Introduction
You can use this tool to explore each party's policy on pretty much anything. Some parties may not have a policy on everything, and some may just not have announced theirs yet.
Feel free to mark each policy with a ,
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. We'll keep track, and tally up which party you agree with most on the final page.
Affordability & Childcare
Banking
Canada Child Benefit
Canada Workers Benefit
Liberal
- Expand the Canada Workers Benefit to support ~1M additional Canadians in low-wage jobs.
- Automatically enrol qualified Canadians in the CWB.
- Ensure secondary earners can exclude up to $14,000 of their working income when income-testing for CWB.
Continue to expand the Canada Workers Benefit to support about 1 million additional Canadians in low-wage jobs, helping them return to work and increasing benefits for Canada’s most vulnerable, who will be eligible for up to $1,400 a year.
Ensure that Canadians who qualify are automatically enrolled, and that the benefit is delivered on a quarterly basis.
Continue to ensure that secondary earners—mostly women—can exclude up to $14,000 of their working income when income-testing the Canada Workers Benefit, so that families can receive up to $2,400.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Cell & Internet Bills
NDP
- Place a price cap on cell phone & Internet bills.
- Require providers to offer a basic plan for wireless & broadband that is comparable w/ affordable plans in other countries.
- Require companies to offer unlimited wireless data options at affordable rates.
- Ban data caps for broadband Internet.
- Introduce a Telecom Consumers' Bill of Rights.
That’s why, until the industry becomes more competitive, we’ll put in place a price cap to make sure that Canadians aren’t paying more than the global average for their cell phone and internet bills.
Expanding cell coverage and delivering reliable, affordable broadband internet to every community in Canada is vital to the economic future of rural Canada and remote communities. But it has been ignored by successive governments for far too long. That’s why we believe that we need to act urgently to close the digital divide now, not ten years from now as the Liberal government proposed. We are committed to declaring high-speed internet an essential service and making sure that every Canadian has access to affordable, reliable high-speed broadband within four years. This will include taking the first steps to create a Crown corporation to ensure the delivery of quality, affordable telecom services to every community.
In addition, we’ll make sure that providers offer a basic plan for wireless and broadband that is comparable with the affordable plans that are available in other countries. To put an end to surprise bills, we’ll require companies to offer unlimited wireless data options at affordable rates, as exist elsewhere in the world, and abolish data caps for broadband internet.
And finally, to protect Canadians from unfair wireless and internet sales and services practices, we’ll introduce a Telecom Consumers’ Bill of Rights and put an end to gouging for good.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Childcare
Liberal
- Reduce fees for childcare by 50% next year.
- Finalise agreements with more provinces & territories to provide $10-a-day childcare within 5 years or less.
- Create 250K new childcare spaces.
- Hire 40K more early childhood educators.
- Work with Quebec to build on its childcare system.
- Work with Indigenous partners on childcare for Indigenous children.
- Enact federal childcare legislation.
Reduce fees for child care by 50% in the next year.
Deliver $10 a day child care within five years or less.
Build 250,000 new high-quality child care spaces.
Hire 40,000 more early childhood educators.
Finalize agreements with all remaining provinces and territories.
Work with the province of Quebec to build on its world-class, affordable child care system, improve working conditions for educators, and create more spaces for families.
Work with Indigenous partners to ensure Indigenous children have access to culturally appropriate, affordable, high-quality early learning and child care.
Enact federal child care legislation to strengthen and protect a Canada-wide child care system.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
NDP
- Introduce legislation committing to high-quality, public childcare.
- Provide relief funding to re-open spaces lost from COVID-19 at not-for-profit childcare centres at risk of closure.
- Work with the provinces to build a universal, $10 a day childcare system.
- Ensure childcare workers are paid a living wage.
Green
- Work with governments, Indigenous communities, & the childcare sector to ensure that universal affordable childcare becomes a reality.
- Increase federal childcare funding to at least 1% of GDP annually.
- Eliminate GST on construction costs for childcare spaces.
- Ensure equitable access high-quality, culturally appropriate early learning & childcare programs for First Nations, Inuit, & Métis children.
1. Dedicate additional resources to making a universal, affordable, early learning and child-care (ELCC) system a reality
● Collaborate with provinces/territories, local communities, Indigenous communities and the child-care sector to ensure that a comprehensive short-, medium- and long-term policy road map – based on the principles of universality, affordability, quality, inclusivity, accessibility, and equity – finally becomes a reality.
● These principles will ensure a right of access for all children regardless of their parents’ work status or income levels, while at the same time allowing for regional and local adaptation.
2. Improve and strengthen parental leave
● Make parental leave more inclusive so it covers leave to care for elderly family members, leave following miscarriages and more,and more flexible and better paid.
3. Increase federal child care funding
● Immediately begin to ramp up federal child care funding to achieve the international benchmark of at least one per cent of GDP annually.
● Long-term, stable, national funding must be made available and be sufficient to meet the standards of the guiding principles. It must also be secure and predictable enough to permit the long-term planning and sustainability of the programs.
● Ensure the training, recruitment and retention of well-paid and professional staff.
4. Eliminate GST on all construction costs related to child care spaces
5. Ensure equitable access to high-quality, culturally appropriate ELCC programmes for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis children
● Build on the Multilateral Framework on Early Learning and Child Care and the accompanying bilateral agreements that have been negotiated with every province and territory, as well as with the First Nation, Inuit and Métis Peoples to ensure solutions are meeting their needs.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
Employment Insurance
Liberal
- Introduce a new EI benefit for self-employed Canadians, delivered through the tax system, providing unemployment assistance comparable to EI & lasting for up to 26 weeks.
- Create an EI Career Insurance Benefit for people who are laid off when a business they've worked for 5 years closes.
Introduce a new EI benefit for self-employed Canadians, delivered through the tax system, that would provide unemployment assistance comparable to EI and lasting for as much as 26 weeks. This could provide support of nearly $15,500 when it is needed most.
Self-employed Canadians seeking to access this benefit would only be responsible to contribute the portion they would normally pay if they were a salaried employee. Further details regarding this benefit will be developed over the coming year with the launch of this new benefit happening in January 2023.
Strengthen rights for workers employed by digital platforms so that they are entitled to job protections under the Canada Labour Code and establish new provisions in the Income Tax Act to ensure this work counts toward EI and CPP while also making these platforms pay associated contributions as any employer would.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Establish an EI Career Insurance Benefit. This benefit will be available to people who have worked continuously for the same employer for five or more years and are laid off when the business closes. The Career Insurance Benefit will kick in after regular EI ends, providing an additional 20% of insured earnings in the first year following the layoff, and an extra 10% in the second year. This will give workers up to an almost $16,900 over two years, providing significant help at a difficult time.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Conservative
- Launch a "Super EI" with temporary expanded benefits for provinces in recessions.
- Extend EI sickness benefits for those suffering from serious illness to 52 weeks.
We will launch a Super EI that temporarily provides more generous benefits (75% of salary instead of 55%) when a province goes into recession (a 0.5% increase in the unemployment rate, as defined by the “Sahm Rule”). EI will return to normal levels once the recession is over, as evidenced by three months of job gains.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
NDP
- Extend EI Sickness Benefits to 50 weeks.
- Introduce a low income supplement so no one receiving EI regular or special benefits receives less than $2K/mo.
- Make EI available to people who have quit their jobs to go back to school, provide childcare, or protect their or their family's health.
- Prevent government from raiding the EI Operating Account.
- Double leave for parents of multiples.
To help make ends meet while on EI, we’ll create a low income supplement so that no one who is relying on EI regular or special benefits to stay afloat receives less than $2,000 a month.
Particularly in the midst of a global health crisis, New Democrats know that there are circumstances where people leave a job voluntarily but still need support. That’s why we would make EI available to people who quit their jobs to go back to school, to provide necessary childcare, or to protect their health or the health of immunocompromised family members.
For many Canadians who need EI when they’re dealing with an illness, the current system falls far short and doesn’t provide the kind of help people actually need. To make sure that Canadians can count on EI when they’re dealing with a serious illness, a New Democrat government will extend sickness benefits from 15 to 50 weeks, and create a pilot project to allow workers with episodic illnesses and disabilities to access EI sickness benefits a day at a time, as they need them. This flexibility will help support those who want to continue to work while providing the seriously ill with the benefits they need.
New Democrats also understand that seasonal workers face particular challenges accessing EI. To help Canadians in seasonal industries bridge the gap between the end of EI and the start of seasonal work, we’ll bring back the former Extra Five Weeks pilot project and make it permanent, and we will restore the economic regions in the territories and PEI to their 2014 boundaries.
Parental leave should be available for all Canadian families, in the way that works best for them. Eighteen months of leave is an attractive option for many parents, but not many Canadians can afford to live on just 33 percent of their salary. New Democrats will bring in a new special leave that allows parents to take shorter parental leave at a higher replacement rate. We’ll also allow self-employed workers to opt-into parental benefits at any time before taking the leave, and move to double leave for parents of multiples.
Finally, we will also protect the EI Operating Account in law, so that future governments can’t raid it for general revenue. Premiums, which are currently at a historic low, will be frozen until the economy recovers.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
For Canadians facing a serious illness, we’ll make Employment Insurance work better by extending sickness benefits to 50 weeks of coverage, and creating a pilot project to allow workers with episodic disabilities to access benefits as they need them.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Food & Nutrition
Liberal
- Work with provincial, territorial, municipal, & Indigenous partners, & stakeholders, to develop a National School Food Policy, working towards a national school nutritious meal programme with a $1B investment over 5 years.
- Restrict commercial marketing of food & beverages to children.
- Establish new front-of-package labelling to promote healthy food choices.
Work with our provincial, territorial, municipal, Indigenous partners, and stakeholders to develop a National School Food Policy and work towards a national school nutritious meal program with a $1 billion dollar investment over five years. Introduce new restrictions on the commercial marketing of food and beverages to children and establish new front-of-package labelling to promote healthy food choices.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
NDP
New Democrats will partner with provinces, territories, municipalities and Indigenous communities to work towards a national school nutrition program that will give every child in Canada access to healthy food, and the food literacy skills to make healthy choices for life. We’ll aim to make culturally- appropriate food available to children in every community in Canada, so that all children can grow and learn.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Green
GST
Gas Prices
NDP
Guaranteed Livable Income
NDP
- Expand income security programmes for seniors and people living with disabilities.
- Work towards a Guaranteed Livable Income for every Canadian.
We’ll start this work immediately by lifting every senior and person living with a disability out of poverty, and build from there until every Canadian can count on a basic livable income when they need it. This will be complimented by bold new investments in housing, health care, post-secondary education and training to set all Canadians up to succeed.
In time, New Democrats will work to expand all income security programs to ensure everyone in Canada has access to a guaranteed livable basic income. Making the creation of a guaranteed livable basic income a priority will strengthen our social safety net and finally ensure dignity, security and peace of mind for everyone in Canada.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Green
- Create a comprehensive & equitable Guaranteed Livable Income for every person in Canada.
- Payment would be set at a livable level for different regions of the country.
- Seniors' & children's benefits would remain in place.
1. Create a comprehensive and equitable Guaranteed Livable Income for every person in Canada.
● Building on the Market Basket Measure, payment would be set at a “livable” level for different regions of the country. The federal government would provide an initial base level subsidy across the country, and an intergovernmental body would determine and administer the necessary supplemental amounts.
● Allowing the provinces to reduce their expenditures on provincial welfare, a national Guaranteed Livable Income would liberate provincial budgets for the health budgets they have asked Ottawa to support.
● GLI would serve as a supplement for and complement to existing public services, and unlike provincial welfare regulations, would not discourage work.
● The Guaranteed Livable Income program would cover everyone, with a benefit amount gradually decreasing as other income increases. Seniors’ and children’s benefits would remain in place.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
Living in the North
Liberal
Conservative
- Double the residency deduction, increase the basic amount in the intermediate zone to match the northern zone, and add the Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland, new parts of northern Saskatchewan, and new parts of north-western BC to this zone.
- Implement a Northern Housing Strategy.
- Improve Nutrition North.
• Double the residency deduction, which has not increased since 2016, to recognize the rising cost of living in the north, boost the basic amount in the intermediate zone to match the northern zone, and add the Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland, new parts of northern Saskatchewan, and new parts of north-western B.C. to this zone.
• Implement a Northern Housing Strategy built on:
° Providing the territories with their fair shares of federal housing funding;
° Ensuring that funding is stable and predictable; and
° Working with Indigenous groups including the Inuit, and with resource companies investing in the north to ensure that housing gets built.
• Support innovative approaches to address the crises of mental health and addiction, such as land-based treatment programs developed and managed by Indigenous communities as part of a plan to enhance the delivery of culturally appropriate addictions treatment and prevention services in First Nations communities with high needs.
• Improve Nutrition North so that it achieves the goal of ensuring that northerners have access to affordable healthy food.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
NDP
Minimum Wage
NDP
People with Disabilities
Liberal
- Reintroduce a Disability Benefit Act to create a direct monthly payment for low income Canadians with disabilities ages 18-64.
- Develop an employment strategy for Canadians with disabilities, including an investment in the Ready, Willing and Able inclusive hiring programme.
- Create a new stream of the Youth Employment & Skills Strategy Program to support 5K opportunities/year.
Re-introduce a Disability Benefit Act which will create a direct monthly payment, the Canada Disability Benefit, for low-income Canadians with disabilities ages 18-64.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Develop and implement an employment strategy for Canadians with disabilities. This strategy will be focused on supports for workers and employers and creating inclusive and welcoming workplaces. It will also include an investment in the Ready, Willing and Able inclusive hiring program to support individuals with intellectual disabilities and autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Create a new stream of the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy Program (YESS) to support 5000 opportunities a year for young people. This would help young Canadians with disabilities gain the skills, experience, and abilities they need to make a successful transition into the labour market and build successful careers.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
NDP
Green
- Work to create a Canada Disabilities Act.
- Support a national equipment fund for equipment such as wheelchairs & accessibility tools.
- Invest in social housing adapted as necessary to meet particular needs.
- Provide federal health transfer payments for provinces to direct to rehabilitation.
- Institute a Guaranteed Livable Income for people with disabilities.
- Make the Disability Tax Credit refundable.
● Work to create a Canada Disabilities Act (CDA) to express Canadians’ vision of a more equitable society rather than the current confusion resulting from the multiplicity of acts, standards, policies, and programs that prevail.
● Support a national equipment fund to provide equipment such as wheelchairs and accessibility tools to assist persons with disabilities with the tools needed to fully participate in work and community life (This can be a joint program with provinces – the concern is equal access and common standards).
● Invest in social housing adapted as necessary to meet particular needs, with both rental and purchase options.
● Provide federal health transfer payments to provinces and territories directed to rehabilitation for those who have become disabled, e.g. loss of limbs etc.
● Enforce the Employment Equity Act to ensure that persons with disabilities have equal opportunity to long-term employment and advancement. People with disabilities are generally the last to find employment and the first to be laid off.
● Institute a Guaranteed Liveable Income for people living with disabilities so that none live in poverty.
● Convert the Disability Tax Credit (DTC) to a refundable credit.
● Redesign the Canada Pension Plan/Disability Benefit (CPP/D) test to incorporate the DTC definition of disability and permit employment.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
Climate Change & the Environment
Animal Protection
Liberal
- Introduce legislation to end cosmetic testing on animals as soon as 2023, & phase out toxicity testing on animals by 2035.
