Legislative Summary
Parliament returns with a throne speech that asserts Canada’s sovereignty
May 26, 2025 marked the beginning of Canada’s 45th Parliament session. The speech outlined Prime Minister Carney’s government priorities and legislative agenda. Priorities reiterated much of what was in the Liberal Party platform: a new chapter in the Canada-U.S. relationship, combatting affordability (including the protection of existing pharmacare and child care programs), removing interprovincial trade barriers, bolstering national security and defence, and scaling back government spending. The tone was one of national unity, pride, and protection of Canadian values.
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Federal lobbying rules for nonprofits
Federal lobbying rules apply to nonprofits who communicate with federal officials directly or indirectly about a regulated matter. Registration is required when employees collectively spend 8 or more hours in a consecutive 4-week period lobbying on behalf of the nonprofit.
Communications related to asking for information, how a law/regulation is enforced, interpreted or applied, and making a public submission to a parliamentary committee or in public record proceedings are exempt.
Registering at the federal level is not related to provincial or territorial or municipal lobbyist registrations. Separate lobbying rules apply during elections.
The Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada published a new interpretation bulletin on the Lobbying Act in 2025. Changes as a result of the new interpretation are in effect as of January 19, 2026. The new interpretation means more nonprofits who do federal public policy and advocacy work have to ask themselves if they should register as lobbyists.
Public consultations
Public consultations are an opportunity for organizations to weigh in on government decisions. Submissions are a way to document dissent, support, concerns, queries, and provide alternative solutions. They can happen at any phase of the decision making process (identify priorities and issues, give feedback on draft policies and plans, and help develop a solution to a problem).
They can happen online, during standing committee studies, in person through town halls, expert advisory groups, limited stakeholder engagements, or through the Regulatory Registry.
Legislative breaks are a great time to meet with your local MPs as they are in their constituent offices rather than Ottawa.
Spring Economic Update
Nonprofits are key economic drivers and supplement the social safety net
ONN welcomes the federal government’s recognition of nonprofits as key economic drivers and critical for supplementing the social safety net in the Spring Economic Update. As Canadians continue to face high unemployment rates and increasing cost of living, it is critical the federal government shore up its investment in the sector, coast to coast to coast, so nonprofits can build vibrant communities.
While some new announcements and investments support parts of the nonprofit sector, bold policy-making fell short during momentum time.
Six highlights of new sector-relevant announcements
- Modernizing charity regulatory framework starting this year in consultation with key stakeholders and relevant agencies, as well as with a review of best practices adopted by other G7 countries
- Given the announcement touch on digital and technological advances, we anticipate that modernization might be tied to regulating crowdfunding, crypto currencies, AI, and possibly the CRA interface. It could also include review of the disbursement quote (due in 2027) and/or a legislative update to the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act (CNCA) (consultations are now open). Check out ONN reflections the last time such a review was announced. Related analysis: Philanthropic Foundations Canada (PFC), Community Foundations Canada (CFC), Carters.
- Temporary tax exemption for Employee Ownership Trusts is now permanent.
- Following active advocacy, this is a key win for nonprofits and other advocates in advancing community wealth building initiatives for a more democratic and Canadian owned economy.
- Creation of the new Sovereign Wealth Fund, Canada Strong Fund, will be seeded with public dollars and structured to take equity stakes in major projects the government considers essential, such as in the construction of pipelines, mines, ports, and trade corridors, alongside private investors. The government will make an initial commitment of $25 billion dollars over three years.
- While compared to the Norwegian Fund (The Government Pension Fund of Norway), it is not the same, especially as Norway’s fund draws on resource royalties which Canada’s will not. Norway has been able to amass $2 trillion USD by reinvesting dividends from state-owned energy companies. In this way, Norway was able to keep a large portion of the profits for the Norwegian people. There is a risk that Canada’s Sovereign Wealth Fund may result in more privatization and more public tax dollars going to subsidizing for-profit corporations’ projects with only the hope they benefit Canadians. Clear details are yet to be announced on the fund. Related analysis: Future of Good, Assembly of First Nations.
- Privatizing Canadian airports continues to be on the policy agenda. While recognizing airports as vital national assets, the update builds on the promise in Budget 2025 to privatize airports. In the update there are references to modernizing governance of airport authorities (who are nonprofits) and looking at alternative models of ownership.
