Budget 2003

Boosting entrepreneurship and investment

February 18, 2003
Ottawa, Ontario

A Better Tax System

Budget 2003 includes new initiatives that build on our five-year, $100-billion tax reduction plan to improve our tax system and provide incentives to work, save, and invest.

Budget 2003 encourages Canadians to save for their retirement – and reduce their income tax – by increasing the limits to registered retirement savings plans to $18,000 by 2006 and making corresponding increases to employer-sponsored registered pension plan. These new limits will be indexed.

Other initiatives include:

1. supporting entrepreneurs and small business by raising the small business deduction limit to $300,000 from $200,000 over four years;
2. strengthening investment in Canada by eliminating the federal capital tax over five years with medium-sized businesses benefitting first;
3. enhancing the Film or Video Production Services Tax Credit;
4. extending the temporary mineral exploration tax credit;
5. improving the taxation of resource income in Canada by reducing the sector’s corporate tax rate to 21 per cent over the next five years and making changes to the tax structure of this sector.

Support for Business

To increase access to venture capital, we are investing $190 million in equity to the Business Development Bank of Canada to better help new and growing businesses.

Budget 2003 provides $25 million a year to the National Research Council’s Industrial Research Assistance Program.

We will support Aboriginal entrepreneurship and business development with a $20 million investment in Aboriginal Business Canada.

To promote venture capital investment in agriculture and agri-food, Budget 2003 provides $20 million over the next two years to Farm Credit Canada.

We are lowering the Employment Insurance employee premium rate for 2004 by 12 cents to $1.98 per $100 of insurable earnings from $2.10 in 2003. This is the tenth consecutive annual reduction in the rate and represents annual savings for employers and employees of $9.7 billion in 2004.