-Investment Fund for supporting the construction and repair of homes for the most vulnerable;
  • $475 million in 2022-23 to provide a one-time $500 payment to those facing housing affordability challenges, the details of which will be announced later;
  • re-allocating $500 million from the National Housing Co-Investment Fund to launch a new Co-operative Housing Development Program aimed at expanding co-op housing in Canada;
  • $1 billion in loans to be re-allocated from the Rental Construction Financing Initiative to support co-op housing projects;
  • $150 million over five years, starting in 2022-23, to Natural Resources Canada to develop the Canada Green Buildings Strategy that will drive building code reform;
  • $562.2 million over two years, beginning in 2024-25, for Infrastructure Canada to continue providing doubled annual funding for the federal homelessness strategy;
  • introducing a Multigenerational Home Renovation Tax Credit, which would provide up to $7,500 in support for constructing a secondary suite for a senior or an adult with a disability;
  • creating a 'property flipping' tax so that any person who sells a property they have held for less than 12 months would be subject to full taxation on their profits as business income, applying to residential properties sold on or after January 1, 2023;
  • proposing restrictions that would prohibit foreign commercial enterprises and people who are not Canadian citizens or permanent residents from acquiring non-recreational residential property in Canada for a period of two years;
  • introducing a Tax-Free First Home Savings Account that would give prospective first-time home buyers the ability to save up to $40,000; 
  • doubling the First-Time Home Buyers’ Tax Credit amount to $10,000, providing up to $1,500 in direct support to home buyers, applying to homes purchased on or after January 1, 2022; and
  • conducting a federal review of housing as an asset class, in order to better understand the role of large corporate players in the market and the impact on Canadian renters and homeowners.

Climate Action & Clean Growth

  • $1.7 billion over five years to extend the Incentives for Zero-Emission Vehicles program until March 2025;
  • $547.5 million over four years to launch a new purchase incentive program for medium- and heavy-duty Zero-Emission Vehicles (ZEVs) to help businesses upgrade their fleets;
  • $500 million in large-scale urban and commercial ZEV charging and refuelling infrastructure;
  • $400 million over five years, starting in 2022-23, to Natural Resources Canada to fund the deployment of ZEV charging infrastructure in sub-urban and remote communities through the Zero-Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Program;
  •  $2.0 billion over nine years to renew and expand the Oceans Protection Plan;
  • $43.5 million over five years and $8.7 million ongoing to create a new Canada Water Agency that will be created in 2022;
  • an investment tax credit of up to 30 per cent, focused on net-zero technologies, battery storage solutions, and clean hydrogen; and
  • $600 million over seven years for the Smart Renewables and Electrification Pathways Program to support additional renewable electricity and grid modernization projects.

Mental Health & Opioid Crisis

  • $100 million over three years, starting in 2022-23, for the Substance Use and Addictions Program to support harm reduction, treatment, and prevention at the community level;
  • $140 million over two years, starting in 2022-23, for the Wellness Together Canada portal that provides tools and services to support mental health and well-being; and
  • $100 million over three years, starting in 2021-22, to support the mental health of Canadians most affected by COVID-19.