April 28 2026

The federal spring economic update says it’s protecting public services that “give Canadians a fair chance to get ahead.” And yet, the fiscal plan it tables tells a different story.

Buried in the update’s expense projections, $6.6 billion in scheduled federal spending reductions are baked in over the next five years by letting transfer for home and community care, mental health and addictions services, and long-term care to simply expire.

Combined with no new federal action on the health human resources crisis, almost nothing for the post-secondary funding crisis, and no movement on tax fairness, the spring economic update leaves public services in a crisis, which is only bound to worsen.

Lack of action on health care crises could add to the affordability crisis

As the spring economic update acknowledges, protecting essential social programs like child care, dental care and pharmacare “give Canadians a fair chance to get ahead.” For most families the care provided by our public health care system saves them thousands of dollars a year. Any threats to our public health care system could add to the affordability crisis.

But the federal government still hasn’t taken leadership on fixing the health human resources crisis. There’s no expansion for loan forgiveness for people training for people in allied health professions. No funding for retention. No national strategy.

Even though pharmacare was mentioned as a program that helps Canadians get ahead there will be no funding to maintain and expand it. Funding for health transfers is not being increased to meet higher costs due to inflation, population growth and an aging population. And the bilateral health agreements that fund home care, mental health, and long-term care are scheduled to expire without replacement, as mentioned above.
When public services get squeezed, families pay the difference. Out of pocket or by going without.

Almost nothing to help colleges and universities deal with the funding crisis

Most apprentices for the skilled trades rely on public colleges for the in-class portion of their training. The training public colleges deliver is of a high quality and is designed to give people skills that they can build on through their careers.

But with the funding crisis programs are being cut and entire campuses are being closed down. That will leave many people unable to get the in-class training they need.

NUPGE has called for both short-term emergency funding targeted at programs, staffing and services and long-term increases in funding for post-secondary education. The update offered almost none of it.

Nothing on tax fairness

Even though large corporations and the wealthy aren’t paying their share of taxes, there were no measures to make the tax system fairer. However, on the positive side, there were also no tax breaks or loopholes that would disproportionally benefit the very wealthy.

Reductions in consumption taxes are pitched as relief for people with modest incomes. There’s no guarantee the savings won’t be eaten up by price increases.

Some small steps forward

There were some positive measures in the spring economic update. $794 million is being provided in 2026-27 to support the Non-Insured Health Benefits Program for First Nations and Inuit people, which will go a small way to reducing the gap in health care services. The application process for the Disability Tax Credit is being streamlined, a real improvement for people with disabilities and their families. The credit amount itself, however, hasn’t kept pace with the actual costs people face.

Not clear if CPP premium reduction will cost more in the long-term

One measure in the spring economic update that was described as positive could end up proving costly in the long-term. The federal government has reduced premiums for the base CPP—as opposed to the enhanced CPP—from 9.9% to 9.5%.

This will produce relatively small savings. But if the assumptions behind the decrease are overly optimistic, working people may face higher premiums or an attack on the CPP in the future.

“The spring economic update is built on a contradiction. It names public services as what makes life affordable for Canadians, then plans to spend less on them and counts on the difference to balance the books. The bill for that math will land on families, on the workers who deliver these services, and on the public systems Canadians depend on”, said Bert Blundon, president of the National Union of Public and General Employees.