- Work with partners to curb illegal wildlife trade & end ivory trade.
- Introduce legislation to protect animals in captivity.
- Ban the live export of horses for slaughter.
- Work with our partners to help women & children fleeing violence to stay with their companion animals.
Introduce legislation to end cosmetic testing on animals as soon as 2023 and phase out toxicity testing on animals by 2035.
Work with partners to curb illegal wildlife trade and end elephant and rhinoceros ivory trade in Canada.
Introduce legislation to protect animals in captivity.
Ban the live export of horses for slaughter.
Work with our partners to help women and children fleeing violence stay united with their companion animals.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Conservative
- Ban puppy mills.
- Ban cosmetic testing on animals.
- Provide $10M/year to train judges & prosecutors on links between violence against animals & violence against people.
- Increase cross-reporting between animal welfare & child welfare agencies.
- Add animal cruelty as an aggravating factor in domestic violence prosecutions.
• Banning Puppy Mills
° Stopping unethical breeders and dealers from misleading the public by claiming to offer rescue animals or pets bred humanely when that isn’t the case.
° Banning the importation of animals bred inhumanely.
° Strengthening CFIA’s ability to enforce current regulations and seize animals when imported under poor welfare conditions.
• Banning cosmetic testing on animals
° Amending the Food and Drug Act and its regulations to implement a ban modelled on the European Union ban.
• Addressing the links between violence against animals and violence against people
° Providing $10 million per year to train judges and prosecutors on the links between violence against animals and violence against people.
° Increasing cross-reporting between animal welfare and child welfare agencies
° Adding animal cruelty as an aggravating factor in domestic violence prosecutions to go after abusers who hurt their spouse by hurting their spouse’s pet
• Supporting pet owners fleeing violence by working with the sector to ensure that there are better options for women to leave abusive homes without having to abandon their pets
• Working with the Council of Ministers of Education to promote humane education as part of education on the environment and sustainability
• Addressing the Threat Posed by Animal Markets and Trade in Wild Animals
° Supporting and encouraging the closure of poorly regulated wildlife markets globally that carry an elevated risk of becoming sources for future pandemics;
° Ending the importation of and trade in wild or exotic animals and their products that carry an elevated risk of spreading zoonotic diseases.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
Batteries
Liberal
- Build an end-to-end, sustainable battery supply chain.
- Launch a Canada-US Battery Alliance for stakeholders in both countries to identify shared priorities & environmental requirements that lead to an integrated, world-scale battery supply chain.
Build an end-to-end, sustainable battery supply chain.
Work to attract near-term multi-billion anchor investments in key areas like minerals processing and cell manufacturing.
Double the Mineral Exploration Tax Credit for materials on the Canadian list of critical minerals which are essential to the manufacturing of vital clean technologies, such as batteries.
Establish Canada as a global leader in battery recycling and reuse, to improve the environmental impact and build a competitive advantage.
Launch a Canada-U.S. Battery Alliance for stakeholders in both countries to identify shared priorities and create environmental requirements that lead to an integrated, world-scale battery supply chain
Work with stakeholders to identify new strategic priorities, including future battery types, ways to optimize batteries for cold weather performance and long-duration storage, and applications in heavy- duty transportation.
Address gaps in training and upskilling to ensure that all Canadians workers can take advantage of battery industry opportunities.
Use all tools, including the Investment Canada Act, to ensure the protection and development of our critical minerals from both an economic and national security perspective.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Conservative
Supporting improved electric vehicle battery repurposing and recycling in order to lower the environmental impact of these batteries and lower the cost of vehicles on the resale market.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
Carbon Capture & Storage
Carbon Pricing
Liberal
- Continue to increase the federal carbon price by $15/tonne each year, reaching $170/tonne by 2030.
- Work with key trading partners, like the US & EU, to apply Border Carbon Adjustments on imports from countries with less action on climate change.
Continue to put a rising price on pollution, while putting more money back into the pockets of Canadians.
Keep protecting Canadian jobs and competitiveness through smart carbon pricing design.
Move forward, in collaboration with key trading partners, like the United States and European Union, on applying Border Carbon Adjustments to imports from countries that aren’t doing their part to reduce carbon pollution and fight climate change. This includes considering applying Border Carbon Adjustments on imports of steel, cement, aluminum, and other emissions-intensive industries, similar to the European Union’s approach.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Conservative
- Remove the federal price on carbon.
- Replace it with a Personal Low Carbon Savings Account, requiring people to pay into their PLCSA every time they fill up.
- Start the PLCSA at $20/tonne, rising to $50/tonne.
- People could withdraw from their PLCSA to spend on products to reduce their energy footprint, such as transit passes, green home retrofits, & electric vehicles.
- Maintain Output Based Pricing.
Canada’s Conservatives will work with the provinces to implement an innovative, national, Personal Low Carbon Savings Account. This will put a price on carbon for consumers without one penny going to the government. It will be completely transparent and engage consumers in the process of building a lower carbon future.
Canadians will pay into their Personal Low Carbon Savings Account each time they buy hydrocarbon-based fuel. They will be able to apply the money in their account towards things that help them live a greener life. That could mean buying a transit pass or a bicycle, or saving up and putting the money towards a new efficient furnace, energy efficient windows or even an electric vehicle.
Canadian families and businesses have been trailblazers in the use of affinity or rewards programs and have great expertise in both managing and using them. This program will operate similarly, and may be managed by a consortium of companies as the INTERAC system is.
— Secure the Environment, retrieved 2021-08-29
Our plan will ensure that all Canadians can do their part to fight climate change, in the way that works best for them, and at a carbon price that is affordable: starting at $20/tonne and increasing to $50/tonne but no further. Even at this lower carbon price, we will ensure that this does not place an excessive burden on low-income Canadians and will protect farmers by ensuring that they have affordable options.
Businesses that aren’t subject to the Output Based Pricing System but buy fuel will have a Small Business Low Carbon Savings Account that will operate similarly.
— Secure the Environment, retrieved 2021-08-29
NDP
Putting a price on carbon has been an important tool in efforts to drive emissions reductions. We will continue with carbon pricing while making it fairer and rolling back loopholes this Liberal government has given to big polluters. But we also recognize that carbon pricing won’t be enough to tackle the climate crisis. Further action is needed.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Coal
Conservation
Liberal
- Establish 10 new national parks in the next 5 years & work w/ Indigenous communities on co-management agreements.
- Work w/ partners to conserve 25% of lands & waters by 2025 & 30% by 2030.
- Work to halt nature loss by 2030 w/ a full recovery by 2050.
- Work w/ Indigenous peoples to support new Indigenous Guardians programs.
- Build new urban national parks.
- Establish a $50M BC Old Growth Nature Fund.
Establishing 10 new national parks and 10 new national marine conservation areas (NMCAs) in the next 5 years—doubling the size of the existing national parks and NMCA system in Canada.
Working with Indigenous communities on co- management agreements of these national parks and NMCAs.
Continuing to work with partners to ensure Canada meets its goals to conserve 25% of our lands and waters by 2025 and 30% of each by 2030.
Working to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030 in Canada and achieving a full recovery for nature by 2050. This includes championing this goal internationally to ensure that the world protects the intact nature required to reverse the biodiversity collapse and protect our climate.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Work with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis partners to support new Indigenous Guardians programs and establish new Indigenous Guardians Networks.
Support Indigenous communities to build capacity to establish more IPCAs.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Establish at least one new national urban park in every province and territory, with a target of establishing 15 national urban parks by 2030.
Invest an additional $200 million in the Natural Infrastructure Fund to continue funding community-led public green space projects in collaboration with municipalities, Indigenous communities, and non- profit organizations.
Continue building and connecting the TransCanada Trail, and creating new opportunities for Canadians to access it, by increasing annual funding to $13 million, growing the trail network by 10% helping create 10,000 jobs over the next five years.
Build a national trails tourism strategy and increase youth employment opportunities in partnership with Destination Canada to enhance local economic development opportunities.
Every Canadian should have access to nature and green space in their community. Simply put, it’s part of who we are.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Reaching a nature agreement with the province of British Columbia to protect more of the province’s old growth forests and expand protected areas.
Establishing a $50 million B.C. Old Growth Nature Fund and working with partners to attract additional funding to further support the protection of important old growth forests.
Ensuring First Nations, local communities, and workers are partners in shaping the path forward on nature protection.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Conservative
- Protect 17% of Canada's land & water.
- Work towards protecting 25%.
- Restore funding for the National Wetland Conservation Fund & the Recreational Fisheries Conservation Partnership Program.
- Invest an additional $3B between now & 2030 in natural climate solutions.
• Reach the target of protecting 17% of Canada’s land and water and work towards 25% with a focus on:
° Using remote sensing to identify conservation gaps in the southern working landscape and gather data that can be used to determine the potential for lands to provide ecosystem services;
° Putting in place other effective area-based conservation measures in the southern working landscape;
° Working with Indigenous communities to expand the creation of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) managed and stewarded by Indigenous Guardians; and
° Continuing to develop parks and protected areas in all parts of Canada.
• Restore funding for the National Wetland Conservation Fund and the Recreational Fisheries Conservation Partnership Program, which Justin Trudeau cancelled.
• Support Wetlands and Watershed Protection Our wetlands, rivers, and lakes are essential to our quality of life. They provide us with drinking water, provide critical habitat for fish and wildlife, and offer recreation opportunities.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
Invest an additional $3 billion between now and 2030 in natural climate solutions focused on management of forest, crop and grazing lands and restoration of grasslands, wetlands, and forests.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
NDP
- Introduce an Environmental Bill of Rights.
- Strengthen the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.
- Protect 30% of Canada's land, freshwater, and oceans by 2030.
- Create a new Civilian Climate Corps to mobilise young people & create jobs supporting conservation efforts.
- Launch a 10-year plan to reverse species loss.
- Restrict trade of wild animals.
- Expand the Indigenous Guardians Programme.
New Democrats are committed to expanding protections for our natural environment, beginning with enshrining the right to a healthy environment in a Canadian Environmental Bill of Rights, to ensure all communities can enjoy a guarantee to clean water, land and air. We will strengthen the Canadian Environmental Protection Act – building and improving on the government’s Bill C-28 – to better protect Canadians from toxic substances in everyday products like cosmetics. And we will strengthen the federal environmental impact assessment process for new coal mines and mine expansion projects. We know that taking action to protect our environment will also support people’s health – with recent projections showing that the impacts of climate change could cost Canada’s healthcare system billions of dollars over the coming decades.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
And a new Civilian Climate Corps would mobilize young people and create new jobs supporting conservation efforts and addressing the threat of climate change by undertaking activities such as helping restore wetlands, and planting the billions of trees that need to be planted in the years ahead.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
We are committed to pursuing a Nature agenda, anchored by our commitment to safeguarding ecosystems and biodiversity by protecting 30% of our land, freshwater and oceans by 2030. We will expand urban national parks and restore urban biodiversity, and ensure the Species at Risk Act is enforced. We will launch a 10-year nature plan to reverse species loss and we would curb the import and domestic trade of wild animals. We will further protect our oceans and our freshwater, by reducing emissions from shipping and fishing, expanding marine protected areas, reducing key threats to ocean ecosystems and implementing a national freshwater strategy. And we will support Indigenous-led nature conservation and land-use and climate planning, including by growing the Indigenous Guardians Program and working hand-in-hand to advance the protection and restoration of wild Pacific salmon populations on the west coast.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Green
- Support Indigenous-led protected & conservation areas.
- Fund stewardship by Indigenous guardians.
- Implement Canada's commitments under the Convention on Biological Diversity & follow-up protocols.
- Protect a minimum of 30% of freshwaters & lands by 2030 & 50% by 2050.
- Modernise the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.
- Create a national urban biodiversity regeneration strategy.
1. Protect and restore biodiversity and ecosystems.
● Support Indigenous-led protected and conservation areas and fund stewardship of these lands and waters by Indigenous guardians
● Implement Canada’s international commitments under the Convention on Biological Diversity and follow-up protocols
● Protect a minimum of 30 per cent of freshwaters and lands in each Canadian ecosystem by 2030 and 50 per cent by 2050, prioritizing carbon-rich ecosystems
● Halt habitat destruction by 2030 and restore the most negatively affected ecosystems such as wetlands by 2050, prioritizing carbon-rich ecosystems
● Expedite recovery plans and implement national and international commitments to reverse species loss
● Scale-up funding for nature-based solutions
● Initiate a national urban biodiversity regeneration strategy to expand greenspace, address environmental racism and protect urban-sensitive species such as birds
● Enhance federal science capacity to inventory and prioritize ecosystems, species at risk, and invasive species
2. Modernize the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.
● Prioritize legislation to modernize the Canadian Environmental Protection Act
● Ensure the right to a healthy environment, enforceable in law
● Prevent exposures to toxins and pollution by requiring labelling of chemicals and GMOs in consumer products, including cosmetics, cleaners and furniture
3. Develop and implement a National Forest Strategy.
● Create fire breaks and fire suppression, provide physical resources to deal with fires quickly and effectively, and include fire mitigation subsidies to owners of rural properties, allowing them to better manage the health of their forests.
4. Protect oceans and freshwater.
● Include Indigenous Peoples and their governance systems in all aspects of site selection, management, and decision-making around economic development within the marine and freshwater realms
● Transition to sustainable seafood: work with Indigenous and provincial governments to phase out open net-pen finfish aquaculture in Pacific waters by 2025 and all Canadian waters by 2030; support a just transition of impacted workers, and incentivize the move to land-based closed containment facilities.
● Reduce threats to ocean ecosystems, including supporting a moratorium on deep seabed mining at least until 2030
● Protect and restore coastal and marine areas, and support marine nature-based climate solutions
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
Effects of Climate Change
Liberal
- Support retrofits & upgrades to protect against extreme weather.
- Develop flood maps for higher-risk areas in the next 3 years.
- Create a low-cost national flood insurance programme.
- Finalise the National Adaption Strategy by 2022.
- Expand eligibility for CMHC deep home retrofits.
- Create a Climate Adaption Home Rating Program.
- Create a nation-wide flood ready information portal.
Support retrofits and upgrades to protect against extreme weather.
Complete our work with provinces and territories to develop flood maps for higher-risk areas in the next three years.
Create a nation-wide flood ready portal so that Canadians have the information they need to make decisions on where and how to build their homes and communities, and how they can protect their homes and communities from flood risk.
Take action to protect homeowners who are at high risk of flooding and don’t have adequate insurance protection, by creating a low-cost national flood insurance program.
Develop strategies, in partnership with the insurance industry and private sector to lower insurance premiums by identifying cost-effective ways to better protect communities and homes from climate impacts and save people money.
Expand the office of the National Security and Intelligence Advisor to keep Canadians safe as climate change increasingly impacts our domestic and global contexts.
Create a Climate Adaptation Home Rating Program that will be developed as a companion to the EnerGuide home energy audits.
Expand the eligibility requirements of the CMHC deep home retrofit program and Canada Greener Home Grants to include more climate resilience measures.
Finalize Canada’s first-ever National Adaptation Strategy by the end of 2022, which will set clear targets and indicators to measure progress on—and strengthen the business case for—adaptation.
Finalize and applying a climate lens to ensure climate adaptation and mitigation considerations are integrated throughout federal government decision-making.
