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In this special edition of TCR Express, Daily Commercial News staff writers Don Wall and Angela Gismondi join Journal of Commerce staff writer Russell Hixson and digital media editor Warren Frey to discuss the 2021 federal budget.

Not only is this the first budget in two years, it’s also the first released in the midst of a global pandemic and it projects a $354 billion deficit, the largest in Canadian history.

Don looked into the infrastructure projects and proposals in the budget, including the government’s plan for economic recovery after COVID-19, affordable housing and retrofit funding and recapitalization of the National Trade Corridors Fund.

Angela focused on labour issues such as a new apprenticeship service designed to bring more people into the skilled trades including underrepresented groups such as women, racialized Canadians and persons with disabilities. She also talked about a new program to help train and reskill people especially in the construction and energy sectors where there’s increasing demand for more workers.

Russell covered resources and technology and said the overriding emphasis was on green projects and cutting carbon emissions, the first green bond to fund climate-friendly infrastructure and notably there was very little announced for the oil and gas sector.

You can listen to The °µÍø½ûÇøion Record and TCR Express on the Daily Commercial News and Journal of Commerce websites as well as on ,ÌýÌý²¹²Ô»åÌý podcast section and you can hear last week’s TCR Express here. Stay tuned next week for a look at the federal budget and its implications for the construction industry.