Newmarket-Aurora MP Lois Brown is pleased to confirm that Canada's economic output has now virtually returned to pre-recession levels. Canada is the only G-7 country to have virtually recouped the output lost since the start of the global economic decline. On average, the Economic Action Plan is estimated to have boosted Canada's gross domestic product (GDP) growth by 1.5 percentage points per quarter since the second quarter of 2009. Almost 430,000 new jobs since July 2009 have been created, more than were lost during the entire recession.
"Our government's primary focus remains the economy at a national and local community level," said MP Brown. "Canada's Economic Action Plan has successfully helped to create jobs and diversify the economies of Newmarket and Aurora. At the same time assistance has been increased to those adversely affected, through temporary supports provided by the Employment Insurance (EI) program and opportunities through skills development and training."
MP Brown's comments followed the September 27th release of the sixth Report to Canadians on the progress of Canada's Action Plan by the Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance. Canada's Economic Action Plan highlights include:
- Over $3.7 billion in additional support for the unemployed in 2009-10 and a further $5.4 billion in 2010-11.
- Over 260,000 Canadians benefitting from enhanced work-sharing arrangements preserving jobs that might have otherwise been lost.
- Significant new personal income tax reductions that have provided relief, particularly for low- and middle-income Canadians.
- Working Income Tax Benefit (WITB) enhancements.
- An estimated 4.6 million Canadian families benefitting from the Home Renovation Tax Credit, which ended as scheduled on January 31, 2010.
- 23,000 federal infrastructure projects, with a significant number of projects completed.
Canada's Economic Action Plan is a two-year $62-billion plan to boost confidence and support the economy in response to the deepest global recession since the 1930s.
