Apprenticeship / Women in Construction
- $65.9 million in targeted grants and commitments to apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs have been announced for over the next five years.
- $19.9 million over the next 5 years has been earmarked to pilot an ‘Apprenticeship Incentive Grant for Women,’ resulting in increased support for women in red seal trades. Women in male-dominated Red Seal trades would receive $3,000 for each of their first two years of training. This is in addition to the existing Apprenticeship Completion Grant of $2,000. About 90 per cent of Red Seal trades would be eligible for the new grant.
- A new ‘Pre-Apprenticeship Program’ is being funded beginning in 2018 with $46 million over the next 5 years, changing to $10 million per year after that. The program will assist underrepresented Canadian groups in entering the trades, gaining work experience, accessing skills development opportunities, and ultimately making informed career choices.
- The announcement of the new ‘Women in Construction Fund’ includes a committed $10 million to attract women to the trades over the next 3 years by investing in the further development of existing models designed to attract more women to the trades.
Infrastructure
- Short-term infrastructure spending is once again lower than expected with more budget reallocations toward departmental spending. The projected infrastructure spending lapse in this past year was $2.67 billion, with budget projections showing the lapse hitting $2.19 Billion in 2018/19.
Small Business Tax Reform
- The budget unveiled new details on the taxation of passive investment income inside private corporations. When companies earn between $50,000 and $150,00 in a given year from passive investments, a reduced amount of their active business income will be eligible for the small business tax rate, which will be 9 per cent in 2019. (The upper limit for business income that can be taxed at the small business rate is $500,000.) The reduction will occur on a straight-line basis, with eligible income decreasing by $5 for every $1 of passive income above the $50,000 threshold.
Rental Housing Construction
- Potential construction of affordable rental housing has received a $1.25-billion boost over the next three years. The federal government expects the extra investment will spur the construction of 14,000 new rental units across Canada.
