Khalid Eidoo

Last night, the Federal Government provided budget details for 2009. Spending was significantly increased, and many programs received more funds and/or extended mandates. It appears that business, sport and the arts will all benefit from the budget in some manner. Here are some of the details:

• The Canadian New Media Fund, administered by Canadian Heritage (through Telefilm) received guaranteed funding of $28.6 million over the next two years and $14.3 million annually thereafter.
• Over the next two years, the NRC will be given $200 million to expand the IRAP program. $170 million is dedicated to contributions to companies, while the remaining $30 million will be dedicated to assisting companies hiring new graduates.
• The Capital Cost Allowance on computers will be temporarily raised to 100%.
• The government has committed $1 billion over 5 years in new spending on clean technologies, of which $850 million is dedicated to development and demonstration of technologies and $150 million to research. 
• The small business income limit at the federal level has been raised from $400,000 to $500,000.

For more details on the 2009 Canadian federal budget, please visit http://www.budget.gc.ca/2009/home-accueil-eng.asp.