Different generations. A shared message for Ottawa: help people struggling with rising costs now.

In a new video, Gen Squeeze supporters come together to call out Ottawa for failing to make the biggest improvement to affordability in a generation in Budget 2026: eliminate seniors’ poverty and invest billions in young and working-age people by reforming Old Age Security (OAS).

Their message is one of solidarity. Older and younger Canadians want public dollars to go where they can make the biggest difference. And they’re asking why Ottawa is taking so long to catch up.

Watch our supporters’ message to Ottawa.

[embedlycard url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJ6bStfGGaM"]

Building homes and infrastructure, opening new markets, and diversifying trade are important projects. But their promised benefits will take years to reach many household budgets.

Rent is due this month. Groceries need buying this week. Child care fees and tuition bills can’t be put on hold until Canada’s economic strategy delivers.

People need support to get through today as governments build for tomorrow. Reforming OAS offers Ottawa a way to deliver it.

Yet Budget 2026 passed up this opportunity, continuing to send billions to the 20% most financially secure retirees while other Canadians struggle to afford the basics.

 Solidarity is already here

Calls to update OAS subsidies are dismissed by some as provoking conflict between generations. The people in this video show how much that accusation misses the mark.

Seniors want an end to poverty among people their own age. They also want their kids and grandkids to have a fair chance to build secure lives. Younger Canadians want the same things.

Many older Canadians are prepared to accept less from OAS themselves so public dollars can do more for people who need them most. They see the pressures facing others in their communities — and want government decisions to reflect that concern.

Three-quarters of Canadians, including three-quarters of seniors, support phasing out OAS faster for households with incomes above $100,000, so we can use the savings to eliminate seniors’ poverty and strengthen affordability for younger and working-age Canadians.

Ottawa is lagging behind the people it represents.

 A budget choice Ottawa can change

As our Budget 2026 analysis explains, Ottawa is on course to send more than $17 billion annually in OAS to retirees with six-figure household incomes.

How can that remain a priority while seniors live in poverty, young people struggle to pay rent, and parents put off having children because they can’t afford the costs?

Beginning to reduce OAS sooner for the top 20% of retirees would free billions to address these pressures — while protecting or improving benefits for the other 80% of seniors. All without raising taxes or growing the deficit.

Budget 2026 may have missed the opportunity, but Ottawa can still begin the work.

Watch and share the video to help carry our supporters’ message: young and old agree, affordability can’t wait.