Federal government needed as partner to drive Canadian growth in the global chemistry sector

October 04, 2017

In the summer, CIAC made a submission on the 2018 pre-budget consultations to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance, and on September 20, Bob Masterson, CIAC President and CEO, and David Podruzny, CIAC Vice-President, Business and Economics, had the opportunity to appear before the committee to address the recommendations. 

The key messages laid out in Masterson’s remarks were the importance of federal investment for the Canadian chemistry industry and how the federal government can help support the sector. For Canada to capture the existing investment opportunities, bold and timely action would mean: 

1. Increasing the investment of the Strategic Investment Fund to ensure it is capable of matching funding from the provinces’ own strategic funding initiatives. 
2. Making the 10-year extension of the Accelerated Capital Cost Allowance (ACCA) permanent for manufacturing and processing and broadening it to include coverage of eligible capital assets.
3. Introducing a 100 per cent ACCA for a minimum of one full business cycle of seven years, to specifically apply to upgrading resources into manufactured products.
4. Implementing a special manufacturing and processing (M&P) tax rate in the form of a two-point M&P reduction.

Budget 2018 can help ensure Canada does not miss out on investment opportunities in the future. 

The video of Masterson’s remarks can be found here: