CREATING THE CONDITIONS FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH: TOOLS FOR PEOPLE, BUSINESSES AND COMMUNITIES Report of the Standing Committee on Finance Hon. Wayne Easter Chair DECEMBER 2016 42nd PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION Published under the authority of the Speaker of the House of Commons SPEAKER’S PERMISSION Reproduction of the proceedings of the House of Commons and its Committees, in whole or in part and in any medium, is hereby permitted provided that the reproduction is accurate and is not presented as official. This permission does not extend to reproduction, distribution or use for commercial purpose of financial gain. Reproduction or use outside this permission or without authorization may be treated as copyright infringement in accordance with the Copyright Act. Authorization may be obtained on written application to the Office of the Speaker of the House of Commons. Reproduction in accordance with this permission does not constitute publication under the authority of the House of Commons. 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Also available on the Parliament of Canada Web Site at the following address: http://www.parl.gc.ca CREATING THE CONDITIONS FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH: TOOLS FOR PEOPLE, BUSINESSES AND COMMUNITIES Report of the Standing Committee on Finance Hon. Wayne Easter Chair DECEMBER 2016 42nd PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION STANDING COMMITTEE ON FINANCE CHAIR Hon. Wayne Easter VICE-CHAIRS Ron Liepert Guy Caron MEMBERS Dan Albas Jennifer O’Connell Gérard Deltell Robert-Falcon Ouellette Raj Grewal Francesco Sorbara Steven MacKinnon OTHER MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT WHO PARTICIPATED Ziad Aboultaif Julie Dzerowicz Leona Alleslev Joël Godin Charlie Angus Stéphane Lauzon Niki Ashton Phil McColeman Chris Bittle Glen Motz Sylvie Boucher John Nater Richard Cannings Hon. Lisa Raitt Sean Casey Blake Richards Earl Dreeshen Randeep Sarai Pierre-Luc Dusseault Erin Weir iii CLERK OF THE COMMITTEE Suzie Cadieux LIBRARY OF PARLIAMENT Parliamentary Information and Research Service Dylan Gowans, Analyst Florian Richard, Analyst Clare Annett, Research Assistant In Collaboration With Michaël Lambert-Racine, Analyst iv THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON FINANCE has the honour to present its ELEVENTH REPORT Pursuant to its mandate under Standing Order 83.1, the Committee has studied proposals in the budgetary policy of the government and has agreed to report the following: v TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER TWO: PEOPLE ............................................................................................. 3 A. HEALTH ................................................................................................................. 3 1. Health Care Funding and Research ................................................................. 3 2. Medicines and Other Health Products .............................................................. 4 3. Health Care Locations and Support for Caregivers .......................................... 5 4. Mental Health ................................................................................................... 5 5. Healthy Living ................................................................................................... 6 6. Particular Medical Conditions ........................................................................... 7 7. The Committee’s Recommendations ............................................................... 8 B. EDUCATION AND SKILLS TRAINING .................................................................. 9 1. Work-Integrated Learning ................................................................................. 9 2. Literacy, Numeracy and Digital Skills ............................................................. 10 3. Financial Support for Students and Educational Institutions .......................... 11 4. The Committee’s Recommendations .............................................................. 12 C. EMPLOYMENT .................................................................................................... 13 1. Employment Insurance Program and Canada Pension Plan ......................... 13 2. Labour Market Information, Participation, Integration and Mobility ................. 15 3. Labour Market Development Agreements and Canada Job Fund Agreements .................................................................................................... 17 4. The Committee’s Recommendation ............................................................... 18 D. PERSONAL TAXES ............................................................................................. 19 1. Personal Income Tax Rates, Credits and Deductions, and Capital Gains Taxation ......................................................................................................... 19 2. Retirement Savings ........................................................................................ 20 3. The Committee’s Recommendations .............................................................. 21 E. ADDITIONAL PROPOSALS FOR SPECIFIC GROUPS ...................................... 22 1. Seniors ........................................................................................................... 23 2. People with Disabilities ................................................................................... 23 3. Indigenous Peoples ........................................................................................ 24 4. Those with Limited Means .............................................................................. 26 vii 5. Veterans ......................................................................................................... 26 6. Refugees and Immigrants .............................................................................. 27 7. Francophones ................................................................................................ 28 8. Hutterites ........................................................................................................ 29 9. Those in Other Countries ............................................................................... 29 10. The Committee’s Recommendations ............................................................ 30 CHAPTER THREE: BUSINESSES ............................................................................... 33 A. CORPORATE TAXES, REGULATIONS AND FEES ........................................... 33 1. Corporate Tax Rates and Other Tax Measures ............................................. 34 2. Capital Cost Allowance Rates ........................................................................ 35 3. Transfer of a Business to a New Owner ......................................................... 36 4. Regulations and Credit Card Fees ................................................................. 37 5. The Committee’s Recommendations ............................................................. 38 B. SUPPORTS FOR NEW AND EXPANDING BUSINESSES ................................. 39 1. Regional Development Agencies ................................................................... 39 2. Entrepreneurs ................................................................................................ 40 3. Clusters and Incubators ................................................................................. 40 4. Access to Financing ....................................................................................... 41 5. The Committee’s Recommendations ............................................................. 42 C. EMPLOYMENT .................................................................................................... 43 1. Labour Shortages ........................................................................................... 43 2. Incentives to Create Jobs and Train Employees ............................................ 44 3. The Committee’s Recommendations ............................................................. 45 D. RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, INNOVATION AND COMMERCIALIZATION .... 46 1. Tax and Program Measures ........................................................................... 47 2. Discovery and Applied Research, and Research Granting Councils .............. 48 3. Commercialization .......................................................................................... 48 4. The Committee’s Recommendations ............................................................. 49 E. TRADE AND INVESTMENT ................................................................................ 50 1. International Trade ......................................................................................... 51 2. Foreign Direct Investment .............................................................................