Climate action is not just a moral obligation, its an economic imperative. As Minister of Environment and Climate Change, I am proud to introduce our government’s new Climate Competitiveness Strategy. This strategy will drive down emissions and includes strengthened industrial carbon pricing, enhanced regulations, and tax incentives that will accelerate investment in clean technology and energy. The strategy is a central pillar of the government’s plan for Canada to become the strongest economy in the G7.

Learn more here:  Canada’s Climate Competitiveness Strategy

Generational Local Infrastructure Fund

Budget 2025 announces the government’s intention to launch a new Build Communities Strong Fund, to be administered by Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada, and proposes to provide $51.0 billion over 10 years, starting in 2026-27 to support a wide range of infrastructure projects and help our local communities with the infrastructure projects most important to them

Launching Build Canada Homes

BCH will help tackle homelessness by expanding transitional and supportive housing in partnership with provinces, territories, municipalities, and Indigenous communities. It will also build deeply affordable community and co-op housing for low-income households, while working with private and non-profit builders to increase the supply of affordable homes for the Canadian middle class.

Strengthening First Nations Infrastructure Financing and Access to Clean Water

Budget 2025 will help address infrastructure gaps in First Nations communities. With engagement with First Nations partners, the government is continuing to explore new financing tools to make existing funding more effective and expand the options available to communities to deliver critical infrastructure.

High-Speed Rail

Budget 2025 committs to Canada’s first high-speed railway, from Toronto to Québec City and cutting travel times in half to better connect close to half of Canada’s population. This is a project that could create 51,000 jobs during construction and inject up to $35 billion into our GDP—with a target of 25 million tonnes in emissions savings. The Major Projects Office will work to accelerate engineering, regulatory, and permitting work to enable construction of the project to start in four years, cutting the original eight-year timeline in half.

Learn more here: Supercharging Home Building Across the Country 

Making the National School Food Program Permanent

After years of dedicated advoacy for a National School Food Program in Canada, it’s rewarding to see the hard work of school food champions reflected in this budget, ensuring students have access to healthy, nutritious meals every day.

In Budget 2025, legislation will be introduced to make the National School Food Program permanent and provide $216.6 million per year, starting in 2029-30. 

Delivering for Personal Support Workers

Budget 2025 proposes to introduce a temporary Personal Support Workers Tax Credit, under which eligible personal support workers employed in the remaining provinces and territories could claim a refundable tax credit equal to 5 per cent of their eligible earnings, providing support of up to $1,100 per year.

Helping Youth Find and Keep Jobs

Youth Jobs will be supported through a proposed $1.5 billion over three years, starting in 2026-
27, to support youth employment through Canada Summer Jobs, the horizontal Youth
Employment and Skills Strategy, and the Student Work Placement Program.Together
these programs are expected impact approximately 175,000 youth in 2026-27.

Budget 2025 also proposes to provide $40 million over two years to create a Youth Climate Corps to provide paid skills training for young Canadians. They will be trained to quickly respond to climate emergencies, support recovery, and strengthen resilience in communities across the country.

Lowering Barriers to the Canada Disability Benefit

The government is lowering barriers to accessing the Canada Disability Benefit with
$115.7 million over four years, starting in 2026 for a one-time supplemental CDB payment
of $150 in respect of each Disability Tax Credit (DTC) certification, or re-certification,
giving rise to a CDB entitlement. Additionally, Budget 2025 commits to looking at ways to
reduce barriers in the DTC application process and reaffirms the intent to exempt the CDB
from the definition of income under the Income Tax Act (FES 2024 announcement).

Automatic Federal Benefits 

Automatic Federal Benefits will allow the CRA to automatically file income taxes for 5.5
million low-income Canadians by the 2028 tax year so that eligible Canadians will receive
government benefits they qualify for such as the GST/HST credit and the Canada Child
Benefit.

Learn more here: Tackling Affordability

Investing in Canadian Creators and the Culture Economy

In our community we have so many incredible Canadian artists and creators who contribute to the strength of our economy and the important storytelling that shapes our Canadian identities.

In Budget 2025 we are renewing investment in the Canada Music Fund and the Canada Media Fund, and supporting the National Film Board to produce more Canadian content. We also propose to create the Canada Periodical Fund to help small community news outlets continue producing quality Canadian journalistic content.

Protecting Artists’ and Creators’ Copyrights

In Budget 2025, the government announced its intention to amend the Copyright Act to create an Artist’s Resale Right in Canada, ensuring Canadian visual artists benefit from future sales of their work.

Protecting our National Broadcaster

Budget 2025 proposes to provide $150 million in 2025/26 for CBC/Radio-Canada to strengthen its mandate to serve Canadians with a strong public broadcaster. The government will also explore measures to modernize the broadcasters.

Funding the Department for Women and Gender Equality

Budget 2025 builds on significant progress to advance gender equality in Canada. Our government is committed to supporting the department of Women and Gender Equity by providing new funding to revitalize and stabilize efforts to advance women’s equality, support the 2SLGBTQI+ community and to strengthen federal action on gender-based violence.

