Canada election 2021: Conservative Party of Canada platform, key highlights and promises

As federal leaders gear up ahead of the Sept. 20 election, Canadians are navigating each party platform to determine which best aligns with their needs and values.

What does the Conservative Party of Canada stand for?

KEY PLATFORM HIGHLIGHTS

Paid Sick Leave

The Conservatives recently announced they will increase EI sickness benefits from 26 to 52 weeks for those suffering from a serious illness such as cancer.

Housing

It's clear housing has become an issue for Canadians considering both rental and purchase prices have increased since the pandemic. Conservatives are pledging to ensure that Canadians can afford current housing, keep out foreign speculators, corruption, laundered money, and make it easier for Canadians to mortgages.

The party has put forward a five-point housing plan:

1. Increase housing supply

a. Build 1 million homes in the next three years

b. Leverage federal infrastructure investments by building public transit where people are buying homes

c. Release 15% of federal government property for housing while improving Federal Lands Initiative

d. Incent developers to build housing and encourage Canadians to invest in rental housing

e. Partner with Indigenous communities and give them the autonomy to meet their own housing needs

f. Incent corporations and private landowners to donate property to Land Trusts for affordable housing

2. Root out corruption

a. Give FINTRAC, law enforcement, and prosecutors tools to identity and prosecute money-laundering

b. Establish a federal Beneficial Ownership Registry for residential property

c. Implement recommendations at the federal level of the Commission of Inquiry into Money
Laundering in British Columbia

3. Ensure housing in Canada is for Canadian citizens and residents first

a. Stop and reverse the inflationary impacts of foreign buyers and speculation

b. Ban foreign investors not living in or moving to Canada from buying homes here for a two year period

c. Encourage foreign investment in purpose-built rental housing

4. Address homelessness

a. Re-implement the Housing First approach

b. Revise substance abuse policy to make recovery the overarching goal

c. Invest $325 million over the next 3 years to create 1000 residential drug treatment beds and build 50
recovery community centres across the country

d. Support innovative approaches to address the crises of mental health challenges and addiction

5. Make mortgages affordable

a. Encourage a new market in seven- to ten-year mortgages

b. Remove stress test requirements when a homeowner renews a mortgage with another lender

c. Increase the limit on eligibility for mortgage insurance and index it to home price inflation,
allowing those with less than a 20% down-payment an opportunity at home-ownership

d. Fix the mortgage stress test to include small business owners, contractors, non-permanent
employees including casual workers

Healthcare

The Conservatives want to take "immediate action to restore health funding and to tackle the urgent crises of mental health and addiction".

Some of the steps they want to take:

• Meet with the Premiers within the first 100 days of forming government to propose a new health agreement that will inject nearly $60 billion into our healthcare system over the next ten years

• Introduce the Canada Mental Health Action Plan that will include partnering with provinces, adding employee mental health coverage, provide grants to non-profits and charities, and create a nation-wide 3-digit suicide prevention line

• Reinstate and restore certain requirements for medical assistance in dying

• Double direct federal investments in palliative care

Seniors

The Conservatives plan to improve long-term care, help seniors stay in their own homes or with their children, and maintain financial security via pensions.

• Increasing the limit of the Home Accessibility Tax Credit from $10,000 per dwelling to $10,000 per person

• Allow seniors or their caregivers, including their children, to claim the Medical Expense Tax Credit

• Introduce the Canada Seniors Care Benefit, that pays $200 per month per household to any Canadian who is living with and taking care of a parent over the age of 70

• Devote $3 billion of infrastructure funding over the next three years to renovate long-term care homes

• Providing priority in immigration programs and refugee settlement programs to those who can work in long-term care or homecare.

Climate Change

The Conservatives make it clear that climate change is a reality, and they plan to meet the Paris climate commitment and reduce emissions by 2030 without taxing Canadians. The Conservatives have listed several areas of focus within climate change ranging from more zero emission vehicles to a clean buildings plan.

Some of the steps they want to take to fight climate change are:

• Introduce a personal low carbon savings account and scrap the carbon tax

• Carbon price starting at $20/tonne and increasing to $50/tonne maximum

• Invest in more zero emission vehicles and transmission infrastructure

• Require 30% of light duty vehicles sold to be zero emissions by 2030

• Investing a billion dollars in building out electric vehicle manufacturing

• Introduce a Renewable Natural Gas Mandate requiring 15% of downstream consumption to be renewable by 2030

• Investing $5 billion in Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage

Supporting businesses

The Conservatives highlight that small businesses are the "engine of our economy". They have outlined a detailed plan on securing jobs, growing the economy, and supporting businesses.

The Conservatives pledge to:

• Launch the Main Street Business Loan to provide loans of up to $200,000 for small businesses

• Offer up to 4 months of pre-pandemic revenue up to a maximum of $200,000

• Forgive up to 25% depending on a company’s revenue loss

• Make the first $25,000 of Canada Investment Accelerator refundable for small business, providing a 5% investment tax credit for any capital investment made in 2022 and 2023

• Launch the Rebuild Main Street Tax Credit and provide a 25% tax credit on amounts of up to $100,000 that Canadians personally invest in a small business over the next two years

Child care

The Conservatives recognize that women have disproportionately been impacted during the pandemic and want to address this inequality with two principles will guide their actions— the need to direct help to those who need it most and the knowledge that every family is unique.

Actions the Conservatives plan to take:

• Convert the Child Care Expense deduction into a refundable tax credit covering up to 75% of the cost of child care

• Allow those on maternity and parental leave to earn up to $1,000 per month

• Expand the Canada Child Benefit by allowing benefits to begin at the 7th month of pregnancy

• Provide up to eight weeks of paid leave from employment in the event of a child’s death or stillbirth

• Create a National Adoption Strategy

• Increase the maximum a parent can claim under the Adoption Expense Tax Credit from $15,000 to $20,000 and making the credit refundable