In the foreword of this year’s federal budget, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne writes that the budget “lays out a generational investment strategy” and that “Now is the time to build Canada Strong.” Released in November, Budget 2025 lays out major commitments to lowering the cost of living through housing expansion and youth support programs. 

With youth unemployment reaching 14.7 per cent in September, the highest level since 2010, disregarding the pandemic. This leaves many young Canadians entering a job market that feels increasingly uncertain. For students who already face high rent, rising debt, and competitive hiring conditions, the budget’s measures could have a direct impact.

The job market and youth unemployment

As the semester comes to a close, graduating students face the tough reality of finding a job in the current market. In this challenging environment, Budget 2025 proposes over $1.5 billion in funding over the next few years to support employment for young Canadians and directly shape the opportunities available to students entering the workforce.

This includes nearly $600 million for Canada Summer Jobs, a program aiming to provide more work experiences for young people over the summer. They are partnering with not-for-profit, public-sector, and small private-sector organizations to subsidize wages and create roughly 100,000 positions for youth through this program. The Youth Employment & Skills Strategy, which delivers 16 federal programs, will also receive $307.9 million to expand training and provide supports like mentorship and mental health counselling.

$40 million will start a national Youth Climate Corps, which will train young people in green and emergency-response roles. The Student Work Placement Program, which partners with universities, colleges, and Québec’s College of General and Vocational Education (CEGEPs) to provide work placements, is also receiving additional funding and is set to create 55,000 paid learning placements by 2027.

At the same time, the budget makes a significant push toward AI adoption and productivity growth. The government will invest $925.6 million over five years to develop Canadian AI cloud infrastructure, and set aside $25 million for TechStat, a new program designed to study and observe how AI shapes productivity and the labour market. The federal government argues that these investments will help create long-term economic growth and new high-skill jobs.

This transition may create short-term challenges for young workers, especially those seeking their first job, due to AI’s ability to displace certain entry-level tasks. However, the World Economic Forum maintains that the “number of jobs destroyed will be surpassed by the number of ‘jobs of tomorrow’ created.” Among them are big data analysts, machine learning specialists, and environmental engineers, along with growing demand for farmers, nurses, and other essential roles that keep economies running.  

Making housing affordable

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation estimates Canada needs to nearly double housing construction from its current pace of 250,000 homes per year to at least 430,000 units per year to restore affordability. The budget directs major funding to close that gap.

A central pillar of this plan is Build Canada Homes, a federal agency launched in September with $13 billion in funding over five years to pursue initiatives to increase available housing. Examples include building 700 public housing units in partnership with the Nunavut Housing Corporation or channelling $1 billion to build transitional housing for homeless people.

For students in cities like Toronto, where rent remains among the highest in the country, measures that affect tenants are particularly relevant. Budget 2025 notes that average asking rents have fallen 3.2 per cent over the past year, a shift that the government attributes to stronger rental construction and a slowdown in population growth following changes to immigration policy — factors that have begun to ease demand-side pressures. 

The budget also proposes eliminating the Goods and Services Tax (GST) for first-time buyers on new homes priced up to $1 million, with a reduced rate on homes up to $1.5 million. The measure, currently before Parliament, intends to lower upfront purchase costs for younger buyers.

Taken together, the budget’s housing measures aim to reshape the market over the next decade. But for students facing immediate rent burdens, the question remains whether new construction will arrive fast enough to meaningfully ease pressure in the short term. 

Healthcare investments

Budget 2025 offers little new support for pharmacare, the national system for prescription drug coverage, which includes universal access to certain contraception and diabetes medications. Instead, the government commits $5 billion to a Health Infrastructure Fund, aimed at upgrading hospitals, emergency departments, urgent-care centres, and medical schools. One planned project is funding for the new Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Medical School.

The budget is also pursuing initiatives to ensure timely access to healthcare in Canada’s Arctic and North. The government will conduct a comprehensive review of healthcare needs in these areas to understand how it can improve the current infrastructure.  

Budget 2025 lays out an ambitious vision for Canada’s future, but its impact will depend on how quickly new housing is built, jobs are created, and affordability measures take hold.