Reading Time: 2 minutes Response to disasters, water management and irrigation were the agricultural highlights of Alberta’s recently released 2024 provincial budget. The Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation’s operating expenses received a bump of 9.7 per cent, rising from $77 million in 2023-24 to $870 million for 2024-25. That includes a $49-million increase in reinsurance costs for the Agriculture […] Read more
Ag ministry, insurance among farm takeaways from 2024 Alberta budget
Need for disaster resilience cited for funding increases
Railways push back on feds’ proposed interswitching revival
Railways also oppose ban on replacement workers
With Easter less than two weeks away, an Easter egg in the federal government’s 2023 budget calls for a new pilot program to again provide Prairie grain shippers with extended interswitching. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s budget, released Tuesday, laid out a list of investments to “further strengthen Canada’s transportation systems and supply chain infrastructure.” A […] Read more
Interest-free cash advances get extra lift in federal budget
Fertilizer diversification, solids non-fat processing also up for funding
Federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s latest budget envelope for Canadian farmers up against rising costs of production includes a temporary boost to the interest-free portion of cash advances. Freeland’s 2023 federal budget, released Tuesday, includes $13 million in 2023-24 for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to temporarily increase the interest-free limit for loans under its Advance […] Read more
Saskatchewan clarifying certain on-farm PST exemptions
More items to be specified as exempt in tax regulations
Saskatchewan farmers’ and ranchers’ concerns about some inconsistencies in how and when provincial sales tax is applied to purchases of on-farm equipment will be dealt with in a revised list effective late next week. The province said Wednesday in a budget release that a “number of clarifications” will be made to its Provincial Sales Tax […] Read more
Saskatchewan budget aims to spur ag investment
Potash, crude oil resource revenues help cut deficit
Sweetening existing tax credits on big-ticket investments, and setting up a new Crown corporation to support Indigenous investors, are among the items expected to help encourage new value-added ag projects in Saskatchewan’s latest budget. Provincial Finance Minister Donna Harpauer on Wednesday released her 2022-23 budget with $17.6 billion in expenditures on $17.2 billion in revenues, […] Read more
Federal budget plays to mixed reviews from ag groups
Funding for green initiatives, carbon pricing rebate plan hailed
The Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) says it is “pleased” the 2021 federal budget included some of the recommendations it had made. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s first budget, released April 19, included significant spending to help producers transition to a greener economy and cited agriculture as a foundational pillar of Canada’s future. “CFA will be […] Read more
Federal budget to offer direct payments to farmers for carbon pricing
Other new 'green growth' funding also on deck
The federal government’s 2021 budget offers up new spending to support farmers combatting climate change through targeted investments — and, in some cases, direct payments. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland released the budget Monday, showing the majority of new spending will take place over three years and be largely focused on “green growth.” “Budget 2021 announces […] Read more
Manitoba’s education tax phase-out begins
Budget pledges a 25 per cent rebate cheque in 2021; existing farmland school tax rebate to be reduced
Manitoba’s latest budget follows through on a move the government telegraphed in last fall’s throne speech, by starting a phased removal of education tax on farm and residential properties. Finance Minister Scott Fielding’s budget, released Wednesday, calls for about $248 million in education tax rebates in 2021 alone for about 658,000 property owners. Owners of […] Read more
Saskatchewan to pare school tax mill rate for farmland
EPT mill rates to rise for residential, other properties
Saskatchewan’s latest budget taps down the education property tax (EPT) mill rate it sets on farmland, while raising those mill rates on other property classes. The provincial government, in Tuesday’s budget, set the provincewide EPT mill rate on agricultural land for 2021 at 1.36, down slightly from the previous rate of 1.43. EPT mill rates […] Read more
Budget could include new BRM program, ag labour plan
Proposal for 'AgriResilience' program goes to Freeland
A new pre-budget report from the House of Commons’ finance committee is recommending several measures directly related to agriculture — including sought-after tweaks to AgriStability and creation of an entirely new business risk management program. The multipartisan committee heard testimony and received submissions from more than 800 groups and individuals. Mostly-virtual meetings took place in […] Read more
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