Debates of Nov. 20th, 2025

Budget 2025 Implementation Act, No. 1

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I cannot believe the member said the previous prime minister “lost his job”. It was the leader of the Conservative Party who lost his job. Do members remember there was a by-election during the summer?

Let me give a quote from the IMF, a world organization of over 175 countries:

Both Germany and Canada recognize that in this very testing time, they need to use their fiscal space.... In the case of Canada, the Canadian authorities have been very decisive to take action in the context of changing relations with their main trading partner. And one of these actions is indeed to reform—modernize the budget framework....

I am not sure where the member is coming from.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I will just reiterate the Prime Minister's own words. Members should remember that he ran on this in February of this year, just a few short months ago. I will say the title of the article: “[The Prime Minister] promises to spend less, invest more to stimulate economy if he wins Liberal leadership”.

He is actually spending more and investing less than the previous prime minister, after he said he was going to do a better job. Those are the facts. I wish members over on the Liberal side would stick to the facts.

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I find it interesting to see all my Conservative colleagues getting all worked up about the Liberal budget today and saying how bad they think it is. I could get caught up in that too, because I do not think much of it is good.

Unlike the Conservatives, we have the benefit of being consistent. This week, when we voted on the budget, we were surprised to see that two Conservative members were hiding, waiting to see whether the budget would pass, before coming back to the House to state that they had had technical problems related to the vote.

My question for my colleague is this. Despite everything that the Conservatives say is wrong with the Liberal budget, how is it that they did the math and found a way to make sure it would pass? Is it because, as everyone says, this is ultimately a Conservative budget?

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the member's last couple of words were that this is a Conservative budget. I would take issue with that, as this is not a Conservative budget. A Conservative budget would not add $321.7 billion over the next five years to our federal debt. We are already at $1.3 trillion. I have made a video just to show the amount of money that is, which future generations will have to pay for. The interest alone is over $50 billion per year.

It is ridiculous. This not a Conservative budget. We need a Conservative budget.

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. colleague is my neighbour to the north. We share one of the largest cities as it is in both of our ridings, and I have deep respect for him. He is a true friend.

My hon. colleague and I have talked about the generational budget that the government has just introduced. It is generational because of the debt that it is heaping onto the shoulders of our families and future generations. I want to share this with everybody who is listening, the packed gallery here and the 12 people watching on TV. The fact of the matter is that today we are spending more to service our debt than we are in health care transfers to our provinces and in developing, sharing or transferring to our provinces to deal with the opioid crisis and the mental health crisis.

What would our hon. colleague's thoughts be on that?

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I know that the member for Cariboo—Prince George has a couple of constituents in the gallery today who are watching us as we speak.

This is a real issue. I would challenge Canadians to answer how many of them actually have a family doctor. How many think the current health care system is doing great? If we had a show of hands, I bet we would not see a whole bunch of hands going up.

The government has been in place for the last 10 years. It has really run Canada into the ground, and that needs to change.

[The Deputy Speaker, Tom Kmiec]

Before we go back to resuming debate, I would just remind members that we cannot make reference to persons in the gallery.

Resuming debate, the hon. President of the Treasury Board.

[Shafqat Ali, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with my amazing colleague, the hard-working member of Parliament, the hon. member for Davenport.

I appreciate the opportunity to speak in support of Bill C-15, the budget 2025 implementation act, No. 1. Our government has been focused on bringing down costs and creating new opportunities for Canadians. The first thing we have done as a government is to cancel the divisive consumer carbon price, reducing, as a result, gas prices by approximately 18¢ per litre in most provinces and territories while strengthening industrial carbon prices so that we can continue our moral and economic duty to combat climate change. We have also cut taxes for 22 million Canadians, saving a family of two up to $840 per year.

In budget 2025, we are making generational investments in our Canadian Armed Forces, in infrastructure and in housing. We are building Canada strong. We are also creating new career opportunities for young Canadians. We are launching a youth climate corps and are providing 175,000 opportunities through Canada summer jobs, the horizontal youth employment and skills strategy and the student work placement program in 2026-27.

The bill is delivering measures to make life more affordable for Canadians. We know, for example, that the digitalization in the financial sector has brought many benefits for consumers. At the same time, we know that consumers who remain reliant on legacy financial products and services may be missing out on these benefits and getting left behind.

Access to cheque fund rules are now over a decade old and have not kept pace with cost of living increases or technological advances. That is why budget 2025 proposes to amend the Bank Act to raise the first amount of immediately available deposited cheque funds from $100 to $150. That means removing the timing distinction between funds deposited in-person and via other ways. We are reducing the number of days banks may hold deposited cheque funds, which will include raising the current value threshold of $1,500, below which shorter cheque hold periods would apply. This would also apply the changes to trust and loan companies.

