Mr. Speaker, even the Conservatives are cheering.
They should be cheering about this as well: We made permanent the national school food program, helping 400,000 children each year. I know in their hearts, they support it.
We have launched automatic federal benefits, reaching 5.5 million low-income Canadians, to ensure no one gets left behind. We will strengthen competition in the telecommunications and banking sectors in order to drive down costs.
These are practical measures that make life more affordable today and build confidence in tomorrow, because when Canadians can afford a home, when Canadians can raise a family and when Canadians can plan for the future, our entire country grows stronger.
Prosperity is only meaningful when it is shared and when all Canadians can see themselves in the promise of this country.
With this budget, every Canadian should feel there is something for them. It is not only about today; it is about future generations and building for them. It is about making sure that we have a very strong country for generations to come.
As the Prime Minister has said, there can be no prosperity without security. In that vein, I am sure, as I look across the aisle in the eyes of every member in this House, that every member would agree that we need to protect our people, our communities and our country. Every Canadian expects every member of this House to be there for them.
When it comes to our security and sovereignty, we should all be rising to defend what we are proposing. A confident nation protects its sovereignty at home and its interests abroad, through strength, stability and partnership with allies who share our values. This is what we are doing.
With $30 billion over five years, budget 2025 represents the largest defence investment in decades.
I have even more good news. We will meet our 2% NATO commitment this year. We will modernize NORAD. We will reinforce our Arctic defence, and we will equip our brave men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces with the infrastructure and technology they need to safeguard our nation. We will do that because we believe in Canada.
With our new Defence Investment Agency and defence industrial strategy, we will build up Canada's defence industry, strengthening Canadian businesses, supporting Canadian workers and creating good union jobs across our country. Our work on defence will strengthen the Canadian research centres. It will strengthen Canadian communities in the north, working with our Inuit and first nations partners across the country, by building dual-use infrastructure like ports and runways to make sure that every community can benefit when we invest.
Our plan will create new jobs for our engineers, technicians and scientists in sectors such as aerospace, shipbuilding, cybersecurity and AI. We will hire 1,000 new border services officers and 1,000 new RCMP personnel to secure our borders and keep our communities safe.
Finally, by investing in law enforcement and justice reform, we will tackle organized crime, gun violence and auto theft. We will also invest and we will continue, with passion and determination, as my colleague, the Minister of Women and Gender Equality, is doing, the important work with the provinces and territories to end gender-based violence. My colleague is doing an outstanding job, and we will continue to support her.
Every Canadian should feel safe, and I want to commend the leadership of my colleague. She is extraordinary. She has been there leading the way to make sure we invest and continue this important work across our nation.
As we strengthen our security partnerships, it is essential that we continue deepening our economic partnerships. In order to build a stronger future, we must increase trade, innovate faster and play a leading role in clean and conventional energy.
Trade has always been one of Canada's strengths, connecting our population, our resources and our industries to the rest of the world, but too much of that trade depends on a single partner.
Through budget 2025, we are launching a trade diversification strategy supported by a trade diversification corridors fund to expand Canada's reach and double our overseas exports within a decade, which will unlock $300 billion in new opportunities for Canadian businesses and workers. This is good news for small and medium-sized businesses. This is good news for exporters. This is good news because now they see we are going to expand our markets. We are going to bring what Canada has to offer to the world.
We will strengthen ports, railways and ports of entry, we will reduce bottlenecks, and we will open faster routes to global markets, because when Canadian businesses are competitive and successful abroad, Canadian workers and communities prosper right here at home.
I think all of us can agree that Canada is the best place to live. It is the reason top talent from around the world want to come here. They see opportunities and possibilities to contribute to cutting-edge research in our country.
With our flagship international talent attraction strategy of more than $1.7 billion, we will make sure that the best and brightest continue to chose Canada to innovate, invent and grow our industry. The best and brightest will come to Canada.
This is how we build a Canada strong: by making a generational investment of $115 billion over five years in measures that will drive productivity and competitiveness. We will supercharge growth in Canada and become the strongest economy in the G7 because we believe in Canada.
Let me be clear to all Canadians watching at home tonight. Productivity is not about working harder. It is about working smarter. It is about how well we mobilize ideas, workers, investment and innovation to generate growth. It is what drives up wages in our country, improves living standards and strengthens public services.
For too long, Canada's productivity has been lagging—a challenge we can and must overcome.
Artificial intelligence will be the defining technology of our time, just as electricity was in the last century.
AI will play a key role, along with quantum and other advanced technologies, to put Canada on a path of sustained growth.
Remember, Canada was the very first country in the world to have an AI national strategy and an AI quantum strategy. We have some of the best researchers, and some of them have even won the Nobel Prize. We have the brains, we have the capacity and we have the will. We will lead because we believe in Canada.
