Increase support to farmers to develop and adopt agricultural management practices to reduce emissions, store carbon in healthy soil, and enhance resiliency. Cover cropping, rotational grazing and nitrogen management are all part of a green farming plan for Canada.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Agriculture is another vital sector of our economy. It’s time for a government that’s actually working on the side of Canadian farmers, producers, and farm families. New Democrats have a plan for a Canadian Food Strategy that will take a whole-of-government approach to address regional needs and priorities by investing in our agricultural communities, supporting young and new farmers and taking steps to ensure that rural livelihoods are good and sustainable.
Supply management protects our family farms, rural communities and hundreds of thousands of jobs. New Democrats are committed to fully protecting supply management and ensuring reciprocity in all trade negotiations, and supporting our supply managed sectors as they innovate and grow.
We also know that it’s a challenge to grow a business without modern communications infrastructure. That’s why New Democrats will make sure that high-speed broadband and cell phone infrastructure is available to connect our farmers and rural communities to the services and tools they need, no matter where in the country they are.
Finally, New Democrats will introduce a payment protection program for produce growers and take immediate steps to restore protection for growers selling to the United States under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
And we will support sustainable agriculture, working with Canadian farmers to promote sustainable land-management techniques and methods to reduce GHG emissions. We’ll also work with the agricultural sector to help them access low carbon tools and technology, and adapt to climate-induced weather changes and other impacts of the climate crisis, including the associated increase in pests and invasive species.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
The way we grow crops, raise livestock and use food also has an impact on our climate future – and nutrition for all Canadians. We’ll work to connect communities to farmers through local food hubs, and develop a national food waste strategy to reduce the huge amounts of food that currently go to waste in Canada. A New Democrat government will also partner with farmers and communities to support biodiversity and to monitor and protect pollinator health.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
• Respect and defend supply management for our dairy and poultry farms and ensure that farming families are engaged in any trade negotiations or programs impacting the sector and that the Minister of Agriculture is at the table for those negotiations.
• Open new markets for our livestock, grain, and oilseed producers in our free trade negotiations.
• Within our first 100 days in office, finalize compensation program for supply managed processors under CPTPP and CETA and negotiate a compensation package for farmers and processors impacted by CUSMA.
• Work with the US Administration to remove the CUSMA limits on Canadian exports of powdered milk to third-party countries and establish reciprocal norms to ensure that our quality standards are respected.
• Work with the provinces to adopt a grocery supply code to deal with retailers’ abusive pricing and contracting practices against farmers, producers, and processors.
° Certain grocery retail giants have imposed special fees and fines on suppliers.
° A code of conduct will guarantee Canadian consumers a reliable, affordable supply of food on their local grocers’ shelves.
• Protect family farms by ending unfair tax treatment
° The Trudeau Liberals defied Parliament by delaying the implementation of Bill C-208, despite it passing with broad support, and clearly plan to repeal it if they win a majority.
° We will ensure that the sale of a family farm to a family member is not taxed at a higher rate than a sale to a stranger.
• Improve payment security for farmers and food processors by creating a statutory deemed trust for suppliers of perishable produce in bankruptcy and harmonize our regime with that of the US to regain reciprocal protection under the U.S. Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA).
• Work towards greater harmonization of farm product regulations with our trading partners, especially the United States.
• Ensure our farm safety net programs are predictable, bankable, and manageable.
• Implement a plan to tackle rural crime and ensure that farm families feel safe.
• Amend existing laws to allow livestock owners to use local abattoirs, reducing both stress to the animals and the production of greenhouse gas emissions resulting from transportation to distant facilities and make permanent the temporary measures that allowed provincial authorities to enable collaboration across provinces to use their provincial abattoirs for products that would move across provincial borders.
• Protect our food supply by implementing a food security strategy including:
° Redirecting some federal agricultural research funding to partnering with the private sector to develop methods to grow more crops in Canada year-round in greenhouses.
• Work with provinces, industry and the CBSA to develop a national strategy to deal with a possible outbreak of African swine fever.
• Reform Business Risk Management programs, particularly AgriInvest and AgriRecovery.
• Bring agricultural stakeholders together for a summit-like meeting with the Minister of Agriculture to develop a way forward on insurance programs like AgriStability
• Modernize the Canada Grain Act and Canadian Grain Commission
° To support farmers, we will make sure that the Canada Grain Act (CGA) and Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) align with modern agricultural practices, global market requirements, and the needs of our farmers.
° Agriculture has changed drastically in recent decades. Unfortunately, the regulation of agriculture in Canada has not always kept up with the market. We will bring the CGA and CGC in line with today’s standards in consultation with farmers.
• Implement an Agriculture and Agri-Food Labour Strategy
° To better support farmers and food processors, we will help make sure they have access to the workers they need. Canada’s agriculture and agri-food sector is an economic powerhouse with a global reputation for safe, high-quality products. Many parts of this sector, however, are hampered by chronic labour shortages across all skill levels. The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food will develop a strategy for dealing with these labour shortages in close consultation with industry.
° We will: Recognize the need for international farm workers and facilitate their timely entrance into Canada to work on Canadian farms.
