Ali Ehsassi, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister responsible for Canada-U.S. Trade, Intergovernmental Affairs and One Canadian Economy (Canada-U.S. Trade)
“Life is expensive, so our government is helping Canadians with their costs. We created a benefit to help people pay for groceries, paused the fuel tax for the summer, cancelled the consumer carbon tax, cut income taxes, and cut sales tax on new homes for first-time buyers. We also made our school food program permanent.”
“Madam Speaker, allow me to start off by emphasizing that the global landscape is rapidly changing, leaving businesses, workers and families under a cloud of uncertainty. As a result of all these geopolitical shifts, the costs of groceries and everyday essentials in Canada have been high for way too long. We believe our economy is stronger when it serves everyone. That is why we took action to make groceries and other essentials more affordable in the near term and, in parallel, to promote food security and support innovation in the agricultural and food sectors. To support the people most affected by the rising price of food, in January 2026 we announced a new Canada groceries and essentials benefit to help more than 12 million Canadians afford day-to-day essentials. The Canada groceries and essentials benefit builds on the existing goods and services tax credit and will provide $11.7 billion in additional support over six years. This includes a one-time top-up payment to be issued June 5, equal to a 50% increase in the annual 2025-26 value of the GST credit. This delivers, of course, $3.1 billion in assistance to individuals and families who currently get the GST credit. We know that Canadian household budgets are feeling the squeeze from higher costs. There is no doubt that this spike is causing financial difficulties for far too many individual Canadians. To help Canadians and businesses manage such pressures, our government introduced a temporary suspension of the federal fuel excise tax on gasoline, diesel and aviation fuels. The suspension came into effect on April 20 and will stay in place until and including Labour Day, September 7. This step is expected to lower Canadian bills at the gas station by up to 10¢ per litre in gasoline and four cents on diesel. Such temporary suspensions are expected to save Canadians up to an estimated $5.75 on gasoline when filling up a typical 50-litre tank of fuel. Overall, the suspension is estimated to provide relief of over $2.4 billion in 2026-27. We have done even more to alleviate the pressure from the high cost of fuels on Canadian household budgets. Right after taking office, the Prime Minister cancelled the federal consumer fuel charge, effective April 1, 2025, in a move that directly helped Canadians save money at the pump. As of that very same date, our government also removed the requirement for provinces and territories to have a consumer-facing carbon price. These actions helped reduce gas prices in most provinces and territories by about 18¢ per litre in comparison to 2024-25. There is more. Our government is also delivering major tax breaks to Canadians. Since July 1, Canadians have been paying less tax, after the government lowered the first marginal personal income tax rate from 15% to 14%. Thanks to this change, I would add, 22 million Canadians benefit from tax relief of up to $420 per person, saving two-income families up to $840 this year. Our government has eliminated the GST for first-time buyers on new homes up to $1 million and reduced the GST for first-time homebuyers on new homes between $1 million and $1.5 million. In addition, we have also made the national school food program permanent, providing school meals for up to 400,000 children each year. Despite what the member is suggesting, there are a number of different affordability measures in the update. We are working on that. We are working on investments, and we will continue—”
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“We introduced the Canada groceries and essentials benefit.”
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Madam Speaker, allow me to start off by emphasizing that the global landscape is rapidly changing, leaving businesses, workers and families under a cloud of uncertainty. As a result of all these geopolitical shifts, the costs of groceries and everyday essentials in Canada have been high for way too long. We believe our economy is stronger when it serves everyone. That is why we took action to make groceries and other essentials more affordable in the near term and, in parallel, to promote food security and support innovation in the agricultural and food sectors. To support the people most affected by the rising price of food, in January 2026 we announced a new Canada groceries and essentials benefit to help more than 12 million Canadians afford day-to-day essentials. The Canada groceries and essentials benefit builds on the existing goods and services tax credit and will provide $11.7 billion in additional support over six years. This includes a one-time top-up payment to be issued June 5, equal to a 50% increase in the annual 2025-26 value of the GST credit. This delivers, of course, $3.1 billion in assistance to individuals and families who currently get the GST credit. We know that Canadian household budgets are feeling the squeeze from higher costs. There is no doubt that this spike is causing financial difficulties for far too many individual Canadians. To help Canadians and businesses manage such pressures, our government introduced a temporary suspension of the federal fuel excise tax on gasoline, diesel and aviation fuels. The suspension came into effect on April 20 and will stay in place until and including Labour Day, September 7. This step is expected to lower Canadian bills at the gas station by up to 10¢ per litre in gasoline and four cents on diesel. Such temporary suspensions are expected to save Canadians up to an estimated $5.75 on gasoline when filling up a typical 50-litre tank of fuel. Overall, the suspension is estimated to provide relief of over $2.4 billion in 2026-27. We have done even more to alleviate the pressure from the high cost of fuels on Canadian household budgets. Right after taking office, the Prime Minister cancelled the federal consumer fuel charge, effective April 1, 2025, in a move that directly helped Canadians save money at the pump. As of that very same date, our government also removed the requirement for provinces and territories to have a consumer-facing carbon price. These actions helped reduce gas prices in most provinces and territories by about 18¢ per litre in comparison to 2024-25. There is more. Our government is also delivering major tax breaks to Canadians. Since July 1, Canadians have been paying less tax, after the government lowered the first marginal personal income tax rate from 15% to 14%. Thanks to this change, I would add, 22 million Canadians benefit from tax relief of up to $420 per person, saving two-income families up to $840 this year. Our government has eliminated the GST for first-time buyers on new homes up to $1 million and reduced the GST for first-time homebuyers on new homes between $1 million and $1.5 million. In addition, we have also made the national school food program permanent, providing school meals for up to 400,000 children each year. Despite what the member is suggesting, there are a number of different affordability measures in the update. We are working on that. We are working on investments, and we will continue—