Mr. Speaker, I am thankful for the opportunity to participate in today's opposition motion debate. I will be sharing my time with the member for London West.
The global economy has changed, and Canada must change too. We need to build more housing and infrastructure and support industries that are essential to our economic growth. This spring, Canadians called for a serious and ambitious plan, and we are working hard to prepare and implement that plan.
First, our colleague the Minister of Finance has already announced that our new government will table the 2025 budget on November 4. Second, as he outlined this week, the budget will be based on a new capital investment budgeting framework. This framework will distinguish between current operating expenditure and capital investments, which will help the government prioritize investments that will deliver long-term benefits for Canada and Canadians.
The operating expenditure will be balanced by 2028-29. The 2025 budget will rise to the occasion. It will be a budget to build the strongest economy in the G7 and a budget to build a strong and free Canada.
The 2025 budget will do something else that is very concrete. It will make life more affordable for Canadians. We understand that the cost of living remains a constant concern for Canadians. We have already announced several measures to help them.
We know that one of the challenges is the cost of housing. We are facing a housing crisis, which is why we are implementing an ambitious new approach to increase the supply of housing in Canada. For example, the Prime Minister recently launched a new federal agency responsible for building affordable housing on a large scale, which is called Build Canada Homes. With Build Canada Homes, we will combat homelessness by building supervised and transitional housing in collaboration with provinces, territories, municipalities and indigenous communities. This agency will build community-based, highly affordable housing for low-income households and will partner with private developers to build affordable housing for the country's middle class.
To help Canadians buy homes, we proposed eliminating the GST for first-time buyers of new homes valued at $1 million or less and reducing the GST for first-time buyers of new homes valued between $1 million and $1.5 million. Furthermore, as Canadians demanded, we put money back in the pockets of all Canadians by cutting taxes. Since July 1, all Canadians have benefited from a tax cut that will save a dual-income family up to $840 per year starting in 2026. I am proud to note that 22 million Canadians will benefit from this tax relief. They can now keep more of their paycheques and use them according to their priorities, as they wish.
In these times of trade tension with the United States, we understand the importance of continuing to support Canadians affected by this dispute. Since the beginning of the trade dispute, we have put in place a robust Canadian system of economic support programs to help businesses and workers directly affected by U.S. tariffs. For example, we have temporarily suspended the one-week waiting period for employment insurance benefits, and we have temporarily suspended the rules surrounding the processing of severance pay to prevent workers from having to exhaust their severance pay before receiving the employment insurance benefit. We have made it easier to access employment insurance by increasing the unemployment rate applied to regions for a period of six months. We have also made it easier for employers and workers affected by tariffs to access the work-sharing program. Employers experiencing a decline in business activity due to the threat or potential implementation of tariffs may be eligible for special measures under the work-sharing program.
Our new government has also announced a series of targeted measures to support Canada's steel, aluminum and softwood lumber industries. For example, our government will invest $70 million in labour market development agreements with provinces and territories to provide training and income support measures to nearly 10,000 affected steelworkers.
We are also implementing new measures to help the lumber industry transform and compete. We are providing up to $700 million in loan guarantees to alleviate the current pressure on the lumber sector, and we are building with a focus on using Canadian materials in construction. We have changed the federal contracting processes to require companies that contract with the federal government to source Canadian lumber. In this way, our government is ensuring that Canadian workers benefit from our investments during these challenging times.
The 2025 budget will be a generational investment in our future, and with it, we will build a Canada of the 21st century. This budget will set out a clear plan to build the strongest economy in the G7, based on generational investments in housing and infrastructure, while reducing the cost of living for Canadians. It will stimulate private investments here in Canada and strengthen our ties with trusted trading partners and allies, moving our economy from reliant to resilient. At the same time, the government will exercise new fiscal discipline in its day-to-day operations to make services more efficient and reliable, while focusing resources on long-term growth to ensure Canada's prosperity today and for decades to come.