Yesterday, Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland presented the 2024 Federal Budget, titled "Fairness for Every Generation", in the House of Commons. CCUA was among a group of organizations invited to an advanced reading of Budget 2024 before it was presented to Parliament.

The Liberal government had already announced several Budget 2024 measures prior to today, through a string of announcements over the last few weeks to maximize media attention. This change in approach from previous budgets is an effort to bolster lagging poll numbers, as many national pollsters (including Abacus Data, NANOS, and Leger) report double-digit gaps in voting intentions between the Conservatives and the governing Liberals.

Housing affordability was a key theme of this year's budget. Prior to today's budget release, the government had already announced funding for measures to expedite homebuilding, protect renters, incentivize apartment construction, and encourage provinces and municipalities to fast-track construction. In total, the budget includes $8.5 billion in new spending for housing.

Of key interest in recent weeks was the government’s pre-budget announcement, which proposed to include rent payments in a borrower's credit score for mortgage qualification. How this will work in practice remains to be seen, and, if passed, CCUA will work closely with officials from the Department of Finance, credit bureaus, and other relevant groups to ensure credit unions have the information they need to participate in this reform to credit scoring and mortgage qualification.

The budget also contains important details on:

• A multi-year plan for open banking.
• A review of federal deposit insurance.
• Numerous housing and housing finance measures.
• A commitment to regular parliamentary reviews of Farm Credit Canada’s governing legislation.
• Dozens of measures targeted at the financial sector and many others.

Overall, Budget 2024 proposes $52.9 billion in new spending over five years, though net new spending is budgeted at $39.2 billion due to higher revenue offsets, such as a higher capital gains tax (see the attachment below) that is estimated to collect $19 billion. The government projects a $39.8 billion deficit for 2024-25.

While this is an initial same-day overview and analysis of the 400-page policy document, CCUA will release a further and more detailed analysis in the weeks to come.

Please see here for a non-exhaustive list of items from today’s budget that are relevant to the credit union sector

If you have any questions, please contact advocacy@ccua.com.