° Develop a long-term strategy to attract skilled workers to the meat processing sector, which is currently facing a 30,000 worker deficit that is putting Canada’s supply chains at risk and harming our long-term competitiveness.
• Extend “right to repair” to farm vehicles to provide farmers with choice on where to repair their vehicles.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
Launch a new Arts and Culture Recovery Program that will match ticket sales for performing arts, live theatres, and other cultural venues to compensate for reduced capacity.
Extend COVID-related insurance coverage for media production stoppages to support 150,000 Canadian jobs.
Implement a COVID-19 transitional support program to provide emergency relief to out-of-work artists, craftsmen, creators, and authors who are primarily self-employed or independent contractors.
Ensure the realities of artists and cultural workers are considered in upcoming reforms to the Employment Insurance (EI) system.
Protect Canadian artists, creators, and copyright holders by making changes to the Copyright Act, including amending the Act to allow resale rights for artists.
Hold a summit, within the first 100 days, on plans to restart the industry.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Mandate BCD & EDC to support the growth of creative industries in new markets; Launch a new cultural diplomacy strategy with an annual budget of $20M.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Develop a new $50 million Changing Narratives Fund to empower diverse communities, including BIPOC journalists and creatives, with the tools to tell their own stories and promote diverse voices in arts and culture and across media.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Invest $43 million per year to support Canadian authors and books publishers by increasing, by 50%, funding for through the Canada Book Fund, the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Public Lending Right Program.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Establish a new federal hub to help Canadian businesses and entrepreneurs take full advantage of the opportunities created by CUSMA, CETA, CPTPP, and other trade agreements.
Launch a new comprehensive Asia-Pacific strategy to deepen diplomatic, economic, and defence partnerships in the region, including by negotiating new bilateral trade agreements, expanding FIPAs, and building stronger economic linkages.
Reinforce economic cooperation in our hemisphere, including by continuing trade negotiations with the Pacific Alliance and pursuing bilateral trade agreements with key partners.
Develop a strategy for economic cooperation across Africa, including support for the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, facilitation of increased infrastructure investment, and expanding partnerships in research and innovation.
Establish a digital policy task force, comprised of industry experts, academia, and government, to integrate efforts across government and provide additional resources in order to position Canada as a leader in the digital economy and shape global governance of emerging technologies, including with respect to data and privacy rights, taxation, online violent extremism, the ethical use of new technologies, and the future of work. This will build on our work to implement Canada’s first Digital Charter and reform our laws to protect the personal information of individuals.
Introduce legislation to eradicate forced labour from Canadian supply chains and ensure Canadian businesses that operate abroad are not contributing to human rights abuses.
Enhance and expand Canada’s Responsible Business Conduct strategy and ensure Canadian companies and crown corporations are upholding the highest environmental and social standards of corporate governance.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
New Democrats support fair trade that broadens opportunity in all areas of the country, while protecting our industries and upholding labour standards, environmental protections and human rights around the world. That’s why we’ll always defend Canadian workers in trade negotiations, protect supply management, stand up against unfair tariffs.
We’re committed to improving the transparency of trade negotiations, so that Canadians can clearly understand the costs and benefits of any proposed agreement and have their say before it’s signed. Already, New Democrats have won changes that require the government to notify Canadians before trade negotiations begin, make them put forward clear negotiating objectives in advance, and do a full economic impact assessment of every deal.
A New Democrat government will directly engage with Canadians on the expected costs and benefits of potential trade deals, as well as ensure that all trade agreements are consistent with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. We will evaluate all potential trade deals for their social, environmental and gendered impact on Canadians.
When it comes to what’s on the negotiating table, Canadians know that there are some things that we shouldn’t be willing to compromise on, like investor-state dispute settlement measures that hand too much power to corporations and undermine the rules that keep us safe and healthy.
Trade agreements should have enforceable labour, human rights and environmental protections – and New Democrats will always protect Canadians against measures that could increase the cost of pharmaceuticals, weaken our cultural protections, or undermine privacy rights. We will also protect Canadian businesses who are taking action to transition to a low-carbon future with a border carbon adjustment that will level the playing field on imports from areas without a carbon price.
A New Democrat government will also do more to defend Canadian workers and communities from unfair trading practices. We will modernize Canada’s trade remedy system and make sure that trade unions have full standing in trade cases and the ability to initiate trade disputes, as is the case in other countries.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
• Only pursue free trade agreements with free countries that respect workers’ rights and maintain high environmental standards.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
• Reform Canada’s procurement rules to create a vital national interest category that must be sourced in Canada;
• Create a strategy to repatriate and diversify supply chains to move them away from China.
• Protect Canadian intellectual property with a strengthened Investment Canada Act that includes:
° A presumption against allowing the takeover of Canadian companies by China’s designated state-owned entities;
° A reformed “net benefits” test to better account for the potential effects of a transaction on the broader innovation ecosystem with a particular focus on protecting intellectual property and human capital;
° Automatic review of transactions involving sensitive sectors such as defence, artificial intelligence, and rare earth minerals; and
° A mandatory national security review.
