The soaring cost of living is now a predominant conversation topic among Canadians. Low-income Canadians in particular struggle with a cost-of-living crisis and a housing crisis, yet Canada’s biggest corporations are reaping record level profits and not paying their fair share of taxes. In 2021, corporations enjoyed their lowest ever recorded income tax rate, despite having their third-highest recorded profit rate, thanks, in part, to over $100 billion in federal pandemic support. Canadian corporations pay so little tax that less than one week of revenues covered all their income taxes for the entire year in 2022.
Meanwhile, public services that benefit all Canadians, such as health care, disability care, long-term care, education and public transport, remain dramatically underfunded. Also, a lot of the public services, especially in the care sector, are disproportionately done by women. In Canada, care workers make up nearly one-fifth of the total employed labour force, yet the care sector is characterized by low wages, low status and poor working conditions, especially for racialized women. The sector is left with a recruitment and retention crisis due to high levels of burnout.
Budget 2024 should respond to our current economic crisis by investing in the people who keep our society strong and resilient. Expanding the care economy and the public and emergency services on which Canadians depend should be a core priority.
Establishing a national care economy commission can identify current gaps, recommend solutions and best practices, and direct federal investments in a strategic manner.
To pay for the essential services on which we all depend, the federal government should raise new public revenues by implementing a wealth tax on the super rich and windfall taxes on large corporations that are reaping super profits.
The government should coordinate its investments in the care economy with its sustainable jobs agenda. A just energy transition presents a unique opportunity and avenue to promote gender equality and inclusiveness in the world of work. The sustainable jobs act, Bill C-50, mentions “the creation of employment opportunities for groups under-represented in the labour market, including women, persons with disabilities, Indigenous peoples, Black and other racialized individuals, 2SLGBTQI+ and other equity-seeking groups”.
This will require significant investments and a workforce strategy that explicitly recognizes care infrastructure as part of Canada's climate resilience. Canada's care strategy and climate action must come together in the sustainable jobs agenda.
To conclude, Canada's next budget should make clear that a more green, stable and fair world would benefit all Canadians.
Thank you.