Canadians have a choice to move forward and grow the middle class — for everyone

September 11, 2021

em>Mississauga, Ontario – A re-elected Liberal government will move forward on finishing the fight against COVID-19, regaining the jobs lost to the pandemic, and continuing to grow the economy by looking out for our middle class.
The Liberals came to Ottawa to stand up for the middle class and people working hard to join it. From day one, we focused on having Canadians’ backs by creating the Canada Child Benefit and cutting taxes for the middle class by raising them on the top one per cent. This approach helped grow the economy, allowed us to raise over 400,000 kids out of poverty, and gave us the fiscal firepower to be there for Canadians throughout the pandemic. Now, as we roll out our plan to finish the fight against COVID-19 and build a better Canada, we are going to continue our work to make life more affordable and make sure no one is left behind.

“A strong economy starts with a strong middle class,” said Justin Trudeau, Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. “As we build back from the pandemic, we need to create an economy that allows more women, youth, Indigenous people, and other vulnerable groups to be part of our recovery. The cornerstone of this economic plan is ensuring affordable child care for every Canadian parent. By delivering $10 a day childcare, we’re going to save families in the Greater Toronto Area up to $20,000 per year, per child. Erin O’Toole will rip up the work we’ve already done to make affordable child care a reality, leaving some families to pay nearly $2,000 a month, per child, for child care.”

Our plan will build hundreds of thousands of new child care spaces across the country and enable Canadian women and those working hard to join the middle class to get back on the job, boosting our nation’s economic recovery. As of yesterday Canada has recovered 95 per cent of the jobs lost to the pandemic – we can’t go backward now. We must move forward – for everyone.

In order to continue to grow the middle class, a re-elected Liberal government will:

• Require travellers on all planes, trains, and cruise ships to be vaccinated so we can finish the fight against COVID-19.
• Deliver $10 a day Canada-wide child care and a 50 percent reduction in costs for families by 2022, and work with Quebec to build on its child care system to create 37,000 new childcare spaces and improve the working conditions of child care educators.
• Help first time homebuyers save up to $30,000.
• Ask the largest banks and insurance companies to do a little more to share the dividend of their pandemic profitability with Canadians who want to achieve the dream of becoming homeowners.
• Reduce Canadians’ energy bills with $4,000 grants and interest-free loans of up to $40,000 to upgrade their homes.
• Permanently eliminate the federal interest on Canada Student Loans and Canada Apprentice Loans.

This builds on the Liberal government’s leadership since 2015, including:

• Cutting taxes for the middle class by raising them on the wealthiest one per cent.
• Giving more money to nine out of 10 Canadian families and helping lift more than 400,000 kids out of poverty with the Canada Child Benefit.
• Investing in the National Housing Strategy and Rapid Housing Initiative to build thousands of new homes while creating jobs, growing the middle class, and reducing chronic homelessness.

“We’ve accomplished a lot since 2015 to grow the middle class and build a country where no one is left behind, but we need to keep moving forward,” said Justin Trudeau. “In this important election, Canadians have a choice: Let Erin O’Toole take us backward with tax breaks for the wealthy that leave middle class Canadians behind, or keep moving forward – for everyone.”

For more information, please contact:
media@liberal.ca
613-627-2384