Posted at 4:13 p.m.
Cost of living: Minister Girard’s check
This is the most striking measure in the budget. With an inflation rate expected to be 4.65% for the whole of 2022, Finance Minister Eric Girard says he is worried about the economic impact on households. In this context, the government is granting a one-time sum of $500 to all Quebecers whose annual income was $100,000 or less last year. This check will take the form of a refundable tax credit automatically paid when the 2021 tax return is filed. The measure represents an expenditure of 3.2 billion dollars and affects 6.4 million people. Prisoners and people who moved outside Quebec before 1er last January will not be eligible.
This check, sent a few months before the elections, is not electoral, defends Quebec. The Minister of Finance explains in his budget that “part of the increase in the cost of living is offset by the indexation of the personal tax system by 2.64% in 2022. [Mais] forecast inflation for 2022 is 4.65%. […] The one-time amount helps Quebecers compensate for this gap. »
“Refoundation” of the health system: money before the plan
The Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, promised a “refoundation” of the health system, bruised by the COVID-19 pandemic. His colleague in Finance, Eric Girard, now defines the sums he will have to do so. Quebec is investing $8.9 billion over five years, including “$5.2 billion to restore the health and social services system and $3.7 billion to improve care and services to the population”. Of this envelope, $1.3 billion is provided for in the 2022-2023 budget. The rest of the investment is broken down to 2026-2027.
Minister Dubé’s “refoundation” plan, which will be tabled shortly, will be deployed on four axes. The government wants to improve access to data, modernize information technologies (while the network is struggling to share patient health data between establishments), focus on human resources in a context of labor scarcity. work and maintain the quality of infrastructure.
On this last point, “the 2022-2032 Quebec Infrastructure Plan (PQI) provides for investments of $22.8 billion for the health and social services sector” while “the portion of investments intended to maintain state of current infrastructure represents 47% of [ces investissements]and that devoted to new infrastructures in support of development represents 53% of this”.
Education: priority to perseverance
After the deployment of health measures in schools and the closure of classes during outbreaks of COVID-19, school perseverance is again highlighted as a priority. The government is making additional investments of $1.6 billion over five years – $275 million for the 2022-2023 fiscal year – to keep young people (and teachers) in school, maintain the tutoring program and renovate schools , while some show an advanced level of dilapidation.
For university students, the government provides 1.2 billion over five years (246.7 million in 2022-2023) to improve access to studies and graduation. The financial assistance program for studies, which takes into consideration the income of the parents or spouse, will also be reviewed in the context where “some students see their financial assistance reduced considerably”.
“In order to financially help more students to pursue their studies, the government wishes to raise, as of 2022-2023, the threshold from which the income of the parents or spouse is considered, from $55,000 to $75,000. $ for parents living together, from $50,000 to $65,000 for a parent living alone or for a sponsor, and from $48,000 to $63,000 for a spouse”, specifies the budget.
Economy and housing: focus on productivity
The Legault government is returning to the charge with its oft-repeated goal of closing the wealth gap between Quebec and Ontario. “This gap, measured by GDP per capita, has increased from 16.4% in 2018 to 13.6% in 2022. And we have the goal of reducing it to 10% by 2026 and eliminating it completely by 2036,” wrote the Minister of Finance, Eric Girard, in the budget speech.
To achieve this, Quebec asserts that “increasing productivity is the main lever for increasing Quebec’s wealth.” Mr. Girard therefore plans investments of $4.2 billion over six years to “increase the productivity of the economy, strengthen the employment integration of immigrants, support the economic development of the regions, and support the recovery”.
“Basically, 20% of the increase in wealth needed to eliminate the standard of living gap with Ontario will have to be filled by an increase in the pool of workers and the employment rate of the labor force, and 80% by a increased productivity,” the budget states.
To help families and workers find housing in a context sometimes described as a housing crisis, the Legault government is investing $634 million over six years to “complete the delivery of nearly 3,500 AccèsLogis housing units, build 1,000 additional units as part of of the Quebec Affordable Housing Program, to grant rent supplements and to help the municipalities”.
Environment and community: $1 billion more in the Plan for a green economy
The government has itself acknowledged that the environment was a weak point in its last election campaign. A few months before the general elections, he announces that he is adding $1 billion for the implementation of his Plan for a Green Economy 2030, which will have a total envelope of “7.6 billion dollars over five years to fight against climate change”.
Of this amount, “$5.8 billion are planned to help reduce GHG emissions, including $3.5 billion for the transportation sector ($717 million in 2022-2023), $1.3 billion for the industrial sector (197.1 million in 2022-2023); and $758 million for the building sector ($85.2 million in 2022-2023)”. Quebec is also extending the Roulez vert program, which “makes it possible to grant discounts for the acquisition of several types of electric vehicles, but also for the purchase and installation of charging stations at home, at work and in buildings. multiple dwellings.
To community organizations, some of which have been in great demand since the start of the pandemic, Quebec is planning investments of $1.1 billion over five years to deploy the Government Action Plan for Community Action 2022-2027. The government believes that this sum “will provide an unprecedented increase in financial support to organizations” and “will give them the means to improve their services and strengthen their action by hiring staff”.
Portrait of finances: growth in expenses
In 2022-2023, the main government missions will see sustained growth in spending. They will reach 6.3% growth in health and social services, while they will be 5.4% in education (13.1% in higher education).
“The budgetary balance within the meaning of the public accounts shows a deficit of $3.0 billion in 2022-2023 and a surplus as of 2023-2024. Considering the requirements of the Balanced Budget Actthe budgetary balance shows a deficit of $6.5 billion in 2022-2023 and a structural deficit of $2.8 billion in 2026-2027,” the budget states.
The government still anticipates a return to balanced budgets by 2027-2028. “Thanks to the strong economic recovery, the gross debt burden will reach 43.1% of GDP as of March 31, 2022, which is below the 45% target set in the Act to reduce the debt and establish the Generations Fund. This is a 6.1 percentage point improvement over the March 2021 budget forecast. In 2022-2023, Quebec plans a provision for economic risks and stimulus measures of $2.5 billion in 2022-2023.
The 2022-2032 Québec Infrastructure Plan (PQI) is increased by $7.5 billion. “Over the past four years, the PQI has been increased each year, from $100.4 billion in March 2018 to $142.5 billion in March 2022,” the budget recalls.