Budget 2024 is pitching a long list of new laws

The 2024 federal budget, tabled Tuesday, includes dozens of new laws and amendments that cover everything from updates to the Criminal Code to how public servants unwind.

Here’s a closer look at some of the proposed legislation.

Establishing a ‘right to disconnect’

Do you get calls and emails from your boss after hours? Do you hate it?

The federal government is attempting to draw a clearer line between work and personal time by proposing what it calls a “right to disconnect.” The budget pledges a few million dollars to update the Canada Labour Code “to require employers in federally-regulated sectors to establish a right to disconnect policy limiting work-related communication outside of scheduled working hours.”

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said she had working Gen Z-ers in mind.

“One of the realities of life for all Canadians, but particularly for young Canadians, is this experience of being always on, of being always available. That’s not healthy. It’s not a good way to live,” she said Tuesday.

Federally-regulated industries include the federal public sector, railways, airlines and airports, banks, postal services, most federal Crown corporations, radio and television broadcasting and the telecommunication sector.

As with many proposed laws and legislative tweaks in the budget, it’s not clear when this amendment would be introduced.

No more switching fees?

“Canadians still pay too much and see too little competition” with their cellular services, Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said earlier this year.

The government says it will introduce amendments to the Telecommunications Act to ban carriers from charging fees for renewing or switching home internet, home phone and cell phone plans.

The not-yet-released bill also would require cell carriers to help consumers identify alternate plans — including lower-cost plans — before their contracts end, and to provide some kind of self-service option, such as an online portal, so that customers can switch plans more easily.

The government still has not offered details of the bill and it remains to be seen whether it can actually bring down the cost of cell service.

Cracking down on loan sharks 

Rebuked as “criminal” and “predatory” by some anti-poverty advocates, the payday loan industry was one of the targets of Budget 2024.

These high-interest instalment loans can keep low-income Canadians, newcomers and those with limited credit histories trapped in a cycle of debt.

People walk pass a payday loan store in Oshawa Ont. on Saturday May 13, 2017. (Doug Ives/The Canadian Press)

Last year, Ottawa proposed regulatory changes that would lower the criminal rate of interest from the equivalent of a 47 per cent annual percentage rate (APR) to 35 per cent APR.

Its latest budget promises to move forward on that reform while also amending the Criminal Code to ban offering or advertising credit at a criminal rate of interest.

The proposed changes also would allow for prosecutions of illegal and predatory lenders without the approval of the federal attorney general, a measure Ottawa says will empower law enforcement.

Open banking on the horizon 

The federal government has long mused about embracing open banking — a system that allows consumers to easily access their financial data across multiple institutions, apps and services.

Tuesday’s budget inches the government closer to that goal. It promises to introduce legislation to establish a framework for consumer-driven banking and taps the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada to oversee and enforce the system.

Auto theft charges

As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told a national summit earlier this year, the federal government plans to move ahead with harsher penalties for car thieves.

According to the budget, those amendments also would create a new aggravating factor applicable at sentencing in cases where the offender used or involved a young person in the commission of any offence under the Criminal Code.

CBSA Superintendent Jean-Francois Rainville removes a mattress that was used to hide a stolen Toyota Sequoia in a container at a news conference Thursday, July 17, 2014 in Montreal. RCMP and Canadian Border Security Agency busted an auto theft ring operating out of the Port of Montreal and seized 44 luxury vehicles for a total of over a million dollars in the investigation that resulted in four arrests. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press)

Budget 2024 also says the government intends to amend the Radiocommunication Act to regulate the sale, possession, distribution and importation of devices used to steal cars. This would enable law enforcement agencies to remove devices believed to be used to steal cars from the Canadian marketplace.

Judicial vacancies

In what appears to be a dig at the Alberta provincial government, the budget is proposing to reallocate funding for unused judicial positions.

“Canada’s court system plays a critical role in the safety, well-being and delivery of justice for Canadians. However, Alberta has been allocated judicial seats which they have chosen not to create, resulting in 17 unused judicial seats intended for unified family courts,” says the budget document.

“By redistributing positions to courts in jurisdictions where they will be put to use, the federal government will ensure funding for Canada’s justice system does not go to waste, as some provinces have chosen to do.”

Asked to comment Tuesday, Alberta Finance Minister Nate Horner said his government was still reading through the specifics.

The federal government also has been taken to task over its role in appointing judges. Earlier this year, a Federal Court decision said the Liberal government “failed” Canadians seeking timely justice by letting the number of judicial vacancies reach a state of crisis. Ottawa is appealing.

Last year, Chief Justice Richard Wagner sent Trudeau a letter warning of an “untenable” situation in Canadian courtrooms.

Building homes on public lands

One of the main pillars of the government’s budget was the more than $8 billion aimed at easing Canada’s housing crisis. The government laid out what it’s calling Canada’s Housing Plan — a pledge to “unlock” nearly 3.9 million homes by 2031.

A sign advertises a house as for sale or for rent in Ottawa on June 9, 2023. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

The Liberals say they believe thousands of those homes could come from unloading unused or underused federal properties, including 50 per cent of the federal office portfolio. The government is proposing to build homes on Canada Post properties and redevelop National Defence properties.

To do that, the government says will have to introduce legislation to facilitate the acquisition and use of public land for homes, and will need other levels of governments to agree.

Ottawa exploring Halal mortgages 

The federal government says it plans to explore new measures to expand access to “alternative financing products, like halal mortgages.”

For many Muslims, religious beliefs include restrictions on paying and receiving interest. Halal mortgages can be structured differently.

There’s no commitment yet of new money, legislative changes or regulatory updates, but the government said it started consulting last month with financial services providers and communities “to understand how federal policies can better support the needs of all Canadians seeking to become homeowners.”

“This could include changes in the tax treatment of these products or a new regulatory sandbox for financial service providers, while ensuring adequate consumer protections are in place,” says the budget document.

The federal government is promising more details in its fall economic statement.

Not much help for Swifties 

US singer-songwriter Taylor Swift performs during her Eras Tour at Sofi stadium in Inglewood, California, August 7, 2023. (Photo by Michael Tran / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE (Photo by MICHAEL TRAN/AFP via Getty Images) (AFP via Getty Images)

It’s perhaps no surprise that a bill aimed at younger generations name-dropped Taylor Swift.

The budget dedicated two and a half pages to decry soaring ticket prices for concerts and sporting events. The stress of buying tickets can be made worse by re-sellers who use bots to snatch tickets before fans, including diehard Swifties.

The budget says the federal government will work with provinces and territories to adopt ticket sales best-practices that reduce unexpected charges during the buying process and crack down on fraudulent sellers.

But the budget document doesn’t offer any plan to introduce enforceable measures.