On November 4, the Greater Charlottetown Chamber of Commerce responded to the federal Fall Economic Statement 2022, presented by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland.
“The Economic Statement presents some opportunities for our Island’s growing clean tech sector and our provincial goals of reaching net-zero,” said Chamber CEO, Robert Godfrey. “However, we are asking to see a clearer path on how we will sustain growth as we are concerned about further hikes in interest rates and the growing potential for a recession in Canada.”
As announced in the Economic Statement, the Chamber is pleased to see $1 billion set aside for Hurricane Fiona-related requests, but we would like to see further details about how much of this will be accessible for Island businesses still dealing with damage.
The Chamber is encouraged by investments in Net-Zero by offering tax credits for businesses to lower their emissions and reskilling Canadians to work in sectors like our growing clean tech sector here on PEI.
The Chamber is also encouraged to see the federal government increase its immigration targets with a new goal of welcoming 500,000 immigrants per year by 2025, to tackle the ongoing national labour shortage.
The Chamber looks forward to seeing the full details of these announced investments and hopes to see more of a blueprint to combat inflation in Budget 2023.
To view the full Fall Economic Statement 2022, click here.