‘Too high for too long’: PM hikes GST rebate to fight high grocery cost

Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced a 25 per cent increase to the GST credit in an attempt to ease the impact of the high cost of groceries on lower-income consumers across the country.

The change has been called the “Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit” and is expected to start this year and last for five years.
Ottawa also intends to issue a one-time payment this year worth 50 per cent of the credit.

The prime minister made the announcement in an Ottawa grocery store Monday morning ahead of the MPs return to the House of Commons following the winter break.

Carney notes that the price of essentials has been “too high for too long” and acknowledges the daily pressure many Canadians experience.

He says the lasting impact of the pandemic of the economy, supply chain disruptions caused by U.S. President Donald Trump’s global trade war and other factors, like climate change, are the cause of the high prices.

With files from the Canadian Press. 

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