OTTAWA
The federal government will raise the price of a stamp to $2, a nearly 40 percent increase from $1.44, as part of its 2026 budget tabled Thursday.
Stamp prices will then rise by seven per cent annually as the Crown corporation tries to stem losses at Canada Post.
The budget also renews the Canada Strong Pass, providing free access to national museums for people under the age of 25.
Extending the program to institutions including the Canadian Museum of History, the Canadian Museum of Nature, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and the National Gallery of Canada will cost more than $500 million over the next five years.
Ottawa is also earmarking $1.5 billion over nine years for recreational facilities, including $750 million for ice rinks and $750 million for recreation centres.
“We will also revitalize the arenas and rinks where generations of Canadians have learned to skate, play, and dream,” Finance Minister Francois-Phillippe Champagne said in prepared remarks from his budget speech.
The budget introduces additional tax relief for artists through a new Canada Creative Credit.
The government says artists could claim up to $45,000 in non-refundable personal income tax credits when combined with the basic personal exemption.
Ottawa says the measure is intended to support artists and foster creativity.
Canadians who owe more than $50,000 to the Canada Revenue Agency could see their credit ratings affected.
The government plans to amend the Income Tax Act to allow the CRA to report tax debts above that threshold to credit reporting agencies.
Massage therapists will no longer be required to charge GST/HST on their services under a new tax exemption included in the budget.
The budget is the second tabled under Prime Minister Mark Carney and is titled "Maîtres chez nous," or "masters of our destiny."
It includes a previously announced $36-billion "productivity mega deduction" to encourage businesses to invest in new equipment and machinery in exchange for upfront tax writeoffs.
Champagne indicated in a speech to business leaders on Monday that the government is also planning to eliminate some tax pains for small- and medium-sized businesses.
The finance minister said Budget 2026 is about "changing Canada's growth model," which for more than a decade has meant productivity levels lagging far behind the United States and other peer countries.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has been a vocal critic of the government's deficits and called on Carney to curb "out-of-control spending" in the budget.
With a majority government, the Liberals are in a strong position to get their budget approved.
After the budget is tabled in the House of Commons on Thursday afternoon, members of Parliament will debate the legislation for weeks and could seek amendments or carve-outs from the wider document.
e2gold.ca reported this week that business groups were calling for a lower small-business tax rate and simpler rules ahead of the government's financial plan.
This story was written by the e2gold.ca newsroom from reporting by BNN Bloomberg, CTV News and Yahoo News. Quotes are checked word for word against that reporting.