2021 Election Platform Guide
Stay up-to-date on what the Liberals, Conservatives, New Democrats and Greens have promised Canadians as the parties go into campaign mode
Canadians go to the polls on Sept. 20. We are once again assembling a list of promises made by the four major political parties, updating as information becomes available. In addition, we have added links and details for the cost of specific promises, as calculated by the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO). Note: not all promises are costed by the PBO.
For a look at the Bloc Quebecois’s policies, click here. See the People’s Party of Canada platform here. Did we miss something? Let us know by emailing [email protected].
Originally published: July 23, 2021 Latest update: Sept. 17, 2021
Here’s what each party has promised so far on every major issue.
Taxes
Liberal platform
- Make the financial institutions with earnings of more than $1 billion pay more by increasing their income tax rates from 15 to 18 per cent. (source, PBO analysis)
- Create a minimum tax rule so that those in the top tax bracket pay at least 15 per cent income tax. (source, PBO analysis)
- Create a Canada Recovery Dividend for the largest financial firms, which have “recovered faster and stronger than many other industries,” at $5.5 billion over five years. (source, PBO analysis)
- Tax vacant properties of non-residents (See Housing). (source)
- Create a luxury tax on new cars and private aircraft (worth at least $100,000, excluding motorcycles, racing cars, motor homes, farm vehicles etc.) and pleasure boats (at least $250,000). (source)
- Increase the income level at which the Canada Workers Benefit starts to be reduced to $22,944 for individuals, and $26,177 for families. The tax refund is up to $2,400. (source)
- Reduce the tax rates of zero-emission technology firms by 50 per cent (See Environment). (source, PBO analysis)
- Investment tax credit for capital in carbon capture projects with a goal of reducing emissions by at least 15 megatonnes of carbon dioxide annually. (source)
- Change the Climate Action Incentive payment from an annual refundable credit to a quarterly payment. (source)
- Update the assessments for the Disability Tax Credit, so that an estimated 45,000 additional people will qualify. (source)
- Implement a Digital Services Tax of three per cent on revenue of digital services from Canadian users for businesses with revenues exceeding the an OECD-set threshold of 750 million euros. (source)
- Reduce the amount of interest that can be deduced by certain businesses from 40 per cent of earnings in the first year, and then to 30 per cent, to limit excessive deductions by large corporations. (source)
- Eliminate the tax benefits of so-called hybrid-mismatch arrangements, used largely by multinationals, which should increase revenues by $775 million over four years. (source)
- Strengthen the Canadian Revenue Agency’s ability to combat complex tax schemes; amend the Income Tax Act to combat tax collection avoidance schemes. (source, PBO analysis)
Conservative platform
- Give Canadians a month-long “holiday” from paying the five per cent federal goods and services tax, for $1.8 billion. (source, PBO analysis)
- Double the Canada Workers Benefit to a maximum of $2,800 per person or $5,000 per family, for $24 billion over five years. (source, PBO analysis)
- Upgrade the office of the Taxpayer Ombudsman to an officer of Parliament. (source)
- Review the tax system and change penalties so first-time errors receive minor fines. (source)
- Introduce a five per cent tax credit for capital investments made in 2022-2023, for $13.8 billion; for small businesses the first $25,000 is refundable. (source, PBO analysis)
- Up the disbursement quota for charitable foundations to 7.5 per cent a year. (source)
- Let businesses with less than $60,000 in revenues use simple cash accounting. (source)
- Exempt Canadian start-ups that have at least ⅔ of their employees in Canada from the plan to tax stock options. (source)
- Increase the disability supplement from $744 to $1,500. (source, PBO analysis)
- Work towards a single income tax return for Quebec. (source)
- Introduce flow-through shares (a tax-based financing incentive) to make investment in small tech start-ups more attractive. (source)
- Cut the income tax rate in half for new patented technologies developed in Canada. (source, PBO analysis)
- Introduce a tax credit for Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage technology (See Climate Change and Environment). (source)
- Implement a new carbon pricing scheme (See Climate Change and Environment). (source)
- Tax relief for facilities that buy high-cost emissions reduction technology (See Climate Change and Environment). (source)
NDP platform
- Tax the sale of homes to non-residents, which will bring in $2.4 billion over five years (See Housing) (source, PBO analysis)
- Create a minimum tax rule so that those in the top tax bracket pay at least 15 per cent income tax. (source)
- Invest $100 million in the Canada Revenue Agency so it can enforce tax rules, especially against tax evasion. (source, PBO analysis)
- Introduce a temporary COVID-19 excess profit tax of 15 per cent tax on large corporate windfalls earned during the pandemic, which will bring in $14.6 billion in 2021-22. (source, PBO analysis)
- Increase the capital gains inclusion rate to 75 per cent, which will bring in $44.7 billion over five years. (source, PBO analysis)
- Boost the top marginal tax rate by two points to 35 per cent for those making over $210,000 a year, which will bring in $3.4 billion over five years. (source, PBO analysis)
- Enact a luxury goods tax on items like yachts and private jets. (source)
- Enact a one per cent wealth tax on people with more than $10 million in wealth, which will bring in $60 billion over five years. (source, PBO analysis)
- Roll back the three-point cut to corporate income tax enacted by the Harper government, to bring it back to the 2010 level of 18 per cent, while keeping the small business tax rate at its current level, which will bring in $25.9 billion over five years. (source, PBO analysis)
- Close loopholes by eliminating bearer shares, forcing companies to prove economic reasons for offshore transactions and improving transparency on taxes paid by large corporations, which will bring in $12.2 billion over five years. (source, PBO analysis)
- Make the Canada Caregiver Tax Credit refundable so that low-income recipients benefit. (source)
