Oxfam Canada reacts to Budget 2025
Budget 2025 offers little relief to the most vulnerable
At a moment when inequality is deepening and poverty is climbing, few measures within Budget 2025 address the affordability crisis felt acutely by people across the country. On the whole, the much-anticipated budget falls short of the scale of investment needed in social infrastructure to ensure that all people across Canada can meet their most basic needs.
Canada isn’t facing a crisis of scarcity, but a crisis of inequality — and this budget makes it worse. By cutting taxes for the wealthiest and underfunding public services, this budget deepens inequality instead of building the stable, equitable Canada we need. True prosperity comes from investing in people, not padding the wealth of those who already have the most.
As many Canadians continue to struggle with affordability, Budget 2025 eliminates taxes that were key sources of public revenue, which could be put towards strengthening the social protection system that Canadians depend on in these times of economic uncertainty. This includes scrapping the luxury tax on yachts and private jets, the Digital Services Tax, and the Underused Housing Tax which applies to people and corporations who buy homes not to live in, but to hold as assets.
While Budget 2025 makes good on the government’s pledge to invest in the physical infrastructure and nation building projects that connect Canada, the social infrastructures that keep Canadians safe, healthy, and cared for are overlooked. The government has titled the 2025 Budget “Canada Strong,” but had failed to recognize that the bedrock of a strong, prosperous Canada is actually a well-cared for and more equal society.
Take childcare for example. By failing to increase public investments in childcare, hundreds of thousands of families will be denied access to affordable childcare, which will make it even harder to make ends meet and for mothers in particular to stay in the workforce. This also puts at risk the expansion of $10-a-day childcare to provinces who do not have agreements with the federal government in place, and hampers the ability of provinces who do, to bring down costs more quickly and make childcare more accessible.
There are some bright spots in Budget 2025 that deserve highlighting. Most specifically are the new hard-won investments in the Department of Women and Gender Equality to support and empower women, girls, gender-diverse people, and the 2SLGBTQI+ community. When governments invest in women’s rights and gender equality, they’re investing in what holds Canada together. This was a smart investment that will indeed help build a stronger Canada.
Budget 2025 signals that Canada is stepping back on our global commitments
The government’s decision to reduce spending on international assistance delivers a disappointing message for Canada’s role in the world. It signals that Canada is stepping back on our global commitments and breaks a promise that Prime Minister Carney made during the election campaign.
In a world marked by conflict, climate shocks and economic turmoil, investments in international assistance are not acts of charity — they are investments in global stability and security. International assistance is as vital to Canada’s security and influence as are defense and trade. Smart investments in international assistance help prevent conflict and forced migration, build stability, and create the conditions for lasting peace and prosperity. Cutting back on international assistance is short-sighted. Reducing Canada’s international assistance spending by $2.7B over the next four year is at odds with Prime Minister Carney’s stated goal of renewing Canada’s global partnerships and expanding its diplomatic and trade relationships.
Canada has a proud tradition of principled global engagement. At a time when the United States and many other donor countries are scaling back their international aid commitments, Canada should maintain its current levels of development assistance and continue to put women’s rights and gender equality at the center.
New Climate Competitiveness Strategy fails in ambition
In a year where wildfires in Canada destroyed an area larger than the province of New Brunswick and air pollution costs our healthcare system $146B, the government’s climate plan is not scaled to the ambition needed to meet the moment.
The “Climate Competitiveness Strategy” contained within the budget is a bare-bones framework that captures a small highlight reel of measures already in motion. With the elimination of the consumer carbon tax as one of the Prime Minister’s first moves after being elected, Canadians have been waiting to see how the government intends to tackle rising emissions in Canada. While no doubt positive that the government has reaffirmed they are committed to the industrial price on carbon and creating a cleaner grid, the goal posts have been moved as to when Canada meets net-zero from a 2030 target to 2050 – that’s twenty years the planet does not have to spare.
Canada’s delayed action has consequences beyond its borders and slows global progress toward limiting warming to 1.5°C. Effectively tackling climate change is a global challenge and as an outsized polluter, Canada should do more. This can include putting in place a windfall profit tax on polluters and eliminating all federal subsidies to fossil fuel producers. As COP30 is about to commence in Belém, there is also opportunity for Canada to signal its commitment to equipping the countries most impacted by climate change to respond, by renewing our global climate finance commitment.
Like with international assistance, states that once led the way on fighting back against the climate emergency are stepping away and drawing back. There is an opportunity for Canada to take a renewed leadership role in coordinating the collective action needed now more than ever to fight back against climate change.
Contact Information
Laveza Khan | laveza.khan@oxfam.org | 613-240-4157