News Releases

News Release - Manitoba

October 9, 2020

Province Presents 2020-21 Budget Implementation Bill

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Proposed Legislation Would Implement Budget Tax Cuts, Make Life More Affordable for Manitobans: Fielding

The Manitoba government has introduced legislation required to implement the tax cuts announced in Budget 2020 and bring relief to Manitoba households and businesses, Finance Minister Scott Fielding announced today.
 
“We are giving Manitobans a break by putting money back on the kitchen table for families, seniors and households,” said Fielding. “Our government is committed to making life affordable for Manitobans through lower taxes and other cost-saving measures, which is even more important as we face the financial strain caused by COVID-19.”
 
The proposed budget implementation and tax statutes amendment act, 2020 is the procedural legislation that supports the summary budget and amends tax legislation. 
 
The act would:
confirm a commitment made in March to raise the thresholds of the Health and Post-Secondary Education Tax Levy, which will benefit approximately 1,000 Manitoba medium-sized businesses and exempt 220 employers from the payroll tax;
formalize the Seniors Economic Recovery Credit that was advanced to more than 226,000 Manitobans in May in response to COVID-19;
eliminate probate fees on approximately 3,500 estates each year;
energize the film sector by increasing the Film and Video Production Tax Credit to 38 per cent of eligible production costs for Manitoba production corporations; 
increase the number of child-care spaces eligible for the Child Care Centre Development Tax Credit to 682; and
improve accountability by remediating funds used by the previous government to collect various fees and levies that were not being used for their intended purposes. This also includes the Manitoba Health Services Insurance Fund, as recommended by Manitoba’s auditor general, to remove an unnecessary and unique-to-Manitoba procedural step in health service funding unrelated to health care or health coverage. 
 
“We are cleaning up the mess created by these special funds to keep our government’s accounting methods transparent to Manitobans,” said Fielding. “We’re keeping our promises to reduce the payroll tax and eliminate death taxes so Manitoban businesses and families can keep more of their hard-earned money.” 
 
The act would also expand the scope of the auditor general’s investigative powers to hold accountable government and public bodies that receive taxpayer funds.
 
The province would legislate a 2.9 per cent increase to electric and natural gas rates for 2021. Fielding noted the opposition blocked a bill in spring 2020 that proposed multi-year rate hearings in the near future, which would improve long-term planning for the Public Utilities Board and Crown corporations and protect ratepayers. 
 
Fielding noted the budget implementation bill would help the province move on from the previous administration’s long-standing practice that required Manitoba Child and Family Services authorities and agencies to remit the federal Children’s Special Allowance. The government ended that practice in April 2019. Agencies and authorities now retain the allowance and also receive single-envelope provincial funding, which is providing them an additional $15 million than they received under the previous funding model.
 
To accelerate the building of 13 new additional schools and minimize administrative complexity, the Manitoba government plans to dissolve the Public Schools Finance Board and transfer the management of school capital projects to the Department of Central Services, which manages capital investments for buildings on behalf of the province. 
 
The province will follow through on its Budget 2020 commitment to transition the Manitoba Habitat Heritage Corporation from a government agency to a charitable non-profit corporate structure to better attract new resources to support wetlands conservation. It will also enhance the Fish and Wildlife Enhancement Fund by removing unnecessary administrative steps and providing dedicated funding to support conservation initiatives.
 
Fielding estimated Budget 2020 tax measures and COVID-19 initiatives will save the average Manitoba household $812 this year. 
 
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