Good morning. Ottawa’s spring economic statement includes new funding, deficit updates and a few spending surprises. More on that below, along with the King’s U.S. state visit and courting favour with Eritrea. But first:
Today’s headlines
- An Indian company has been authorized to sell the first generic Ozempic in Canada
- U.S. Department of Justice indicts former Fauci adviser for hiding e-mails
- The exit of the United Arab Emirates marks a blow to OPEC’s power. Eric Reguly asks: Could Venezuela be next?
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Prime Minister Mark Carney, right, and Minister of Finance and National Revenue Francois-Philippe Champagne before the tabling of the spring economic update, Tuesday on Parliament Hill.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
Politics
A clearer fiscal picture
Hi, I’m Josh O’Kane, a former tech reporter who still spends an unhealthy amount of time reading through financial documents, filling in for Danielle Groen this week.
The federal budget may now be an autumnal affair, but Ottawa is also releasing springtime economic updates. Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne’s debut spring statement yesterday shows the government wants to take advantage of better-than-expected economic growth last year to boost spending and reduce its deficit forecast.
Globe journalists spent Tuesday poring over the statement. Deputy Ottawa bureau chief Bill Curry, senior reporter Stephanie Levitz and economics reporter Mark Rendell write that better-than-expected economic growth in the final six months of 2025, and higher expected tax revenue from surging oil prices, have handed Ottawa some flexibility to spend more while projecting a smaller deficit. Its 2025-26 deficit forecast is now $66.9-billion, or $11.5-billion lower than what it projected in last fall’s budget.
With global geopolitics and Canada’s economy both mired in uncertainty over the whims of the Trump administration, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals used the economic statement to promote a slew of new spending and tax breaks totalling more than $54-billion over six years. Here are five highlights.
Training the trades
Ottawa wants to spend as much as $6-billion in an effort to bring training and employment to between 80,000 and 100,000 new Red Seal-certified skilled trades workers by the end of the 2030-31 fiscal year. Not doing so, the government says, would have dire consequences – after all, someone has to build the infrastructure and housing that Canada needs.
Benefits of the Team Canada Strong skilled-trades program include $10,000 wage incentives for small and medium-sized employers to help workers get on-the-job training; weekly apprenticeship grants of $400 while attending mandatory classes; and $5,000 bonuses for workers who complete Red Seal certifications.
Eating less into your pay cheque
Some of the update’s biggest new spending plans were already revealed. Almost immediately after by-elections and floor crossings secured Carney a majority government this month, he announced a plan to cut federal taxes to drop 10 cents per litre from the cost of gasoline and four cents per litre off diesel. Before that, the Prime Minister promised a multibillion-dollar increase to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) credit, quarterly payments from which offset the cost of sales taxes for lower-income Canadians.
What’s new is Ottawa’s pledge to lower employee and business contributions to the Canada Pension Plan. The base contribution rate will fall to 9.5 per cent, from 9.9 per cent, effective next January. The government said this would save about $133 a year for a person with a $70,000 salary, as well as their employer, freeing up about $3-billion a year from contributions across Canada.
What about that sovereign wealth fund?
To build upon its promised new $25-billion sovereign wealth fund to invest in companies and infrastructure initiatives tied to major projects, Ottawa plans to find ways to further monetize federal assets, my colleague Mark reported from the economic-statement lockup. Those assets would include airports – such as by setting up lease extensions with airport authorities and allowing development on their lands. After the government said last fall that it would “consider options for the privatization of airports, it reiterated Tuesday that it would examine ”alternative models of ownership."
Procuring a new cabinet minister
Carney plans to appoint a new cabinet minister in charge of defence procurement to oversee Ottawa’s recently announced Defence Investment Agency. Senior parliamentary reporter Steven Chase writes that $103.8-million in new money over five years will be earmarked to get the agency up and running, with legislation coming forward to help quicken procurement.
Ottawa also promised $2.3-billion in training and support for Ukraine in its fifth year fighting Russia’s assault, as well as more than $110-million to combat foreign interference.
Funding for (some kinds of) fun
To boost Canadians’ access to sports – whether it’s participating in them or watching world-class events – the economic statement promised $755-million over five years, starting in 2026-27, and $118-million annually beyond that.
Sports make people happy. You know what else makes people happy? Arts and culture. I’m a reporter with The Globe’s culture team; I was surprised to find very little when searching the economic statement documents for arts funding, though it did reiterate some previously announced money for Toronto’s financially beleaguered Harbourfront Centre. Given how hard it is to earn a living making art these days, you can probably expect Canadian artists and cultural leaders to raise a ruckus in the coming days.
The Shot
‘Together, our warriors have defended the same extraordinary civilization.’
Britain's King Charles III arrives to address a joint meeting of Congress at the U.S. Capitol during his state visit on Tuesday.Pool/Getty Images
During his state visit, King Charles called for the U.S. to recommit to its historic alliance with Britain and other NATO countries.
The Wrap
What else we’re following
At home: Leaders of two prominent Indigenous organizations in the Northwest Territories are urging governments to restore and bolster dental care.
Abroad: Courting Eritrea is the latest sign that Western governments are downplaying human-rights concerns over geopolitical factors.
South: Former FBI director James Comey is indicted again over a social media photo construed as a threat against Trump.
Opt-out: Ontario’s Bill 33 threatens postsecondary media funding, and would limit the ability to report on campus news.
Unschedule: FIFA’s control over what events can happen during the World Cup has led to some popular events being cancelled in Toronto and Vancouver.