What Islanders should know about the 2023 federal budget

The federal government unveiled the budget for the 2023-2024 fiscal year on Tuesday.

The deficit projection has gone up to $40.1 billion, about $10 billion more than the last fiscal update in the fall.

At 250 pages, there's a lot to dive into. Here's just a couple of highlights that may be of interest to Islanders.

The 'grocery rebate'

The federal government announced a one-time "grocery rebate" that will provide up to $467 for a family of four, and $234 for single Canadians with no children. 

That's double the temporary GST rebate announced for lower-income Canadians last fall.

More money for students

The budget also set aside $814 million to help post-secondary students through a series of measures including a 40-per-cent bump to student grants, and an increase in student loan limits to $300 a week. 

The government also increased the limits on Registered Education Savings Plan withdrawals, from $5,000 to $8,000 for full-time students, and from $2,500 to $4,000 for part-time students.

Health care and dental care details

We already knew about the new funding Ottawa plans to provide provinces with its series of health care deals. The budget has $3.6 billion in new spending set aside for the health-care system in the 2023-24 fiscal year.

The budget also revealed details about the dental care plan that's a condition to the New Democrats supporting their government.

Ottawa will put $13 billion to expand dental care to low-income families over the next five years. This year, the program will be expanded to all Canadians under 18 — as opposed to just those under 12 — and seniors.

Money for green investments, farmers

The federal government plans to spend $21 billion over the next five years in incentives fostering Canada's green industry.

That means new tax credits, including a 15 per cent refund for Canadians who invest in clean electricity and energy storage.

Farmers in Eastern Canada are also getting $34.1 million to adopt nitrogen managing practices over the next three years. Fertilizer prices have gone up significantly since Russia invaded Ukraine.

$520 million has been set aside over the next five years for businesses that invest in carbon capture and storage.

Chartering a ferry, and tourism

The government has set aside $29.9 million over the next two years to ensure ferry routes in the Maritimes are "safe and reliable." That includes the chartering of a second vessel travelling between Wood Islands, P.E.I. and Caribou, N.S.

Ottawa also plans to invest $108 million over the next three years for the tourism industry through regional development agencies so they can develop local projects and events.

Trades and seasonal workers

Tradespeople are getting an increased deduction of up to $1,000 to cover new equipment expenses.

A temporary support that provides up to five additional weeks of employment insurance for seasonal workers in some regions, including P.E.I., has also been extended until October 2024.

Credit card fees and consumer right pledges

The government has pledged to fight "junk fees" for things like roaming charges and concert fees, create a "right-to-repair" framework for home appliances, and even developing a common standard for phone and laptop chargers by next year, like the one that already exists in Europe.

They've also announced Visa and MasterCard have agreed to cut credit card fees by up to 27 per cent for small businesses — fees which some organizations have said are passed on through surcharges to consumers.

For air travellers, the government has pledged to strengthen compensation rules for disrupted travel plans.

It's also allocated $1.8 billion over the next five years to improve airports — but passengers will help cover some of the costs: The traveller security surcharge will be going up by almost 33 per cent.

Whale money

The budget proposes $151.9 million over the next three years to help protect Canada's endangered whale species, including the North Atlantic right whale.