Work with provinces, territories, and farmers—including Indigenous and young farmers—to update business risk management agriculture programs to fully integrate climate risk management, environmental practices, and climate readiness.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Conservative
- Appoint a national disaster resilience advisor to the Privy Council Office.
- Implement a national action plan on floods, incl. a residential high risk flood insurance programme.
- Implement a national climate adaption strategy, incl. addressing flood readiness w/ private sector solutions.
- Consider mitigation & adaptation in infrastructure investments.
- Invest $3 billion in natural climate solutions.
• Appointing a national disaster resilience advisor to the Privy Council Office.
̵ This office would be analogous to the National Security and Intelligence Advisor established after 9/11 and would advise Cabinet and the Prime Minister’s Office, helping ensure that the government is prepared for future risks.
• Implementing a national action plan on floods, including establishing a residential high risk flood insurance program to ensure all Canadians are financially protected while avoiding future government bailouts.
• Devising and implementing a national climate adaptation strategy that is:
̵ Based on measurable targets;
̵ Addresses existing provincial concerns on flood readiness while leveraging private sector solutions to reduce government exposure and spending; and
̵ Addresses wildfire and drought exposure in collaboration with farmers, ranchers, and foresters.
• Incorporating a mitigation and adaptation lens to the government’s infrastructure investments.
̵ Communities must be able to identify risks and be able to plan to address them. An adaptation lens can include designing infrastructure to be resilient to extreme weather events, but it also might include designing other infrastructure to protect against known hazards. In either case, this will help communities be prepared in the event of an emergency.
• Work with provinces and territories to develop a natural infrastructure plan that includes:
̵ The development of a national standard to assess the value of natural infrastructure;
̵ A requirement that public sector accounting practices be updated to include a proper valuation of existing natural infrastructure;
̵ Requirements to incorporate retention of natural infrastructure into community design; and
̵ Incentives for farmers and landowners to protect and restore natural infrastructure.
• Investing in technology that can improve the early detection of wildfires and better predict their behaviour.
— Secure the Environment, retrieved 2021-08-29
• Recognizing and encouraging emissions-reducing practices like low/no till and 4R Nutrient Stewardship.
• Establishing transparent and reliable standards for carbon credits associated with land management practices with the eventual goal of establishing a national carbon offset market. This market would link together existing compliance programs associated with federal and provincial regulations.
• Exploring the use of incentives to preserve and enhance natural infrastructure on private lands that contribute to climate mitigation and adaptation, with a particular focus on working landscapes with downstream impacts on populated areas.
• Working with provinces, territories and the agriculture and forestry sectors to identify and support ways in which the sectors can contribute to enhancing carbon sequestration.
• Investing in forest health and wildfire prevention and early detection.
• Working with Indigenous communities including by expanding the creation of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) managed and stewarded by Indigenous Guardians.
— Secure the Environment, retrieved 2021-08-29
NDP
- Create a National Crisis Strategy to help communities plan for & respond to climate risks.
- Create a new Climate Corps of young workers to respond to climate impacts.
- Create an Office of Environmental Justice to address disproportionate impacts of pollution & loss of biodiversity on low-income, racialised, & other marginalised communities.
- Expand funding for adaptation & disaster response.
We will work with provinces, municipalities and Indigenous government to make sure that communities have the resources they need to cope safely with extreme weather events. This National Crisis Strategy will help communities plan for and adapt to the changing climate and the weather extremes we are already facing – particularly for vulnerable, remote, and Indigenous communities. The strategy would be supported with long-term funding for adaptation, disaster mitigation, and climate resilient infrastructure.
And a new Civilian Climate Corps would mobilize young people and create new jobs supporting conservation efforts and addressing the threat of climate change by undertaking activities such as helping restore wetlands, and planting the billions of trees that need to be planted in the years ahead.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
As the impacts of climate change are felt across the country, New Democrats believe that all levels of government have to step up to help communities cope with the impacts of extreme weather. That’s why a New Democrat government will expand federal funding to respond to disasters, and support communities in proactively adapting their infrastructure to withstand floods, forest fires and other extreme weather events. We will also partner with Canadians and communities to make serious investments in making buildings more energy efficient, to help families save money and fight climate change.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Green
- Increase funding for the Disaster Mitigation & Adaptation Fund to support climate resilience projects, including wildfire mitigation, rehabilitation of storm water systems, & restoration of wetlands, shorelines, & other natural infrastructure.
- Create an independent, scientific, non-partisan, diverse Climate Council to advise the government.
● Ensure that Canada utilizes the best available scientific expertise to advance research and development for assessing climate change impact risks. The focus will be on mitigating the impacts such as storms, droughts, floods, wildfires and related air quality impacts on health.
● Increase funding for the Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund (DMAF) to support climate resilience projects critically needed to avoid the worst impacts of climate change including: wildfire mitigation activities, rehabilitation of storm water systems, and restoration of wetlands, shorelines, and other natural infrastructure.
● Develop transdisciplinary partnerships with governmental, non-profit organizations, academic institutions and industry, and invest in research and the necessary equipment, including the possibility of a shared climate supercomputer.
— _Be Daring._, retrieved 2021-09-11
● Create an independent, non-partisan council, composed of First Nations, Inuit and Métis representation, climate scientists and researchers, youth and representatives from communities that are the most affected by the climate emergency, to advise the government on the development and implementation of its climate change policies through a lens of environmental justice and eradicating environmental racism.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
Emissions Reductions Targets
Liberal
- Implement the recently passed Net Zero Emissions Accountability Act.
- Achieve a 40-45% reduction in emissions by 2030 compared to 2005 levels.
- Achieve net-zero emissions as soon as possible and no later than 2050.
- Set 5-year targets, & 2025 & 2030 milestones for emissions reductions from the oil & gas sector.
- Require oil & gas companies to reduce methane emissions by 75% below 2012 levels by 2030.
Deliver on all policy and fiscal measures outlined in our Strengthened Climate Plan from December 2020, implement the recently passed Net Zero Emissions Accountability Act, and advance new measures to achieve an ambitious 40-45% reduction in emissions by 2030 compared to 2005 levels.
Work with all Canadians and the Net Zero Advisory Body to identify ways to further accelerate climate action that will put us on trajectory to achieve net-zero emissions as soon as possible and no later than 2050.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Make sure the oil and gas sector reduces emissions at a pace and scale needed to achieve net-zero by 2050, with 5-year targets to stay on track to achieving this shared goal. And driving down pollution starts with ensuring that pollution from the oil and gas sector doesn’t go up from current levels.
Set 2025 and 2030 milestones based on the advice of the Net-Zero Advisory Body to ensure reduction levels are ambitious and achievable and that the oil and gas sector makes a meaningful contribution to meeting the nation’s 2030 climate goals.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Require oil and gas companies to reduce methane emissions by at least 75% below 2012 levels by 2030 and work to reduce methane emissions across the broader economy.
Seek similar commitments from other major economies at the upcoming G20 and COP26.
Make the National Research Council a global centre for excellence on methane detection and elimination, to address the global issues of under-reporting of methane emissions.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Introduce a new Buy Clean Strategy to support and prioritize the use of made-in-Canada low-carbon products in public and private infrastructure projects.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
NDP
- Set a target to reduce emissions by at least 50% from 2005 levels by 2030.
- Put in place carbon budgets.
- Create a Climate Accountability Office.
- Ensure government financial controls and Crown corporations are aligned with net-zero.
- Appoint a Climate Emergency Committee of Cabinet.
- Establish a Climate Emergency Secretariat in the PMO.
C-12 was a step in the right direction, but it was not the bill New Democrats would have written. New Democrats are committed to helping stabilize the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. To that end we will set a target of reducing Canada’s emissions by at least 50% from 2005 levels by 2030, reaching further wherever possible to account for Canada’s fair share. We know that reaching net-zero by 2050 means taking action now, during the term of this next Parliament. We will work with partners to establish multi-year national and sectoral carbon budgets as a key guiding framework to develop Canada’s path to 2030 and beyond. And we will create and fund a Climate Accountability Office, to provide independent oversight of federal climate progress, to engage the public, and to make recommendations on how to achieve our goals.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Building on net net-zero legislation will also be a priority for a New Democratic government. We will support Canada’s net-zero target by reviewing financial legislation, such as the Bank of Canada Act, the Export Development Canada Act, and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Act, to ensure federal financial levers and Crown corporations are aligned with the goal of net-zero. We will work with provinces to put in place a framework for corporate climate accountability to ensure mandatory transparency on carbon risk from publicly traded companies. And we will ensure that strict rules are in place to prevent big companies from using the purchase of offsets as a way to escape their net-zero obligations.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
And we will appoint a Climate Emergency Committee of Cabinet and establish astrong (sic) Climate Emergency Secretariat in the PMO to ensure a whole-of-government approach to responding to the climate emergency.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Green
Energy Efficient Buildings
Liberal
- Provide grants of up to $5K for home retrofits & interest-free loans up to $40K for deep retrofits to improve a home's energy efficiency.
- Launch a National Net-zero Emissions Building Strategy to get to net-zero emissions from buildings by 2050.
- Invest $250M to help low-income Canadians get off home-heating oil.
- Require EnerGuide labelling of homes at time-of-sale.
Continue to help Canadians improve the energy efficiency of their homes and reduce their energy bills, providing grants of up to $5,000 for home retrofits and interest-free loans of up to $40,000 for deep retrofits.
Launch a National Net-zero Emissions Building Strategy, which will chart a path to net-zero emissions from buildings by 2050 with ambitious milestones along the way.
Accelerate the development of the national net-zero emissions model building code for 2025 adoption.
Accelerate the transition from fossil fuel-based heating systems to electrification through incentives and standards, including investing $250 million to help low-income Canadians get off home-heating oil.
Require EnerGuide labeling of homes at the time of sale.
Create a Low-Carbon Building Materials Innovation Hub to work directly with entrepreneurs, municipalities, provinces and territories, and Indigenous governments to ensure Canadian innovations are best positioned to succeed.
Enhance investments in the Forest Industry Transformation program, working with partners to create jobs in the forest-based economy and bring forward new innovations in sustainable, low-carbon building materials.
Launch a community-led net-zero homes initiative that supports projects that pursue multiple concurrent retrofits in a community or neighbourhood, to reduce overall costs. This initiative will be modeled on the Dutch “Energiesprong” program.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Conservative
- Provide a regulatory & financial framework to facilitate building retrofits, modelled after the SOFIAC programme in Quebec.
- Provide extra benefits for buildings that complete their retrofits prior to 2030.
- Develop a Net Zero Foundations program.
- Work with provinces, territories, & utilities to implement a Residential Building Retrofit Initiative.
Provide a regulatory and financial framework that will facilitate Energy Savings Performance Contracting (ESPC). This is a model that involves the private sector in financing and implementing retrofits and then being paid back through savings. Our program will be modelled after the SOFIAC program in Quebec.
̵ We will work with provinces and territories to promote ESPC for government and publicly-funded institutional buildings, including a “2030 Bonus” that will provide an additional benefit for those buildings that complete their retrofits prior to 2030.
Develop a Net Zero Foundations program to begin putting in place the building blocks required to meet our net zero goals. This will include:
̵ Continuing to develop the building codes and standards necessary to support net zero goals for both new builds and retrofits;
̵ Developing curriculum for trade schools and institutes that support building design and construction;
̵ Improving certification standards; and
̵ Developing initiatives to pilot new technologies and solutions that will lower the cost and speed up the pace of retrofits, particularly residential retrofits.
Work with provinces, territories and applicable utilities to put in place a Residential Building Retrofit Initiative that will:
̵ Provide an “efficiency concierge” service for homeowners that acts as a one-stop-shop to access programs and information; and
̵ Apply lessons learned from technology pilots and from government, institutional and commercial retrofits, to a residential context.
— Secure the Environment, retrieved 2021-08-29
NDP
- Retrofit all buildings in Canada by 2050, beginning with retrofitting all buildings built before 2020 within the next 20 years.
- Require large scale building retrofits in all sectors.
- Provide low-interest loans to help people make home improvements for energy efficiency & air quality.
- By 2025, require every new building to be net-zero.
At the current pace, it will take 142 years to retrofit all low-rise residential buildings in Canada. New Democrats will undertake a mission-based approach, setting an ambitious retrofitting program to upgrade where people live and work, including requiring large scale building retrofits in all sectors. And we will set a target of retrofitting all buildings in Canada by 2050 – beginning with upgrades to all buildings built before 2020 in the next 20 years. Helping families make energy efficient improvements to their homes through low-interest loans help save families almost $900 or more per year on home energy costs. Targeted supports would be provided to low- income households and to renters. Supporting retrofits to improve indoor air quality will also help prevent further waves of COVID-19.
We will work with provinces, municipalities and Indigenous government to make sure that communities have the resources they need to cope safely with extreme weather events. This National Crisis Strategy will help communities plan for and adapt to the changing climate and the weather extremes we are already facing – particularly for vulnerable, remote, and Indigenous communities. The strategy would be supported with long-term funding for adaptation, disaster mitigation, and climate resilient infrastructure.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
We’ll improve the National Building Code to ensure that by 2025 every new building built in Canada is net-zero. Energy efficiency and sustainable building practices will be at the core of our national housing strategy, leveraging the power of federal investments to create good jobs all across the country delivering the affordable homes Canadians need.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Green
- Create & implement a national green retrofit of existing residential, commercial, institutional, & industrial buildings.
- Support agencies & institutions to create programmes to carry out green retrofits in different areas & for different communities.
- Update the national building code to require all new construction & major renovations to older buildings meet net-zero standards by 2030.
● Create and implement a national green retrofit of existing residential, commercial, institutional, and industrial buildings
● Support agencies and institutions working to create innovative, efficient, and cost-effective programs to carry out green retrofits in different areas and for different communities, thereby creating local jobs and reducing emissions
● Change the national building code to require that all new construction and major renovations to older buildings meet net-zero standards by 2030
● Undertake a green retrofit of all federal government buildings, including government agencies
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
Energy Grid
Liberal
Create a Pan-Canadian Grid Council to promote infrastructure investments, smart grids, grid integration, and electricity sector innovation with the goal of making Canada the most reliable, cost-effective, and carbon-free electricity producer in the world.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Conservative
- Build a cleaner, more resilient electric grid.
- Develop and expand smart grids.
- Improve interties.
- Increase the use of mass storage.
- Develop & deploy new clean energy technology such as nuclear, hydrogen, & renewables.
Strengthening Canada’s Grid: a plan to build a cleaner, more resilient grid that is adaptable to regional conditions and priorities. This will include strategies for developing and expanding smart grids, improving interties, increasing the use of mass storage, and developing and deploying new clean energy technology such as nuclear, hydrogen and renewables.
— Secure the Environment, retrieved 2021-08-29
NDP
The International Energy Agency has called on governments throughout the world to dramatically speed up efforts to build renewable energy. New Democrats will set a target to power Canada with net-zero electricity by 2030, and move to 100% non-emitting electricity by 2040. To drive this progress, we will establish a new Canadian Climate Bank that will help boost investment in renewable energy, energy efficiency and low carbon technology across the country. It will also provide support for interested provinces to inter-connect power grids and introduce smart grid technology, to bolster Canada’s energy security and distribute clean power across the country. The Climate Bank will also support made-in-Canada manufacturing of renewable energy components and technologies, and help scale up Canada’s clean energy industry.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Green
- Build inter-ties to link existing provincial grids, creating a national energy corridor for green renewable energy.
