March 24, 2022 – Earlier this week, the Quebec Provincial Government released their Budget for 2022-2023. BGC Canada applauds the significant budget investments in support of community organizations. Funding will allow community organizations to better support children, youth and their families.
The budget, released by Quebec Minister of Finance Eric Girard, provides additional investments totalling more than $22B over the next five years including:
- Strengthening Community Action: $888.1M to enhance and expand support for the overall mission of community organizations including help to cover the cost of the organizations’ operations, such as salaries, capital expenditures and telecommunications costs (an increase of almost 30%).
- $834.2M to increase funding for existing organizations;
- $53.9M to fund new organizations.
- $65M to increase funding for youth employment centres
- Supporting Communities: $1.1B to enhance support for various communities, including:
- $108.9M to improve assistance and services for families and youth.
- $285M to continue support for Indigenous communities
- $9.8M to support English-speaking communities, in particular by enhancing current programs and supporting new community organizations.
- Supporting Young People: $34.4M over five years, which includes:
- $5M to support improvements for youth infrastructure, such as youth centres
- Improving Assistance and Services for Families and Youth: $255.8M in 2022-2023 to:
- $168.7M to provide support to families with special needs and improve services.
- $34.4M to support young people.
- $52.7 million to improve the quality of the educational childcare services network. This includes funds to renew certain measures of the strategy for children aged 0 to 8 aimed at promoting the development of children in the educational childcare services network
- Improving Services for Vulnerable Persons: $508.5M to enhance local services for youth in need and strengthening mental health initiatives, based on the recommendations from the report from the Special Commission on the Rights of the Child and Youth Protection
- Investing in Education: $2.8B to improve access to and graduation from higher education
- $75 million by 2026-2027 to support the integration of trainees into the health and social services sector, including those in mental health and youth protection.
- Coping with the rising cost of living: $3.2B to provide a one-time cost of living support payment ($500) to adults with an income less than $100k.
