On the evening of October 22, Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke in front of a group of students at the University of Ottawa to explain his thoughts and expectations behind the upcoming federal budget. The name of Carney’s new fiscal policy is Budget 2025, focused on what the prime minister referred to as “building, taking control, and winning.”
The full outline of the budget is assumed, if done accordingly, to be presented and outlined by the Prime Minister on November 4. Until then, the Department of Finance Canada has made remarks outlining what Budget 2025 will consist of, including its four main objectives which are quoted below:
1. To train the newest generation of Canadian builders, and expand the Union Training and Innovation Program, in the hope of having many more Canadian workers to build major infrastructure and millions more homes across the country.
2. To recognize “the vital role of personal support workers” and introduce a temporary five-year Personal Support Workers Tax Credit. Eligible workers will be able to claim a refundable tax credit equal to 5% of their eligible earnings, providing support of up to $1,100 per year.
3. To protect workers’ rights, promote labour mobility, strengthen competition, and amend the Canada Labour Code to restrict the use of non-compete agreements in employment contracts for federally regulated businesses.
4. To invest $97 million over five years to create a Foreign Credential Recognition Action Fund, and work to make credential recognition “fairer, faster, and more transparent,” helping “qualified foreign trained professionals” contribute expediently to Canada’s workforce.
Some have praised and supported the new budget. Patty Hajdu, Canada’s Minister of Jobs and Families, stated in a press release that this is the time for Canadians to build a future together, lift each other up, and invest in their country. Hajdu believes now more than ever is a moment to invest in the workers who build Canada.
Carney’s budget proposal comes at a time of increasing national debt, projecting an annual $68.5
billion this year, up from $51.7 billion last year, and was met with opposition from the Conservative Party. According to the CBC Carney met privately with opposition leader Pierre Poilievre about the budget on October 22 after meeting with the leaders of the New Democratic Party, the Bloc Québécois, and the Green Party. Liberal House leader Steven MacKinnon claimed that there are currently not enough votes for the budget to be passed, with the vote set to be held on November 4. If not passed, calls for a federal election could be imminent.
Within the last year, uncertainty in the Canadian real estate market has led housing to become a major public concern. For many Canadians, finding affordable housing within major cities has become increasingly difficult. Budget 2025 aims to address this issue by expanding the Union Training and Innovation Program, which will promote the addition of new workers to build more housing. Carney praised the Build Canada Homes program and policies he implemented upon winning last year’s election: “we cut taxes to reduce the cost of housing for first-time homebuyers — immediately making the goal of home ownership a reality for more Canadians, especially young families.” The program’s goals are to double the pace of housing construction within the next decade by using new technologies; potentially cutting building times by 50 per cent, reducing costs, and lowering emissions by 20 per cent.
Along with the fiscal investments, Budget 2025 will continue to seek improvements in trade relations, self-defence/military spending, the protection of marginalized communities, healthcare, and immigration, which were mentioned in the prime minister’s address. Carney reaffirmed in his address that the government will continue to protect against both Islamophobia and antisemitism, both of which have been topics of recent national discussions. It has been a little over a month since the Prime Minister’s formal declaration of Palestinian statehood, and the introduction of legislation in September to combat hate crimes, and Carney claims there is more work to come through Budget 2025 in combating discrimination in the country.
Criticism from the Conservative Party continues over immigration, as it is unclear whether the amount of immigrants entering Canada will increase due to the fourth objective of Budget 2025. According to a CBC survey, the amount of Conservative voters who believe there is too much immigration doubled from 2020 to 2025, from 41 per cent to 82 per cent.
Prime Minister Carney’s address also highlighted his desire for independence from the United States economy, a key talking point for the Liberal government. Carney recognized the possible short-term struggle of breaking away from Canada’s largest trade partner but, nevertheless, promised to double non-U.S. exports over the next decade. “As Canadians, we have re-learned some key lessons over the past year. We have to take care of ourselves because we can’t rely on one foreign partner,” said Carney. He continued by asserting that “we are masters in our own house. It is Canadians who will decide what happens here. It’s our country. It’s your future. We are going to give it back to you.” Carney later added that this pushback is not just referring to trade relations with the United States, but also securing the border. The Prime Minister deemed that his party had introduced “the strongest legislation in Canadian history” to protect the Canadian border from gun trafficking and illegal drugs like fentanyl.
These remarks signal that the Carney government will continue pursuing Canadian-independent
policies, even as U.S.-Canada trade talks remain at a standstill with President Trump not pleased with new negotiations. Tensions are still running high, exacerbated by a controversial advertisement using a speech by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan. Audio from a speech Reagan gave against tariffs was used in the advertisement by Ontario Premier Doug Ford and sparked outrage from the Trump administration, leading to possible increases in tariffs by the U.S.
Among Canadian McGill students who plan to stay in the country after they graduate, reactions and concerns differ. When an anonymous U1 student from St. John’s, Newfoundland was asked about how her life after graduating would be affected by the four main objectives of Budget 2025, she responded: “That’s what I’ll be doing [after graduating], supporting trade unions, and trade workers … the newest generation of Canadian builders, like expanding union trading and innovation programs.” She
continued: “I have no qualms with immigration… I’m pro supporting the economy with immigrants as long as it’s ethical and legal and fair.
“We’re the second largest country in the world with like a third of the population of some of the largest countries. We have the space for new people. [Yet] there is a housing crisis. Canada’s never been good at addressing its housing crisis… So I do think there needs to be more done, not even just on a national level, but also like municipal level when it comes to anti-homeless infrastructure [being harmful], homeless support systems, drug support systems, and that needs to be rolled out on the local level. So I’m not the hugest fan of Carney.”
After discussing why Carney might have done this speech in front of college students, she remarked, “Carney’s government does not care. They’re saying this to students because [they] are at the forefront of protests. They are at the forefront of social movements to address Islamophobia, antisemitism, anti Zionism, Palestinian resistance, you’re seeing the most reform and protests from students on college campuses, like what just happened this past October 7th. 80,000 Montreal students were on strike and protesting. So he’s [Carney] saying it to be like, “hey, this is something we care about.”
A U0 student from Regina, Saskatchewan was also asked about policies towards immigration and Budget 2025. “Always the provincial government changes things and then jobs security goes,” he stated. “Immigration and not being able to find jobs… that could have gone to people who were born in Canada, that’s quite prevalent in … my hometown. [Saskatchewan has] been said to be the easiest place to get your permanent residence … [T]here’s a constant coming and going of the immigrant people, they, you know, come to Regina first and then they move elsewhere, so lots of temporary positions go to them.”
When asked about the “qualified foreign-trained professionals” outlined in Budget 2025, he responded, “I’m pretty much ambivalent towards the hiring of trained foreign professionals, if they need to or if they are needed here, if that is the direction the Canadian thinks is the best way to go. I think they are fine to do so I don’t have any problems with it.
“I am in support of immigration, and of refugees to Canada. They need a place to stay, obviously, but there are other issues, of course, with the housing now and all that sort of thing. So I think if the housing problem were to be fixed then that would create more opportunities for jobs for those that are coming here.”
Though Carney may have spoken to college students in Ottawa to relate to the audience who will eventually be at the forefront of the Canadian economy, he will have to work to make sure Budget 2025 effectively speaks to the concerns of young people. That same kind of outreach will also have to happen towards the opposition in parliament on November 4.