The financial resources many older adults need to age with dignity are enormous, and mostly accessible to the wealthiest among us. Our system, at this point, largely assumes that the funds required for a person to grow old is a personal responsibility, instead of a collective one. If one is unlucky enough to develop a condition that requires constant care and doesn't have the money, our current system treats you as if you subpar, giving you little options to receive high-quality healthcare at a low cost. Never mind that the burdens of illness are carried more heavily by those who are racialized and economically marginalized. Never mind that many have never earned enough in their lifetime to have accumulated savings for this sort of care in the first place.

Despite promises it made in its 2020 Throne Speech, the federal government failed to “tax extreme wealth inequality” in the 2021 budget - the first federal budget to be tabled in two years. Instead, relatively minor measures to increase taxes on foreign digital sales and luxury goods tax, small movements towards closing the stock options loophole and reducing tax evasion, make up the scant package of tax reforms Trudeau’s Liberal minority government wants to move forward to help Canada recover from the largest economic setback in decades.

Thanks to the announcement of significant funding for a new national child care and early learning program, the 2021 federal Budget can be fairly described as the most progressive since the 1970s when the NDP pressed a Liberal minority government to build the modern welfare state. That said, it falls well short of what many on the left hoped for, and fails to set the stage for social and economic transformation after the pandemic has passed.

The Trudeau government’s next budget will be make-or-break for Canadian women and their families.  Expectations are high – and so are the stakes.

Child care advocates, feminist and business organizations, social policy think tanks, economist and financial institutions all agree that child care is essential to support women’s labour force participation and Canada’s post-pandemic economic recovery. There is an unprecedented consensus that child care should be a priority in this year’s budget and significant investments are needed to have real impact.

For the upcoming federal budget, the Institute has put together a blog series exploring key areas the federal government must take immediate action on to continue to effectively respond, and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Our three-part blog series includes submissions in the areas of: Investing in the Caring Economy; Taxing the Rich; and, Vaccination

To make meaningful progress on access to affordable prescription drugs, particularly at this critical time — the federal budget must include a clear timeline and funding for the full implementation of universal, publicly-funded pharmacare.

For the upcoming federal budget, the Institute has put together a blog series exploring key areas the federal government must take immediate action on to continue to effectively respond, and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Our three-part blog series includes submissions in the areas of: Investing in the Caring Economy; Taxing the Rich; and, Vaccination.

For the upcoming federal budget, the Institute has put together a blog series exploring key areas the federal government must take immediate action on to continue to effectively respond, and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Our three-part blog series includes submissions in the areas of: Investing in the Caring Economy; Taxing the Rich; and, Vaccination.