On April 21, 2015, Finance Minister, Joe Oliver tabled the Government of Canada’s 2015 Federal Budget in the House of Commons.
This year’s budget continues to reinforce the Government’s messaging on skills training, job creation, countering terrorism, infrastructure and an overall balancing of the books. In addition, there are still a number of relevant initiatives relating to the trade as follows:
Export Market Development Program
- Economic Action Plan 2015 proposes to provide $50 million over five years, starting in 2015–16, to create an export market development program to share the financial costs with small and medium-sized enterprises as they explore and pursue new export opportunities. The program is targeting between 500 and 1,000 Canadian exporters per year across the country. The program will also ensure coordination with other Canadian partners (governments, agencies and private sector organizations) in order to maximize the support for new exporters. Details of the program will be announced in the coming months.
Enhancing the Trade Commissioner Service
- Economic Action Plan 2015 proposes to provide increased funding of $42 million over five years, starting in 2015–16, and $9.3 million per year thereafter to expand the footprint and resources of the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service, to support Canadian firms with on-the-ground intelligence and practical advice on foreign markets to help them achieve their goals.
Reducing Barriers to Internal Trade
- Economic Action Plan 2015 announces the creation of an Internal Trade Promotion Office within Industry Canada to support federal-provincial-territorial negotiations to strengthen the domestic economy by comprehensively renewing the Agreement on Internal Trade. The Office will act as the federal hub for research and analysis to enhance our collective understanding of the impact of barriers to internal trade, building on the Government’s Internal Trade Barriers Index announced in Economic Action Plan 2014. The Office will also engage with provinces and territories, businesses, workers, consumers and academia to explore opportunities to address internal trade barriers, including through regulatory cooperation activities.
Securing Agriculture Market Access
- Economic Action Plan 2015 proposes to provide $18.1 million over two years, starting in 2016–17, to expand the activities of the Market Access Secretariat, to introduce new agriculture trade commissioners abroad and to play a more active role in setting international science -based standards. This will support the agriculture sector in continuing to expand and diversify into new markets and in continuing to capitalize on opportunities created by new trade agreements.
Expanding the AgriMarketing Program
- Economic Action Plan 2015 proposes to provide $12 million over two years, starting in 2016–17, to expand Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s AgriMarketing Program to promote and differentiate Canadian products in a highly competitive global and domestic marketplace. This builds on the $341 million in funding over five years currently available through the AgriMarketing Program under Growing Forward 2 . Funding will enable farmers to further enhance marketing capacity at home and abroad, and to enhance Canada’s international presence in priority markets and build strong relationships with trade partners
Promoting Canada as a Global Maritime Centre
- Canada’s shipping industry is critical for ensuring goods get safely to market. The International Maritime Centre aims to attract targeted foreign investment into Canada , facilitate foreign shipping companies and support businesses in establishing their headquarters in Vancouver. Port Metro Vancouver is Canada’s largest port and links Canadian businesses with over 150 trading economies in the world.
- The Centre will further promote British Columbia as a maritime center and best –in -class transportation and logistics hub, and help create jobs and promote region al economic growth. This announcement follows amendments made in December 2014 to the Income Tax Act to modernize Canada’s international shipping tax regime by introducing more flexible rules for international shipping corporations in order to reflect the structures of modern shipping organizations.
Economic Action Plan 2015 proposes to provide $3 million over three years, cost – matched by the province of British Columbia, starting in 2015 –16, to support the International Maritime Centre in Vancouver.
Ensuring an Effective Trade Remedy System
- The Government’s expanded trade agenda is critical for the growth of the Canadian economy. To support Canadian jobs and investment, trade must not only be free, it must also be fair. Therefore, Canada’s commitment to open markets includes a trade remedy system that ensures that goods are not unfairly priced or subsidized when coming into the Canadian market. These rules support conditions for Canadian manufacturers to thrive, in both domestic and international markets. To maintain a level playing field for Canadian producers, the Government will ensure that the trade remedy system operates in an effective, accessible, and transparent manner, in consultation with stakeholders such as the Canadian Steel Producers Association.
Extending Natural Gas Export Licences
- The National Energy Board is responsible for issuing oil and gas export licences. Under the National Energy Board Act, the maximum length of natural gas export licences is currently limited to 25 years. Taking into consideration the significant investments required for liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects, and their significant anticipated economic benefits, the Government is taking additional steps to support the LNG industry and other natural gas exporters by extending the maximum limit of natural gas export licences from 25 to 40 years, to improve regulatory certainty. This measure builds on Canada’s existing advantages, in addition to the recently announced accelerated capital cost treatment for assets used in facilities that liquefy natural gas, to encourage investment in facilities that supply LNG to new markets.
- Economic Action Plan 2015 proposes to introduce legislative amendments to the National Energy Board Act that would extend the maximum length of natural gas export licences from 25 years to 40 years.
Expanding the Use of Business Numbers
- The Government is continuing to cut red tape and expand electronic services for businesses. Economic Action Plan 2015 announces the Government’s commitment to undertake the planning and preparation required for federal adoption of the Business Number, and its initial implementation. The Business Number is a nine-digit number that the Canada Revenue Agency assigns to a business (or other organization such as a charity) for tax matters. Under the proposed approach, a business dealing with the federal government would only have to register once to be eligible to access a range of federal programs and services for businesses, instead of having to register separately under each federal service or program. This would make it simpler for businesses to interact with government, reducing red tape and enabling more efficient digital self-service.
If you have any immediate questions or concerns about how this year’s budget affects you, don’t hesitate to reach to your account representative any time.