A Plan to Grow Our Economy and Make Life More Affordable, the government of Canada makes targeted and responsible investments to create good jobs, grow our economy, and build a Canada where nobody gets left behind.
Today the Minister of Indigenous Services, the Honourable Patty Hajdu, met with Moonstone Creation to highlight Budget 2022 initiatives that will create good middle class jobs, generate economic growth and cut taxes for small businesses.
Specifically, Minister Hajdu shared with Moonstone Creation that Budget 2022 proposes to provide $150 million over five years, starting in 2022-23, to Indigenous Services Canada's Lands and Economic Development Services Program and Community Opportunity Readiness Program, to advance shovel-ready economic opportunities in Indigenous communities. To further support Indigenous small and medium-size enterprises, Budget 2022 proposes to forgive up to 50 per cent of the COVID-Indigenous Business Initiative loans that supported businesses in need during the pandemic. This action will help ensure that Indigenous-owned businesses are positioned for long-term success.
Budget 2022 also proposes to phase out access to the small business tax rate more gradually, with access to be fully phased out when taxable capital reaches $50 million, rather than at $15 million. This will deliver an estimated $660 million in tax savings over the 2022-2023 to 2026-2027 period that can be reinvested towards growing and creating jobs.
A crucial pillar of Budget 2022 is investment in economic growth and innovation-the key to Canada's long-term prosperity. This includes launching a new world-leading Canada Growth Fund that will attract tens of billions of dollars in private investment in Canadian industries and Canadian jobs, and a new innovation and investment agency that will help drive productivity and growth across our economy. The budget also proposes to implement Canada's first Critical Minerals Strategy-one that will create thousands of good jobs and capitalize on a growing need for the minerals used in everything from phones to electric cars. Measures also include steps to build more resilient supply chains, and to cut taxes for Canada's growing small businesses.
Canada entered the pandemic with the lowest net debt-to-GDP ratio of all G7 countries-an advantage that has since increased relative to other countries. Canada has seen the best jobs recovery in the G7, and as of March 2022, has recovered 115 per cent of the jobs lost at the height of the pandemic, with an unemployment rate that sits at just 5.3 per cent-the lowest rate on record since 1976. With Budget 2022, Canada will maintain this leading position, and maintain its fiscally responsible approach to economic growth and to building an economy that works for everyone. Crucially, it upholds the government's fiscal anchor-a declining debt-to-GDP ratio and the unwinding of COVID-19-related deficits, which will ensure that Canada's finances remain sustainable in the long-term.
