Canadians are worried about their future. They find themselves in an increasingly uncertain world, no longer able to count on a special friendship which had long been cultivated with our neighbours to the south. Joblessness is at its highest point in a decade outside of the COVID-19 pandemic, with unemployment especially high among young people. And families continue to face a cost-of-living crisis that means it is ever harder to make ends meet.

The upcoming federal budget is a critically important opportunity to meet these challenges head on by investing in people and in their priorities. This is Mark Carney’s first budget as prime minister, and it is the first federal budget since United States President Donald Trump began his second term. 

Carney came to office with a promise to protect and strengthen our economy from the challenges of Trump’s trade war. Going into this fall sitting, New Democrats are committed to pushing the government to live up to that promise, to make sure that Canadian workers know that their government is looking after them.

Rather than make cuts, the upcoming federal budget needs to invest in people—building more of what we need here and helping people get by in the face of Trump’s economic aggression. 

That starts with rejecting austerity, and instead presenting a budget that creates jobs. Already, the Parliamentary Budget Office is estimating that tens of thousands of federal government jobs are at risk based on spending projections. These cuts would lead to longer waits, and worse services for Canadians. Job losses in the public sector, combined with losing thousands of private sector jobs, would seriously damage our economic recovery.

That is the wrong approach to rebuilding.

Instead, the government needs to focus on creating jobs by building more of what we need here, and by using Canadian content in all public infrastructure projects. We need to diversify our trade patterns, and commit to funding essential national infrastructure projects like a national east-west electricity grid proposed by the NDP in the last election—something that will bring clean, low-cost and plentiful energy to every Canadian.

Second, the government needs to take aggressive steps to tackle the serious affordable-housing crisis facing communities throughout the country. This budget needs to fund non-market housing solutions to get homes built, and to ensure these are homes people can actually afford. This includes working with provinces, municipalities, Indigenous governments, and non-profit housing providers to spark creative options for housing. It includes taking new steps to protect tenants from financial landlords like Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), which treat people’s homes as mere commodities to be bought and sold for maximum profit. It includes tackling the corporate takeover of residential properties. And it includes helping non-profit organizations, housing co-ops, and community land trusts purchase rental buildings so we can keep them affordable for generations to come. 

And finally, Canadians expect Carney to make good on his commitment to protect pharmacare. Millions of Canadians are waiting their turn to access free prescription medication. New Democrats fought hard in the last Parliament to provide free diabetes and birth control medication and devices. And we will fight hard in this Parliament to extend this program across the country as the Liberals agreed. It is fundamentally unfair that some Canadians now have access, while others do not. Several provinces are ready to join, but the Liberal government is refusing to commit the funding that was promised in last year’s federal budget. This upcoming federal budget needs to commit the funding necessary to provide access to these life-saving medicines for the millions of Canadians who cannot afford them.

It is clear that Trump’s trade war is hurting working families in this country. We have an opportunity to respond with strength, resolve and pride. 

As Parliament returns, New Democrats are committed to pushing for a federal budget and policies that will meet these goals and put Canadian workers in the forefront—investing in good paying, family-sustaining, unionized jobs and in the services Canadians expect. 

Don Davies is the NDP Member of Parliament for Vancouver Kingsway, B.C., and has served as interim leader of his party since May 5, 2025. He is also the party’s critic for finance, industry, employment and social development (jobs), and critic of the Privy Council Office (intergovernmental affairs).