• Withdraw from the Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
• Pursue a Canada-Australia-New Zealand-United Kingdom (“CANZUK”) agreement that could include:
° Free trade and flow of capital investment between the partners;
° Reciprocal freedom to study, live and work for citizens under expanded areas of labour coordination as agreed upon by all parties;
° Enhanced defence and security partnerships, including defence production agreements to allow for shared procurement; and
° Expanded intelligence cooperation, especially in the areas of cyber-warfare, combatting disinformation, and protecting critical infrastructure.
• Build deeper ties with India as part of an Indo-Pacific strategy, including:
° Continuing to pursue free trade with India while concurrently pursuing an investment treaty to expand upon Canadian strengths as one of the world’s largest investors in India.
• Leverage Canadian leadership in fintech by working to remove barriers for Canadian firms, provide Canadian regulatory expertise and best practices, support cooperation against illicit finance, and promote financial inclusion in developing regions.
• Seek to enlarge the CPTPP deal and pursue setting rules for digital trade through the CPTPP.
• Advocate for the speedy conclusion of the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA).
• Pursue a partnership with Africa’s Continental Free Trade in infrastructure, energy, and technology.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
• Launch a historic trade promotion effort connecting all aspects of Canadian industries with international opportunities.
• Animate the full potential of the Canada-UK trade deal, encouraging complementary strengths for international joint ventures, employing more Canadians, advancing Canadian products and services, and pursuing robust economic growth.
• Establish a trade accelerator connecting all sectors of the Canadian economy with EU commercial opportunities, measuring progress in job creation and long-term economic projects.
• Assist Canada’s nuclear industry with pursuing sales of Canadian nuclear technology to help other countries reduce their GHG emissions.
• Engage countries in the Middle East, including by pursuing opportunities created by a warm Emirati-Israeli peace.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
• Canada’s Conservatives will help the airline sector rebuild and get Canadian pilots, flight attendants, ground crews, mechanics, and all the other vital airline employees back to work.
° Support will be conditional on airlines agreeing to provide refunds to customers whose flights they cancelled, ending layoffs, restoring regional routes, allowing travel agents to maintain commissions collected for cancelled travel, and banning executive bonuses until the support is repaid.
• We will also pass legislation implementing strong protection of passengers’ rights based on the EU system. Among other things, this will make it clear that passengers are entitled to full refunds - not vouchers - when an airline cancels a flight and doesn’t offer an alternative.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
New Democrats will work with the provinces to update federal standards and bring in a permanent safety net of paid sick leave across the country, and to close the gap until every worker has access to paid sick days, we will fix the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit and keep it going until all Canadians have access to paid sick days.
We’ll allow sick leave to be taken by workers one or two days at a time, give full income replacement to workers who are sick, and reimburse employers instead of putting the onus on workers to apply for the program. Unlike the Liberals, we’ll move immediately to legislate 10 paid sick days in the Canada Labour Code for federally regulated workplaces.
— Ready for Better, 2021-08-27
Parental leave should be available for all Canadian families, in the way that works best for them. Eighteen months of leave is an attractive option for many parents, but not many Canadians can afford to live on just 33 percent of their salary. New Democrats will bring in a new special leave that allows parents to take shorter parental leave at a higher replacement rate. We’ll also allow self- employed workers to opt-into parental benefits at any time before taking the leave, and move to double leave for parents of multiples.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Update the definition of entrepreneur used across government to make sure it includes a diversity of entrepreneurs and includes small and medium-size businesses that operate in the care economy, retail, and service sectors.
Building on the Budget 2021 investment of $146.9 million to the Women Entrepreneurship Strategy, create a community stream to the Ecosystem Fund to support smaller community-level organizations in providing mentorship at the local level to diverse women.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
• Introducing the use of flow-through shares for tech companies, based on the very successful model that has made Canada a leader in mining financing but avoiding the cost and complexity of listing on an exchange;
• Exempt Canadian-controlled start-ups headquartered and with at least 2/3 of their employees in Canada from the current plan to tax stock options.
° Public company executives should pay their fair share - stock options cannot be a tax loophole for the rich.
° At the same time, stock options provide an incentive for workers to join a risky start-up instead of working at a stable job. We will ensure that tax changes don’t endanger this key tool, knowing that if Canada does so it will drive innovative companies to relocate elsewhere.
• Create a tax credit for buying from a Canadian start-up.
° Canadian innovators used to complain about the challenge of raising venture capital funding here. These days, the world’s top VCs come here to invest because they know how talented Canadians are. Yet our innovators still face a challenge scaling due to a lack of first sales to Canadian customers who they can reference to grow their businesses internationally.
° This credit will encourage established Canadian companies to become the first customers for our innovative companies.
• Direct the Canadian government to finally start buying from innovative Canadian start-ups.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
Within the first 100 days, reintroduce legislation to reform the Broadcasting Act to ensure foreign web giants contribute to the creation and promotion of Canadian stories and music.
Modernize the institutions (Telefilm, National Film Board, Canada Media Fund) and funding tools that support Canada’s audio-visual sector, including video games, in order to make funding platform-agnostic and open to more traditionally underrepresented storytellers, while favouring Canadian productions over foreign ones and ensuring that Canadians are better equipped to own and benefit from the content that they produce.
Support Canadian feature films by permanently increasing funding to Telefilm Canada by $50 million.
