The Canadian federal budget for the fiscal years of 2020–21 and 2021–22 was presented to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

finance minister A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

Chrystia Freeland Christina Alexandra Freeland (born August 2, 1968) is a Canadian politician and journalist who has served as the Member of Parliament (Canada), member of Parliament (MP) for University—Rosedale (federal electoral district), University—Rose ...

on 19 April 2021. The

Canadian government The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes ministers of the Crown ( ...

did not produce a budget in 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Instead, the government produced a series of economic updates and stimulus plans throughout the year.

Background

A Canadian federal budget for

fiscal year A fiscal year (also known as a financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. La ...

2020–21 was initially supposed to be presented to the House of Commons by Finance Minister

Bill Morneau William Francis Morneau Jr. (born October 7, 1962) is a Canadian businessman and former politician who served as minister of finance and member of Parliament (MP) for Toronto Centre from 2015 to 2020. Morneau was the executive chairman of ...

on 30 March 2020. However, this was delayed due to the COVID-19 outbreak in Canada. On 17 June 2020,

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau (born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who served as the 23rd prime minister of Canada from 2015 to 2025. He led the Liberal Party from 2013 until his resignation in 2025 and was the member of Parliament ...

announced that the finance minister would table a fiscal and economic ''snapshot'' on 8 July 2020. This document was shorter than a budget or even a regular Fall Economic Statement as it did not incorporate medium or long-term projections.

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

and

Bloc Bloc may refer to: Government and politics * Political bloc, a coalition of political parties * Trade bloc, a type of intergovernmental agreement * Voting bloc, a group of voters voting together * Black bloc, a tactic used by protesters who wear ...

oppositions criticized the government for lack of transparency and asked for a more comprehensive document to be tabled. On 30 November 2020, newly appointed finance minister Chrystia Freeland presented a federal fiscal update to the House of Commons. The document called for increased spending to child benefits and to the

wage subsidy A wage subsidy is a payment to workers by the state, made either directly or through their employers. Its purposes are to redistribute income and to obviate the welfare trap attributed to other forms of relief, thereby reducing unemployment. It is ...

. The update extended multiple federal COVID response aid programs to March or June 2021. The update also included industry-specific aid packages for economic sectors hard-hit by the pandemic, notably for the

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines ...

industry. On 23 March 2021, Freeland announced during question period that the budget for 2021 would be tabled on 19 April.

Measures

The budget announced the creation of a national

child care Child care, also known as day care, is the care and supervision of one or more children, typically ranging from three months to 18 years old. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(ren), childcare typica ...

plan. The $30 billion proposal plans to reduce

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

prices by 50 percent in 2022, and to reduce their prices to $10 per day by 2026. The budget included a host of new targeted taxes, including taxes on luxury cars, jets or boats, a 1% tax on vacant homes owned by non-citizens, and a tax on digital services (dubbed the "Netflix tax"). The budget also created a tax on

vaping An electronic cigarette (e-cigarette), or vape, is a device that simulates smoking. It consists of an Construction of electronic cigarettes#Atomizer and tank, atomizer, a power source such as a battery, and a container such as a cartridge or ...

products, and increased the tax on

cigarettes A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhaled via the oppo ...

. Canada's federal deficit for the fiscal year 2020–21 is expected to be $354.2 billion.

Legislative history

The first implementation bill of the 2021 budget was definitely adopted on 23 June 2021 with support from the Liberals,

New Democrats New Democrats may refer to: * New Democratic Party, a social democratic party in Canada * New Democrats (United States), the ideological centrist faction of the Democratic Party ** New Democrat Coalition, the related caucus in the United State ...

(except Scott Duvall, MP for

Hamilton Mountain Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton is located on the western end of the Niagara Peninsula and wraps around the westernmost part of the Lake Ontario. Most of the city including the downtown section lies along the south shore. Situated in the geographic c ...

who voted against),

Bloc Québécois The Bloc Québécois (, , BQ) is a centre-left politics, centre-left and list of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada devoted to Quebec nationalism, Quebecois nationalism, social democracy, and the promotion o ...

and

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...

MPs. All

MPs present in the House voted against the bill.

References

;Works cited: * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Canadian federal budget, 2021

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

2020 in Canadian politics 2021 in Canadian politics 43rd Canadian Parliament Budget, 2021 Budget, 2021 April 2021 in Canada