Our message to federal leaders
Canada can grow its resilience and economic security by following our evidence-based policy prescriptions.
If there’s a single word to sum up Canadian politics of late, probably it’s ‘uncertainty’.
A federal election is on the horizon, though when remains hazy. We don’t know who the next federal Liberal leader (and PM for now) will be. The next national budget – will it be spring or fall? To top it all off, we’re dealing with a new US administration intent on disruption.
In the face of this upheaval, we’re staying the course on the actions we know are still needed to build a generationally fair and resilient Canada. Our recommendations will help put us on the solid economic footing needed to tackle coming challenges, and advance wellbeing for young and old alike.
We’re calling on leaders from all parties to commit to building a Canada that works for all generations.
Join us in urging them to live up to this vision as they shape budgets and election platforms.
1. Fix retirement benefits to eliminate poverty for seniors and help younger generations
Old Age Security desperately needs an overhaul. The way we determine eligibility for retiree cash benefits is out of step with what most Canadians think about who needs taxpayer-funded support. By scaling back slightly the amount we give retirees with incomes over $100k, we can lift a half million retirees out of poverty – and have money left over to support their kids and grandkids and reduce the deficit. That’s a win-win-win plan we can all get behind.
Get our toolkit
Want to lend your voice to this important national vision?
2. Shore up the funds we need to support our aging population by eliminating outdated tax shelters
Retiree cash benefits make up 1/5 of the entire federal budget. To make sure we can keep this program afloat and protect retirees’ financial wellbeing, urgent reforms are needed. One obvious step is to eliminate two questionable tax shelters for retirees that cost over $6B/year, even though the design of these tax measures generally fails to benefit the lowest-income seniors.
3. Compensate young people for sacrificing their financial security to protect the housing wealth that older homeowners gained from rising home prices
We could make housing more affordable by organizing policies around the goal of having home prices fall. This would benefit many young people, newcomers and renters of any age, yet it’s an option seldom contemplated. That’s because politicians vying for votes prioritize protecting the wealth older homeowners have gained from rising home prices, over restoring what young people have lost – the dream of secure housing within reach of their earnings.
The political bargain we’ve struck in Canada asks young people to sacrifice their financial wellbeing to protect their parents and grandparents “nest eggs.” It’s time to explore how we can compensate young people for this profound act of intergenerational solidarity. We can begin by targeting some savings from fixing Old Age Security to reducing housing, child care, education and other costs.
4. Stand up for pollution pricing so we don’t leave big messes for our kids to clean up
If you make a mess, clean it up. That’s a family value we teach our kids, and we should live by the same wisdom when it comes to pollution. Political leaders may try to convince us that paying for our pollution isn’t urgent; that we needn’t worry about the betrayal, abandonment and anxiety our kids report feeling thanks to the slow pace of our response to climate risks they will inherit. But the reality is that we don’t really have a choice between paying or not paying for our pollution – our only choice is between paying less now, or leaving younger and future generations to pay more later. Politicians betray our kids when they expect them to pay dearly for the pollution they are unwilling to pay for today.
Want to know how you can stand up for pollution pricing?
Get our toolkit
Spread the word to change hearts and minds.
Join the posse
Join other Canadians who are standing up.
5. Double down on $10 a day child care to grow our economy and support families
In 2021, Canada embarked on the biggest social policy innovation in decades: a national $10 a day child care system. Just a few years into the roll out, its positive impacts are clear. In addition to expanding access and reducing fees for many families, $10 a day has created 50k new jobs and contributed $32 billion to Canada’s economy. We should all thank $10 a day for keeping us out of a recession! We’re calling on all federal leaders to stand behind this successful program, and make sure faster implementation is a top priority – especially in foot-dragging provinces.
6. Make future budgets and governments more accountable by measuring what matters
We all have a stake in making sure that we get the best bang for our taxpayer bucks. Federal governments have left big gaps in measuring what matters for investing in wellbeing from the early years onwards. Filling them means adopting four new evidence-based metrics:
- The ratio of spending on social supports relative to spending on medical care, because the social conditions where we are born, grow and age matter more for our health than medical care.
- The distribution of government spending by age, so we know if we’re getting it right for all generations, and adapting quickly enough to changing social and economic needs.
- A new inflation measure that fixes the way home price increases are accounted for, so that the data no longer send the wrong policy signals to economic decision makers.
- Strengthened accountability for meeting climate targets via an expanded mandate and authorities for Canada’s Net-Zero Advisory Body.
7. Enshrine these policy commitments in legislation
Canada needs legislation to safeguard the wellbeing of young people today, and for generations to come. This legislation would shape national policies that protect a healthy childhood, home, and planet for all Canadians by:
- Ensuring governments consider the wellbeing of all generations in budget decisions
- Establishing a minister, commissioner, and advisory body to work as tugboats that keep the freighter of government activity on track for generational fairness
In combination, our recommendations will go a long way towards restoring responsible stewardship of our national finances. Growing deficits have become a fixture of federal budgets, leaving a legacy of unpaid bills to younger and future generations of Canadians.
Please help spread our vision for a Canada that works for all generations to federal leaders (and leadership candidates) from all parties.
Download these recommendations
Email them to federal leadership hopefuls.
Join other Canadians who are standing up
Help us change politics for the better.