Mr. Speaker, our government is making careful and necessary investments to ensure sustainable economic growth, in order to benefit the middle class and those working hard to join it. Our approach has been recognized around the world, by the IMF, among others.
We must ensure that the benefits of growth are shared on a large scale. That is the only way to go. That is why we have taken a number of significant measures to strengthen the middle class.
We have increased support for families by lowering taxes for the middle class and implementing the more generous and better targeted Canada child benefit. We have also worked with the provinces and territories on improving the Canada pension plan and ensuring that Canadians have a more secure, stable, and dignified retirement.
We are also adopting important measures to help Canadian businesses grow and create good, well-paying jobs for Canadians. These measures help lay the foundation for more dynamic, viable, and sustainable economic growth.
Our government is also making meaningful investments in infrastructure that will create good jobs for Canadians, as well as foster a cleaner environment and more prosperous communities for years to come. Infrastructure plays a key role in strengthening the middle class and fostering welcoming communities, as well as ensuring access to clean drinking water and clean air.
With these strengths, we are restoring trust and optimism among middle-class Canadians, we are supporting communities, and we are creating the conditions needed to ensure shared economic growth nourished by hope and hard work.
I will briefly address one of the points raised by the hon. member for Louis-Saint-Laurent, namely, the retirement income system.
Our government wants to ensure that Canadians who work hard their whole lives are rewarded with a secure and dignified retirement. We will help them achieve that goal. That is why we increased the guaranteed income supplement and strengthened the Canada pension plan, or CPP.
Once fully implemented, the CPP enhancement will increase the maximum retirement benefit by about 50%, which in today's dollars will represent an increase of nearly $7,000 a year, to a maximum benefit of about $20,000. In other words, more Canadians will be able to spend more time with their grandchildren instead of worrying about how to pay their rent.
The government is making smart, necessary investments that will improve the lives of all Canadians.