Why oppose the austerity agenda?

During the election, Prime Minister Carney insisted that strengthening public healthcare was “at the core” of his plan to “build Canada strong” in the face of Trump’s tariff bullying. Since the summer, however, the Health Minister has announced $1 billion in cuts to Health Canada, with over 1,000 layoffs expected in the next three years. Programs for patients with rare diseases and toxic drug crisis programs will be cut. The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) will face an additional $1 billion cut to its annual budget by 2027-28, with the worst cuts to programs that prepare for and respond to floods, forest fires, infectious disease outbreaks and other public health emergencies. Nearly one-third of PHAC’s staff will be laid off, affecting suicide crisis hotlines, vaccination programs, and chronic disease prevention efforts.

Canadians were warned by Liberals that Pierre Poilievre’s agenda of tax cuts and higher military spending would result in dramatic cuts to healthcare, education and other vital public services. While the federal government insists that it won’t cut certain federal transfers to provinces for healthcare, like the Canada Health Transfer, these transfers are clearly under threat. The Health Minister recently revealed that it was considering freezing pharmacare funding, which would represent a withdrawal of $5.3 billion over four years in promised funding for the provinces. If the federal government halts the rollout of pharmacare where it currently stands, four out of five Canadians would be effectively excluded from the new national drug plan. More crucially, it would mean millions of Canadians who would continue to face excruciating choices between medicines, rent and food.

Prime Minister Carney has since walked back this funding freeze after protests by the Council of Canadians and other defenders of public healthcare, but the future of the program remains uncertain.

Sources: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Hill Times

As the Trump administration guts water regulations for the Great Lakes and our shared rivers, Canada’s ability to coordinate protection and restoration of our fresh water is more essential than ever. According to leaked text messages, the Canada Water Agency is facing severe cuts, which would compromise many watershed initiatives. “Yes, this cut could lead to less algal bloom restoration work across the country,” one staffer wrote to colleagues in a text thread. Another message observed that the environmental budgets are “so small you can’t escape political consequences with a 15 per cent cut.”

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Proposed federal budget cuts—particularly the 80% reduction to the Department for Women and Gender Equality (WAGE)—pose a grave threat to women’s organizations and LGBTQ+ support services across Canada. Shelters for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault centres, and victim support programs are at risk of losing critical funding, undermining their ability to provide life-saving services. Organizations like Planned Parenthood, which offer sex education and abortion access, could also face severe disruptions. These cuts come amid a broader political shift government insiders have described as “more corporate” and “more masculine.” A growing right-wing backlash against LGBTQ+ rights—especially a well-funded campaign targeting transgender people—has intensified fears that reduced funding will leave vulnerable communities without protection or advocacy. Senator Marilou McPhedran recently warned that consolidation of power among “white corporate men” in government is being felt acutely by women and gender-diverse people.

Reference: Women and Gender Equality Department slated to go from $400M to $70M in funding: archive.is/WwOLD

Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has said it will cut spending by 45% and lay off a quarter of its workforce – about 3,300 jobs – by 2027-28. Immigration experts say that fewer staff to process requests will mean longer waits for people already here in Canada hoping to reunite with their families, obtain a work permit and get permanent residency – with over one million cases in backlog, new Canadians often wait years before they can get their papers. The deepest cuts are targeted at services that help newcomers develop English or French language skills, find employment opportunities, and aid children in schools.

Migrant rights advocates warn that the cuts, alongside legislation proposed in Bill C-2, could result in “life and death decisions that will be made by an incredibly overburdened IRCC.” If passed, the Strong Borders Act (Bill C-2) will restrict access of asylum seekers to have a hearing at the Immigration Refugee Board (IRB), with some instead being given a pre-removal risk assessment process administered by the IRCC.

While the federal government claims that the budget reductions are in line with their planned reduction in immigration levels, the cuts will largely fall on people who are here now, and who are arriving now. Less funding for services will have a significant knock-on effect on non-profit organizations that help migrants find their place in Canadian society.
Budget cuts on this scale will only clog the immigration system further, leaving even more migrants in limbo. Already, migrants wait years to get their paperwork processed, with over one million cases in backlog for things like work permits (7 month wait), spousal sponsorship (24 month wait), landing papers (2 months), making them more vulnerable to exploitation by employers, abusive partners and landlords.

These $3 billion in anticipated cuts won’t just harm federal workers; they will also impact businesses grappling with critical labour shortages and a healthcare system desperate for skilled workers.

Sources: CBC News, Hill Times

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s fall budget introduces sweeping cuts to Canada’s climate programs, with green transport funding slashed by two-thirds and Environment and Climate Change Canada facing reductions of up to 50%. Transport Canada’s green and innovative systems will see the steepest drop, from $672 million to $211 million over three years, while the Greener Homes Loan Program, a key tool for middle-income Canadians to reduce emissions, is being shuttered entirely. These program cuts coincide with broader policy shifts that threaten Canada’s climate commitments, including the repeal of the consumer carbon price, a pause on the electric vehicle mandate, and uncertainty around the country’s 2030 emissions targets, despite a stated goal of net-zero by 2050.

Canada’s post-secondary education system is facing a wave of cuts driven by federal immigration restrictions and looming budget reductions. The government’s decision to reduce the cap on international student visas has hit Universities—which had previously responded to underfunding by charging higher tuition to international students—to eliminate programs and lay off staff. This comes on top of a projected $597 million cut to federal research funding across the SSHRC, CIHR, and NSERC, which could reverse the gains promised in the 2024 budget, including long-overdue salary increases for graduate students and postdocs. These cuts threaten Canada’s overall research capacity, undermining our capacity for innovation and deepening the wealth gap.

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s fall budget includes a sweeping Poilievre-inspired tax cut, reducing the lowest marginal rate, a move that will cost the federal treasury an estimated $22 billion over four years. The government is simultaneously gutting the Canada Revenue Agency’s capacity to collect taxes and audit the ultra-wealthy by imposing cuts of $715 million by 2028. The result: a loss of over 7,000 jobs in the past year alone, and a free pass for untold numbers of tax dodgers.

Among those cut are hundreds of auditors and debt collectors, whose work typically recovers millions in unpaid taxes annually. Call centre layoffs have left fewer than 5% of callers able to reach an agent, prompting the PSAC and UTE’s “Canada on Hold” campaign to warn of deteriorating public services. These cuts not only undermine tax fairness but also cripple the government’s ability to pursue high-income tax evaders, effectively shielding wealth from scrutiny at a time when revenue is urgently needed.