Mr. Speaker, It is a pleasure tonight to speak to budget 2018, where we continue our efforts to invest in the Canadian economy with a view to having the whole population benefit. Our approach is not only aimed at the growth of the Canadian economy. It is mostly focused on people because our goal is to directly support Canadians across the country.
I am proud to be able to continue looking to the future, be it for advancement, growth or progress. I am particularly happy with the measures against gender-based discrimination. It is high time that we make equality a reality.
Budget 2018 shows that we are stronger together. Through vital measures, the government encourages the Canadian population at every stage of life.
Let us start with the Canada child benefit, which is beneficial to those who need it most: our youth. Through this allocation, we reduce poverty among children. We allow them to live a carefree childhood. Indeed, the Canada child benefit gives parents more money to pay for activities, winter clothing and school material or to save for the future. In Alfred-Pellan, this benefit translates into $5.6 million tax-free being paid each month to the families of more than 18,400 children.
I had the opportunity to meet Mathilde, a single mother from Laval. She told me about her financial difficulties and the dilemmas she has to face. Mathilde confirmed to me that the $600 benefit she gets will allow her to register her son in swimming lessons and day camp during the summer. For Mathilde, this benefit is valuable. She gives her son an unforgettable childhood.
In order to make sure that the Canada child benefit continues to be valuable in the long term, we will start indexing it next month. This way, its value will continue increasing each year. It is not just Mathilde and her son we are helping, but thousands of children and families all over Canada.
The benefit does not just help families in Alfred-Pellan. It will also help local businesses and organizations. This benefit helps everyone. The families reinvest in their communities, and these communities gladly continue to prosper.
Once these children grow up, we continue to help them realize their full potential. We must encourage young people to gain the skills and knowledge required to get jobs. Canada summer jobs is there to help in this process. Our government is allocating $448.5 million over five years to improve the youth employment strategy.
Last year, more than 175 youth in my riding of Alfred-Pellan used this opportunity to develop new skills. This year, nearly 220 youth will participate in the Canada summer jobs program.
This program provides great opportunities for young people across Canada, and I hope it will continue to grow and enrich our younger generations.
Then comes the time to join the labour force. Even now, the government is continuing to encourage Canadians. This year, women are the focus. Consider this: how can we move forward if half of us are being held back? For that reason, I applaud this budget, which makes Canadian women and girls a main focus. They make a difference. They change Canada. They deserve a place, so our government is supporting them by injecting $3 million over five years to ensure pay transparency, $100 million over five years to improve the women's program, and $19.9 million over five years to help women enter and succeed in the workforce.
We are supporting current and future women entrepreneurs through our new women's entrepreneurship strategy. We are creating new funding for their business projects and offering them expanded services and more opportunities for growth. In that way, our government is supporting the creativity of Canadian women by giving them the tools they need to overcome all of the challenges of entrepreneurship. At the same time, we are continuing our efforts aimed at advancing women business leaders.
I am pleased to see new business ventures flourishing in Alfred-Pellan, women-led businesses that are strengthening our local economy and our communities. For instance, I met a woman from Laval named Sophie who is currently developing her project. She underscored the difficulties she is coming up against as a young female entrepreneur in the automobile sector. Sophie wants to own a car dealership. Today I can confirm to Sophie that our government has allocated $105 million to development agencies to help support her and other female entrepreneurs. This should guarantee her access to valuable resources to help her and her business succeed.
Now I want to talk about the Canada workers benefit, which is also benefiting those who most need it, that is, our low-income workers. For many Canadians, the end of the month is a serious source of anguish and stress, and sometimes they have to do without in order to make ends meet. That is why our government introduced the Canada workers benefit. This more generous benefit is supporting workers, who can therefore keep more of their pay cheque, and it is helping people who are looking for work by providing them with more assistance to enter and remain in the workforce.
In my riding of Alfred-Pellan, I met Sébastien, a low-income worker. He complained that financial difficulties are keeping him from being able to meet the needs of his two children, aged five and eight. Thanks to the Canada workers benefit, I can confirm to Sébastien that he will be one of the 300,000 low-income workers who will receive this assistance. This way, he and his family will no longer have to worry at the end of tough months.
We are not just enhancing the generosity of this benefit, we are also enhancing its accessibility. No more filing claims. No more paperwork. No more waiting. Every eligible worker will receive this benefit automatically once they submit their tax return. This will keep more people out of poverty, since many people do not claim the benefit.
I will close by saying that budget 2018 builds on our plan. It enables our government to continue investing in Canadians, for Canadians.
Our constituents are our inspiration for moving forward and paving the way to a stronger, more generous, and more prosperous Canada. We are going to continue to add to this plan, which is working and was designed for the people. I am proud to be able to work with the people of Alfred-Pellan and Laval and with municipal and provincial elected officials.