Some of the key features of the budget plan were:

• The government has introduced the “Innovation and Skills Plan” which will target six key areas: advanced manufacturing, agri-food, clean technology, digital industries, health/bio-sciences and clean resources.
• The budget proposes a number of additional programs to support innovation and to foster growth in the clean technology sector.
• The government has indicated its intention to close loopholes that result in unfair tax advantages for some at the expense of others. Furthermore, the budget proposes to invest an additional $523.9 million over five years to build on previous investments to 2 support the Canada Revenue Agency’s efforts to prevent tax evasion and improve tax compliance.

A summary of the economic and tax highlights contained in the budget is outlined in our Canadian tax alert.

For further details, we refer you to the Department of Finance website.