- Implement a national, non-emitting electricity grid.
● Ensure that 100 per cent of Canadian electricity is produced from renewable sources by 2030
● Create a national coast to coast to coast energy corridor for green renewable energy by building up the inter-ties needed to link existing provincial grids
● Implement a national, non-emitting electricity grid to help Canada meet its target of net-zero GHG emissions
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
Energy Sources
Liberal
- Introduce a Clean Electricity Standard, with the goal of a 100% net-zero emitting electricity system by 2035.
- Introduce investment tax credits for renewable energy & battery storage solutions.
Introduce a Clean Electricity Standard that will set Canada on a path to cut more emissions by 2030 and to achieve a 100% net-zero emitting electricity system by 2035.
Develop additional investment tax credits for a range of renewable energy and battery storage solutions, to accelerate the deployment of clean energy.
Create a Pan-Canadian Grid Council to promote infrastructure investments, smart grids, grid integration, and electricity sector innovation with the goal of making Canada the most reliable, cost-effective, and carbon-free electricity producer in the world.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
NDP
- Set a target of net carbon-free electricity by 2030.
- Set a target of 100% non-emitting electricity by 2040.
- Establish a Canadian Climate Bank to invest in renewable energy, energy efficiency, & low-carbon tech, and support Canadian manufacturing of renewable energy components.
- Support investments in community-owned clean energy projects.
The International Energy Agency has called on governments throughout the world to dramatically speed up efforts to build renewable energy. New Democrats will set a target to power Canada with net-zero electricity by 2030, and move to 100% non-emitting electricity by 2040. To drive this progress, we will establish a new Canadian Climate Bank that will help boost investment in renewable energy, energy efficiency and low carbon technology across the country. It will also provide support for interested provinces to inter-connect power grids and introduce smart grid technology, to bolster Canada’s energy security and distribute clean power across the country. The Climate Bank will also support made-in-Canada manufacturing of renewable energy components and technologies, and help scale up Canada’s clean energy industry.
Meeting this carbon-free electricity goal in a way that respects local communities and creates good jobs is essential. We’ll support investments in innovative community-owned and operated clean energy projects to keep jobs and expertise local, work in partnership with Indigenous and northern communities to move off diesel, improving energy security and cutting emissions and air pollution.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Green
Environmental Rights
Liberal
- Pass a strengthened Canadian Environmental Protection Act.
- Recognise the right to a healthy environment in federal law.
- Implement mandatory labelling of chemicals in consumer products.
- Increase testing of imported products for compliance with Canadian standards.
- Examine & develop a strategy to address the link between race, socio-economic status, & exposure to environmental risk.
Pass a strengthened Canadian Environmental Protection Act to protect everyone, including people most vulnerable to harm from toxic substances and those living in communities where exposure is high.
Recognize the “right to a healthy environment” for the first time in federal law.
By Spring 2022, move forward with mandatory labelling of chemicals in consumer products, including cosmetics, cleaning products, and flame retardants in upholstery, that may have impacts on our health or environment.
Increase testing of imported products for compliance with Canadian standards to ensure that they are safe for Canadian consumers and that Canadian producers are not at a disadvantage.
Table legislation to require the Minister of Environment and Climate Change to examine the link between race, socio-economic status, and exposure to environmental risk, and develop a strategy to address environmental justice.
Identify and prioritize the clean-up of contaminated sites in areas where Indigenous, racialized, and low-income Canadians live.
Implement a comprehensive action plan to protect Canadians, including firefighters', from exposure to toxic flame retardants found in household products.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Green
- Ensure the right to a healthy environment, enforceable in law.
- Support swift passage of the proposed National Strategy Respecting Environmental Racism and Environmental Justice Act.
- Expand access to nearby nature, especially for racialised people & those facing systemic barriers.
- Require labelling of chemicals & GMOs in consumer products.
Ramp up programs to help all people in Canada benefit from nearby nature, especially racialized communities and others facing systemic barriers. Expand funding for federal programs as well for partnerships with municipalities and local organizations to leverage networks and knowledge in reaching all communities and tackling discrimination and racism in green spaces.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
Fossil Fuel Subsidies
Liberal
- Eliminate fossil fuel subsidies by 2023, instead of a previous commitment of 2025.
- Develop a plan to phase-out public financing of the fossil fuel sector, including from crown corporations.
Accelerate our G20 commitment to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies from 2025 to 2023.
Develop a plan to phase-out public financing of the fossil fuel sector, including from Crown corporations, consistent with our commitment to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
NDP
Green
Freshwater
Liberal
- Establish a Canada Water Agency in 2022, working with partners to protect freshwater resources, incl. by developing & updating river basin & large watershed agreements.
- Modernise the Canada Water Act.
- Implement a Freshwater Action Plan with $1B over 10 years.
- Invest $37.5M in the Experimental Lakes Area.
- Offer municipalities means to manage & regulate boating on their lakes & rivers.
Establish and fully fund a Canada Water Agency in 2022, working with partners to safeguard our freshwater resources for generations to come, including by supporting provinces, territories, and Indigenous partners, in developing and updating river basin and large watershed agreements.
Modernize the 50-year-old Canada Water Act to reflect our new freshwater reality, including addressing climate change, Indigenous water rights.
Implement a strengthened Freshwater Action Plan, including an historic investment of $1 billion over 10 years. This plan will provide essential funding to protect and restore large lakes and river systems, starting with the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River System, Lake Simcoe, the Lake Winnipeg Basin, the Fraser River Basin, and the Mackenzie River Basin.
Invest $37.5 million in the Experimental Lakes Area in northern Ontario, the world’s only large-scale centre for freshwater science and which the Harper government tried to close. This new funding will also support international freshwater science and research by encouraging international cooperation efforts, including that with the African Great Lakes.
Offer willing municipalities means to manage and regulate boating on their lakes and rivers so that they promote free access, while ensuring the safety of boaters and the protection of the environment.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Green
Create a dedicated, long-term funding program for water infrastructure, building on the success of the Clean Water and Wastewater Fund that operated between 2016 and 2018
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
Green Innovation
Liberal
- Develop an investment tax credit of up to 30% for a range of clean tech, including low-carbon & net-zero tech, with input from external experts.
- Provide incentives for domestic procurement of clean tech.
- Triple funding for clean tech on farms.
- Partner with post-secondary institutions & Indigenous organisations to accelerate the creation & growth of Indigenous clean tech businesses.
Develop an investment tax credit of up to 30% for a range of clean technologies including low carbon and net-zero technologies with input from external experts on what technologies should be covered.
Build on existing advisory services for emerging clean technology firms to guide them, from formation to export, on the opportunities and challenges before them.
Provide support and incentives for domestic procurement of Canadian clean technology. By partnering with other levels of government and existing large companies, we can help emerging Canadian clean technology firms secure customers here in Canada.
Triple funding for cleantech on farms, including for renewable energy, precision agriculture, and energy efficiency.
Partner with post-secondary institutions and Indigenous organizations to accelerate the creation and growth of Indigenous clean technology businesses.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Conservative
One of the significant barriers for deploying new emissions reduction technology is that early adopters often pay higher costs as they learn how to apply the technology to real-world situations. To recognize this, we will provide tax relief to the first five facilities that use new technology that provides meaningful emissions reductions and has a high cost to build.
— Secure the Environment, retrieved 2021-08-29
NDP
Green
- Develop partnerships across disciplines with government, non-profit organisations, academic institutions, & industry.
- Invest in research & necessary equipment, including the possibility of a shared climate super computer.
- Establish a federally-funded $1B Green Venture Capital Fund to support viable local green business start-ups.
Industrial Carbon Emissions
Liberal
Conservative
- Tie Canada's industrial carbon price to the EU's & eventually the US's.
- Potentially set industrial carbon prices on a path to $170/tonne by 2030.
- Propose minimum North American standards for key industrial sectors.
- Study imposing a carbon border tariff on goods imported from countries without compatible emissions reduction mechanisms.
Rather than choosing an arbitrary carbon price in advance, we’ll tie Canada’s industrial carbon price to that of our biggest trading partners - the European Union and the United States, starting with those regions that have carbon markets and expanding as the U.S. creates a national market. This will ensure that we travel the path to our Paris targets together while reducing the risk that serious climate action will just shift jobs out of Canada to competitor countries.
We will assess progress after two years and be prepared to set industrial carbon prices on a path to $170/tonne by 2030, but only if the combination of adopting a price based on that of our major trading partners and working with the U.S. on North American standards has not assured us that we are on a path to our Paris commitment.
— Secure the Environment, retrieved 2021-08-29
We will study the imposition of a carbon border tariff which would reflect the amount of carbon emissions attributed to goods imported into Canada. Producers in countries with emissions reductions mechanisms that are compatible with our own will be exempt. We will urge our American trade partners to adopt this approach as well.
— Secure the Environment, retrieved 2021-08-29
NDP
- Place a carbon border adjustment tariff on imported products from areas without a carbon price.
- Require large businesses receiving COVID recovery funding to agree to plan for net-zero.
- Put in place joint workplace environment committees to help reduce emissions in every workplace.
As we turn the corner on COVID-19 and build an economic recovery for people, we have a precious opportunity to build back better. New Democrats would ensure that recovery funding is used to support our net-zero objectives. To that end we would ensure that large businesses receiving recovery funding agree to plan for net-zero – and we would ensure those funds go to supporting Canadian jobs, not executives or shareholders.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
We will work to put in place joint workplace environment committees – modelled on the successful joint workplace health and safety committees which have had a major impact on making workplaces safer – to help reduce emissions at the source in every workplace.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Green
- Enact a Carbon Border Adjustment.
- Continuously evaluate the impact of the Carbon Border Adjustment on developing countries through a lens of global environmental justice.
● Enact a Carbon Border Adjustment, which will ensure Canadian companies paying carbon taxes are not placed at a competitive disadvantage with foreign companies located in countries with no such taxes.
● Continuously evaluate the impact of the Carbon Border Adjustment on developing countries through a lens of global environmental justice.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
Low-Carbon Manufacturing
Liberal
Advance green industrial strategies and continue investing funds from the Net Zero Accelerator in strategic opportunities and make sure that Canada claims more than our fair share of growing clean growth opportunities.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Conservative
NDP
Natural Gas & LNG
Conservative
- Focus on exporting Liquefied Natural Gas.
- Ensure new LNG facilities are electrified.
- Require at least 15% of natural gas to come from renewable content by 2030.
We will introduce a Renewable Natural Gas Mandate, based on British Columbia’s policy, requiring 15% of downstream consumption to be renewable by 2030.
Capturing methane from organic sources such as farms and landfills reduces carbon emissions and creates a renewable source of energy. We will put in place a minimum requirement for 15% renewable content in natural gas by 2030. That means the gas we use in our power plants, furnaces, water heaters, dryers, stoves and other gas appliances will have less impact on the environment, and the methane that is wasted from agriculture, sewage and landfills will be significantly reduced.
— Secure the Environment, retrieved 2021-08-29
Pesticides
Liberal
- Strengthen the Pest Control Products Act.
- Invest in further government & independent science, including water & soil monitoring & on the cumulative effects of multiple pesticides on health & the environment.
- Ensure the impacts on wildlife are fully considered.
- Support food producers who choose alternative pest management approaches that reduce the need for chemical pesticides.
Strengthen the Pest Control Products Act to better protect our health, wildlife, and the environment.
Align with world-leading approaches to transparency when reassessing pesticides already on the market and increase opportunities for independent scientists to have input into the decision-making process.
Invest in further government and independent science, including on water and soil monitoring and on the cumulative effects of multiple pesticides on health and the environment.
Ensure that the impacts of pesticides on wildlife are fully considered, and support food producers who choose alternative pest management approaches that reduce the need for chemical pesticides.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Green
- Set targets for reducing the use of pesticides in agriculture.
- Assist farmers in moving to organic & regenerative farming.
- Revive & expand the National Pesticides Monitoring & Surveillance Network.
- Create an adverse effects reporting database for doctors & emergency rooms to track health impacts of pesticides & other chemicals.
- Ban neonicotinoid pesticides.
Project Impact Assessments
NDP
- Overhaul the review process for major projects to ensure adequate time for public consultation.
- Provide core funding to support Indigenous communities participating in review processes.
New Democrats also believe in giving Canadians a stronger voice in energy decisions that impact their communities. That’s why we have committed to overhauling the process for reviewing major projects to ensure adequate time for public consultation, and provide core funding to support Indigenous communities participating in these processes.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Shipping & Marine Protection
Liberal
- Establish 10 new marine conservation areas in the next 5 years.
- Renew & expand the Coastal Restoration fund.
- Modernise the Oceans Act to explicitly consider climate change impacts on marine ecosystems & species.
- Expand the Ghost Gear Program to clean up oceans & coasts.
- Invest $50M in community shoreline cleanup.
- Create a national working group on climate-resilient ocean conservation planning.
Establishing 10 new national parks and 10 new national marine conservation areas (NMCAs) in the next 5 years—doubling the size of the existing national parks and NMCA system in Canada.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Renew and expand the Coastal Restoration fund so that we can restore aquatic habitats.
Make new investments in areas like tidal wetlands, seagrass meadows, and riparian habitats that have a high potential to absorb and store carbon.
Modernize the Oceans Act to explicitly consider climate change impacts on marine ecosystems and species in regional ocean management with measurable progress indicators tied to management objectives.
Expand the Ghost Gear Program to continue to clean up our oceans and coasts from lost and abandoned fishing gear and oceans plastics that endanger sea life, impact fish stocks, and pollute the ocean.
Invest $50 million over the next 5 years to support community shoreline and oceans plastic cleanup.
Create a national, interdisciplinary working group around climate-resilient ocean conservation planning.
Expand climate vulnerability work to better inform marine conservation planning and management.
Continue to protect key marine species, including the Southern Resident Killer Whale, the North Atlantic Right Whale, and the St. Lawrence Estuary Beluga.
Advance the historic $647 million Pacific Salmon Strategy launched in June and make new investments to conserve and restore Wild Atlantic Salmon.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Green
- Include Indigenous Peoples in all aspects of marine protection site selection, management, & decision-making.
- Commit permanent funding for marine conservation.
- Support a ban on deep seabed mining until at least 2030.
- Implement an Extended Producer Responsibility program for synthetic fishing gear.
- Set zero-emissions targets for marine vessels by 2040 & ports & inland vessels by 2030.
● Include Indigenous Peoples and their governance systems in all aspects of site selection, management, and decision-making around economic development within the marine and freshwater realms
● Transition to sustainable seafood: work with Indigenous and provincial governments to phase out open net-pen finfish aquaculture in Pacific waters by 2025 and all Canadian waters by 2030; support a just transition of impacted workers, and incentivize the move to land-based closed containment facilities.
● Reduce threats to ocean ecosystems, including supporting a moratorium on deep seabed mining at least until 2030
● Protect and restore coastal and marine areas, and support marine nature-based climate solutions
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
● In partnership with Indigenous governments and organizations, develop a National Framework for Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) that includes collaborative governance arrangements, co-management decision-making bodies, and supporting administrative structures
● Invest in Indigenous-led sustainable ocean economies and Indigenous Guardians Programs
● Include Indigenous Peoples, their worldviews, knowledge, and governance systems in all aspects of design, site selection, management, and decision-making around economic development within the marine and freshwater realms of their territories
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
● Finalize a ban on single-use plastics by the end of 2021, and expand the list of banned plastics to include other harmful long-lived plastics such as polystyrene
● Require that all plastic packaging contain at least 50% recycled content by 2030 and support the shift to reusable products and packaging by (A) adjusting federal procurement practices and supporting municipalities that adopt equivalent or better reuse standards; and (B) introducing targets for refillable beverage containers.