Learn more here: Protecting Canadian Culture, Values, and Identity

International Talent Attraction Strategy and Action Plan

Budget 2025 will harness our strengths by capitalizing on our resources with Major Projects and enhance our skilled workforce to meet the needs of an evolving economy by recruiting international talent and supporting youth employment and increasing skills like Union Training and Innovation Programs.

This plan will position the immigration system to meet strategic labour market needs, ensuring Canada has the talent required to drive innovation and growth in our strategic industries, while respecting immigration targets to ensure a sustainable immigration rate.

Buy Canadian Policy

With this new policy our federal government will be our own best customers. When we build, we will do so with Canadian goods and suppliers. This requires an economy that is more unified than it has ever been by removing internal trade barriers to increase flows of goods and services across the country.

Diversifying our Trade 

Canada’s new Trade Diversification Strategy will strengthen existing relationships and open new markets for Canadian businesses, particularly in Asia. Our investments in trade infrastructure will increase Canada’s trade capacity. This will build a new web of trade relationships around the globe and open new markets for Canadian businesses. This will help Canada transition from an economy reliant on one trade partner to one resilient to global shocks.

Learn more here: Building a Strong and Competitive Economy

Indigenous Veterans Day is November 8th

On November 8, Indigenous Veterans Day, we reflect and recognize the extraordinary contributions of First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples to military service, particularly in the First World War, Second World War, Korean War and peacekeeping efforts around the world. We honour their service and sacrifice.

Remebrance Day Services with RCL Branch 10 on November 9th and November 11th

Learn more here: Todmorden RCL Branch 10 Upcoming Events

Workshops with Don Valley Community Legal Services 

Don Valley Community Legal Services and the Queen/Saulter Library are partnering again to host the following free workshops for community members.

Wills and Powers of Attorney Workshop

Date: Thursday, November 13, 2025
Time: 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm
Location: Toronto Public Library, Queen/Saulter Branch, 765 Queen Street East

Join this free workshop with a paralegal from our community legal clinic to learn about wills and powers of attorney.

*Please note this is a workshop to provide legal information only. DVCLS does not assist clients with drafting wills or powers of attorney.

Employment Law & Workers’ Rights Workshop

Date: Thursday, November 20, 2025
Time: 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm
Location: Toronto Public Library, Queen/Saulter Branch, 765 Queen Street East

This free workshop with a lawyer from our community legal clinic will cover Employment Standards Act (ESA), Workers’ rights in Ontario, Employment Insurance followed by a Q&A.

Tenants’ Rights Workshop

Date: Thursday, November 27, 2025
Time: 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm
Location: Toronto Public Library, Queen/Saulter Branch, 765 Queen Street East

This free workshop with a housing lawyer from our community legal clinic will cover Tenant & landlord rights and responsibilities, Maintenance and repairs, Rent increases and AGIs (Above Guideline Increases), Privacy and harassment, Tenant applications, Tenant resources followed by a Q&A.

Taking Action for Safe Cycling in the City

The S. Walter Stewart Library has scheduled a panel program called “Taking Action for Safe Cycling in the City” for Saturday November 15, 2025, from 2:00-4:00 PM.

Join them for a discussion with cycling advocates working to make Toronto cycling-friendly and learn how you can become involved. Registration for the program can be through Eventbrite, or in branch, or by calling 416-396-3975.

The S. Walter Stewart Library is located at 170 Memorial Park Ave.

Leslieville BIA Wanderlust

This year’s event takes place on Saturday, November 15th, from 12:00 PM to 6:00 PM along Queen St East from Empire to Vancouver Ave.

Discover exclusive prizes, explore Santa’s Village, enjoy tasty treats, sip specialty cocktails, and uncover great deals at our neighbourhood shops. Learn more here: Wanderlust – Visit Leslieville.

Hollyberry Christmas Market

Taking place on Saturday November 22 from 9 AM to 3 PM at St. Luke’s Anglican Church, East York, 904 Coxwell Avenue at Cosburn. Enjoy a tea room, raffles, books, bake sale, and much more!

Pegasus Community Project – Pajamas with a Purpose

Join Pegasus Community Project for Pajamas with a Purpose, an overnight Create-a-Thon for adults with physical and developmental disabilities. Taking place on November 8th-9th from 6AM-6PM at 1428 Danforth Avenue.

Watch as staff and volunteers bring their favorite craft supplies, and spend the night making art and making a difference.

Learn more about the initiative here:  https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/pegasus-community-project-for-adults-with-special-needs-inco/campaign/pajamas-with-a-purpose.

Tax Volunteers Needed

WoodGreen’s free income tax clinic supports thousands of low-income community members each year to file their tax returns and get access to important credits and benefits. They are seeking committed volunteers to file tax returns either in-person or over-the-phone. 

If you have professional financial skills or just experience filing your own tax return, please consider volunteering your time with this effort. See the  WoodGreen volunteer webpage  to apply.  

Yours truly,

Julie

Hon. Julie Dabrusin, PC

Member of Parliament for Toronto-Danforth

Minister of Environment and Climate Change