Support Canadian television productions by doubling the government contribution, over three years, to the Canada Media Fund.
Increase the proportion of funding for French audiovisual content at Telefilm and the Canada Media Fund from 33% to 40% to support a better presence of French-language productions.
Ensure better and stable funding for the music sector by increasing the annual contribution to the Canada Music Fund to $50 million by 2024-2025.
Provide the Indigenous Screen Office with $13 million per year, permanently, so more Indigenous stories can be told and seen.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
New Democrats will do what the Liberals failed to do and modernize the Broadcasting Act fairly in order to create a level playing field between Canadian broadcasters and foreign streaming services, to rebalance negotiating power for Canadian independent producers and the Canadian cultural sector, and to ensure Canadian programming is owned by Canadians. In addition, we will prioritize partnerships with Canadian independent producers, increase funding for Telefilm and enhance financial support for the Canada Media Fund.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Require large digital streaming services like Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video to reinvest a significant portion of their Canadian gross revenue into producing original Canadian programming, of which a mandated proportion must be French language programming.
° If they fail to do so on their own in a given year, they will be required to pay the difference into the Canadian Media Fund.
° The proportion chosen will vary based on the nature of the streaming service and would be determined based on the best practices of other jurisdictions, such as those in Europe and Australia, as well as the nature of the Canadian market.
° Content reinvestment requirements will also recognize and incentivize partnerships with Canadian independent media producers.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
Supply management protects our family farms, rural communities and hundreds of thousands of jobs. New Democrats are committed to fully protecting supply management and ensuring reciprocity in all trade negotiations, and supporting our supply managed sectors as they innovate and grow.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
• Respect and defend supply management for our dairy and poultry farms and ensure that farming families are engaged in any trade negotiations or programs impacting the sector and that the Minister of Agriculture is at the table for those negotiations.
• Open new markets for our livestock, grain, and oilseed producers in our free trade negotiations.
• Within our first 100 days in office, finalize compensation program for supply managed processors under CPTPP and CETA and negotiate a compensation package for farmers and processors impacted by CUSMA.
• Work with the US Administration to remove the CUSMA limits on Canadian exports of powdered milk to third-party countries and establish reciprocal norms to ensure that our quality standards are respected.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
That’s why a we will step up to make sure that Netflix, Facebook, Google and other digital media companies play by the same rules as Canadian broadcasters. It means that these companies need to pay corporate taxes now, support Canadian content in both official languages, and take responsibility for what appears on their platforms, just like other media outlets.
New Democrats will do what the Liberals failed to do and modernize the Broadcasting Act fairly in order to create a level playing field between Canadian broadcasters and foreign streaming services, to rebalance negotiating power for Canadian independent producers and the Canadian cultural sector, and to ensure Canadian programming is owned by Canadians. In addition, we will prioritize partnerships with Canadian independent producers, increase funding for Telefilm and enhance financial support for the Canada Media Fund.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Canada’s Conservatives will create a technology task force within the Competition Bureau to examine whether dominance and anti-competitive behaviour of big tech is damaging to Canadian industry. We will examine how algorithms and data give big tech an advantage over Canadian business, as well as how fintech and new technologies could foster improved competition.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
Provide Canada’s hard-hit tourism industry with temporary wage and rent support of up to 75% of their expenses to help them get through the winter.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Raise corporate income taxes on the largest, most profitable banks and insurance companies who earn more than $1 billion per year and introduce a temporary Canada Recovery Dividend that these companies would pay in recognition of the fact they have recovered faster and stronger than many other industries.
Create a minimum tax rule so that everyone who earns enough to qualify for the top bracket pays at least 15 % each year (the tax rate paid by people earning less than $49,000), removing their ability to artificially pay no tax through excessive use of deductions and credits.
Implement a tax on luxury cars, boats, and planes as outlined in Budget 2021.
Significantly increase the resources of the Canada Revenue Agency to combat aggressive tax planning and tax avoidance that allows the wealthiest to avoid paying the taxes they owe. This will increase CRA’s resources by up to $1 billion per year in order to close Canada’s tax gap.
Modernize the general anti-avoidance rule regime in order to focus on economic substance and restrict the ability of federally regulated entities, including financial institutions such as banks and insurance companies, to use tiered structures as a form of corporate tax planning that flows Canadian-derived profit through entities in low-tax jurisdictions in order to reduce taxes back in Canada.
Work with our international partners to implement a global minimum tax so that the biggest companies in the world are not able to escape the taxes they owe here in Canada.
Eliminate flow through shares for oil, gas, and coal projects to help promote clean growth and Canada’s transition to a net-zero economy.
Implement a national anti-flipping tax and move forward with Canada’s first ever national tax on non-resident, non-Canadians on vacant land and residential property.
Move forward with a national tax on vaping products and require tobacco manufacturers to pay for the cost of federal public health investments in tobacco control.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
We’ll protect family budgets, and force big corporations and big polluters to start paying what they owe. And we will raise revenues through new, fair and progressive taxation sources to make the investments Canadians need to thrive.