● Implement an Extended Producer Responsibility program for all companies making or selling synthetic fishing gear which would fund the retrieval of lost or abandoned fishing gear, commonly known as ghost nets, and the collection and recycling of old, damaged, and recovered fishing gear.
● Support a moratorium on deep seabed mining until at least 2030, in tandem with increased investment in deep sea science
● Legislate cruise ship waste discharge standards that meet or exceed those of our coastal neighbours.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
● Accelerate Canada's commitment to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity of 30% protected marine areas by 2030.
● Deliver a new comprehensive ten-year biodiversity strategy and action plan, with goals, measurable targets, and resources to halt and reverse biodiversity loss in the ocean by 2030 and fulfill Canada’s commitment to the G7 Nature Compact and UN CBD by the end of 2023.
● Commit permanent A-base funding for marine conservation, including the management of MPAs and stewardship of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas by Indigenous partners.
● By 2022, present a clear action plan to achieve this target that includes the implementation of minimum protection standards; completion of Marine Protected Area networks and new MPAs in five priority bioregions; and completion of all current proposed MPAs and National Marine Conservation Areas; and identify new Areas of Interest in the remaining marine ecoregions and bioregions.
● By 2022, develop a Species At Risk Act (SARA) compliance plan with specific actions for all critical habitat protected under Section 58. Compliance promotion should target all users of the critical habitat of each specific Species At Risk.
● By 2025, complete independent scientific reviews of the effectiveness of recovery measures for all threatened and endangered species listed under SARA.
● Align measures under the Fisheries Act with potential measures under SARA for all COSEWIC-assessed species as part of species-at-risk transformation within DFO.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
● Reduce greenhouse gas emissions (CO2 emissions, black carbon, Nitrous Oxide, Sulfur Oxide (NOx and SOx)), and methane from the marine transport sector, including shipping, ferries and fishing vessels.
● Setting the achievable target of 100% zero-emission vessels in Canadian inland waters by 2030 and marine vessels by 2040. All federally-owned ferries should be net-zero by 2035.
● Commit to zero-emission ports by 2030 through the development of port hydrogen hubs and develop ties to international ports to support the development of green shipping corridors and hydrogen export markets. This should include a zero- emission port infrastructure fund and a commitment to have all marine vessels at berth connected to shore power by 2030 to dramatically lower port emissions while reducing harmful air pollution for communities living near ports.
● Commit to no further expansion of offshore oil and gas activity while implementing a just transition for offshore oil and gas workers by 2030
● Develop a marine-focused Nature Based Climate Solutions strategy that integrates ocean-based carbon sinks (blue carbon) into Canada’s Climate Plan and emissions counting system. The strategy would include objectives, timelines and funding to prioritize protection and restoration of existing blue carbon sinks, support research to map and quantify blue carbon, and provide guidelines for evaluation of blue carbon in environmental assessments for proposed projects.
● Amend the Oceans Act and Fisheries Act to consider climate impacts on the marine environment and marine species and include climate change in spatial and fisheries management objectives. Conduct climate vulnerability assessments for marine species and habitats.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
Sustainable Finance
Liberal
- Move toward mandatory climate-related financial disclosures.
- Require climate-related financial disclosures & development of net-zero plans for federally-regulated institutions.
- Issue green bonds annually, worth at least $5B.
- Develop a climate data strategy.
- Work with financial experts through the Sustainable Action Council to develop a net-zero capital allocation strategy.
Deliver on the commitment that we made with G7 Finance Ministers earlier this year to move toward mandatory climate-related financial disclosures that provide consistent and decision-useful information for market participants and that are based on the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework, in cooperation with provinces and territories.
Require climate-related financial disclosures and the development of net-zero plans for federally regulated institutions, which includes financial institutions, pension funds, and government agencies.
Issue green bonds, annually, worth a minimum of $5 billion.
Develop a climate data strategy to ensure that the private sector and communities have access to decision-useful climate information and to inform infrastructure investments.
Work with financial experts through the Sustainable Finance Action Council to develop a net-zero capital allocation strategy to move capital into the types of investments needed to accelerate Canada’s transition to a prosperous net-zero future.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Green
Toxic Substances
Green
- Limit CEPA approval & use of toxic chemicals that affect human health & environment.
- Regulate microfibres as a toxic substance under CEPA.
- Ban all toxic ingredients in personal care products.
● Strengthen the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) to limit the approval and use of toxic chemicals that affect our health and environment.
● Regulate microfibres as a toxic substance under CEPA.
● Invoke the precautionary principle in making decisions about approvals of products, substances, projects and processes where there is the potential for irreversible harm. If there is no scientific proof of safety, then approval will be withheld.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
Waste
Liberal
- Require that plastic packaging contain 50% recycled content by 2030.
- Work w/ provinces & territories on recycling targets for plastic bottles.
- Prohibit using the ♲ symbol on a product unless 80% of recycling facilities accept it.
- Require producers to report the amount, type, & end-of-life management of plastics.
- Implement right-to-repair & encourage with a tax credit.
- Create a No-Waste Food Fund.
Require that all plastic packaging in Canada contain at least 50% recycled content by 2030.
Accelerate the implementation of our zero plastic waste action plan, in partnership with provinces and territories, and ensure Canada’s actions are consistent with other leading jurisdictions.
Continue to work with provinces and territories to ensure that it’s producers, not taxpayers, who are responsible for the cost of managing their plastic waste.
Work with provinces and territories to implement and enforce an ambitious recycling target for plastic beverage bottles.
Strengthen federal procurement practices to prioritize reusable and recyclable products and support our goal of zero plastic waste.
Introduce labelling rules that prohibit the use of the chasing-arrows symbol unless 80% of Canada’s recycling facilities accept and have reliable end markets for these products.
Support provincial and territorial producer responsibility efforts by establishing a federal public registry and require producers to annually report the amount, type, and end-of-life management for plastics in the Canadian economy.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Create a new $100 million infrastructure and innovation fund over the next 5 years that will scale-up and commercialize made-in-Canada technologies and solutions for the reuse and recycling of plastics.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Accelerate the global shift to a circular economy as host of this year’s World Circular Economy Forum.
Build on the Ocean Plastics Charter by working with leading countries on the development of a new global agreement on plastics.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Implement a “right to repair” to extend the life of home appliances, particularly electronics, by requiring manufacturers to supply repair manuals and spare parts and facilitate their replication after the part is no longer produced.
Introduce a new 15% tax credit to cover the cost of home appliance repairs performed by technicians (up to $500).
Introduce a bill that includes provisions to better inform citizens of the environmental impacts of consumer products.
Require businesses to inform Canadians of the environmental impacts of consumer products.
Amend the Copyright Act to ensure that its provisions cannot prevent the repair of digital devices and systems, even when nothing is being copied or distributed.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Create a new No-Waste Food Fund to help build a circular food economy in Canada where no food is wasted, from farm to table. The fund will help all players along the food supply chain to commercialize and adopt ways to eliminate, reduce, or repurpose food waste. We will continue to partner with, and support, community-based food security organizations to make sure all Canadians have access to healthy food.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
NDP
- Immediately ban single-use plastics, while supporting transition of production facilities for single-use plastics to new products.
- Ban the export of plastic waste.
- Reduce electronic waste by expanding right-to-repair.
- Develop a national food waste strategy.
To reduce waste in our landfills and communities, we will immediately ban single-use plastics, while protecting workers in this sector by supporting the transition of these production facilities to new products. We will hold companies responsible for the entire lifecycle of their plastic products and packaging, help municipalities improve their waste management and recycling systems, and support improved standards for what products can be labelled as recyclable. New legislation will also ban the export of plastic waste and help reduce electronic waste by removing unnecessary restrictions preventing people from repairing their devices.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Green
- Ban non-essential, single-use plastics by the end of the year.
- Promote green procurement practices.
- Promote sustainable waste management systems.
- Promote a legally-binding global plastics agreement.
- Ratify the Basel Ban Amendment.
● Reduce consumption, waste, and planned obsolescence.
● Promote green procurement practices (procuring goods and services that have a reduced environmental impact), as recommended by the United Nations Environment Programme.
● Promote sustainable waste management practices, such as waste treatment, recycling, and safe handling of healthcare and biochemical waste, by adopting legislative provisions on issues including tax rebates or waivers on recycling initiatives.
● Proceed with regulations to ban non-essential, single-use plastics before the end of the year, and expand the list of items to be banned. Champion a legally binding global plastics agreement, ratify the Basel Ban Amendment and strengthen Canada’s rules for plastic waste trade to ensure Canadian plastic waste doesn’t pollute other countries.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
Wildfires
Liberal
- Train 1,000 new community-based firefighters.
- Work with provinces & territories to provide firefighters with needed equipment, including Canadian-made planes.
- Support & expand Indigenous-led fire crews & build capacity to better incorporate Indigenous traditional knowledge strategies in fire management.
Train 1,000 new community-based firefighters to ensure we are ready for future fire seasons.
Work with provinces and territories to provide firefighters with the equipment they need to fight fires and stay safe, like Canadian-made planes to increase provincial aerial firefighting capacity.
Support and expand Indigenous-led fire crews and build capacity to better incorporate Indigenous traditional knowledge strategies in fire management
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
NDP
Focused investments in forest management will help reduce forest fire risk, and we’ll take steps to encourage innovation in forestry, including valued wood production and re-forestation.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Green
Worker Transition
Liberal
- Establish a $2B Futures Fund for Alberta, Saskatchewan, & Newfoundland & Labrador, design in collaboration with local workers, unions, educational institutions, environmental groups, investors, & Indigenous peoples.
- Support local & regional economic diversification.
- Move forward with Just Transition legislation.
- Launch a Clean Jobs Training Centre to help workers upgrade or gain new skills.
Establish a $2 billion Futures Fund for Alberta, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Labrador that will be designed in collaboration with local workers, unions, educational institutions, environmental groups, investors, and Indigenous peoples who know their communities best. We will support local and regional economic diversification and specific place-based strategies.
Move forward with Just Transition Legislation, guided by the feedback we receive from workers, unions, Indigenous peoples, communities, and provinces and territories.
Create more opportunities for women, LGBTQ2 and other underrepresented people in the energy sector.
Because when we include everyone, we get the best.
Launch a Clean Jobs Training Centre to help industrial, skill and trade workers across sectors to upgrade or gain new skills to be on the leading edge of zero carbon industry.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Green
- Introduce a Just Transition Act before the end of 2021.
- Plan for a fair transition of workers towards a decarbonised economy, that protects communities from displacement, & in which affected people are leading the preparation of their transition strategies.
- Use wage insurance, retraining programmes, & early retirement plans.
● Introduce a Just Transition Act before the end of 2021 that takes care of workers and communities during the transition.
● Plan for a fair and carefully planned transition of workers towards a decarbonized economy, that protects communities from displacement, and in which affected people (workers in greenhouse gas-intensive industries, Indigenous Peoples, marginalized communities) are leading the preparation of their transition strategies.
● Replace every high paying fossil fuel sector job with a high paying green sector job through wage insurance, retraining programs and early retirement plans.
● Reduce wealth inequality in Canada. Ensure that current wealth holders, particularly those in the fossil fuel sector, pay their fair share. Close tax havens and loopholes to redistribute wealth towards communities that have been underinvested in.
● Introduce laws that incentivize green investment and the creation of green jobs (such as in sustainable transport and energy efficiency), and that disincentivize unsustainable investments (such as by raising taxes on environmentally harmful goods and services).
● Invest in the cleantech sector and in renewable energy, which will create more, and higher paying jobs than those lost in the fossil fuel sector.
● Enact legislation on green jobs training programs, such as the creation of a youth climate corps; for example, jobs related to ecosystem restoration, particularly for people who have been displaced or severely affected by COVID-19.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
Education
Apprenticeship
Liberal
- Double the Union Training & Innovation program to $50M/year.
- Target participation in the Union Training & Innovation program from women, Indigenous people, newcomers, persons with disabilities, & Black & racialised Canadians.
- Establish a new Apprenticeship Service to connect 55K first-year apprentices in Red Seal trades with opportunities at small & medium-sized employers.
Double the Union Training and Innovation program to $50 million a year to support more apprenticeship training opportunities and additional partnerships in the Red Seal trades across Canada, and target more participation from women, Indigenous people, newcomers, persons with disabilities, and Black and racialized Canadians.
Move forward on our plan to establish a new Apprenticeship Service which will connect 55,000 first-year apprentices in Red Seal trades with opportunities at small and medium-sized employers.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Job Training
Liberal
Make it easier for women and vulnerable groups to access training by requiring businesses supported through the Sectoral Workforce Solutions Program to include wrap-around supports. This could include transportation to and from the training program, computers, food, referral to counselling, housing, and legal support, support in finding child care, and mentoring or coaching.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Conservative
- Double the Apprenticeship Job Creation Tax Credit for three years.
- Invest $250 million over two years in grants for organizations running projects that help workers get job training.
- Provide low interest loans up to $10,000 to people who want to upgrade their skills.
• Double the Apprenticeship Job Creation Tax Credit for the next three years to help create more places for apprentices.
• Invest $250 million over two years to create the Canada Job Training Fund. The Fund will provide grants to organizations including employers, apprenticeship training delivery agents, unions, post-secondary institutions, and community organizations for projects that:
° Give laid-off workers immediate access to training,
° Reach out to traditionally underrepresented groups,
° Support the talent needs of small businesses, and
° Otherwise help workers get the training they need - focussing (sic) on areas where there are shortages of skilled workers.
• Create the Working Canadian Training Loan to provide low interest loans of up to $10,000 to people who want to upgrade their skills.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
NDP
- Allow workers who quit a job to go to school to qualify for EI benefits.
- Require large employers to spend at least 1% of payroll on training for employees each year.
- Create a new provincially-directed Workers Development and Opportunities Fund to expand training options beyond those who qualify for EI.
New Democrats know that we can do better for all workers. We’re committed to working with the provinces to ensure that Canadians have access to education throughout their professional lives, including proactive training and retraining, as well as support when they are unemployed.
Our vision is one where training opportunities are flexible enough to work with people’s busy lives, and significant enough to really improve job prospects.
To get there, we’ll change EI rules to allow workers who quit their job to go to school to qualify for EI benefits, so that families can count on some income support during that period of transition back to school. We’ll also expand options for workers in designated sectors and regions to take EI funded training in advance of losing a job while at the same time promoting investment to ensure that regional economies are creating good jobs that support families and communities. Finally, to make sure that businesses are investing in the training that Canadians need, a New Democrat government will require large employers to spend at least 1 percent of payroll on training for their employees annually.
In order to deliver these changes, we’ll work closely with the provinces to establish national training priorities, and create a new Workers Development and Opportunities Fund to expand training options beyond people who qualify for EI. This fund will be provincially directed, with dedicated support for marginalized workers, those in transitioning sectors and for efforts to improve literacy and essential skills.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Green
Post-Secondary Tuition
Liberal
- Permanently eliminate federal interest on Canada Student Loans & Canada Apprentice Loans.
