Finance Minister Freeland will present the 2023 Federal Budget on March 28. The budget is expected to exercise fiscal restraint while making significant investments in Canada's health-care system and building a clean economy. It will also include targeted inflation relief to help Canadians most affected by inflation.
CCUA, in advance of the budget, took part in multiple pre-budget consultations and launched a pre-election lobbying campaign advocating for government to update the 50-year-old definition of a credit union in the Income Tax Act.
Ahead of the budget, the House of Commons Finance Committee released their pre-budget consultations report. We were pleased to see the report include a recommendation from CCUA's submission to the Committee:
"Ensure credit unions and their members are granted equal and timely access to all federal support programs delivered via the financial sector, be considered when legislation or regulation affecting the financial sector is introduced or amended and include credit-union representatives on financial and economic task forces and advisory bodies."
Inclusion in the report does not guarantee inclusion in or exclusion from the federal budget, and this report is one process in addition to Finance Canada's consultations.
CCUA will release a special newsletter on the evening of March 28 with budget highlights relevant to the sector. In the following weeks, we will outline CCUA's next advocacy steps via the government relations and policy update. Subscribe to the special newsletter and bi-weekly government relations and policy update here.
If you have any questions about the budget, please get in touch with Rachel Barry