No one should be profiteering during a global health crisis when so many Canadians are suffering and need help more than ever. New Democrats will introduce a temporary COVID-19 excess profit tax that puts an additional 15% tax on large corporate windfall profits during the pandemic. We will go after large corporations that took publicly-funded COVID-19 wage subsidies and turned around and paid out executive bonuses, executed stock buy-backs or paid shareholder dividends.
To make our tax system fairer and ensure that the wealthiest individuals are paying their fair share, we will increase the capital gains inclusion rate to 75 percent. A New Democrat government will also boost the top marginal tax rate two points, put in place a luxury goods tax on things like yachts and private jets, and ask the very richest multi-millionaires to pay a bit more towards our shared services with a wealth tax.
A New Democrat government will ensure that large, profitable corporations are contributing to the important services and infrastructure that make Canada such a good place to do business. We will roll back the Conservatives’ corporate income tax cuts by three percentage points to 2010 levels. We will also ensure that internet giants like Facebook, Google and Amazon pay their fair share of taxes, just like every other company – unlike the Liberals, who broke their campaign promise to make these companies play by the rules.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
• Make the Taxpayer Ombudsman an officer of Parliament with order-making authority;
• Measure and report on the tax gap, in detail, by type of taxation and reason for the shortfall (similar to the UK model) so that CRA resources can be allocated where the problems exist;
• Impose a duty of care (a legal obligation to a reasonable standard) on CRA;
• Launch a comprehensive review of Canada’s tax system to improve competitiveness, bring down rates and simplify the rules;
• Revise CRA’s penalties so that first-time problems or errors receive only minor fines, with increasing severity for repeat offenders;
• Create a “welcome to CRA” program and materials for new small businesses; and
• Allow businesses with less than $60,000 in revenues to use simple cash accounting.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
Move forward with our plan to invest in the Pan- Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy, supporting artificial intelligence innovations and research in Canada; investing in the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research to attract and retain top academic talent; providing dedicated computing capacity for researchers at the national artificial intelligence institutes; and advancing the development and adoption of AI standards.
Move forward with a National Quantum Strategy that will amplify Canada’s significant strength in quantum research, and grow our quantum-ready technologies, companies, and talent.
Move forward with our plan to invest in the National Research Council’s Canadian Photonics Fabrication Centre and reinforce Canada’s leadership in photonics research, testing, and prototyping done by academics and other innovative businesses.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Establish a Canada Advanced Research Projects Agency (CARPA) as a public-private bridge for research that helps develop and maintain Canadian- led technology and capabilities in high-impact areas. Modelled on the Defense Advanced Research Projects (DARPA) in the United States, which has helped pioneer the development of several iconic technologies, including GPS mapping, the agency would be established with an initial endowment of $2 billion.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
● Increase direct federal funding for private and student-led business R&D
● Strengthen Canada’s venture capital (VC) ecosystem
● Implement a national Buy Clean strategy to increase government procurement of Canadian low-carbon technologies
● Provide access to federally funded IP at a discount to Canadian companies with Canadian operations
● Fully implement the House of Commons Report on IP and Technology Transfer to:
1. Require Statistics Canada to launch an annual survey on technology.
2. Collaborate with stakeholders to create a ‘toolkit’ of flexible IP licensing practices.
3. Investigate new ways to support Canadian enterprises engaging in technology transfer with post-secondary institutions.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
Canada’s Conservatives will invest $5 billion over the next five years to fund programs aimed at making major advances in:
• Use of hydrogen;
• Small Modular Reactors
° Including funding the work being done in Ontario, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick on nuclear energy technology and the work being done in Alberta on applying SMR technology to reduce GHG emissions in the resource sector;
• Private sector innovation in the space sector;
• Electric vehicle development and manufacturing, including electric trucks, micro-mobility, batteries, and parts manufacturers; and
• Pharmaceutical research and production.
This investment will be managed by a new Canada Advanced Research Agency headquartered in Calgary, where it will take advantage of Alberta’s highly educated workforce and help diversify the Alberta economy.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
Canada’s Conservatives will make Canada a low tax jurisdiction for innovation and new product development by introducing a “patent box” regime to cut the tax rate in half on income earned from patents on innovative products developed here.
Recognizing the importance of protecting more Canadian innovation with patents, Canada’s Conservatives will cover up to $10,000 of the administrative and legal costs of each of the first five patents filed by any Canadian small or medium-sized business.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
Keep moving forward with our plan to boost business investment by allowing privately owned, Canadian-controlled businesses to immediately expense up to $1.5 million of growth-enhancing investments, including in areas like software, patents, and machinery.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
The pandemic has shown the critical importance of domestic manufacturing. Without it, Canada has struggled to get necessary personal protective equipment and vaccines. For the security of all Canadians, we can’t leave this to chance. That’s why New Democrats will develop comprehensive industrial strategies to incubate and expand critical domestic manufacturing capacity and supply chain infrastructure including for auto, aerospace, shipbuilding, construction materials, pharmaceuticals and personal protective equipment
New Democrats will begin by strengthening and modernizing the Investment Canada Act to protect Canadian jobs and undo the damage done by the Liberal government that allows more takeovers of Canadian companies by foreign investors without national security reviews. We’ll scrap the failed Invest in Canada agency and create iCanada, a one-stop shop inside the federal government to help attract investors to Canada and turn their plans into reality – and champion Canadian industry on the international stage.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Introduce legislation, within 100 days, that would require digital platforms that generate revenues from the publication of news content to share a portion of their revenues with Canadian news outlets. This legislation would be based on the Australian model and level the playing field between global platforms and Canadian news outlets. The bill will also allow news publishers to work together to prepare for collective negotiation.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Support the production of news in underserved communities with $50 million over five years through the Local Journalism Initiative.