- Increase the repayment assistance threshold to $50K for Canada Student Loan borrowers who are single.
Permanently eliminate the federal interest on Canada Student Loans and Canada Apprentice Loans to support young Canadians who choose to invest in post-secondary education. This will benefit over 1 million student loan borrowers and save an average borrower more than $3,000 over the lifetime of their loan.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Increase the repayment assistance threshold to $50,000 for Canada Student Loan borrowers who are single. This means that new grads, working hard early in their careers, won’t have to begin repaying their loans until they earn at least $50,000 annually.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
NDP
- Work with the provinces & territories to cap & reduce tuition fees.
- Work towards rolling post-secondary into the public education system.
- Remove interest on federal student loans.
- Forgive up to $20,000 in student debt for graduates.
- Double the Canada Students Grant.
Our vision is for every Canadian to have access to quality post-secondary education, regardless of their income. Over the long term, this means working with the provinces and territories to cap and reduce tuition fees, and building towards making post-secondary education part of our public education system so kids can go from kindergarten to a career without the barrier of cost. This is an important goal and we believe that with the right leadership and political will, we can get there.
There are steps we can take to make education more affordable right now. Five provinces have already shown leadership in eliminating interest rates on student loans. It’s time for the federal government to do the same, and stop profiting from student debt. New Democrats will remove interest from federal student loans, and to help lift the debt burden from young people starting out, we will introduce a targeted debt forgiveness program for graduates that will forgive up to $20,000 in student debt. In the first year alone, this will wipe out 20% of all student debt and help 350,000 borrowers save money every month.
We’ll also move away from loans and permanently double non-repayable Canada Student Grants. Accessing financial support for your post-secondary education shouldn’t be a debt sentence – we’ll make sure that young people can start out in life without a crushing debt burden.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Green
- Abolish post-secondary education tuition.
- Cancel all federally-held student loan debt.
- Introduce a $2,000/mo retroactive Canada Emergency Student Benefit, until the pandemic is over.
- Remove the 2% cap on increases in education funding for Indigenous students.
- Improve funding in federal-provincial transfers to universities & colleges.
1. Abolish post-secondary education tuition
● Free “Education For All” is estimated to cost approximately $10.2 billion annually. Universal education is not a far financial reach from the existing student aid and can sustain a system of universally accessible, post-secondary education.
● Universal post-secondary education would be partially financed by redirecting existing spending on tuition tax credits, saved costs of administering the student loan system, and the hundreds of millions of dollars of student loan defaults written off every year.
2. Cancel all federally held student loan debt
● This will help prevent half of students who earn a bachelor’s degree in Canada from graduating with more than $28,000 in debt.
3. Reintroduce a retroactive Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB)
● Ensure all those eligible for the CESB receive $2,000 per month – the same amount as the Canada Recovery Benefit for the period beginning May 1, and until the pandemic is over.
● Ensure that international and recently graduated students are eligible to receive this benefit.
4. Remove the two per cent cap on increases in education funding for Indigenous students
● Ensure all Indigenous youth have access to post-secondary education.
5. Improve funding in federal-provincial transfers to universities and colleges
● Provide more funding to universities and colleges with a measurable focus on student-professor contact, mentorship, policies of inclusion and tenure track hires.
● Reinvest in the system. Greens will allocate $10 billion to post-secondary and trade school supports.
6. Build a more flexible and accessible education
● Expand opportunities for reskilling and retraining, by increasing the Canada Training Benefit to support continuous learning, and support for post-secondary institutions to provide new, innovative academic offerings.
● Enhance access to graduate education, by tripling the number of Canada Graduate Scholarships available for master’s students and doubling the number available for PhD students.
● Position Canada as a destination of choice for international talent and support post-secondary institutions to welcome international students safely.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
Public School Educators
Liberal
- Increase the refundable Eligible Educator School Supply Tax Credit from 15% to 25%.
- Expand eligibility criteria on the Educator School Supply Tax Credit to include tech devices & and all teaching supplies purchased to perform employment duties.
Increase the refundable tax credit to 25% (from 15%).
Expand eligibility criteria to include tech devices and ensure that teaching supplies purchased to perform employment duties are eligible, no matter where that may be.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Health & Healthcare
Access to Abortion
Liberal
- Require that everyone, regardless of location, has access to sexual & reproductive health services under the Canada Health Act, with penalties for non-compliant provinces.
- Create a portal for sexual & reproductive health info, w/ a section countering abortion misinfo.
- Provide $10M to youth-led grassroots organisations.
- Remove charity status for anti-abortion orgs that provide dishonest counseling.
Establish regulations under the Canada Health Act governing accessibility for sexual and reproductive health services so there is no question, that no matter where someone lives, that they have access to publicly available sexual and reproductive health services. Failure on the part of a province to meet this standard would result in an automatic penalty applied against federal health transfers.
Provide up to $10 million to Health Canada to develop an easily accessible portal that provides accurate, judgement-free, and evidence-based information on sexual and reproductive health and rights, which will include a section that counters misinformation about abortion.
Provide up to $10 million over 3 years to youth-led grassroots organizations that respond to the unique sexual and reproductive health needs of young people.
No longer provide charity status to anti-abortion organizations (for example, Crisis Pregnancy Centres) that provide dishonest counseling to women about their rights and about the options available to them at all stages of the pregnancy.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
NDP
Green
- Negotiate the Canada Health Accord to prioritise access to safe abortion services.
- Oppose any possible government move to diminish access to safe, legal abortion.
Negotiate the Canada Health Accord to prioritize mental health and rehabilitation services, access to safe abortion services and access to gender-affirming health services such as hormones, blockers, and surgery.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
Oppose any possible government move to diminish access to safe, legal abortion.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
Air Quality & Ventilation
Liberal
- Provide a $100M top-up to the Safe Return to Class Fund for ventilation improvements.
- Provide $10M for First Nations to improve air quality in on-reserve schools.
- Provide $100M to the Canada Healthy Communities Initiatives, with $70M for increasing air quality & indoor ventilation.
- Provide a tax credit for small businesses who invest in better ventilation.
Provide a $100 million top-up to the Safe Return to Class Fund for ventilation improvement projects across Canada, as well as $10 million for First Nations to improve indoor air quality in on-reserve schools.
Provide $100 million to the Canada Healthy Communities Initiative with $70 million of this funding directed to a new pillar focused on increasing air quality and indoor ventilation.
Introduce a tax credit for small businesses to make it easier for them to invest in better ventilation.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
COVID Testing
Conservative
- Deploy rapid testing at all border entry points and airports to screen all arrivals, regardless of vaccination status.
- Accelerate Health Canada approval for new rapid tests.
- Make at-home rapid tests available.
- Provide more rapid tests to provincial governments.
We will:
• Deploy rapid testing at all border entry points and airports to screen new arrivals.
° Everyone entering Canada (by land as well as by air), irrespective of their vaccination status and whether they are considered an essential worker, will be required to take a rapid test and possibly a PCR test upon arrival.
° Rapid testing will help screen out cases, while PCR tests will provide a higher level of protection.
• Accelerate Health Canada approvals for rapid tests approved by the UK, the US, the EU, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, and Taiwan. It is unacceptable that bureaucratic barriers have kept these tests out of the hands of Canadians.
• Make at-home rapid tests readily available to all Canadians.
• Immediately provide more rapid tests to provincial governments to allow them to conduct screening, particularly at schools.
• Develop a clear, evidence-based strategy for re-opening our border with clear timelines and metrics. We will restore urgency, rationality, and consistency to border regulations.
• Quickly close the border to travellers from hotspots where new variants are detected.
° We will not allow new variants into Canada as Trudeau has done through his delays in enacting border measures to protect Canadians.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
COVID Vaccination
Liberal
- Require all travellers on inter-provincial trains, commercial flights, cruise ships, & other federally-regulated vessels be vaccinated.
- Ensure vaccination of the federal public service.
- Launch a $1B Proof of Vaccination Fund to support provinces & territories to implement proof-of-vaccine credentials.
- Allow organisations to require proof of vaccination for employees & customers.
- Procure boosters.
Require that travellers on interprovincial trains, commercial flights, cruise ships, and other federally regulated vessels be vaccinated.
Ensure vaccination across the federal public service. As the country’s largest employer, this will protect the health and safety of the federal public servants and their communities, across Canada.
We will also keep working with employers in Crown corporations and federally regulated workplaces to ensure vaccination is prioritized for workers in these sectors.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Launch a $1 billion COVID-19 Proof of Vaccination Fund to support provinces and territories who implement a requirement for proof of vaccine credentials in their jurisdiction for non-essential businesses and public spaces.
Table legislation to ensure that every business and organization that decides to require a proof of vaccination from employees and customers can do so without fear of a legal challenge.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Procure enough vaccines to ensure all Canadians have access to free COVID-19 booster shots and second-generation vaccines as needed.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Contraception
NDP
Dental Care
NDP
- Work with provincial partners, health professionals, & dentists to develop a road-map to including universal dental care into Medicare.
- Provide immediate dental care coverage for people who don't have any private insurance.
We know now that good oral health is a critical component of overall good health – and that means our health care system should cover it, too. A New Democrat government will work together with provincial partners, health professionals and dentists to develop a roadmap to incorporate universal dental care into Canada’s public health care system, and immediately deliver dental care coverage for people who don’t have any private insurance.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Future Pandemics
Liberal
Invest $100 million to study the long-term health impacts of COVID-19, including the effects of “long-COVID” on different groups, including vulnerable populations and children.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Conservative
- Increase vaccine research & production capacity.
- Review regulatory processes.
- Increase domestic production of critical supplies.
- Prepare stockpiles, testing.
- Support closing poorly regulated wildlife markets.
- Improve public health intelligence.
- Overhaul Canada's Pandemic Plan.
Part 1: Making Canada resilient to threats
Vaccine Research, Trials & Manufacturing Capacity
- Ramp up Canadian research and production capacity by making Canada one of the best jurisdictions globally for pharmaceutical research and development and the production of vaccines and medicines.
- We won’t allow Liberal regulation to drive pharmaceutical companies out of Canada anymore.
- We will follow the UK’s example by putting in place a sector strategy to grow the sector in a well-thought-out way rather than just handing out money.
- We will also end the Liberal hostility to the pharma sector that has driven investment out of Canada, left us near the back of the line for vaccines and risks leaving us at the back of the line for new medicines. Instead, we will negotiate constructively with the industry to reduce drug prices while providing long-term regulatory certainty.
- Overhaul Canada’s Pandemic Plan and preparedness to include domestic vaccine research, trials development and manufacturing capacity and readiness - with a focus on novel vaccine platforms, keeping and attracting the best minds in Canada, and ensuring secure access to supply during pandemic scenarios - working with universities, the private sector, provinces and territories, and international partner countries to build for the future; and
- Review Health Canada’s regulatory processes and the balance between Canada’s industrial, health, and economic relationships with the global biomanufacturing sector in light of Canada’s poor performance in accessing vaccines during COVID-19.
Increasing Domestic Production of Critical Supplies
- Partner with pharmaceutical companies to increase production of critical medicines and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients in Canada;
- Work with the United States to strengthen the North American supply chain for pharmaceuticals to reduce our shared reliance on imports; and use procurements by government and those receiving government funding to enhance domestic production of PPE.
- Reinstate the tariff on imported PPE to recognize and secure the longevity of Canadian manufacturers of PPE. Canadian manufacturers have responded to the pandemic by enhancing their capacities to produce PPE, and they deserve to compete within a fair domestic market. A strong domestic manufacturing industry for PPE is a pillar of pandemic readiness and ongoing resiliency. Canadian manufacturers are also at the forefront of PPE innovation, seeking to address the environmental impact of the mass manufacturing of PPE.
Stockpiles, Lab Testing & Contact Tracing
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Overhaul Canada’s National Emergency Stockpile System to ensure supplies are there to rapidly respond to infectious disease, bioterrorism, and similar threats, including ensuring the security of supply for personal protective equipment, diagnostic reagents, and swab supplies, and adopting modern tracking systems to ensure supplies are used before they expire and available when needed;
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Overhaul federal lab testing processes and the support PHAC provides for provinces and territories to markedly improve consistency and scaling of lab capabilities across Canada, including the development of rapid testing capabilities at our borders, across our cities, in rural and remote communities, and within long term care facilities; and
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Fill the response gap left by Ottawa between lab testing and costly lockdowns by working with Canadian infectious disease experts, provinces, and territories to develop evidence-based contact tracing systems for our borders and support public health efforts. Delaying and pushing unproven technologies on the provinces and territories over scientific procurement processes allowed the virus the time to spread and undermined Canada’s social, economic and health structures.
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Develop a national system for sharing data across jurisdictions on pathogen transmission, immunity levels, and vaccination rates with transparent reporting requirements and coordination among jurisdictions.
New High Containment Laboratory Capacity and Infection Control Capacities
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Bolster our infectious disease and pandemic science infrastructure, research, and expertise, through the development of new and novel high containment laboratory capabilities, alongside the National Microbiology Laboratory, to rapidly identify the threat to Canadians of novel and emerging infectious disease and bioterrorism agents, including by:
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Enhancing our basic scientific understanding of the transmission of novel pathogens in built environments (notably, long term care facilities, hospitals, and other communal settings) on different surfaces (e.g. nurse stations, medical equipment, doorknobs, retail, and workplace surfaces) and the importance of infection control measures (e.g. masks, hand washing);
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Supporting the development and testing of new infection control products/biomaterials, safe and high-performance architectural designs, airflow systems, and isolation facilities for the control of infectious diseases during regular times, and ensure Canada has the rapid response capabilities – including issuing science-based public health guidelines for front line workers and essentials services - during outbreaks and pandemics. Never again should essential workers be left to their own devices or our economy simply be allowed to collapse.
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Part 2: Preventing pandemics
Addressing the Threat Posed by Animal Markets and Trade in Wild Animals
- Support and encourage the closure of poorly regulated wildlife markets globally that carry an elevated risk of becoming sources for future pandemics;
- End the importation of and trade in wild or exotic animals and their products that carry an elevated risk of spreading zoonotic diseases.
Prohibiting the export of deadly viruses to jurisdictions that cannot be trusted.
- The government will create a list of these countries subject to the export prohibition based on a national security assessment.
Part 3: Detecting and assessing threats
Public Health Intelligence
- Overhaul Canada’s public health intelligence-gathering systems, including restoring the Global Public Health Intelligence Network (GPHIN) shut down by the Liberal government and strengthen the sharing of public health intelligence across the federal government and with the provinces and territories.
- Establish a threat-level warning system that uses data points and sources from our overhauled public health intelligence-gathering systems to assign risk levels from a scale of 1-5 for Canadians when a new virus is detected.
- Overhaul the federal government’s disastrous risk communications infrastructure, including developing trusted mechanisms for communicating the real threat to Canadians of novel and emerging pathogens and rapidly changing information.
Part 4: Countering the threat
Scientific leadership
- Assign ultimate responsibility for the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) to a qualified physician - public health expert with field and front line experience;
- Establish a set of actions corresponding to each level of risk in our new threat-level warning system, including but not limited to when border measures will be implemented, when travel should be restricted, and data-sharing requirements across jurisdictions.
- Develop a data-driven system of benchmarks for removing bans, restrictions, and quarantines to provide certainty to businesses and their populations.
