Hello, welcome to Politics Insider. Let’s look at what happened today.
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne released a spring economic statement today that accounts for more than $54-billion in new spending over six years since the November budget.
At the same time, it still beats Ottawa’s deficit targets thanks to improved forecasts for growth.
Bill Curry, Stephanie Levitz and Mark Rendell report that much of that new spending includes recent multibillion-dollar announcements such as boosting the GST credit and a short-term break on gas taxes.
The major new funding announced for the first time includes about $6-billion over five years for a package of incentives aimed at education and the skilled trades, which the government calls “Team Canada Strong.”
As Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government prioritizes major new infrastructure and energy projects, the package is aimed at ensuring Canada has the skilled labour available to take on the expected boost in construction jobs across the country.
Canadian workers and employers will also get a break on Canada Pension Plan premiums. Starting Jan. 1, 2027, the base contribution rate will drop to 9.5 per cent, from 9.9 per cent.
The government says this will translate into annual savings of about $133 for an employee earning $70,000 a year, with equivalent savings for their employer, who also pays CPP premiums. The measure is worth $3-billion a year, which is covered by the CPP’s own assets and is not a government expense.
The Liberals are delivering the update on the one-year anniversary of winning a minority government, a victory that turned on Carney promising Canadians he had the best plan to keep the country’s economy on solid footing despite the geopolitical earthquakes triggered by the Trump administration.
This is the first spring update since the government reversed the order in which it releases its key financial reports. The government now tables its budget in the fall instead of the spring, and releases an update in the spring instead of the fall.
Highlights from the economic update, collected by Stephanie Levitz and Bill Curry are here. The full update is here.
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne and Prime Minister Mark Carney before delivering the spring economic update on Tuesday.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
What else is going on
Ontario considering banning cellphones and social media in schools: Education Minister Paul Calandra says he is looking at a social-media ban in schools and also says he may implement an “outright ban” of cellphones on school properties, with some medical exemptions.
Indigenous leaders in the North press governments to restore, improve dental care access: Dene National Chief George Mackenzie says many of the people he represents are suffering from untreated dental issues, leading to chronic pain, infection and loss of productivity.
Bail denials rising sharply in Ontario amid national clampdown: The number of people denied bail in Ontario last year spiked to its highest level in data going back to 2018 and has more than doubled over the past two years.
Decision on whether to split submarine contract would be led by Navy, official says: The federal government has said a decision on one of the biggest military procurements in Canadian history, involving South Korea’s Hanwha or Germany’s TKMS, should come by the end of June.
Canada’s deflating housing bubble stymies wealth effect of booming stock market: The housing market slump, the longest in recent decades, is straining household spending even as a record high domestic stock market generates hundreds of billions of dollars of increased wealth.
On our radar
Prime Minister’s Day: Mark Carney chaired the weekly cabinet meeting. Later in the afternoon, he met with Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne prior to the tabling the 2026 Spring Economic Update and attended the tabling of the update.
Carney’s office has announced the Prime Minister will be in Yerevan, the capital and largest city in Armenia, from Saturday to Monday for the European Political Community Summit. Carney has been invited, said his office, by the President of the European Council, António Costa, and Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
Party Leaders: Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet held a news conference to respond to the Spring Economic Update as did Green Party Leader Elizabeth May. No schedule released for Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre or NDP Leader Avi Lewis.
Quote of the Day
“While we applaud Manitoba for moving forward with its own ban and are monitoring its implementation with keen interest, we believe that for these safety measures to be effective, they must be led by the federal government.” - British Columbia Attorney-General Niki Sharma, in a statement today, comments on Manitoba’s planned social-media ban for youth and makes the case for federal online harms legislation and AI regulation.
Question period
Who was the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada?
Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter for the answer.
Perspectives
How are Canada’s leaders diagnosing - and treating - today’s anger?
Anger and outrage are two emotions that we treat the same, but are very different. And in today’s politics, that distinction is everything.
— Dr. Alika Lafontaine is the author of The Outrage Cure and formerly served as the first Indigenous and youngest president of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA).
Canada’s ‘New Government’ has no interest in arresting our economic decline.
There’s no use being disappointed. By this stage, we should all be managing our own expectations. Canada’s New Government is no more interested in arresting our economic decline than Canada’s Old Government.
— Andrew Coyne, Columnist
Mark Carney looks for investment the Liberal way
For all the talk that Prime Minister Mark Carney is a small-c conservative his announcement that Canada will create a sovereign wealth fund was a confirmation of his capital-L Liberal predilections.
— Campbell Clark, Chief Political Writer
Go deeper
- Follow along for our stories on Canada-U.S. relations as news develops
- Get the latest insight and analysis from our political opinion writers
Got a news tip that you’d like us to look into? E-mail us at tips@globeandmail.com. Need to share documents securely? Reach out via SecureDrop.
The answer to today’s question: Bertha Wilson. She was also the first woman appointed to the Court of Appeal for Ontario. That was in 1975. Wilson was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada in 1982 and served until 1991.