Once again, Bill C-15 would make this change a reality. That is not the only way that the bill would improve financial services to help Canadians manage their money.

Consumer-driven banking refers to a secure framework that lets Canadians and businesses share their financial data with the approved service providers of their choice. This framework would give consumers greater control over their data. It would also promote a competitive and innovative financial sector that strengthens Canada's position in the global digital economy.

The goal of Canada's consumer-driven banking framework is to promote competition and innovation in the financial sector, improve financial outcomes for Canadians and ensure that consumers can share their data securely. In other countries, regulated frameworks have proven effective at achieving accessibility and supporting new financial service providers and business models.

At the same time, we know that the absence of a secure framework means that about nine million Canadians currently share their financial data by providing their confidential banking credentials in a process known as screen scraping. These consumers face increased security, liability and privacy risks, and may be left without resources if something goes wrong. Our consumer-driven banking framework will address these risks by using application programming interfaces, or APIs, a type of technology that provides a more secure communication connection between entities.

Giving Canadians greater controls over their financial data would open the door to new financial products and greater choices between providers, which would create a more dynamic financial sector and productive economy. Unlocking these new opportunities will lead to improved financial decision-making, lower costs, and more tailored products and services for consumers.

Bill C-15 will be fundamental to achieving this, as it proposes legislative changes that would complete the consumer-driven banking framework by transferring its governance to the Bank of Canada and making a legislative amendment to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act that would grant Canadians a right to data mobility, supporting an economy-wide approach to data sharing.

All Canadians are expected to benefit from a consumer-driven banking framework. It would promote competition and reduce risks in the financial services industry by regulating financial data sharing. For consumers, this could mean greater financial inclusion, more informed decisions and better management and reduction of financial stressors. For businesses, it could mean improved access to new forms of financing and reducing the administrative burden with better integration and automation of key functions.

Lower income and financially stressed households are expected to benefit most through access to lower-cost products, clearer choices and tools to manage debts and reduce financial stress.

What is more is this is not only the way that Bill C-15 would help Canadian financial consumers save and manage their money. Competition in the sector can also drive efficiency and support economic development and productivity, as financial institutions are driven to allocate capital to their most productive uses.

Budget 2025 and Bill C-15 build on actions our new government has already taken to make life more affordable by delivering three major tax cuts, supercharging homebuilding to increase supply and lower housing costs and introducing automatic federal benefits so that millions of Canadians receive the support they qualify for.

That is why budget 2025 and Bill C-15 merit our full support.

[Kerry Diotte, Conservative, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I noticed that the hon. member across the way mentioned that the Liberals cancelled the carbon tax. I am wondering if he could explain where they got the idea to axe the tax.

[Shafqat Ali, Liberal, Brampton—Chinguacousy Park, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we are looking to move forward. We are dealing with the crisis of our lifetime, and we are meeting the moment to address affordability issues.

The Prime Minister and this new government have a clear vision to eliminate divisiveness. The consumer carbon price was dividing Canadians, so we cut the consumer carbon price—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, John Nater]

Questions and comments, the hon. member for Rimouski—La Matapédia.

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski—La Matapédia, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague just said that this government has a clear vision. Let us discuss its clear vision.

It is running a record $78‑billion deficit, based on $45 billion in so-called investments in assets, a practice that has been criticized by the Parliamentary Budget Officer himself. I want my colleague to explain how he can talk about fiscal restraint when he is involved in running the biggest deficit in history and also changing the accounting rules in an attempt to muddy the waters.

Has his definition of fiscal restraint changed, or is it his definition of fiscal transparency that has changed?

[Shafqat Ali, Liberal, Brampton—Chinguacousy Park, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am surprised by my colleagues, who voted against our generational budget, which includes dental care and health care transfers to provinces. This is a budget to build, protect and empower. It will address affordability and build the strongest economy in the G7. This is a budget focused on spending less and investing more so we can build the strongest economy in the G7.

[Braedon Clark, Liberal, Sackville—Bedford—Preston, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I know one thing the President of the Treasury Board was involved with in the development of the budget was the comprehensive expenditure review, which found $60 billion in savings over five years. I wonder if the President of the Treasury Board can give us an update on that process and how it will save Canadians money over the long term.

[Shafqat Ali, Liberal, Brampton—Chinguacousy Park, ON]

Mr. Speaker, as members know, we are facing new norms and new realities. Things have changed globally, so we are focused on spending less and investing more and on finding savings to reassign resources where it matters most to Canadians. That is why we launched the comprehensive expenditure review, and we will be balancing our operational budget in the next three years.

[Andrew Lawton, Conservative, Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the President of the Treasury Board said the government is “spending less to invest more”. The Prime Minister said the deficit would be capped at $62 billion, but this budget has it at $78 billion. Is 78 more or less than 62?

