News, Policy

Tuesday, April 16th, 2024 

OTTAWA, ON – Today, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Hon. Chrystia Freeland, tabled the 2024 Federal Budget in the House of Commons titled Fairness for Every Generation. The Edmonton Chamber of Commerce (ECC), the official voice of the Edmonton business community, is pleased to see investments in Budget 2024 that support businesses across Canada to thrive by prioritizing initiatives such as cutting red tape, boosting access to financing, and encouraging innovation and productivity. 

“Canadians, and Edmontonians alike, have been working through challenging economic times and we were looking to Budget 2024 to provide strong incentives for economic growth,” said Doug Griffiths, CEO and President of the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce, “While we acknowledge the complexities of balancing fiscal responsibility with strategic investments, seeing the introduction of new tax measures such as the residentially-zoned vacant land tax and increased inclusion rate on capital gains, will affect confidence and profitability of local business”.  

“The Edmonton business community is a resilient one, but we stand firm in working with all levels of government to create a competitive business environment that encourages entrepreneurship and facilitates access to capital for businesses of all sizes.” said Aziz Bootwala, Chair of the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce Board, “We look forward to working with our partners at Prairies Economic Development Canada to build a prosperous Edmonton.” 

Budget 2024 introduces several programs and investments that will benefit Edmonton and our thriving business community, including:  

• An array of programs that will increase national housing supply, including $400M in top-up funding for the Housing Accelerator Fund, $6B towards a new Canada Infrastructure Investment Fund, and a temporary increase from 4% to 10% on capital cost allowance for new purpose-built rental housing. 

• Investments that will help train the next generation of our labour force, including $207.6 million in 2025-26 to create more work-integrated learning opportunities for post-secondary students, and $351.2M for the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy.

• Introduction of several new tax credits that will help businesses compete in new and emerging areas, including an electric vehicle supply chain investment tax credit, clean hydrogen investment tax credit, and clean technology manufacturing tax credit. 

• Measures that will improve affordability of businesses, including a new Canada Carbon Rebate for Small Business that will return $2.5B directly to small and medium-sized businesses, and a Canadian Entrepreneurs’ Incentive that will encourage entrepreneurship, reduce the inclusion rate to 33.3 per cent on a lifetime maximum of $2 million in eligible capital gains.

Over the next few months, we look forward to working with our federal partners to share and implement programs in the Edmonton business community. On Monday, April 16th, the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce will host the Honourable Minister Randy Boissonnault for our Federal Budget Luncheon, presented by Qualico Homes and their builders. We look forward to engaging the business community for this important conversation. Limited tickets are available to purchase here. 

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ABOUT THE EDMONTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 
The Edmonton Chamber of Commerce has been the official voice of business in the Edmonton region for over 130 years. With over 1,900 member companies that employ more than 110,000 people, we are one of the largest and longest standing Chambers in Canada. Our member companies represent small, medium, and large businesses, and every sector of the economy, from heavy industry and manufacturing to retail and non‐profit organizations.    

 

MEDIA CONTACT
Akanksha Bhatnagar 
Director, Communications & Marketing
780-616-7153
abhatnagar@edmontonchamber.com