OTTAWA – Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff presented three proposals today that would help to create new, high-paying jobs in many sectors of the economy and alleviate the worst level of youth unemployment in a generation.

“We’re in a jobless recovery, but the Conservatives have no plan for creating long-term, high-quality jobs,” said Mr. Ignatieff. “That’s why we’re putting forward concrete proposals that would immediately stimulate job creation if the government were to adopt them in its upcoming budget.”

Liberals are proposing three initiatives that the federal government could implement right away to immediately create jobs and strengthen Canada’s economic future:

1. Support for Manufacturers – Boost job-creating productivity and competitiveness through a cash advance on the Accelerated Capital Cost Allowance (ACCA) to help manufacturers purchase new equipment.

2. Jobs for Young Canadians – Reduce the worst youth unemployment in a generation by introducing a temporary financial incentive to hire young Canadians; and,

3. Encouraging Investment in Start-Up Companies – Create new jobs by introducing additional tax incentives for Canadians who invest in Canadian entrepreneurs and start-up companies in emerging sectors such as clean energy and life sciences.

“In this recession, our manufacturers can only create new jobs if they have better access to the capital they need to invest in new equipment and get ahead of global competition,” said Liberal Finance Critic John McCallum. “A cash advance on the ACCA tax benefit would help manufacturers hurt by the recession become profitable by boosting job-creating productivity.”

“Canada’s youth face double the national unemployment rate,” said Liberal Youth Critic Justin Trudeau. “By giving employers a greater incentive to hire the next generation of workers, we can help our youth obtain the job experience they need and boost our economy.”

“New investment models have helped make Canada a leading destination for mining exploration,” said Liberal Industry Critic Marc Garneau, referring to Flow-Through Shares (see Backgrounder). “By extending these models to emerging sectors of the economy, we can help bridge the gap between research and commercialization, and create cutting-edge jobs of tomorrow in the process.”

320,000 Canadians who have lost their jobs since the recession began in October 2008 are still unemployed, while half a million face the end of their EI benefits before finding a new job. New jobs that have been created since the recession began are more likely to be lower in quality than the jobs they replaced, predominantly through part-time or self-employed work, with fewer hours of work on average.