Budget 2022: A look at some of the promises you might have missed

Apr 7, 2022 | 2:03 PM

OTTAWA — Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland tabled the 2022 federal budget on Thursday. Here are some of the smaller promises that you might have missed:

— $1.9 billion over 24 years to build and operate the new Canadarm3 for the next generation NASA Lunar Gateway project.

— $1.3 billion over the next five years and $331.2 million on going to support the long-term stability of Canada’s asylum system to better help people seeking refuge from violence and persecution.

— $159 million over five years, starting in 2022-23, to protect Canadian post-secondary and research institutions from foreign intelligence agencies.

— $593.3 million over five years, starting in 2022-23, to help provinces and territories support projects to prevent gender-based violence and help survivors.

— $20 million over five years, starting in 2022-23, to better understand the long-term impacts of COVID-19.

— $16 million over two years to help detect and protect Prince Edward Island from potato wart, which has disrupted sales of the province’s potatoes to the United States.

— $40.9 million over five years and $9.7 million ongoing to federal granting councils to support scholarships for promising Black student researchers.

— $183.1 million over five years, starting in 2022-23, to reduce plastic waste, building on a 2018 G7 commitment.

— $55.1 million over three years, starting in 2022-23, to protect British Columbia’s old growth forests.

— $329.4 million over six years, starting in 2022-23, to triple the size of the Agricultural Clean Technology Program

— $469.5 million over six years, starting in 2022-23, to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to expand the Agricultural Climate Solutions program’s On-Farm Climate Action Fund.

— $100 million over three years, starting in 2022-23, to help Health Canada deal with the opioid addiction crisis.

— $25 million over two years, starting in 2022-23, to start a pilot project to make menstrual products more widely available to those facing barriers to them.

— $100 million over five years, starting in 2022-23, to create a forthcoming federal action plan to support LGTBQ2 rights.

— $89.9 million over five years and $8.8 million ongoing to help the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) combat money laundering and terrorist financing.

— $4 million in 2022-23 to help Canadian Heritage support the Muslims in Canada Archive to acquire, preserve and make accessible records of the Muslim people in Canada.

— $15 million to media initiatives to support local journalism and stories about diversity.

— $20 million over two years, starting in 2022-23, to expand the New Horizons for Seniors Program to raise the quality of community participation for seniors.

— $20 million over five years, starting in 2022-23, for research to better understand dementia and support brain health research.

— Eliminating the excise duty on low-alcohol beer, with no more than 0.5 per cent alcohol, on Canada Day 2022.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 7, 2022.

The Canadian Press