Prime Minister Mark Carney today introduced new measures to put money back in Canadians’ pockets and to make groceries more affordable. Canada’s new government announced that it is:
1. Putting more money back in Canadians’ pockets
- Introducing the new Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit – previously the GST tax rebate – and increasing it by 25% for 5 years starting this July.
- Providing a one-time top-up payment, equivalent to a 50% increase of the GST rebate, this year.
- Combined, a family of four will receive up to $1,890 this year, and about $1,400 a year for the next four years; and a single person will receive up to $950 this year, and about $700 a year for the next four years.
The new Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit will provide support to more than 12 million Canadians.
2. Actions to make groceries more affordable
- Measures to implement unit price labelling and support the work of the Competition Bureau in monitoring and enforcing competition in the market, including food supply chains.
- Setting aside $500 million from the Strategic Response Fund to help businesses address the costs of supply chain disruptions without passing those costs on to Canadians at the checkout line.
- For the same purpose, the government will create a $150 million Food Security Fund under the existing Regional Tariff Response Initiative for small and medium enterprises and the organisations that support them.
- To lower the cost of food production, we are introducing immediate expensing for greenhouse buildings. This allows producers to fully write off greenhouses acquired on or after November 4, 2025, and that become available for use before 2030. This measure supports increased domestic supply and investment in food production over the medium-term.
These actions are in addition to the other key steps we have taken to make life more affordable:
- Eliminated the consumer carbon tax.
- Cut taxes for the middle class.
- Removing the GST on homes up to $1 million.
- Launched Build Canada Homes to boost supply and bring down costs for all types of housing.
- Protected: dental care, OAS, $10-a-day child care, the Canada Child Benefit, and more.
I will continue to do all I can to help ensure we bring costs down and make life more affordable.