What Islanders should know about the 2023 federal budget

The federal government unveiled the budget for the 2023-2024 fiscal year on Tuesday.

The deficit projection has gone up to $40.1 billion, about $10 billion more than the last fiscal update in the fall.

At 250 pages, there's a lot to dive into. Here's just a couple of highlights that may be of interest to Islanders.

The federal government announced a one-time "grocery rebate" that will provide up to $467 for a family of four, and $234 for single Canadians with no children. 

That's double the temporary GST rebate announced for lower-income Canadians last fall.

The budget also set aside $814 million to help post-secondary students through a series of measures including a 40-per-cent bump to student grants, and an increase in student loan limits to $300 a week. 

The government also increased the limits on Retirement Education Savings Plan withdrawals, from $5,000 to $8,000 for full-time students, and from $2,500 to $4,000 for part-time students.

We already knew about the new funding Ottawa plans to provide provinces with its series of health care deals. The budget has $3.6 billion in new spending set aside for the health-care system in the 2023-24 fiscal year.

The budget also revealed details about the dental care plan that's a condition to the New Democrats supporting their government.

Ottawa will put $13 billion to expand dental care to low-income families over the next five years. This year, the program will be expanded to all Canadians under 18 — as opposed to just those under 12 — and seniors.

The federal government plans to spend $21 billion over the next five years in incentives fostering Canada's green industry.

That means new tax credits, including a 15 per cent refund for Canadians who invest in clean electricity and energy storage.

Farmers in Eastern Canada are also getting $34.1 million to adopt nitrogen managing practices over the next three years. Fertilizer prices have gone up significantly since Russia invaded Ukraine.

$520 million has been set aside over the next five years for businesses that invest in carbon capture and storage.