Highlights of the 2019 Federal Budget

Highlights of the 2019 Federal Budget

March 19, 2019 – Following the unveiling of the federal budget by Minister Morneau, the AQT summarizes here some of the highlights that may be of interest to technology companies. Hyperlinks to the official budget document are integrated to facilitate your reading. Recall that Minister Éric Girard will table the provincial budget on Thursday, March 21st. Invited to a closed door meeting, the AQT will send you its observations live from Quebec City.

Positive news for SMEs that use SR & ED credit

Government announces 35% increase rate for SMEs and eliminates taxable income threshold

As a result, SMEs with taxable capital of less than $ 10 million will have unrestricted access to the refundable SR & ED credit, regardless of their taxable income. This access will be progressively reduced as soon as the taxable capital of a company starts to exceed $ 10 million. This measure will apply to taxation years ending on or after Budget Day. See the 2019 Federal Budget on page 444 (Table 5)

Make the Global Talents Program permanent

In order to meet the growing needs of businesses for access to talent and building on the success of the Global Talent pilot project, Budget 2019 proposes to make this component an ongoing program. To implement this new permanent program, the 2019 budget proposes to invest $ 35.2 million over five years, starting in 2019-20, and $ 7.4 million annually thereafter. The list of occupations in shortage includes occupations related to Information Technology (IT) and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Access to this service is facilitated by reference organizations such as AQT.

Technology Careers Promotion

In the 2019 Budget, the government proposes to provide Employment and Social Development Canada with an additional $ 150.0 million over four years, starting in 2020-2021, to create partnerships with innovative businesses to create up to another 20,000 work-integrated learning opportunities per year.

Supply and innovation

The Innovative Solutions Canada program, launched in December 2017, is maintained. It provides an innovative approach to procurement for the Government of Canada for pre-commercial innovations. The program will spend more than $ 100 million on expenditures by the end of March 2020. For more details, take a look at the page 142 of the 2019 Federal Budget

Increased access to broadband Internet

The government confirms the importance of increased access to broadband Internet for all communities, through increased funding to Municipalities for infrastructure. See the 2019 Federal Budget on page 97 (Table 2.2.)

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