2013 Canadian federal budget
| Presented | 21 March 2013 |
|---|---|
| Parliament | 41st |
| Party | Conservative |
| Finance minister | Jim Flaherty |
| Total revenue | C$263,900,000,000 |
| Total expenditures | C$282,600,000,000 |
| Program Spending | C$252.9 billion |
| Deficit | C$18,900,000,000 |
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The Canadian federal budget for fiscal year 2013–2014 was presented to the Canadian House of Commons by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty on 21 March 2013. The budget bill was tabled in the legislature on 29 April 2013 as the Economic Action Plan 2013 Act, No. 1. A second budget bill will be tabled in the autumn, which will include elements excluded from the first bill, such as the Canada Job Grant.
The budget proposal approved projects related to information-sharing and infrastructure for the "Beyond the Border" perimeter security program undertaken with the United States. This included upgrading border posts at Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle (Quebec), Landsdowne (Ontario), Emerson (Manitoba), and North Portal (Saskatchewan), implementation of a cargo security program for port facilities in Vancouver and Montreal, and $19 million toward the Detroit River International Crossing.
Privacy advocates and civil liberties groups criticized the data sharing arrangement, in which Canada and the United States share with each other information about land entry and exit of individuals, to be used for immigration, refugee, and visa programs.
In order to cover the costs associated with processing visa claims and immigration applications, the budget proposal allocated an additional $42 million for visa and $44 million for citizenship programs. This was expected to reduce the backlog of almost 320,000 unprocessed citizenship applications. The costs for submitting an application were also increased.
As a result of the 2013 budget, import tariffs for 37 goods were eliminated—specifically sporting goods (excluding bicycles) and baby clothing made of "cotton, synthetic fibres, textile materials, wool or fine animal hair". Such cuts were expected to result in decreased tax revenues of $76 million for the Government of Canada.
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