We will become a productivity and innovation powerhouse through a number of measures. The first is our productivity superdeduction to create the right climate for businesses to invest in new machinery, equipment and technologies. There will be a bold expansion of projects of national interest in artificial intelligence, clean technology and advanced manufacturing. We will turn Canadian innovation into industrial strength, and we will enhance tax incentives for Canadian builders to conduct research and development in this country and make it seamless for them to apply to these essential tax credits that will drive innovation and productivity.
Budget 2025 is about productivity and competitiveness. It is about a road map for Canada to be the place to invest. It is already great; we are going to make it greater together.
Obviously the numbers in a budget can seem a bit abstract for people watching and wondering what they mean to them, so let me make them very concrete.
As I said earlier, this budget will unleash $1 trillion in total investment over the next five years. That would boost the average wage in Canada by some $3,000 per year. That is what the budget means for workers. That is what it means for families. That is what it means for Canadians.
It would add $15 billion to federal revenues that can support health care, lower taxes and pay down Canada's debt.
We choose Canada. We will make Canada strong because we believe in Canada.
Throughout our history, we have opened our doors to the world. We have always welcomed people fleeing the most difficult situations, people seeking to study at our world-class universities and people willing to share their expertise and drive innovation in Canada, people wanting to contribute to Canada.
We are taking back control of the immigration system and putting Canada on a trajectory to bring immigration back to sustainable levels, allowing us to fulfill the promise of Canada to the people who call it home. Our plan will restore control and will provide clarity and consistency to the immigration system while maintaining compassion in our choices and driving competitiveness in our economy.
Our plan will allow us to ensure better control of our immigration system while maintaining our approach based on our Canadian values.
Climate action is not only a moral obligation, it is an economic necessity. The key to competitiveness and growth is also to be a leader in a low-carbon economy.
Our climate competitiveness strategy turns Canada's natural wealth—critical minerals, clean power—into lasting prosperity. Reducing our emissions is essential to protecting the competitiveness of Canada's energy sectors. We are introducing a comprehensive suite of clean economy investment tax credits—measures that are already generating billions of dollars in private capital for projects in hydrogen, carbon capture, and clean electricity.
Canada is the place to invest, and we understand also that this is not only the right thing to do but also the smart thing to do. I want to commend the work of my colleagues who have been leading the effort on that, because these investments would allow us to modernize our networks. They will allow us to have projects of national interest, and they will also make sure we connect Canada with our electricity network.
By becoming a global leader in clean technology and clean energy, Canada can strengthen its competitive advantage and help our industries thrive in the global economy.
Let me talk about our youth, because our youth are the future of this nation.
In Canada, we have the most skilled and talented workers, as well as the most educated workforce in the world. We can all be very proud of that.
Every time, and I know my colleagues join me in this, we know it is because of the talent, the expertise and the dedication of our workers that Canada wins. They are the best workers in the world. That is why we see investment. Every day they go to work, and obviously it is thanks to their service to our nation and their talent that we can succeed. We will continue to work with them to make Canada the place to invest.
Budget 2025 expands learning, training and growth opportunities for young people. It creates new pathways for careers in construction, clean energy and manufacturing. It is essential that we give the next generation the confidence and skills needed to succeed.
When we talk about youth and future generations, I think every member of this House should pay attention, because they are the future of our country.
Through a suite of new measures, we will extend union training, extend the tax credit to personal support workers, who, in doing their work, are always there for our people, and enhance labour mobility. Canadian workers will drive Canada's economic transformation with new skills and training, and they will seize the exciting, high-paying careers and good union jobs that it will create.
In the words of the Canadian Labour Congress, “These measures signal a shift toward putting workers at the heart of Canada's economic strategy.” We should all be proud. Workers will always be at the heart of our economic strategy.
This is how we give Canadians the tools they need to shape the future. This is how we build Canada strong.
To conclude, the budget I am tabling today is our framework for Canada's future and a road map to prosperity and resilience.
It all comes down to a choice between two visions: one vision of resignation, a vision that would scale back the vital support Canadians rely on, make it harder for families to find a home and leave our country more vulnerable, poorer and dependent; and another vision, one rooted in confidence in Canadians and in the belief that by making generational investments today, we can build lasting prosperity for tomorrow by putting more money in people's pockets, by ensuring every Canadian can retire with dignity, by making the dream of home ownership a reality once again, by building the infrastructure our cities need to grow and by keeping our communities safe for our children and our parents.
That is the path we choose. That is the path of budget 2025. I even see smiles on the other side. That is a good sign.
Budget 2025 makes our choice clear. We choose confidence over resignation. We choose to empower Canadians, to build this country together and to protect what we hold dear.
It is about confidence in ourselves, in our capacity to adapt and in this country's promise.
It is about a Canada that builds, protects and empowers. It is about moving from reliance to resilience, and from uncertainty to prosperity.
Let us seize the moment. Let us build Canada strong, because we are, and will always be, the true north, strong and free.
Long live Canada.