[Shafqat Ali, Liberal, Brampton—Chinguacousy Park, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the new government was elected on the mandate to spend less and invest more and to build the strongest economy in the G7, and that is exactly what we are focused on. Budget 2025 is focused on delivering investments in our Canadian Armed Forces, in infrastructure and in housing, which means massive opportunities for jobs and the growth of our economy.

[Andrew Lawton, Conservative, Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, there was some noise there. I do not believe the President of the Treasury Board heard the question. Is 78 more or less than 62?

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, John Nater]

That is clearly a matter of debate, not a point of order.

Resuming debate, the hon. member for Davenport.

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Mr. Speaker, as always, it is such a pleasure for me to rise in the House on behalf of the residents of my riding of Davenport to speak to budget 2025. This is an important budget delivered in extraordinary times.

Let us start off by being very honest about where we are. The world is more dangerous and divided, and Canada is very much facing a world that is rapidly changing and is increasingly uncertain. The rules-based international order and the trading system that powered Canada's prosperity for decades are being reshaped, which is hurting companies, displacing workers and causing major disruption and upheaval for Canadians.

In Canada, we have to focus on what we can control. Despite the headwinds, Canada has the fiscal capacity to transform our economy. This is our moment to build big, to build bold and to build now. As our Minister of Finance said, “This budget must be generational in its ambition.... There is no place for withdrawal, ambiguity or even standing still, only for bold and swift action.”

Let me speak to one of the many items that matter to the people in my riding of Davenport.

The number one thing I hear about is jobs. People continue to be worried. Will they continue to have good-paying jobs? Will their kids coming out of school have opportunities? Without a good-paying job, no one will be able to afford a home or live a decent life.

I am very proud that this budget invests heavily in training and creating opportunities. We are providing $1.5 billion over three years to address youth unemployment, including with 100,000 Canada summer jobs, which is 30,000 more than what was given this summer, and 55,000 new work-integrated learning opportunities for students, which is 15,000 more than we were able to do this past year.

Davenport has many union construction workers, and I want to give a shout-out to LIUNA Local 183, which is the largest union for construction workers. We are so blessed to have them in our city building our city and our country. They contribute so much to our national economy.

In budget 2025, we are providing $75 million over three years to expand the union training and innovation program for apprenticeship training in the Red Seal trades. For workers who are impacted by tariffs, we have $570 million over three years for training and employment assistance, plus new workforce alliances bringing together employers, unions and industry groups. Finally, we are also launching a youth climate corps, with $40 million over two years to train young Canadians to respond to climate emergencies and strengthen community resilience.

Another big priority for Davenport is culture and the arts. Very blessedly, there are many artists in my constituency. While these times are tough and our government has had to make some hard choices, let me be very clear: Culture matters and the arts matter. During uncertain times, we stay united by sharing our stories. The arts help us interpret the world around us. The arts and culture sector contributed $65 billion to our economy in 2024.

In budget 2025, we invest $769 million over five years in arts and culture, which includes $150 million for CBC/Radio-Canada, $150 million for Telefilm Canada, $127.5 million for the Canada Media Fund, and support for festivals and performing arts. We have also introduced an artist's resale right, allowing visual artists to receive royalties when their work is resold, something the sector, including many from my constituency of Davenport, have advocated for for years.

Public safety is the third top priority for Davenport. Residents are worried about auto theft, home invasions and gun crime. I want my constituents to know that this issue is among the highest priorities of our government.

The budget provides $1.7 billion over four years to the RCMP to hire 1,000 new personnel to fight transnational organized crime, financial crimes and money laundering. We are also providing almost $700 million over five years to the Canada Border Services Agency to hire up to 1,000 new officers, building on the $1.3-billion border plan announced in December. These officers will also stop guns and drugs from coming into our country. All this investment is in addition to a number of strong pieces of legislation making their way through the House, which include Bill C-14, Bill C-12 and Bill C-9.

Budget 2025 also has an important focus on seniors. For seniors, elderly benefits will reach over $83 billion in 2025-26, supporting 7.5 million Canadians. We are also launching a national anti-fraud strategy. In 2024 alone, Canadians lost $643 million to fraud, nearly a 300% increase since 2020. We continue supporting the new horizons for seniors program, which is a lifeline for many seniors in my riding and seniors across the country. Finally, we are introducing a personal support workers tax credit, providing up to $1,100 per year. This is to support the amazing people who take care of our loved ones, because as our loved ones get older, they need a lot more support.

As chair of the Canada NATO Parliamentary Association, I take our commitments to defence very seriously. Budget 2025 confirms we will reach the NATO 2% target this fiscal year and are on a pathway to meet the 5% defence investment pledge by 2035. This budget provides $81.8 billion over five years to ensure the Canadian Armed Forces have the support and the tools they need. We are also providing $2 billion in 2025-26 for additional military assistance to Ukraine. As our Prime Minister has said, there can be no prosperity without security. I would also add that we must continue to do all we can to ensure the war stops in Ukraine and to help bring a just and lasting peace to the country.