Develop a new $50 million Changing Narratives Fund to empower diverse communities, including BIPOC journalists and creatives, with the tools to tell their own stories and promote diverse voices in arts and culture and across media.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
● Amend pension benefit legislation for federally-regulated pensions to:
● Maintain the solvency target at 100%.
● Require annual Actuarial Valuations
● Require the sponsor, in the event that the Actuarial Valuation solvency ratio falls below a prescribed threshold to:
○ Obtain a letter of credit to return to 100% solvency, or
○ Abide by restrictions on corporate cash management similar to Ontario’s recent 520/20, until the solvency of the plan is restored, or
○ Obtain informed consent of a significant portion of plan members (perhaps >75%) to implement a different solution, other than a. or b.
● As a short-term measure, a Green government would introduce a refundable tax credit equal to the amount of pension loss an individual incurs when a pension fails.
● To better protect the pensions of all Canadians whose companies file for bankruptcy, under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA),a Green government would amend insolvency legislation to extend super-priority to the unfunded pension liability.
● Amend insolvency legislation to enable the creation of a Distressed Pension Facility in the event of a corporate insolvency.
● Ensure the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) remains robust and adaptive to changing needs and circumstances by increasing over time the target income replacement rate for income received during working years, as needed.
● Regulate the CPP Investment Board to require divestment of coal, oil and gas shares and ensure that all investments are ethical and promote environmental sustainability.
● Protect private pensions by amending the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act and Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act to establish the super-priority of pensioners and the pension plan in the creditor hierarchy during company insolvency proceedings.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
New Democrats believe that every Canadian should be able to count on a dignified, secure retirement – and we’ll fight hard to protect pensions that workers have earned. To that end, we will make sure that pensioners are at the front of the line when a company goes bankrupt – making sure unfunded pension liabilities owed to workers, and employees’ severance pay, are the top priority for repayment.
We’ll stop companies from paying out dividends and bonuses when pensions are under-funded, and we’ll create a mandatory, industry-financed pension insurance program to make sure that no worker is deprived of the retirement benefits they’ve earned through no fault of their own.
The federal government has a critical role to play in protecting defined benefit pensions across the country. The Liberal and Conservatives’ openness to target benefit plans in the public sector, which don’t guarantee stable benefits for retirees, puts defined benefits at risk for all Canadians – and we will immediately put a stop to this chipping away of retirement security.
We are committed to strengthening public pensions and improving retirement security for all Canadians and providing a basic guaranteed livable income for seniors. A New Democrat government will create a Pension Advisory Commission to develop a long-term plan to enhance Old Age Security, boost the Guaranteed Income Supplement to lift all seniors out of poverty, and strengthen the Canada Pension Plan. We’ll also make automatic enrollment in OAS and GIS retroactive, so no retiree misses out on benefits that they should be receiving, and support efforts to make sure Canadians have good retirement financial literacy.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Canada’s Conservatives will change legislation to ensure that pensioners have priority over corporate elites in bankruptcy or restructuring.
We will also better protect pensions by:
• Preventing executives from paying themselves bonuses while managing a company going through restructuring if the pension plan is not fully funded;
• No longer forcing underfunded pension plans from being converted to annuities, something that currently locks in losses and results in workers getting less money; and
• Requiring companies to report the funding status of their pension plans more clearly.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
Extend the Canada Recovery Hiring Program to March 31, 2022, so businesses can hire more workers and Canadians can get back on the job.
Provide Canada’s hard-hit tourism industry with temporary wage and rent support of up to 75% of their expenses to help them get through the winter.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
We will move forward with our plan to implement the Canada Digital Adoption Program which will:
• Give microgrants of up to $2,400 to smaller Main Street businesses so they can afford the costs of new technology.
• Create training and work opportunities for as many as 28,000 young people so they can assist small and medium-sized businesses in adopting new technology.
• Offer zero-interest loans to small and medium-sized businesses so they can finance larger technology adoption projects.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
We will move forward with our plan to unleash investments by improving the Canada Small Business Financing Program. This will increase annual financing by an estimated $560 million, supporting approximately 2,900 additional small businesses.
A re-elected Liberal government will:
• Increase the maximum loan amount from $350,000 to $500,000 and extend loan coverage from 10 to 15 years for equipment and leasehold improvements.
• Expand borrower eligibility to include non-profit and charitable social enterprises.
• Introduce a new line of credit.
• Expand loan class eligibility to include lending against intellectual property as well as start-up assets and expenses.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Keep moving forward with our plan to boost business investment by allowing privately owned, Canadian-controlled businesses to immediately expense up to $1.5 million of growth-enhancing investments, including in areas like software, patents, and machinery.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
● Extend wage and rent subsidies until COVID-19 pandemic-related restrictions are fully lifted.
