November 12, 2026
As with many other organizations, the Canadian Association of Social Workers (CASW) has had an opportunity to review the 2026 Federal Budget - Masters of our Destiny. CASW welcomes the 2026 commitments to income security, housing, and mental health and substance use services. These investments come at a critical time when Canadians are struggling to find affordable housing, access supports and feel safe in their communities. Although this budget promises to safeguard Canadian sovereignty it falls short in addressing the most immediate threats to health and social security.
Social workers see these challenges every day. That’s why CASW has looked at the budget through a fundamental principle of social justice: redistribution. At its heart, our analysis considers who stands to benefit most from the choices this budget makes.
We’re not economists, but one thing is clear: every spending measure and tax incentive is a choice about public resources.
Despite their differences, Budget 2026 and the final Conservative federal budget in 2015 share a common premise: business incentives will drive economic growth and, in turn, improve people’s well-being. Budget 2015 emphasized small-business tax reductions. Budget 2026 proposes substantial investment incentives, including the Productivity Mega Deduction. At an estimated fiscal cost of $36 billion over five years, beginning in 2026–27, the deduction rests on the expectation that support for business investment will eventually deliver gains for workers and communities.
That approach echoes trickle-down theory, betting on benefits that are promised rather than guaranteed. The government’s own budget assessment identifies higher-income owners and investors as the initial beneficiaries of several major incentives. Workers, meanwhile, are expected to benefit indirectly through hoped-for productivity gains.
CASW recognizes the importance of business investment and decent employment. The issue is not whether businesses should receive public support, but whether that support comes with conditions that deliver secure jobs, living wages and stronger communities. Canadians need clear evidence of these outcomes and meaningful protections if publicly supported investments fail to deliver their promised benefits.
The situation at Stelco offers a real-time example of what can happen when governments accept promises of economic growth and employment gains without clear accountabilities.
Stelco’s American owner, Cleveland-Cliffs, announced earlier in November plans to lay off up to 500 workers in Hamilton. Although the Government of Canada maintains that the layoffs conflict with employment commitments associated with the acquisition; the company disputes that interpretation. In the meantime, about 175 workers have been laid off. Enforceable employment guarantees, repayment provisions and other safeguards are essential to prevent public risk from becoming disconnected from public benefit.
A tax deduction is still a use of public resources. Forgoing revenue has a cost, just as writing a government cheque does. The corporate tax deductions in this budget have made a permanent trickle-down gamble with no conditions around accountability for jobs or even ongoing Canadian ownership of capital bought with taxpayer funds. Meanwhile measures offering immediate household relief have an expiry date. The fuel excise tax suspension is temporary, with standard rates returning on April 1, 2027, and the additional Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit payment is a one-time supplement.
CASW advocates for evidence-based policy investments that make an immediate difference like improving the Canada Disability Benefit/Disability Tax Credit or implementing a Universal Basic Income.
In this budget, investments in housing and health also come with time limits, strict eligibility requirements or conditions tied to provincial and territorial contributions. The budget’s housing approach, for example, expects provinces and territories to fund ongoing operations and wraparound supports. New buildings will need sustainable service funding and a supported workforce to fulfil their purpose.
These measures offer some relief. But their limits stand in contrast to the lasting trickle-down gamble offered to eligible business investment. From the perspective of well-being, social justice and redistribution, that imbalance is disheartening.
Budget 2025 is silence on Canada Health and Social Transfers need to be assessed against the responsibilities and growing demands facing provinces and territories. Gambling on more private investment does not, on its own, ensure that public institutions will have the resources to meet those demands.
Yet Budget 2026 treats corporate incentives as necessary investments while treating health, housing, education and income supports primarily as costs to contain. That distinction creates an uneven standard for judging public value.
It also points to retrenchment by attrition. Public services don’t have to face an explicit cut to lose ground. Support can expire, remain conditional or arrive through short-term commitments that make it harder to plan and sustain services.
Businesses depend on an educated workforce, functioning infrastructure and communities where people can afford to live. Public investment in education, health and social services isn’t separate from economic development. It’s part of its foundation.
An alternative would have been to direct more public resources toward evidence-based strategies that support Canadians, including stronger health and social transfers to provinces and territories. These investments could help avoid the growing costs of leaving needs unmet. A recent report warns that policy choices resulting in underinvestment in mental health supports may cause the “annual cost of poor mental health to rise to $600 billion by 2050, driven by worsening prevalence, increasing pressure on public systems, and continued reliance on crisis-based responses.” 1
This projection reinforces CASW’s call for mental and substance use health parity: equitable recognition of mental and substance use health alongside physical health. Short-term relief is welcome, but it cannot replace sustained and accountable financial commitments to accessible care.
The opportunity costs of underinvesting in everyday life are already visible: homelessness, the opioid crisis, underemployment, human rights challenges, and unmet mental health and substance use needs. These are the issues Canadians need governments to address. Certainty matters just as much to people’s well-being as it does to private capital.
Public investment must also reflect commitments to truth and reconciliation. CASW continues to call for action that upholds the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action, prioritizes responses to the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, and advances the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. These commitments belong at the center of decisions about security, well-being and the distribution of public resources.
CASW will continue to advocate for policies and investments that redistribute resources in line with the values of our Code of Ethics. Canada’s economic strength depends on the public institutions, services and supports that enable people to learn, work, receive care and live with dignity.
1 https://www.csastandards.org/article/publicpolicy/theeconomiccostofmentalhealthincanada