- Privatization of national assets, in any context or jurisdiction, has often not delivered on its promise of efficiency and lower costs (both for communities and governments). Rather, once a nationally owned, revenue generating public asset is gone, it’s gone for good, leaving behind lower government revenues, higher costs for the public, loss of good jobs, and low quality service. Related analysis: Policy Alternatives.
- Subsector highlights
- Sports: $755 million over five years, starting in 2026-27, and $118 million ongoing, to Canadian Heritage to support Canada’s sport system. Related analysis: Cultural Policy Hub at OCADU, Canadian Women & Sport
- Climate: $708-million for clean growth and conservation efforts and $3 billion to Global Affairs Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada to deliver climate-related support in vulnerable countries.
- Social services: Extension of Unsheltered Homelessness and Encampments Initiative with $125 million in 2026-27.
- Noting that cuts remain to the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP), a federally-funded insurance policy that offers comprehensive medical care for refugees in their first year of settlement in Canada.
- Community highlights
- $794 million in 2026-27 to support the Non-Insured Health Benefits Program, which provides First Nations and Inuit with coverage for a range of health products and services. Related analysis: Action Canada, Child Care Now
- Streamlined application process and expanded list of medical practitioners who can certify eligibility to improve access to the disability tax credit.
- Renewed funding for the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program, which supports community organizations in delivering tax preparation services.
- $75 million to Public Safety Canada for a new Community Security Program. Related analysis: IRPP
Pre-Budget Consultations
A valuable opportunity
Pre-budget consultations are a valuable opportunity for nonprofits to amplify key issues and propose solutions for government action that impact their organizations, the broader sector, and the communities they serve. Particularly after an election cycle, it is important for the sector to use pre-budget consultations as a way to influence the new government at the outset of their mandate. The best budget submissions focus on clear and specific policy changes and commitments the government can make within a budget cycle.
There are many ways to participate, organizations do not have to do everything, but rather strategically select a way that best meets their needs and capacity:
- Participate in the budget process: You can participate in nonpartisan advocacy. While some advocacy requires tracking and reporting, participating in public processes like budget consultations does not.
- Fill out the budget survey or send a written submission to the Department of Finance.
- Apply to testify at a pre-budget hearing and/or send a written submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance (the Finance Committee). There is a deadline to apply to testify. The Committee tables a report on consultations in the House of Commons which is a great way to highlight your ask.
- Amplify sector priorities and key messages in your submission or oral presentation and conversations with local MPs. Legislative breaks are a great time to meet with your local MPs as they are in their constituent offices rather than Ottawa.
- Write your own submission or oral presentation remarks.
- Endorse a network’s submission.
- Copy and paste from submissions from organizations you work alongside.
- Highlight your advocacy: Bring attention to your pre-budget submission by sharing it with your community through social media, your newsletter, and at online or in-person events.
- Imagine Canada Pre-budget Consultation Toolkit
- When are budget submissions worth your time?: Part one, Part two, Part three
- What are budget consultations good for anyway?
- Parliament of Canada financial procedures
Federal budget
In 2025, the federal budgetary cycle underwent significant changes. The federal budget, previously presented each spring, will now be presented each fall. Further analysis below.
Canada’s 2025 budget, Canada Strong, was tabled on November 4. This is the first federal budget under Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government, which includes $141 billion in new spending over the next five years and a $78 billion deficit for 2025-26.
Billed as “generational”, key points of the budget include: boosting infrastructure and defense spending and spurring productivity and prosperity. The budget also shifts away from operational spending with federal public service cuts as well as reduction in direct program expenses from the current level of 8.1 per cent (20204-2025) to only 0.5 per cent by 2030. Thanks to the collective and ongoing advocacy of nonprofits coast to coast to coast, several social programs from the Justin Trudeau era are preserved. As many budget reactions from the sector sum up, the budget fails to realize the potential of Canada’s nonprofit sector, which is needed more than ever by Canadians.
For all nonprofits
- Budget 2025 confirms the federal government’s intention to proceed with previously announced changes to the reporting requirements for nonprofit organizations. These measures were initially proposed in the 2024 Fall Economic Statement and subsequently introduced through draft legislation on August 12, 2025. Budget 2025 indicates that the in-force date will be deferred to January 1, 2027 or later and that the government will release regulations based on sector consultations. Check out ONN’s recommendations.