- Ensure adequate enforcement of these actions is undertaken and that monitoring both internationally and domestically is consistent and ongoing.
- Restore the dual leadership role of the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg, within the Public Health Agency of Canada, so that infectious disease science and expertise drives our domestic pandemic response and Canada once again is a global pandemic leader; and
- Overhaul Canada’s Pandemic Plan and preparedness to include a focus on infectious diseases and bioterrorism threats rather than solely on “influenza,” which led to Ottawa’s slow response and mishandling of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
- Maintain access security and stringent screening protocols for scientists granted access to the Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg.
Strengthening Health Canada
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Strengthen the department to ensure it can rapidly review crucial innovations like new tests, treatments, and vaccines. With new variants on the horizon, we can’t afford the same bureaucratic pace as in the past.
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Partner with the private sector rather than over-rely on government. We know that there are some things best done by the private sector and will be faster to reach out for help.
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Work with the provinces to harmonize ICU training to ensure that ICU credentials are transferable among jurisdictions so that that capacity can be bolstered in emergencies.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
NDP
- Provide stable, long-term funding for the Public Health Agency of Canada to protect public health and be ready with surge capacity for future crises.
- Establish a crown corporation to produce vaccines in Canada.
- Ensure an adequate, responsible-managed stockpile of PPE, with an emphasis on domestic production.
- Protect the Chief Public Health Officer's independence in law.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed serious weaknesses in Canada’s pandemic preparedness and response capacities. New Democrats will strengthen these system so that Canada is never again unprepared and left behind in a global pandemic. We believe the government should immediately take a leadership role in a federal vaccination strategy to ensure all Canadians can be vaccinated. Moving forward, we’ll provide stable, long-term funding for the Public Health Agency of Canada so they can protect public health and be ready with surge capacity in the event of a crisis.
Canada needs to have the capacity to produce vaccines for public health emergences, a capacity that we lost under Liberal and Conservative governments. New Democrats will establish a crown corporation charged with domestic vaccine production so that Canadians are never again at the back of the line.
To protect medical personnel, patients and essential workers, we’ll ensure that Canada maintains an adequate and responsibly- managed stockpile of personal protective equipment, with an emphasis on supporting domestic production.
During a crisis, it’s more important than ever that Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer be able to speak freely about public health issues to Canadians without the fear of political retribution. We’ll ensure that their independence is protected by law, and require the Chief Public Health Officer to report to parliament annually about recommendations to improve Canada’s public health emergency preparedness.
Finally, Canada is a leader in innovative health research, a field that is more important than ever. We will work with universities and health professionals to make sure that public research on critical health issues continues to flourish. New Democrats will reverse the Liberals’ reckless move to weaken the Global Public Health Intelligence Network, which provides surveillance and early warnings that are critical for managing international public health emergencies like pandemics. The federal government must also step up and regulate natural health products under stand-alone legislation.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Green
- Create an intergovernmental rapid response task force, to be activated immediately when facing emergencies.
- Ensure robust capacity for pharmaceutical manufacturing.
- Increase domestic production of PPE.
- Lessen overall dependence on global supply chains for essential goods & services.
- Strengthen the Global Public Health Intelligence Network.
- Provide long-term funding to the Public Health Agency.
● Order a public inquiry that evaluates the joint response between all levels of government with the purpose of examining what went well and what could have been done better.
● Create an intergovernmental rapid response task force, which can be activated immediately when facing an emergency.
● Ensure that Canada has a robust capacity for pharmaceutical manufacturing.
● Ensure that Canada has a sufficient PPE stockpile by increasing domestic production.
● Dedicate specific funding to strengthening the integration of public health with community-based primary care as the first access point of the health care system
● Lessen Canada’s overall dependence on global supply chains for essential goods and services.
● Strengthen the Global Public Health Intelligence Network (GPHIN) to flag potential public health concerns around the globe.
● Prepare for future pandemics by investing in and restructuring our health care and long-term care systems.
● Provide the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) with long-term funding to protect public health and to be ready with surge capacity in the event of a crisis.
● Invest in research and production of vaccines and therapeutics to improve Canada’s ability to domestically source vaccines and medical treatments.
● Commit to being guided by the recommendations of the relevant scientists and experts in formulating emergency response strategies.
● Accelerate Canada's move towards a net-zero emissions green economy in order to help limit further global warming and the intensification of extreme weather and climate events that such warming will provoke.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
Health Funding
Liberal
Green
- Increase health transfers by basing them on demographics & healthcare needs in each province.
- Reevaluate the Canada Health Transfer to cover rural communities with an equitable amount of funding to meet the needs of the community.
1. Expand the Canada Health Act.
● Expand the single-payer Medicare model to include Pharmacare for everyone.
● Create a bulk drug purchasing agency and reduce drug patent protection periods.
● Expand the single-payer Medicare model to include long-term care and enhanced mental health services.
● Expand the single-payer Medicare model to include free basic dental care for all Canadians.
2. Restore the Canada Health Accord.
● Increase health transfers by basing them on demographics and real health care needs in each province, replacing the current formula based on GDP growth introduced by the Harper government and retained by the Liberals.
● Negotiate the Canada Health Accord to prioritize mental health and rehabilitation services, access to safe abortion services and access to gender-affirming health services such as hormones, blockers, and surgery.
● Reduce wait times, which are a foundational issue of accessibility in the health care system, particularly in the case of primary care. Support family doctors and interprofessional teams to reduce wait times and enhance the accessibility of the care they provide to communities across Canada.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
Healthcare Access
Liberal
- Provide $400 million over 4 years to support virtual care.
- Expand Canada Student Loans debt forgiveness to more healthcare professionals & increase the amount forgiven by 50%.
- Offer healthcare professionals a 1-time income tax deduction up to $15k over their first 3 years of practice.
- Increase federal powers to deduct funding from provinces who add extra billings for publicly insured services.
Expand the number of family doctors and primary health teams in rural communities, by increasing by 50% (from $40,000 up to $60,000 over 5 years), the maximum debt relief that family doctors, residents in family medicine, nurse practitioners, or nurses are eligible for the under Canada Student Loans forgiveness program.
Expand the list of professionals eligible for forgiveness to include dentists, pharmacists, dental hygienists, midwives, social workers, psychologists, teachers, and early childhood educators so that rural communities have greater access to the full suite of health and social service providers they need.
Offer health care professionals, who are just starting out in their careers, a one-time income tax deduction of up to $15,000 over their first 3 years of practice to help with the costs of setting up a practice.
Undertake a review to ensure that communities that are indeed rural are fully eligible under the program.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Strengthen federal powers under the Canada Health Act and the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act to deduct health transfers from provinces who enable extra billing for publicly insured services, in order to protect the integrity of our universal public health care system.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Expand the number of family doctors and primary health teams in rural communities.
Work to give rural communities greater access to a full suite of health and social services professionals, including dentists, pharmacists, dental hygienists, midwives, social workers, psychologists, teachers, and early childhood educators.
Help health care professionals set up new practices.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
NDP
- Work with provinces & territories to reduce wait times and improve access to primary care.
- Work with the provinces to develop public infrastructure for secure, accesibile virtual healthcare.
- Identify coming gaps in health human resources, & make a plan for recruiting & retaining doctors, nurses, & other healthcare professionals.
A New Democrat government will work with the provinces and territories to tackle wait times and improve access to primary care across the country – and we’ll work with the provinces to develop public infrastructure for secure, accessible virtual healthcare. We will identify coming gaps in health human resources and make a plan to recruit and retain the doctors, nurses and other health professionals Canadians need. New Democrats will also work with the provinces and territories to expand and improve access to palliative care across the country.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Green
Medical Assistance in Dying
Conservative
- Reinstate the 10-day waiting period.
- Require 2 fully independent witnesses to ensure a vulnerable person isn't coerced.
- Allow discussion of MAID only if raised by the patient.
- Disallow MAID for those w/ mental health challenges.
- Give opportunity to withdraw consent right before.
- Include conscience provisions for healthcare professionals.
Reinstate the ten-day waiting period to make sure somebody does not make this decision at their lowest point.
Restore the requirement for two fully independent witnesses to ensure that a vulnerable person is not being forced or coerced.
Require that any discussion of MAID only occur if raised by the patient and prevent healthcare workers from suggesting it to someone who is not seeking it. Canadians living with disabilities report regularly being in situations where MAID is suggested to or pushed on them and report how this undermines their sense of security in healthcare environments.
Repealing the Bill C-7 provision allowing MAID for those with mental health challenges. Require any patient receiving MAID to be informed/reminded immediately before receiving it and given the opportunity to withdraw consent.
Protect the right of patients to choose to receive care in a MAID-free environment.
Require healthcare practitioners approving MAID requests (MAID accessors) to examine and consult directly with the patient before approving the request (with allowances made for virtually-enabled examination where required).
Require MAID assessors to complete MAID assessor training to ensure full awareness of and compliance with laws and best practices around MAID.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
Menstrual Products
Liberal
Natural Health Products
Palliative Care
Pharmacare
NDP
- Work with the provinces to expand Medicare to cover prescription drugs, with a $10B/year federal investment.
- Develop a national strategy to cover drugs for rare diseases.
New Democrats believe that we must do better. Just as our party led the fight to establish universal public health care for all Canadians, we are leading the fight to expand Medicare – to include quality prescription drug coverage for everyone, regardless of your job, where you live, your age, your health status or how much money you make. We will begin working with the provinces right away to target a 2022 start date, with an annual federal investment of $10 billion.
This will go hand in hand with developing a national strategy to cover drugs for rare diseases, so that coverage is no longer determined by where you live or what private insurance your family has, as is currently the case.
A national pharmacare program means access to necessary medicines and medical devices in the same way that we currently have access to medical and hospital care – free at the point of care, financed by a public insurance system that covers everyone. It means that you’ll need your health card – not your credit card – at the pharmacy till. And it puts an end to costly co-payments, deductibles and premiums that cost families hundreds and even thousands a year.
Making prescription drugs more affordable saves everyone money. Seniors, families and young people get a break. Small businesses who want to provide coverage for drug costs are able to do it. Negotiating prices with big pharmaceutical companies brings down prices for everyone – saving money in our health care system that can be used to improve care.
Our plan will guarantee that every Canadian can get the medication they need. And it will mean big savings for employers who currently pay for employee benefits, helping to reward good employers and boost economic growth. It will also cost our system less overall, as a result of pooling the purchasing power of the entire country – freeing up much-needed funds for the provinces to re-invest in improving healthcare.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Green
- Expand the Canada Health Act to fully fund a universal pharmacare programme.
- Create a bulk drug purcahsing agency.
- Reduce drug patent protection periods.
- Establish a clear timeline for implementing universal pharmacare, with a Canadian Drug Agency established and a programme covering a list of essential medicines launched in 2022, and a comprehensive programme rolled out by 2025.
1. Expand the Canada Health Act by fully funding a universal pharmacare program
● Ensure quality prescription drug coverage for everyone in Canada, so that no Canadian skips, stretches or simply does not take their medication because they cannot afford it.
2. Create a bulk drug purchasing agency and reduce drug patent protection periods.
● Ensure that everyone in Canada is able to access affordable medication more quickly and equitably.
3. Establish a clear timeline for the implementation of universal pharmacare
● Fully establish the Canadian Drug Agency in 2022, which would assess prescription drugs and negotiate prices for a national formulary.
● Introduce federal legislation on pharmacare in 2022, based on negotiations with the provincial and territorial governments.
● Launch national pharmacare in 2022 by providing universal coverage for a list of essential medicines.
● Roll out a comprehensive formulary by January 1, 2025, instead of 2027.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
Review of COVID Response
Green
Order a public inquiry that evaluates the joint response between all levels of government with the purpose of examining what went well and what could have been done better.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
Housing & Homelessness
Homelessness
Liberal
- Appoint a Federal Housing Advocate within 100 days of a new mandate, to ensure federal government commitments are fulfilled.
- Invest in Reaching Home: Canada's Homelessness Strategy.
Appoint a new Federal Housing Advocate within the first 100-days of a new mandate to ensure the federal government's work toward eliminating chronic homelessness, as well as other housing commitments, are fulfilled.
Move forward with our plan to invest in Reaching Home: Canada’s Homelessness Strategy to support communities across the country.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Conservative
- Re-implement the Housing First approach.
- Revise the federal government's substance abuse policy framework to make recovery its overarching goal.
- Invest $325 million over 3 years for 1,000 residential drug treatment beds & 50 recovery community centres.
To address homelessness, we will:
• Re-implement the Housing First approach, which has been watered down by the current federal government, to aid in the fight against Canada’s addictions crisis.
• Revise the federal government’s substance abuse policy framework to make recovery its overarching goal.
• Invest $325 million over the next three years to create 1,000 residential drug treatment beds and build 50 recovery community centres across the country.
• Support innovative approaches to address the crises of mental health challenges and addiction, such as land-based treatment programs developed and managed by Indigenous communities as part of a plan to enhance the delivery of culturally appropriate addictions treatment and prevention services in First Nations communities with high needs.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
NDP
- Fully implement the right to housing.
- Work toward ending homelessness in Canada within a decade.
- Support the creation of more social housing & other affordable options.
- Work with provinces & municipalities to fast-track the purchase, lease, & conversion of hotels & motels for emergency housing relief until more permanent solutions are available.
- Expand income security programs.
We need the courage – and meaningful action – to build a Canada without poverty, where all Canadians can count on quality public services and community supports to help them lead dignified lives. A core component of our approach is fully implementing the right to housing, and working toward the goal of ending homelessness in Canada within a decade. In a country as wealthy as Canada, there is no excuse to leave any Canadian living in poverty or without a safe roof over their head.
Our affordable housing strategy will include measures to support Canadians at risk of becoming homeless, taking the lead from communities about local needs and adopting a “housing first” approach. To help people find an affordable home in the long term, we will support the creation of more social housing and other affordable options. To deliver help to the most vulnerable right away, we’ll also work with the provinces and municipalities to fast-track the purchase, lease and conversion of hotels and motels for emergency housing relief until more permanent, community-based solutions are available.
Poor health and poverty are linked, and a national pharmacare program will mean that all Canadians can access the prescription medicine they need, regardless of their income or address. Better access to mental health and addictions support will also form a key part of our approach to tackling poverty.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen that it is possible for the government to step up and provide basic income to Canadians in difficult circumstances, and that this support can be transformational. That’s why New Democrats will begin work to expand income security programs, beginning with seniors and people living with disabilities, to build towards a future where all individuals residing in Canada have access to a guaranteed livable basic income.
We also know that developing a national, public, universal child care program is critical for lifting women and their families out of poverty, and an important way to give all kids a good start in early learning.
Finally, making sure that all Canadians can access healthy, affordable food is a cornerstone of our Canadian food strategy. A national school nutrition program will make sure that no child enters their classroom hungry. Children should always have access to healthy food – and the ability to concentrate on learning. In addition, New Democrats will ensure that a reformed Nutrition North program is able to better respond to the needs of Northern families, to put an end to chronic food insecurity in the North.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Green
- Declare housing affordability & homelessness a national emergency.
- Support existing youth shelters & other infrastructure through federal grants.
- Invest in creating new youth shelter sin urban & small urban centres.
- Remove shelter maximum stays for youth.
- Provide on-site & remote access guidance counselling & therapy for homeless youth.
- Provide optional relocation services for rural homeless youth.