● Hold the small business tax rate at no more than 9%.
● Reduce the paperwork burden on small businesses by eliminating duplicative tax filings and red tape.
● Ensure all new legislation considers the impact on small businesses.
● Reduce bureaucracy and streamline approvals for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to adopt technologies.
● Promote entrepreneurship training and business support, especially for women, young, racialized and Indigenous entrepreneurs.
● Provide affordable and accessible internet services across Canada, including rural areas.
● Establish a federally funded Green Venture Capital Fund of $1 billion to support viable small local green business start-ups.
● Subsidize the implementation of new clean technologies across all SMEs
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
• Launching the Main Street Business Loan to provide loans of up to $200,000
° The $60,000 Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) loan is too small for thousands of small and medium businesses.
° Canada’s Conservatives will immediately offer a loan on similar terms but offering up to 4 months of pre-pandemic revenue up to a maximum of $200,000
We will forgive up to 25% depending on a company’s revenue loss.
• Making the first $25,000 of our Canada Investment Accelerator refundable for small business,providing a 5% investment tax credit for any capital investment made in 2022 and 2023.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
• Reform BDC to ensure that its loan programs are accessible to small businesses.
° This will include broadening BDC’s mandate to have it guarantee a portion of loans that Canada’s banks make to small business, in the same way that CMHC guarantees mortgages.
• Look for ways to make it easier to start a business and reduce the time that entrepreneurs spend dealing with government when they should be concentrating on their business.
• Fix the mortgage stress test to stop discriminating against small business owners, contractors and other non-permanent employees including casual workers.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
The pandemic has shown the critical importance of domestic manufacturing. Without it, Canada has struggled to get necessary personal protective equipment and vaccines. For the security of all Canadians, we can’t leave this to chance. That’s why New Democrats will develop comprehensive industrial strategies to incubate and expand critical domestic manufacturing capacity and supply chain infrastructure including for auto, aerospace, shipbuilding, construction materials, pharmaceuticals and personal protective equipment
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
A New Democrat government will urgently convene an auto summit with provincial, municipal, industry and labour leaders to develop a consensus on a National Automotive Strategy to attract and retain jobs and investment. This strategy will make sure that Canadian product lines and manufacturing processes are adapted to meet changing consumer needs and evolving realities in the manufacturing industry – while protecting workers for the long term.
We will also restore the Automotive Innovation Fund and make contributions to automakers tax-free to help secure next generation production capacity.
And we will commission an independent study into the causes and consequences of the trade deficit in automotive products with Mexico, along with potential strategies for reducing it.
New Democrats will help Canadian industry lead in the development and manufacturing of the vehicles of tomorrow. We’ll work with labour and industry to make sure that Canadian workers have the skills they need to benefit from the adoption of these new technologies – and drive demand by ensuring that federal incentives for zero-emissions automobiles prioritize made-in-Canada vehicles.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Reform the Scientific Research and Experimental Development Program to reduce red tape and the need for consultants, better align eligible expenses to today’s innovation and R&D and make the program more generous for those companies who take the biggest risks, promoting productivity, new inventions, and the creation of good jobs.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Add 1,000 Canada Research Chairs to help attract and retain top talent at Canadian universities and support graduate research, with a focus on improving gender and racial equity among Canadian faculty, promoting inter-disciplinary research, and reinforcing Canada’s world leading capabilities in life sciences and bio-medical research.
Establish a $75 million a year fund for colleges and universities to help commercialize leading research, including identifying and securing patent rights for research done within their institutions and connecting researchers with people and businesses to help put these innovations into action and grow our economy.
Drawing on Canada’s contribution to mRNA science and vaccines, introduce a new $100 million a year fund to pursue moonshot research into high-impact illnesses where a vaccine may be possible.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Strengthen equity targets for federally funded scientific research delivered through the granting councils to include a specific target for the representation of Black Canadians.
Provide funding of $30 million over 5 years to help promising graduate students, support the mentorship and development of younger researchers, and increase opportunities for Black Canadians in Canadian post-secondary institutions.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
• Invest in scientific research and implement the full funding recommendations from Canada’s Fundamental Science Review.
• Increase R&D spending to 2.5% of GDP, bringing Canada in line with the OECD average.
• Increase funding for the granting councils from $22.4 billion 3 to $30 billion, including the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR). Ensure all grants by the federal granting councils consider Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) outcomes of the research it supports.
• Restore and augment Climate Change and Atmospheric Research (CCAR) funding to NSERC and ensure ongoing funding for the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory, which the Liberals failed to restore after the funding ran out.
• Establish a dedicated innovation agency that focuses on developing joint projects across universities, private industry, and national labs.
• Support NSERC’s Framework on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in scientific research across all federal grant funding programs, and commit to strengthening Canadian scientific and engineering communities to include the full participation of equity-seeking groups, including women, visible minorities, Indigenous Peoples, people with diverse gender identities and people with disabilities.
