The millions struggling to pay their rent and put food on the table were looking for relief in budget 2025—and they were disappointed.

In the hunt for billions in defence dollars, the federal government has chosen to follow the neoliberal playbook—shrinking government, cutting taxes and leaving more to the private sector—an approach that has shown, time and again, to lead to greater inequality, limited opportunity and reduced prosperity. 

At a time when poverty is rising and the gap is growing between rich and the rest of us, the government missed the opportunity to deliver a budget that lifts up all Canadians. 

Moreover, it reinforces the narrative being peddled by business elites that governments are an obstacle to prosperity, that social programs are a drain on the economy, that natural resources and manufacturing are the only industries that count. 

What is in the budget?

We now have a sense of what the government means by “spending less so we can invest more” and who exactly is expected to “sacrifice”—which really means doing without—for Canada’s future prosperity. 

Budget 2025 confirms plans to reduce federal spending by $60 billion over the next five years, eliminating an estimated 40,000 positions in the public service, roughly 10 per cent of the total workforce. 

Even as automobile plants are laying off thousands of workers, the federal government is queuing up to deliver its own set of even larger job cuts that will fall disproportionately on women, people with disabilities, and Indigenous workers. 

It says something about the value that the government attaches to the labour of public servants. It also speaks to their back-to-the-future vision of economic growth, one that’s tied up with expanding the military and exploiting Canada’s natural resources. 

Many of the “equity” initiatives included in budget 2025 were pre-announced, such as the reskilling package to train 50,000 workers, ongoing funding for the National School Food Program, and a new refundable tax credit for Personal Support Workers (PSWs). There are new investments as well, including funds for youth employment and gender-based violence. 

These are welcome initiatives but insufficient to the task of containing the cost-of-living crisis and building an inclusive economy that supports us all. 

The budget’s two top affordability measures were the elimination of the consumer carbon levy last spring. And the middle- and upper-income tax cut which will only worsen the income gap in Canada—as acknowledged in the budget’s own impact report. 

Child care, pharmacare, health care, income security and a host of other vital programs were effectively ignored—programs that are crucial to gender equality, social justice and our collective ability to prosper and thrive.

Budget 2025 states: “By spending less, we can make the generational investments that grow our economy and protect the essential programs that keep your costs down.” What does this even mean? George Orwell couldn’t have captured the blatant contradictions contained in this budget better. 

Repeating the mistakes of the past 

In the election platform, the Liberals promised to review policies and programs using an equity lens to identify and understand the potential impact of government actions across diverse groups “because our ability to recognize the value of all Canadians is what makes Canada strong.” 

Notwithstanding selected investments, their commitment to equity and diversity now appear to be in doubt in the face of the large spending cuts and singular focus on private sector-led development. 

Canadians recognize the seismic shifts underway in the global order and the demands they place on our security. Canadians are prepared to step up to set Canada on a secure and independent footing. But meeting those needs cannot come at the cost of dismantling the very programs that make our society equitable and our economy resilient. 

This course of action is setting Canada up for failure, repeating the mistakes of the past. Reducing income and wealth inequality ought to be at the centre of the government’s nation-building strategy, not an errant footnote.