Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of the good people of Milton East—Halton Hills South to bring reflections on our government's 2025 budget, a budget that lays the blueprint to address a new paradigm of economic development, nation building and generational investment. It is a budget that believes in Canada. This budget is historic, and it comes at a historic time.
However, this is also a time of challenges. We know that Canada is grappling with recent economic hardships as a result of the unfair tariffs the United States has thrust upon us. These tariffs have contributed to a global disruption of economic conventions and to unaffordability around the world, and it is not just a Canadian problem. In fact we heard recently that unaffordability in the U.S. is so critical that the American President has actually reversed course on his prized tariff policy, reversing tariffs on some food items that Americans struggled to afford and still do.
However, Canadians know that times of challenge are also times of opportunity. Now is the time for us to re-evaluate and recommit to our own destiny. We do not need to rely on anyone in order to be prosperous. We have much of what we need right here: an educated, hard-working and patriotic population; vast natural resources that the world wants; and a philosophy of co-operation, quality and responsibility that makes us a desired partner for trade, investment and collaboration the world over.
The broad, shifting tides of the global economic landscape are being felt in the daily lives of Canadians. As a government, it is our duty to address this. Our 2025 budget is the foundation of our answer to this challenge. Here, in the people's House, we hear it all. We feel it. Affordability, housing, employment, our young people, and crime all need and deserve our collective attention.
It is the right of every Canadian to feel secure in their daily needs and endeavours. We understand the importance of investing in resources for a safer community, and that is why budget 2025 will invest $1.7 billion over four years into public safety and border security by hiring 1,000 new RCMP officers and 1,000 new border security agents. Safety in our communities is also top of mind. By investing in law enforcement and justice reform, we will tackle organized crime, gun violence, auto theft and many other crimes. Safety is the first pillar of prosperity.
I have four young adult children. As a mother, their struggles are my struggles. Youth unemployment rates are not acceptable. Over the next two years, $594 million will develop 100,000 summer jobs under our Canada summer jobs program. Investing over $300 million over two years in our youth employment and skills strategy will provide employment and support to 20,000 young people facing employment barriers, and we will create 55,000 work-integrated learning opportunities for post-secondary students by investing $635 million in our student work placement program.
The government has also committed $40 million to create a youth climate corps that will provide paid skills training to young Canadians to quickly respond to environmental emergencies, support recovery and create a resilient Canada for years to come.
Hand in hand with employment is the pride and accomplishment of a home to call one's own. We have been facing a steep housing supply gap. To combat this, our government has allotted $13 billion over five years to our Build Canada Homes initiative, supercharging the housing industry and catalyzing private sector partnerships to build homes at a rate unseen since the postwar period. We will also expand transitional supportive housing for the most vulnerable among us, working with our provinces, territories, municipalities and indigenous communities.
In the short term, we are providing relief by bringing down house purchase costs through our elimination of the GST for first-time homebuyers, allowing them to recover up to $50,000 of GST paid toward a new home, money that would go directly back into their pockets. We are also protecting existing affordable housing through launching the $1.5-billion Canada rental protection fund under Build Canada Homes to ensure that affordable rent is not being lost to increases.
To provide quick relief to nearly 22 million Canadians, our government has implemented a middle-class tax cut aimed specifically at targeting Canadians in the lower and middle tax brackets. In hand with this, our government is transitioning to automated federal benefits for Canadians through simplifying federal tax returns. This will result in approximately five and a half million Canadians' receiving the benefits they are entitled to but are not currently collecting simply because they are not filing tax returns. These benefits belong to the people, and our government is removing obstacles so the people can benefit.
Canadians are not afraid of hard work, and the government is implementing a new re-skilling package for workers. By providing $570 million, we will support training and employment assistance to workers who have been affected by tariffs and global market shifts.
Guaranteed in our charter is security of the person, and this is a foundational tenet in Canada's health care system, a system that is envied the world over and that every Canadian can look to with pride. The government will invest $5 billion over three years to our dedicated health infrastructure fund. We recognize that hospitals, urgent care centres, emergency rooms and medical schools need to be at the forefront of investment to serve Canadians.
In my riding of Milton East—Halton Hills South, plans are under way for a brand new hospital in Georgetown and a palliative care hospice, each facing significant capital costs. Budget 2025's health infrastructure proposal is the type of plan that will support such projects. Our municipalities and our people need this support.
My history as a municipal councillor in Milton gives me an insightful perspective in this sphere. So much of our municipal planning depends on investing in core public infrastructure. Municipalities have limited ways to raise revenue and cannot run budget deficits, yet they are burdened with increasing responsibilities, typically without the corresponding financial support.
I am so proud to stand up for this budget, which commits $54 billion to creating core public infrastructure over the next five years through our build communities strong fund. This infrastructure is imperative to supporting municipalities as they work to facilitate homebuilding in our communities.
Of course, with development, we must be mindful of our impact on our natural environment. Our budget outlines the path to supporting a green future while providing prosperity by becoming an energy superpower in both clean and conventional energy.
Our Prime Minister has been clear: Canada's new government will spend less so we can invest more. At a time when Canadians are facing economic pressures in their daily lives, this government recognizes its duties in solidarity with all Canadians. That is why this budget demands $60 billion in savings. We have done this while still protecting the vital services that Canadians rely on: child care, dental care, pharmacare and our national school food program.
I am so proud to be a Canadian and a member of a government that is unafraid of taking bold action and meeting challenges head-on.