• Create a dedicated, long-term funding program for water infrastructure, building on the success of the Clean Water and Wastewater Fund that operated between 2016 and 2018
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
We will streamline and accelerate the SR&ED program. This important program is a badly broken administrative nightmare that fuels an ecosystem of consultants and advisory firms instead of focusing on research and development. Overall, 25% of SR&ED funding goes to consultants rather than innovators. To fix it, we will:
• Move administration from CRA to ISED and have the program administered by the same group that administers the IRAP program;
• Allow ISED to issue a certificate of allowable deductions which would then be accepted by CRA, saving significant compliance paperwork and allowing innovators to focus on innovating instead of filling out forms; and
• Making it easier for software development to qualify for SR&ED.
We will then launch a review of all innovation programs at ISED and across the government to ensure they are as simple as possible, to remove duplication, and to ensure that all innovation spending benefits Canada by:
• Requiring that recipients demonstrate that intellectual property, production, ownership, and profits are likely to stay in Canada;
• Prohibit foreign state-owned entities or those with ties to foreign militaries from receiving funding;
• Requiring that all intellectual property developed with the support of the Canadian government be held by a Canadian entity and that recipients agree to pay back the subsidy if they sell the IP to a foreign buyer;
• Ending the payment of Canadian tax dollars to large foreign tech companies; and
• Putting any money saved by no longer subsidizing foreign multinationals into increasing SR&ED generosity for Canadian small business.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
° Appoint a Minister Responsible for Red Tape Reduction tasked with introducing and passing at least one red tape reduction bill per year, eliminating unneeded or counterproductive red tape.
° Create an Office of Regulatory Best Practice with business members who evaluate the costs of new regulation.
° Form Industry Councils (biotech, retail, etc.) that will provide recommendations on world-leading regulation.
° Improving cost-benefit analysis of regulatory proposals by requiring consultation with industry so that regulators understand the true impact and consider lower-impact alternatives to achieve the same result.
° Fix the Impact Assessment process that is making it impossible to build major projects in Canada, based on the bipartisan Senate recommendations, and repeal Trudeau’s Tanker Ban.
° Create a Fast Track Certification Process that provides a faster path to approval for products that have already been approved in comparable jurisdictions.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
° The government will pay at least 25% of the salary of a net new hire, with the subsidy increasing up to a maximum of 50% based on how long the new hire has been unemployed.
° The salary maximum will be the same as for CEWS.
° This will get Canadians back to work and particularly benefit the long-term unemployed.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
Create a fairer collective bargaining process by introducing legislation to prohibit the use of replacement workers, “scabs,” when a union employer in a federally regulated industry has locked out employees.
Work with federally regulated employers and labour groups to co-develop a new policy for the right to disconnect so that workers can disconnect at the end of a workday without worrying about job security and restore healthy work-life balance.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
That’s why New Democrats believe that it should be easier to join a union that will protect your rights and ensure fair working conditions. We will defend the Rand formula, so that unions can effectively advocate for workers, and we will continue to oppose heavy-handed legislation that suspends the rights to bargain and to strike.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
• Give workers a seat at the table by requiring federally regulated employers with over 1,000 employees or $100 million in annual revenue to include worker representation on their boards of directors;
• Level the playing field between unions and multinationals by consulting with union leaders and then implementing changes to the Canada Labour Code to remove barriers that prevent unions from organizing large employers with a history of anti-labour activity;
• Work with unions to modernize the Canada Labour Code to provide more flexibility in working hours and working from home.
• Give unions standing at the Canada International Trade Tribunal to allow them to bring actions on issues like dumping.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
Introduce a new EI benefit for self-employed Canadians, delivered through the tax system, that would provide unemployment assistance comparable to EI and lasting for as much as 26 weeks. This could provide support of nearly $15,500 when it is needed most.
Self-employed Canadians seeking to access this benefit would only be responsible to contribute the portion they would normally pay if they were a salaried employee. Further details regarding this benefit will be developed over the coming year with the launch of this new benefit happening in January 2023.
Strengthen rights for workers employed by digital platforms so that they are entitled to job protections under the Canada Labour Code and establish new provisions in the Income Tax Act to ensure this work counts toward EI and CPP while also making these platforms pay associated contributions as any employer would.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Introduce a new Labour Mobility Tax Credit to allow workers in the building and construction trades to deduct up to $4,000 in eligible travel and temporary relocation expenses giving them a tax credit of up to $600 a year.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Significantly increase the resources of the Canada Revenue Agency to combat aggressive tax planning and tax avoidance that allows the wealthiest to avoid paying the taxes they owe. This will increase CRA’s resources by up to $1 billion per year in order to close Canada’s tax gap.
Modernize the general anti-avoidance rule regime in order to focus on economic substance and restrict the ability of federally regulated entities, including financial institutions such as banks and insurance companies, to use tiered structures as a form of corporate tax planning that flows Canadian-derived profit through entities in low-tax jurisdictions in order to reduce taxes back in Canada.
Work with our international partners to implement a global minimum tax so that the biggest companies in the world are not able to escape the taxes they owe here in Canada.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
To boost the integrity of our tax system and combat tax evasion, we will take measures to close loopholes that include eliminating bearer shares, compelling companies to prove the economic reason for their offshore transactions, and improving transparency on the taxes paid by large corporations. We will also boost compliance funding to Canada Revenue Agency’s enforcement section dealing with international and corporate taxation, to ensure that companies can’t evade new measures.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27