Canadians are invited to share their input on key priorities, including “boosting investment and competition, strengthening our sovereignty, and addressing the most pressing economic challenges facing Canadians today,” according to the Department of Finance Canada.
Budget 2025 — released on Nov. 4, 2025 and Mark Carney’s first as Prime Minister — was framed as a response to significant global and economic changes with priorities ranging from workforce renewal and skills development to regulatory changes and public sector transformation. The budget marked a significant shift in the federal government’s approach to public sector management, with plans to reduce the size of the federal public service by about 40,000 positions—or 10 per cent—by 2028-29.
Canada’s federal public service has contracted by more than 12,000 positions in a single fiscal year.
Ministerial engagement
Beyond the online portal, Champagne will be joined over the summer by Wayne Long, Secretary of State responsible for the Canada Revenue Agency and Financial Institutions, and Ryan Turnbull, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance and National Revenue, for in-person meetings across the country.
According to the news release, the engagements are intended to reach “individuals, businesses, industry and labour organizations, community leaders, academics, Indigenous partners, non-profit groups, and other stakeholders.” The involvement of both industry and labour organizations gives employer associations and unions a direct channel to raise workforce-related concerns with officials ahead of the budget.