- Budget 2025 proposes legislative amendments to the Customs Tariff to allow for duty drawback for certain goods when they are donated to a registered charity under the Income Tax Act, provided they are to be used in the organization’s charitable programs and not re-sold in Canada.
Announcements ONN will dig into
- A Buy Canadian Policy that explicitly includes social enterprises.
- The inclusion of Community Employment Benefits Agreements in the selection of federal infrastructure projects under the new Build Communities Strong Fund.
- Arts and culture funding: $400 million in funding for various cultural organizations and funds, $150 million for CBC/Radio-Canada, and $6 million over three years, starting in 2026-27 for the Canada Council for the Arts to support professional artists and arts organizations.
- Women and Gender Equality Funding: $600.5 million over five years for the Department for Women and Gender Equality (WAGE).
Key program spending that is preserved
- National School Food Program: the budget proposes to introduce legislation to make the National School Food Program permanent and provide $216.6 million per year, starting in 2029-30.
- Canada Disability Benefit: Budget 2025 confirms the government’s intention to bring forward legislation to exempt the Canada Disability Benefit from being treated as income under the Income Tax Act
- Canada Child Benefit: Payments are projected to increase 5.2 per cent to $30.1 billion in 2025-26, largely reflecting the indexation of benefits to consumer price inflation.
- Early-learning and child care: Increase in Canada-wide early learning and child care transfer payments to provinces and territories from $7.9 billion in 2025-26 to $8.5 billion in 2029-30, reflecting three per cent per year growth for four years starting in 2027-28. This also includes $625 million over four years, beginning in 2023- 24, for the Early Learning and Child Care Infrastructure Fund.
- Elderly benefits are projected to reach $83.1 billion in 2025-26, up 3.5 per cent. Over the remainder of the forecast horizon, elderly benefits are forecast to grow by 5.9 per cent on average annually.
- The budget does not extend new funding for pharmacare expansion, but protects money for health, dental care, and the current drug coverage for those provinces that have already signed on.
Dive into sector federal budget reactions
- Action Canada
- Canadian Arts Coalition: CAC Welcomes Steps Forward in Budget 2025
- Canadian Health Coalition: 4 things you need to know about health care in the federal budget
- Child Care Now: Mark Carney’s economic plan must expand child care system
- Cultural Policy Hub at OCADU: Budget 2025’s impact on culture and the creative industries in Canada
- Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada: Housing co-operatives ready to partner with Build Canada Homes
- David Suzuki Foundation: Canada’s 2025 budget sends mixed messages on climate action, leaving nature in limbo
- Environmental Defence
- Joint statement from feminist organizations
- Imagine Canada: Progress for Some, but No Plan for the Nonprofit Sector that Holds Canada Together
- Maytree Foundation: Nation-building without people
- National Association of Friendship Centres: Budget 2025 Risks Reconciliation: Friendship Centres Concerned About Impacts to Urban Indigenous Communities
- Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI): Federal Budget Falls Short on Canada’s Commitment to Immigrants and Refugees
- Philanthropic Foundations Canada
- Right to Food: Budget 2025 leaves millions behind
- Volunteer Canada: You Can’t Build a Strong Canada Without the People who Hold it Together
Elections
The 2025 federal snap election – held April 28, 2025 – came to an end with hard fought campaigns from all parties and the highest voter turnout in over three decades (68.7 per cent). The Liberal Party formed a minority government.
Congratulations to all the candidates who put their name forward to run for political office and the many nonprofits that showed up to call attention to the issues impacting them and the communities they serve and to engage communities to get out and vote.
Post election advocacy
There are a wide array of opportunities to continue to advocate for change and build a stronger network for collective action:
- Write to your newly elected officials, including new cabinet ministers, congratulate them for being elected and express your interest in working with them in their critical roles. This is a great opportunity to once again introduce your organization and your public policy priorities. Ask for an opportunity to meet with the newly elected officials at their earliest convenience.
- Check out the throne speech to better understand the new mandate. Reviewing the existing Liberal party platform is also a good start.
- Take a moment to reflect on what might be top of mind for your organization and community with this new government. What social, political, and economic trends might be key to think about?
