Mr. Speaker, we would also increase the Canada mortgage bond annual issuance limit from $60 billion to $80 billion, starting in 2026, unlocking thousands of new housing units every year and helping to finance large multi-unit projects. To help first-time homebuyers take the first step, budget 2025 introduces the first-time homebuyers GST tax credit, which would eliminate the GST on new homes priced under $1 million and reduce it on homes up to $1.5 million. This is about restoring the dream of home ownership, about making sure that young people in Pickering—Brooklin do not have to leave the communities they love, to afford a place to live. I am proud to say that budget 2025 would deliver exactly that.
Affordability is about more than mortgages and rent. It is about everyday life, including the grocery bill, the hydro bill and the cost of getting to work. Canadians want to know that when they work hard, they can get ahead, and budget 2025 answers that call. To support young Canadians entering the workforce, the government would invest $1.5 billion over three years, starting in 2026, to strengthen youth jobs programs such as Canada summer jobs, the youth employment and skills strategy and the student work placement program, which would reach roughly 175,000 young people in 2026-27 alone.
We are also ensuring that no Canadian is left behind. Budget 2025 would invest $115.7 million over four years to make it easier to access the Canada disability benefit, including a one-time supplemental payment of $150 for each disability tax credit certification or recertification, while reaffirming that the benefit would be exempt from income calculations under the Income Tax Act.
For millions of Canadians living on low or modest incomes, automatic federal benefits would make it easier to get the support they deserve. By 2028, the CRA would automatically file taxes for 5.5 million low-income Canadians, ensuring they receive benefits such as the GST and HST credits and the Canada child benefit, which they so rightly deserve. Finally, upcoming legislation would make the national school food program permanent, providing $216.6 million per year to ensure that every child can learn without having to think about their next meal.
These measures are not abstract line items. They are about peace of mind and dignity. They are about making sure that every parent, student and senior in Pickering—Brooklin feels that their government is standing up with them. I am proud to say that the government would deliver on these exact promises.
As we talk about homes and affordability, we cannot forget what makes communities thrive: the infrastructure that connects us, supports us and defines us. From a shortage of needed electrical power supply or high-speed Internet in communities such as Ashburn and Claremont to necessary road safety enhancements for the burgeoning growth of Pickering and even a much-needed new hospital to serve Brooklin residents, these are all necessary infrastructure projects that the community of Pickering—Brooklin requires to safely and effectively house the exponential growth of this region in the coming decades. Budget 2025 would deliver exactly that: a nation-building investment in infrastructure through the new build communities strong fund, a $51-billion investment over 10 years, with an ongoing annual investment of $3 billion to help local governments plan, build and grow sustainably.
This fund would include three major streams: a community stream, which would provide $27.8 billion over 10 years and $3 billion per year ongoing to support local projects; a direct delivery stream, with $6 billion over 10 years for large-scale retrofits, regional projects, climate adaptation and critical community infrastructure; and a provincial and territorial stream with $17.2 billion over 10 years for housing-enabling projects, including things like roads, water and waste-water systems, hospitals and post-secondary infrastructure. Within that, $5 billion over three years would establish a dedicated health infrastructure fund, ensuring our hospitals and care facilities could meet the needs of Canadians.
Infrastructure is not simply concrete and steel or brick and mortar; it is the foundation of opportunity. For Pickering—Brooklin, it is about ensuring that as we grow, we grow well, with strong roads, sustainable water systems, accessible health care, and spaces that bring people together.
No plan for Canada's future is complete without supporting the small businesses that power our local economies. From the machine and tool businesses like Toromont Cat to a visit to Sugamaze for our delectable sweets, or to the tech entrepreneurs setting up in downtown Pickering, small businesses are the lifeline of our community. They create jobs, sponsor local teams and drive Canadian innovation. Budget 2025 recognizes our economic strength depends on their success, and it will deliver exactly what they need to thrive as we build Canada strong.
We are creating an environment that rewards investment and innovation, especially in the industries of the future. The government is introducing and enshrining in law a suite of investment tax credits to give Canadian businesses the confidence to invest: the clean-electricity tax credit, which is soon to be legislated and will be retroactive to March 2023; the clean-technology tax credit, which is now law, providing a 30% incentive for businesses investing in clean innovation and which is also retroactive to March 2023; and the clean-technology manufacturing tax credit, offering a 30% incentive retroactive to January 2024.
We are also strengthening industrial carbon pricing by developing a post-2030 trajectory that gives businesses long-term certainty to plan and invest responsibly.
These measures are not only about clean growth; they are also about empowering Canadian businesses, large and small, to compete and thrive in a low-carbon global economy. For small businesses in Pickering—Brooklin, this means more support to expand, hire and lead in a world that is moving toward sustainable growth.
Canada's new government is investing in our local economy and in Canadians. We will spend less on government operations so we can invest more in growing our economy and protecting the essential programs that make life more affordable.
In the face of uncertainty, Canadians are going to build the future we want for ourselves. Budget 2025 is our plan to do just that: to build, to protect and to empower Canadians. This is our moment, our time to make generational investments to secure Canada's place as a leader among nations.