Montréal, April 19, 2021 – The Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal welcomes the budget tabled today by the Honourable Chrystia Freeland. It is the first budget tabled by a woman as Minister of Finance of Canada.
“The budget contains initiatives essential to the success of the Relaunch MTL movement,” said Michel Leblanc, president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal. “It includes urgent aid measures that were called for to help strategic sectors of Greater Montréal. The $2 billion in aid for aerospace is an extremely powerful lever to strengthen one of the most structuring sectors of the city’s economy. Granting $1 billion for a strategy for the tourism and culture sectors will support restarting a multitude of businesses that continue to be hit hard by the crisis. These measures will also help strengthen the economy of downtown areas that are not seeing enough customer traffic. We also welcome the investments for growth in our flagship sectors, such as artificial intelligence, life sciences and information technology.”
“The government has understood the importance of supporting SMEs,” Michel Leblanc said. “The announcement of a $1.4 billion investment to support the technology shift of local businesses is in addition to the amounts announced by the Government of Quebec. We emphasized the importance of extending aid measures for businesses. We applaud the Minister’s decision to extend the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy and the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy until September, as well as the creation of a new measure to support hiring until November. This aid will target SMEs that are still feeling the impact and that have not fully restarted their activities.”
“This budget will enable the deployment of major structuring projects in the city and foster a green relaunch,” Michel Leblanc said. “It takes a first step toward making VIA Rail’s high-speed train a reality, by announcing an investment of $491 million over six years for rail infrastructure work. We also note the positive signal this budget sends about the deployment of a new innovation zone in Eastern Montréal and for the redeployment of the Bonaventure autoroute sector.”
“The Chamber notes the government’s commitment to reducing the deficit-GDP ratio by 2025,” Michel Leblanc said. “This is good news that will reassure the markets. This recovery budget was highly anticipated. The Chamber encourages the parties to work together to maintain political stability in the coming months to ensure the measures contained in this budget are passed by Parliament and rapidly deployed. The greater interest of the Canadian economy is at stake.”
About the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal (CCMM)
With a network of over 8,000 members, the CCMM is active on two fronts: being the voice of the Montréal business community and delivering specialized services to businesses and their representatives. With its finger on the pulse of current events, it acts on issues that are decisive for the prosperity of the city’s businesses. With the support of the Acclr experts, the CCMM’s goal is to accelerate the creation and growth of businesses of all sizes, at home and around the world.
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Source:
Dominique Talbot
Advisor, Media Relations
Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal
Tel.: 514 871-4000, ext. 4052
dtalbot@ccmm.ca
Facebook: www.facebook.com/chambremontreal
Twitter: @chambremontreal
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