Mr. Speaker, I am very grateful for this opportunity to say a few words about our budget.
Eighteen months ago, our government announced its intention to make Canada a global centre for innovation. We were well aware that this was an ambitious project and that everyone would have to do their part in order to come up with a constructive approach. We therefore asked Canadians to help. The response was overwhelming, with over 100,000 Canadians agreeing to share their opinions.
Canadians said that our plan must create jobs and support services that make Canada a better place to live. They said that this plan must help Canada to adapt and prosper in a period of slow growth and rapid change. Most importantly, they told us that whatever plan we come up with must ensure that all Canadians, not just a select few, benefit from a growing economy.
Budget 2017 takes steps to make Canadians' vision for their country a reality. The innovation and skills plan announced in the budget is an effort to make Canada a world-leading centre for innovation, to help create more good, well-paying jobs, and to help strengthen and grow the middle class. It will ensure that everyone, no matter their gender, their age, or where they live, benefits equally from a more innovative society.
These are the people who drive innovation. Innovation is what happens when smart, creative people find new solutions, from zippers for winter jackets to treatments for rare diseases.
Innovation is also changing the world in which we live. Economies are shifting. Automation is on the rise. The nature of work is being redefined. For Canadian workers to thrive in an innovation-driven economy, they must have the skills they need to succeed. Canada's workforce is one of the most well-educated in the world, but in an increasingly competitive global economy, we need to do more to help Canadians learn, adapt, and find good jobs throughout their careers.
To ensure that training and employment programs help unemployed and underemployed Canadians upgrade their skills and get good jobs in the new economy, budget 2017 proposes $2.7 billion over six years for new federal investments and assistance delivered through the labour market transfer agreements with the provinces and territories.
For those Canadians seeking employment, this measure will give them greater opportunities to upgrade their skills, gain experience, or get some help to start a business of their own. It will also help increase the support offered, such as professional counselling services to help them plan their careers.
In addition, in order to help more unemployed Canadians get the training they need to find a better well-paying job, budget 2017 proposes using more of the measures that make the employment insurance system so flexible, things like allowing applicants to take training, at their own expense, without losing their EI status. This would therefore make it easier for unemployed Canadians who are receiving employment insurance benefits to go back to school to get the training they need to get a new job, without having to worry about losing their benefits, which they need to provide for themselves and their families.
To help more adult workers wanting to go back to school, budget 2017 proposes to expand eligibility for Canada student grants to part-time students and students with dependent children. This translates into more non-repayable assistance for adult workers in order to help them manage the rising cost of post-secondary education while balancing the financial pressures associated with caring for a family.
As a result of this change, roughly 10,000 part-time students will become eligible for Canada student loans and grants every year, and roughly 13,000 students with dependants will become eligible for Canada student grants every year. These measures should be beneficial, especially to women trying to improve their job prospects while raising a family.
No lifelong learning program would be complete without a focus on the future. The youth employment strategy is a government-wide initiative that helps young Canadians start their career on the right foot. Budget 2017 proposes to invest an additional $395.5 million over three years in the youth employment strategy effective 2017-18.
Together with the measures in the 2016 budget, these investments will help more than 33,000 vulnerable young people acquire or develop the skills they need to find a job or to help them return to school. These measures will also create 15,000 new green jobs for Canadian youth and provide more than 1,600 new job opportunities for youth in the heritage sector.
We will also move forward with the youth service initiative to help young people gain valuable work experience, while providing support for communities across Canada. This initiative, which will be launched in the fall of 2017, will include a call for proposals to give youth the opportunity to serve.
The 2017 budget introduces the innovation and skills plan, which provides real and fair opportunities to improve our standard of living and that of our children. The plan includes a range of measures to help adults retrain or upgrade their skills so they can adapt to a changing labour market. The plan includes measures to help young Canadians get the education, skills, and work experience they need to start their careers.
With its comprehensive plan to promote lifelong learning for all Canadians and to help Canadian youth succeed, budget 2017 will make our greatest resource, our people, an even better resource.
This is a great reason for honourable members to unreservedly support this budget.