The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday, Jan. 30, edition that facing mounting pressure to address affordability concerns, Ottawa has announced a 25-per-cent increase to the Goods and Services Tax Credit for five years. The Globe's guest columnist Claude Lavoie writes that a GST credit increase is often considered a "go to" policy among policy experts. Many see it as an ideal stimulus measure because it satisfies the three standard criteria: targeted, timely and temporary. The benefit flows to low-income Canadians who are more likely to spend it rather than save it, making it more potent than broad-based tax cuts. It can be rapidly delivered through existing systems, providing faster economic support than infrastructure spending. And by being time-limited, it avoids creating permanent fiscal obligations and creating inflationary pressure when economic conditions improve. The Trudeau government deployed this approach in 2020, and again in 2022, to support low- and modest-income Canadians during the pandemic and to strengthen economic recovery. Many economists also view it as an effective way to improve financial security for lower-income households and enhance the progressivity of Canada's tax and transfer system.