By Barry Ellsworth
TRENTON, Canada (AA) – Canadians who earned less than CAN$150,000 (US$107,000) in 2023 will get $250 under the Working Canadians rebate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday.
The federal government estimates that a total of 18.7 million Canadians are eligible.
Also, there will be a “holiday” on federal tax on purchases of an array of products from Dec. 14 to Feb. 15, 2025, Trudeau said.
The rebate and tax break programs are to help Canadians hit hard in the wallet by inflation and rising prices, particularly groceries.
"For two months, Canadians are going to get a real break on everything they do," Trudeau said at a media event in Newmarket, a city north of Toronto.
"Our government can't set prices at the checkout, but we can put more money in peoples' pockets. That's going to give people the relief they need. People are squeezed, and we're there to help," he added.
The tax will be halted on a long list of products including restaurant meals, beer and wine, books, children’s clothing and toys, diapers and Christmas trees.
Basically, all food will be free of tax for two months. How much will be saved due to the pause in federal tax depends on where you live, since the charge varies among provinces.
But in Ontario, Canada’s most populated province, with more than 16 million people, buying $2,000 of eligible products will save about $260, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reported.
But the largesse comes at a cost. The tax holiday alone will result in about $1.6 billion in lost revenue to the government, while the $250 rebate will add up to an expenditure of around $4.68 billion, a finance official told the CBC.
Some believe the programs will result in a boost in inflation, which has hounded Canadians for the past few years, but Trudeau said the tax holiday and rebate are “not going to stimulate inflation.”