Federal Budget Highlights

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s new Federal budget calls for
total spending of $278.7-billion in the fiscal year that starts April 1st, up 1% from 2010-11.
Here are the highlights:
— improved pension benefit for lowest-income seniors of up to
600 dollars a year for singles and 840 dollars for couples, starting
in July.
— new caregiver tax credit worth a maximum of 300 dollars a year
starting in 2012.
— new initiative to attract health-care workers to rural and
remote communities by forgiving up to 40-thousand dollars in student
loans for doctors and 20-thousand for nurses.
— 400-million dollars to extend for an extra year the
ecoENERGY program giving homeowners grants of up to five-thousand
dollars for energy efficient improvements.
— new children’s art credit worth up to 75-dollars a year
starting this year.
— one-time Hiring Credit for small businesses of up to
one-thousand dollars to offset Employment Insurance increases this
year.
— new tax credit worth up to 450 dollars for volunteer
firefighters who perform at least 200 hours of service.
— deficit projected to fall from 40.5-billion dollars in
fiscal 2010 to 29.6 billion in fiscal 2011 and to be virtually
eliminated by 2014-2015.
— Total debt rises to 586 billion dollars in 2011-2012.
— Legislation to make the two billion dollar Gas Tax Fund
permanent to provide predictable infrastructure funding for
municipalities.