Seven things you may have missed in the 2019 federal budget

Finance Minister Bill Morneau tabled his 4th budget on March 19th — this government’s last budget before heading into an election this fall. We won’t replicate the coverage of the key themes. But beyond the headlines, there are lots of other important details in the 464 page document. Here are seven interesting things that you may have missed.

1. The government is looking for new, more flexible ways to regulate emerging technologies.

The government will be rolling out “regulatory roadmaps” for three major regulators in the federal government — the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Health Canada, and Transport Canada. Along with standard references to harmonization and modernization, the budget places a strong emphasis on new more flexible approaches like regulatory sandboxes that can provide a more flexible operating environment around new technologies with a lower regulatory burden. Details of a new External Advisory Committee on Regulatory Competitiveness are expected in the coming weeks to provide advice on how these approaches can be brought to other sectors.

2. The gender report accompanying the budget shows that very few of the initiatives target women specifically

You may have noticed that the budget was accompanied by a separate “Gender Report” which rolls up gender-based analysis of each budget initiative. Of the 197 single initiatives in the budget, 53 incorporated GBA+ before the “midpoint” of policy or program development (in time to influence development more significantly).

We crunched the numbers and found that the government expects 143 of the initiatives to be neutral, benefiting men and women equally. Thirty-five initiatives are expected to benefit more men than women, of which 9 are expected to “predominantly” benefit men (meaning over 80% of beneficiaries are expected to men). Nineteen initiatives are expected to benefit more women than men, of which 4 are expected to predominantly benefit women.

Beyond gender impacts, the Gender Report also includes analysis of the expected inter-generational impacts of policies, as well as the impact on people of different income levels.

3. More funding to fight fake news

The government is proposing to fund a new “Digital Democracy Project” with $19.4 million over 4 years to support research and policy development on online disinformation. This would be led by the Department of Canadian Heritage, and is on top of the $7.5 million over 2 years announced earlier this year for the “Digital Citizen Initiative” focused on civic and news literacy.

4. [Some] new parents will get better parental leave

Most post-graduate and post-doctoral researchers are not eligible for parental leave under EI because their research grants don’t count as regular employment — even if they are paid to work on that research full-time. The budget commits funding ($37.4 million over 5 years) to the federal granting councils (like the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council) to extend paid parental leave for “student” researchers from 6 months to 12.

5. Behind the new Canada Training Benefit is a new kind of infrastructure for the social safety net

The new Canada Training Benefit (a $250 credit per year to be used for lifelong learning for workers) is one of the centerpieces of the government’s budget, part of a broader focus on skills and training. The way the government plans to deliver the benefit could have much broader implications for policy and program design. Rather than contribute cash to a bank account the way the government does with contributions to Registered Education Savings Plans, they propose to “set aside” $250 each year in an account balance that can be viewed from CRA, and claimed on taxes. This kind of virtual account could be used to improve access to RESPs or other savings programs, and could provide the infrastructure to use “personal budget” approaches in other areas.

6. The Canada Revenue Agency has its eye on Bitcoin tax evasion

The tax authorities will be getting additional resources for auditors, data analysts and other tools to combat tax avoidance. In particular, they will be “building technical expertise to target non-compliance associated with cryptocurrency transactions and the digital economy.” So much for our plans for illicit wealth sheltered in meme-based financial instruments.

7. Work to make it easier to access government services online

The ongoing Phoenix pay system saga is not the only story of government IT. There are a number of announcements sprinkled throughout the budget that are aimed at digital government and could make it easier for Canadians to access government services. The new Youth Employment Strategy includes a Youth Digital Gateway that is intended to be a “no wrong door” user-friendly way for young people to access federal supports. The Canada Revenue Agency is getting funding to allow low-income workers to apply for advance payments of the Canada Workers’ Benefit online. And the Canadian Digital Service is getting another 2 years of funding, extending their mandate to work across government until 2021–22.