Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I rise today to speak on our economy and our government's economic action plan 2013. The implementation of our new budget will have a positive impact on the lives of all Canadians.
Continuing to follow in the successful path blazed by economic action plan 2012, our government is squarely focused on what matters to Canadians: creating jobs and economic growth and securing Canada's long-term prosperity.
Our government continues to make common sense changes to the way government is run and the way taxpayers' money is spent. This plan will serve to create a more efficient government, one that would see Canada return to balanced budgets in 2015, while at the same time keeping federal taxes at their lowest level in 50 years.
Today we would like to highlight several aspects of how our government plans to achieve our goals of job creation, economic growth and long-term prosperity.
To succeed in the goals we have set out, we are focused on furthering our trade relationship with the United States as well as opening up new and emerging markets for Canadians, attracting new high-quality jobs at home by keeping corporate taxes low, reducing burdens to our businesses through the removal of red tape, fostering entrepreneurial talent and ideas with increased research and development funding and better aligning our immigration system with the needs of the Canadian economy.
Achieving these goals, along with our plan to return to balanced budgets in 2015, confirms our financial responsibility with taxpayers' dollars. An important way to provide better value for taxpayers' money while creating jobs and economic growth relies heavily on public-private partnerships, or P3s. Economic action plan 2013 proposes $1.25 billion over five years to renew the P3 Canada fund.
This renewal is part of a new building Canada plan that would see $53 billion in funding over 10 years. Under P3 arrangements, governments would continue to own infrastructure assets while the private sector would play a larger role in their design, construction, operation and maintenance. Canada is becoming a leader in P3s, and our government is committed to supporting the further development of the Canadian P3 market.
The new Windsor-Detroit international crossing is a project that exemplifies what our government aims for in P3 projects. The Windsor-Detroit trade corridor is the most important international land crossing in North America, handling almost 30% of Canada-U.S. surface trade, worth $120 billion per year. This new crossing would accelerate the movement of international trade, increase the competitiveness of the Canadian manufacturing sector and create thousands of new jobs.
The United States remains Canada's closest ally and biggest trading partner. Our two countries have a tremendous stake in each other's success. The Windsor-Detroit international crossing project will include a 6-lane bridge across the Detroit River, customs plazas on both sides of the border and a connection to Interstate 75 in Michigan.
As well, the construction of a parkway that will connect the new crossing to Highway 401 is already under way as a separate P3 project, supported by a federal contribution from the gateways and border crossings fund. Economic action plan 2013 proposes $25 million over three years to advance the Windsor-Detroit international crossing project into pre-procurement.
Getting people, goods and services across the Canada-U.S. border is critical to our country's prosperity, but we all have to be working very hard to expand trade with other countries. Trade is a vital part of Canada's economy. In fact, one in every five Canadian jobs is linked to exports, and trade accounts for more than 60% of Canada's GDP.
Current trade negotiations build on a record of new free trade agreements with nine countries in less than six years. Recently, our government has also committed to increasing trade with the Asia-Pacific region, the countries of the European Union, Brazil, China and India.
In addition to opening up new and emerging markets, we also must place heavy focus on attracting responsible foreign investment here in Canada. Our government's low-tax plan serves to encourage development in existing companies while establishing Canada as an investment destination for an increasing number of corporate taxpayers.
When our government first came into power in 2006, the corporate tax rate was 21%. This was reduced to 19% in 2009, 18% in 2010,16.5% in 2011 and currently sits at 15%. As result, we have seen the creation of nearly 1.5 million net new jobs since January 2006, the best record of job growth in the G7.
Aside from our low-tax plan, small and medium-sized businesses also require the right resources and incentives to advance new ideas, allowing them to become more competitive and create and sustain high-paying, value-added jobs.
Our government's economic action plan is committed to the success of Canadian entrepreneurs, innovators and world-class researchers. Since 2006, our government has provided more than $9 billion in new funds to support science, technology and the growth of innovative ideas. Economic action plan 2013 proposes to build on this strong foundation, helping to position Canada for sustainable long-term economic prosperity and a higher quality of life for Canadians.
Venture capital plays an important role in promoting a more innovative economy by providing the investment resources needed for high-potential small and medium-sized businesses to grow. Recognizing the importance of the venture capital industry to our future growth, economic action plan 2012 announced $400 million to help increase the private sector investments in early-stage risk capital and to support the creation of large-scale venture capital funds led by the private sector. The venture capital action plan, which was strategically deployed as $400 million in new capital for the next seven to 10 years, is expected to attract close to $1 billion in new private sector investments.
To ensure that Canada remains a global research and innovation leader, economic action plan 2013 plans to advance the venture capital action plan. We will provide $60 million over five years to help outstanding and high-potential incubator and accelerator organizations in Canada expand their services to entrepreneurs. Economic action plan 2013 would also make available $100 million through the Business Development Bank of Canada for strategic partnerships with business accelerators and co-investments in graduate firms.
Of course, in order for businesses to take full advantage of these programs and services, we must continue to reduce the amount of red tape restricting economic growth. Our government is already implementing a one-for-one rule requiring regulators to provide red tape relief for businesses equal to any new burden they introduce. As a result, nine regulations have been repealed under the one-for-one rule since April 2012, saving $3.3 million in the administrative burden on businesses.
As part of the red tape reduction efforts in economic action plan 2013, the Canada Revenue Agency has created a dedicated team responsible for coordinating and addressing small business issues. With this new team, the CRA would be better able to help small businesses avoid costly and time-consuming audits by raising awareness of their tax obligations in order to help them get it right from the start. In addition, effective April 2013 the CRA will ensure that the approval process for the authorization of a third party to conduct business tax matters on behalf of the business owners is more timely and responsive.
The CRA's efforts and sustained approach to reducing red tape were acknowledged in January, when the hon. Minister of National Revenue was awarded the Canadian Federation of Independent Business's golden scissors award. Our balanced approach to business regulation and ongoing effort to reduce red tape will serve to create a more predictable environment for businesses to thrive and prosper in the long term.
A strong, stable and prosperous Canadian economy does not rely upon business investments, trade agreements or a favourable tax atmosphere alone. Our government is striving to establish a more flexible immigration system that is streamlined, highly efficient and aimed at attracting talented newcomers with the skills and experience our economy needs. We have already made significant progress in implementing long-overdue reforms to the Canadian immigration system and will continue with these reforms to make the system faster, more flexible and more focused on Canadian labour market needs.
As part of economic action plan 2013, our government will reopen the federal skilled worker program with an updated points system that would give more weight to factors that are directly related to economic success. This policy aims to fill in gaps where there are recognized skills shortages. This is why economic action plan 2013 continues our commitment to improve foreign credential recognition for additional target occupations under the pan-Canadian framework for the assessment and recognition of foreign qualifications.
Through the implementation of previous budgets, Canada has experienced one of the best economic performances in the G7. We were able to accomplish this during the global recession and throughout the recovery. Canadians have put their trust in us, and we are committed to delivering on their expectations by focusing on job creation and economic growth while returning to balanced budgets.
I look forward to seeing the positive outcomes that the implementation of this new budget will bring as we continue to move toward a stronger and more prosperous Canada.