I know there are concerns about the deficit, but we are acting from a position of fiscal strength. We have the lowest net debt-to-GDP ratio in the G7, and the second-lowest deficit-to-GDP ratio. The IMF has validated the approach outlined in our budget, stating that we are using our fiscal space to make generational investments, and that is good. No one likes seeing large deficits, and we are committed to balancing the operating budget by 2028-29.

We are dramatically reducing how much we are spending to run government. Through our comprehensive expenditure review, we are achieving $60 billion in savings over five years, eliminating duplication and using made-in-Canada AI tools. We are spending less on day-to-day operations so we can invest far more in capital investments, in building Canada.

This budget will catalyze $1 trillion in investment over five years from provinces, territories, municipalities, indigenous communities and the private sector. We are investing $51 billion over 10 years through the build communities strong fund for local infrastructure: hospitals, universities, roads, bridges, water systems and transit. The first two phases of nation-building projects are expected to trigger $150 billion in total capital investment. We are also diversifying our trade relationships, working to double our overseas exports within a decade and unlocking $300 billion in new opportunities for Canadian workers and businesses.

Canada has to make itself attractive to the world. Luckily, we are an amazing country. We have the critical minerals, the natural resources, the people and the leadership to do so.

Let me conclude with this. When times are tough, we stand together as Canadians. We look after one another. We invest in ourselves. We do not retreat; we advance. As our finance minister said, “To weather the storm of uncertainty, we will not lower our sails. Quite the opposite, we will raise them to catch the winds of economic change, because we believe in Canada.”

I believe in Canada. I believe in my riding of Davenport. I believe in the resilience, the diversity and the determination that make our community and our country great. This is a moment for bold action, a moment to build the future we want for ourselves and for generations to come. Canada has faced challenges before and we have always emerged stronger. Budget 2025 is our plan to do exactly that: building our economy, protecting our communities, empowering our people and ensuring Canada emerges as the strongest economy in the G7.

I am proud of this budget; I am proud to support it, and it is always an honour to represent the people of Davenport.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Abbotsford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, many Liberal speakers have spoken about something very radical for the business community, which we have not seen a plan for yet. It is their commitment to double exports from Canada in a 10-year period. In my estimation, the only way we are going to see that happen is if the Liberals approve another pipeline off the B.C. coast.

Would the member agree that a pipeline is necessary for working toward the government's goal of doubling exports abroad to meet the needs of Canada's economic ambitions?

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Mr. Speaker, where I agree with my hon. colleague in his question is that we do have to build our economy bigger and faster than ever before so we are not reliant on any one country. We have been too reliant for too long on one huge partner. It has been very beneficial for us for almost 100 years, but now we are taking urgent, immediate and big actions to reorientate our economy, not only to strengthen ourselves internally but also to make sure we are diversifying our trade with trusted partners internationally.

I do think it will take up to 10 years and that it will be a huge effort for us to do that, but I also think we have the people, the skills, the talent and the resources to do so.

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

Mr. Speaker, something happened in the last Liberal budget.

I think the Liberals tried to mislead just about everyone by making a distinction between operating expenses and capital expenditures. Unfortunately, their ploy did not work, because almost no one in the media or the opposition believed it. Even the Parliamentary Budget Officer said that it was nonsense.

It might have made sense to separate operating expenses from investments, if the investments had been actual investments. Everyone knows that what the Liberals are trying to do in this budget does not make sense.

Will my colleague across the way encourage her caucus members to return to actual rigorous accounting standards, so that people can trust what is tabled in Parliament?

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I do not agree with the hon. member.

Canada's government is presenting a responsible economic plan that leverages our world-class industries, our skills and talented workers, our diverse trade partnerships and a strong domestic market where Canadians can be our own best customers. We also have a very clear mandate, which is to spend less so we can invest more.

I hosted a big town hall about the budget last week. My constituents definitely had a question around our $78-billion deficit. I spoke to them about how we are separating our operating expenditures from capital investments and massively decreasing our operating expenditures over the next five years. They understood that, they believe in it and they think we are on the right path.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague brought up the issue of the debt that is being taken on in order to fulfill some of the nation-building projects and to grow out our diversification in ways never seen before, as well as to significantly increase our spending in defence. She identified some of the criticism of that, and we do hear it, yet at the same time, the IMF and other organizations such as credit agencies have identified Canada as being in a position to take on this debt right now.

Therefore I have come to the conclusion that if we have the capacity to do this now, if we are one of the best-positioned countries to do it, there could be no better time possible than right now to invest heavily, given everything that is going on in the world, in particular our relationship with the United States.