Ottawa’s budget cut plan could put over 120 programs at risk

What do child care, rural internet, and summer jobs have in common? They could all be on the chopping block

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The federal government is preparing to cut hundreds of programs in next week’s budget—by stealth.

Many departments plan to save money by letting programs quietly disappear when their funding runs out. This process, called “sunsetting,” means programs will end without being officially announced as cuts. It allows the government to reduce spending without formally announcing cuts or facing public scrutiny.

The federal government says it wants to find 15 per cent in savings across departments. But instead of being transparent about what’s being cut, the government will likely let funding run out for more than 120 programs. These programs support Canadians and range from helping end gender-based violence to supporting electric vehicles, from processing passenger complaints against airlines to expanding rural internet, to creating summer jobs for students. In short, they shore up Canada’s social and economic well-being, and their disappearance will be felt by all of us.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives examined 88 federal departments, and 52 of them will likely rely on this approach, at least in part, to reach their 15 per cent savings targets. In fact, for departments like Women and Gender Equality, Environment or Transport, half or more of their entire budgets will sunset in the next three years, putting the programs they support at real risk.

The problem isn’t just the loss of services: it’s that Canadians won’t know what’s being cut until it’s too late. And what did we get in return? Tax breaks for the wealthy and more military spending, at a time when many Canadians are struggling with housing and inflation. Budgets are meant to give Canadians a clear picture of where public money is going and what programs they can rely on. The details in the budget are likely to be minimal, but the costs for Canadians will be enormous.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Our annual Alternative Federal Budget (AFB) offers a better and fairer plan that shows how Canada can maintain strong public services. Instead of cutting programs that help ordinary people, the AFB proposes new investments in housing, climate action and child care, all paid for by asking the richest Canadians to pay a bit more.

The AFB makes a number of key proposals that start, crucially, with stopping the jump in military spending, including payments for expensive U.S. defence projects. It also protects programs that support Indigenous Peoples, low-income families, women and marginalized communities.

It proposes to build one million new non-market and co-op homes, add thousands more affordable $10-a-day child care spaces, and make 4.4 million more people eligible for the Canadian Dental Care Plan.

The AFB also protects the planet by investing in clean energy and climate adaptation programs that create jobs while tackling climate risk. Finally, we propose to strengthen the CBC instead of cutting it, and to build a high-speed rail network across the country.

And how will we pay for it? The answer is simple and elegant: the AFB proposes to add a new tax bracket for people who earn over $1 million a year. That’s still much lower than what top earners paid in the 1950s and ’60s, but it would bring in the money we need to fund public programs that help everyone.

Programs that make life better, like child care, affordable housing and climate protection, shouldn’t vanish without notice. Canadians deserve transparency on any cuts, but more so, they deserve a plan that invests in their future. The CCPA’s Alternative Federal Budget shows that we can build a fairer, greener and more caring country without leaving anyone behind.

David Macdonald is a senior economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.