● Support existing youth shelters and other infrastructure through federal grants.
● Invest in the creation of new youth shelters in urban and small urban centers across the country which would work on a needs-driven and community-centric approach.
● Remove shelter maximum stays for youth.
● Provide on-site and remote access guidance counselling and therapy for youth suffering from homelessness.
● Provide optional relocation services for rural youth suffering from homelessness to ensure that they have access to youth shelters and other infrastructure.
● Support and invest in the co-operative model for youth housing.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
1. Provide expanded mental health services for the homeless community.
● Increased access to high-quality mental health services would recognize the intersections between those experiencing homelessness and those experiencing mental health issues.
2. Implement programs that direct funds to municipalities providing support for people in the homeless community who use drugs.
● Support Housing First initiatives and other successful models of improving health outcomes.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
Housing Prices
Liberal
- Place a tax on residential properties that are sold within 12 months of purchase.
- Ban foreign purchasing of non-recreational, residential property for 2 years, excluding future employment or immigration.
- Introduce a new rent-to-own programme, & commit $1B in loans & grants to scale up rent-to-own.
- Introduce a tax-free First Home Savings Account.
- Double the First-Time Home Buyers Tax Credit.
Introduce a new rent-to-own program to help make it easier for renters to get on the path towards home ownership while renting. The program will be designed based on three principles: the landlord must commit to charging a renter a lower-than-market rate to help Canadians build up savings for a down payment; the landlord must commit to ownership in a five-year term or less; and proper safeguards will be in place to protect the future homeowner.
Create a stream for current renters and landlords, particularly those in condo settings, to immediately enter into a rent-to-own agreement.
Commit $1 billion in loans and grants to develop and scale up rent-to-own projects with private, not-for- profit, and co-op partners.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Introduce a tax-free First Home Savings Account will allow Canadians under 40 to save up to $40,000 towards their first home, and to withdraw it tax-free to put towards their first home purchase, with no requirement to repay it.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Double the First-Time Home Buyers Tax Credit, from $5,000 to $10,000, which will put $1,500 in your pocket to make a home purchase a little bit easier.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Establish an anti-flipping tax on residential properties, requiring properties to be held for at least 12 months.
Canadians who encounter changes in life circumstances due to, for example, pregnancy, death, new jobs, divorce, or disability will be exempt from this policy. As this tax is introduced rules will be established to ensure that sellers subject to this tax are able to deduct legitimate investments in refurbishment.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Ban foreign money from purchasing a non- recreational, residential property in Canada for the next two years, unless this purchase is confirmed to be for future employment or immigration in the next two years.
Extend Canada’s first-ever national tax on non- resident, non-Canadian owners of vacant, underused housing, announced to begin on January 1, 2022 to include foreign-owned vacant land within large urban areas.
Work with provinces and municipalities to develop a framework to better regulate the role of foreign buyers in the Canadian housing market so that this money does not deter housing from being available for, and used by, Canadians.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
With regards to REITs:
Review the tax treatment of these large corporate owners.
Put in place policies to curb excessive profits in this area, while protecting small independent landlords.
Review the down payment requirements for investment properties.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
NDP
Green
- Declare housing affordability & homelessness a national emergency.
- Create national standards to establish rent & vacancy controls.
- Provide a retroactive residential arrears program for Canadians at risk of eviction or of being driven into homelessness due to accumulated rent.
- Raise the empty homes tax for foreign & corporate residential property owners.
A Green government will provide a retroactive residential arrears assistance program to protect Canadians at risk of eviction or of being driven into homelessness due to accumulated rent arrears, as recommended by the National Right to Housing Network (NRHN) and the Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation (CERA).
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
● Raise the “empty home” tax for foreign and corporate residential property owners who leave buildings and units vacant.
● Assess the role of real estate investment trusts (REITs) in Canada’s housing market.
● Close tax haven loopholes that allow foreign investors to hide the names of beneficial owners of properties in Canada.
● Crack down on money laundering in Canadian real estate.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
Housing Supply
Liberal
- Build an additional 250,000 over the next 4 years.
- Invest $4B in a new Housing Accelerator Fund, which will provide application-based funding for municipalities.
- Invest in e-permitting technology.
- Permanently increase funding to the National Housing Co-investment fund by $2.7B over 4 years, for more affordable housing.
- Commit $600M to support converting empty office & retail space into housing.
Our plan will build or revitalize an additional 250,000 homes over 4 years. On top of the 285,000 homes currently being built each year, this will mean nearly 1.4 million homes will be built, preserved, or revitalized by 2025-26 under a re-elected Liberal government.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Invest $4 billion in a new Housing Accelerator Fund which will grow the annual housing supply in the country’s largest cities every year, creating a target of 100,000 new middle class homes by 2024-25. This application-based fund will offer support to municipalities that: grow housing supply faster than their historical average; increase densification; speed-up approval times; tackle NIMBYism and establish inclusionary zoning bylaws; and encourage public transit-oriented development. This fund will support a wide range of eligible municipal investments, including red tape reduction efforts, and reward cities and communities that build more homes, faster.
Help speed up the time it takes to build more homes by investing in e-permitting technology and help communities streamline the planning process.
Work with municipalities to identify vacant or underused property that should be converted to housing on the principle of use it or lose it.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Permanently increase funding to the National Housing Co-investment fund by a total of $2.7 billion over 4 years, more than double its current allocation.
These extra funds will be dedicated to helping affordable housing providers acquire land and buildings to build and preserve more units, extending the model of co-operative housing to new communities, accelerating critical repairs so that housing supply remains affordable and is not lost, and developing projects for vulnerable groups, such as women, youth, and persons with disabilities.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Double our existing Budget 2021 commitment to $600 million to support the conversion of empty office and retail space into market-based housing. We’ll convert space in the federal portfolio, and commercial buildings.
Work with municipalities to create a fast-track system for permits to allow faster conversion of existing buildings, helping maintain the vibrancy of urban communities.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Conservative
- Use infrastructure investments, such as transit, to increase housing supply.
- Release at least 15% of the government's real estate portfolio for housing.
- Incent landowners to donate property to Land Trusts for affordable housing.
• Leverage federal infrastructure investments to increase housing supply. We will:
° Build public transit infrastructure that connects homes and jobs by bringing public transit to where people are buying homes; and
° Require municipalities receiving federal funding for public transit to increase density near the funded transit;
• Review the extensive real estate portfolio of the federal government – the largest property owner in the country with over 37,000 buildings – and release at least 15% for housing while improving the Federal Lands Initiative;
• Incent developers to build the housing Canadians both want and need, by:
° Encouraging Canadians to invest in rental housing by extending the ability to defer capital gains tax when selling a rental property and reinvesting in rental housing, something that is currently excluded; and
° Exploring converting unneeded office space to housing.
• Continue the Conservative commitment to Reconciliation with Canada’s Indigenous Peoples by enacting a “For Indigenous, By Indigenous” strategy – long called for by Indigenous housing advocates, who have been ignored by this Liberal government;
° Canada’s Conservatives are committed to putting a stop to federal paternalism and instead partnering with Indigenous communities and empowering Indigenous Peoples with the autonomy to meet their own housing needs.
• Enhance the viability of using Community Land Trusts for affordable housing by creating an incentive for corporations and private landowners to donate property to Land Trusts for the development of affordable housing.
° The incentive will mirror that which exists for donating land to ecological reserves.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
NDP
- Create 500,000 affordable housing units, or more, over the next 10 years, with half done in the next 5 years.
- Set up dedicated "fast-start funds" for building co-op, social, and non-profit housing.
- Provide federal land for housing projects.
- Waive GST/HST on construction of affordable rental units.
That’s why a New Democrat government will create at least 500,000 units of quality, affordable housing in the next ten years, with half of that done within five years. This will be achieved with the right mix of effective measures that work in partnership with provinces and municipalities, build capacity for social, community, and affordable housing providers, to provide rental support for co-ops, and meet environmental energy efficiency goals. This ambitious plan will create thousands of jobs in communities all across the country, jump-starting the economic recovery, and helping Canadians get the affordable housing they need.
In order to kick-start the construction of co- ops, social and non-profit housing and break the logjam that has prevented these groups from accessing housing funding, we will set up dedicated fast-start funds to streamline the application process and help communities get the expertise and assistance they need to get projects off the ground now, not years from now. We’ll mobilize federal resources and lands for these projects, turning unused and under-used properties into vibrant new communities.
A New Democrat government will also spur the construction of affordable homes by waiving the federal portion of the GST/HST on the construction of new affordable rental units – a simple change that will help get new units built faster and keep them affordable for the long term.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Green
- Update the formula for defining affordable housing, accounting for regional variance.
- Fund non-profit & co-op purchasing of existing buildings.
- Expand the Rapid Housing Initiative.
- Invest in building & operating 50K supportive housing units over 10 years.
- Build & acquire 300K units of coop & non-profit housing over 10 years.
- Create a Co-op Housing Strategy.
- Refocus CMHC on supporting affordable, non-market, & co-op housing.
- Appoint a Minister of Housing.
● Protect the existing stock of affordable housing by funding the purchase of buildings by non-profit and cooperative affordable housing organizations.
● Expand the Rapid Housing Initiative to bring new affordable and supportive housing onstream without delay. With this expansion, more quality projects with funding and agreements already in place can quickly become affordable or supportive housing.
● Invest in construction and operation of 50,000 supportive housing units over 10 years.
● Build and acquire a minimum of 300,000 units of deeply affordable non-market, co-op and non-profit housing over a decade.
● Create a Canada Co-op Housing Strategy and update the mechanisms for financing co-op housing, in partnership with CMHC, co-op societies, credit unions and other lenders.
● Require covenants to ensure that subsidized construction remains affordable over the long term
● Restore quality, energy efficient housing for seniors, people with special needs and low-income families, by providing financing to non-profit housing organizations, cooperatives, and social housing to build and restore quality and affordable housing.
● Implement integrated housing, so that everyone can afford to live in the communities in which they work and under quality conditions. Restore tax incentives for building purpose-built rental housing, and provide tax credits for gifts of lands, or of land and buildings, to community land trusts to provide affordable housing.
● Remove the “deemed” GST whenever a developer with empty condo units places them on the market as rentals.
● Re-focus the core mandate of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) on supporting the development of affordable, non-market and cooperative housing, as opposed to its current priority of supporting Canadian lenders to de-risk investment in housing ownership. With many housing markets demonstrably overvalued, and home ownership rates among the highest in the world, individual home ownership should not be the preoccupation of a public service housing agency and a national housing strategy.
● Appoint a Minister of Housing to meet the needs of affordable housing that are unique to each province, oversee its implementation in collaboration with provincial ministers, and build on other aspects of the housing and homelessness crisis in Canada to tackle these issues.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
Money Laundering
Liberal
- Establish a Canada Financial Crimes Agency to investigate & combat major financial crime.
- Increase regulatory power to respond to housing price fluctuations & ensure a more stable housing market.
Establish the Canada Financial Crimes Agency as Canada’s first ever, national law enforcement agency solely dedicated to investigating and combatting all forms of major financial crime.
Increase the power of federal regulators to respond to housing price fluctuations and ensure a more stable Canadian housing market.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Establish Canada’s first ever, nation-wide agency whose sole purpose is to investigate these highly complex crimes and enforce federal law in this area. Coupled with an investment of $200 million over the next four years, and new federal powers, this agency will bring together, under one roof, existing law enforcement resources of the RCMP, the intelligence capabilities of the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre (FINTRAC), and expertise of the Canada Revenue Agency.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Conservative
- Enact changes to the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) And Terrorist Financing Act.
- Establish a Beneficial Ownership Registry for residential property.
- Implement recommendations from the Commission of Inquiry into Money Laundering in British Columbia on a federal level.
• Implement comprehensive changes to the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act, and give FINTRAC, law enforcement, and prosecutors the tools necessary to identify, halt, and prosecute money-laundering in Canadian real estate markets
• Establish a federal Beneficial Ownership Registry for residential property.
• Closely examine the findings and recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry into Money Laundering in British Columbia, which is doing important work, and quickly implement recommendations at the federal level.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
NDP
Mortgages
Liberal
- Allow people using the First Time Home Buyer Incentive to choose between a shared-equity approach & a loan that is repayable at time of sale.
- Reduced the price charged by CMHC on mortgage insurance by 25%.
- Increase the insured mortgage cut-off from $1M to $1.25M, & index it to inflation.
Allow you to choose between the current shared-equity approach or a loan that is repayable only at the time of sale.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Reduce the price charged by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation on mortgage insurance by 25%. For a typical homebuyer, this will save $6,100.
Increase the insured mortgage cut-off from $1 million to $1.25 million, and index this to inflation, to better reflect today's home prices.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Conservative
- Encourage a new market in seven- to ten-year mortgages.
- Remove the stress test requirement when a homeowner renews a mortgage with another lender.
- Increase the limit on eligibility for mortgage insurance and index it to home price inflation.
- Reform the mortgage stress test.
Encourage a new market in seven- to ten-year mortgages to provide stability both for first-time home buyers and lenders, opening another secure path to homeownership for Canadians, and reducing the need for mortgage stress tests.
Remove the requirement to conduct a stress test when a homeowner renews a mortgage with another lender instead of only when staying with their current lender, as is the case today. This will increase competition and help homeowners access more affordable options.
Increase the limit on eligibility for mortgage insurance and index it to home price inflation, allowing those in high-priced real estate markets with less than a 20% down-payment an opportunity at home-ownership.
Fix the mortgage stress test to stop discriminating against small business owners, contractors and other non-permanent employees including casual workers.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
NDP
- Re-introduce 30-year terms on CMHC insured mortgages on entry-level homes for first time home buyers.
- Double the Home Buyer's Tax Credit to $1,500.
- Provide resources to help co-housing, including CMHC-backed co-ownership mortgages.
While making affordable rental housing more available is critical, New Democrats believe that the dream of homeownership shouldn’t be forever out of reach for Canadian families. That’s why we will re-introduce 30-year terms to CMHC insured mortgages on entry-level homes for first time home buyers. This will allow for smaller monthly payments, freeing up funds to help make ends meet for young families. We’ll also give people a hand with closing costs by doubling the Home Buyer’s Tax Credit to $1,500.
For Canadians who are open to innovative paths to home ownership, a New Democrat government will provide resources to facilitate co-housing, such as model co-ownership agreements and connections to local resources, and ease access to financing by offering CMHC-backed co-ownership mortgages.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Renter & Home-Buyer Protections
Liberal
- Create a national Home Buyers' Bill of Rights.
- Convene federal & provincial regulators to develop a national action plan to increase consumer protection & transparency in real estate transactions.
- Deter unfair rent increases.
- Require landlords to disclose on their tax filing the rent they receive pre- and post-renovation, & implement a proportional surtax if the increase in rent is excessive.
Create a national Home Buyers’ Bill of Rights so that the process of buying a home is fair, open, and transparent.
Convene federal and provincial regulators to develop a national action plan to increase consumer protection and transparency in real estate transactions.
The Home Buyers’ Bill of Rights will:
• Ban blind bidding, which prevents bidders from knowing the bids of other prospective buyers, and ultimately drives up home prices.
• Establish a legal right to a home inspection to make sure that buyers have the peace of mind that their investment is sound.
• Ensure total transparency on the history of recent house sale prices on title searches.
• Require real-estate agents to disclose when they are involved in both sides of a potential sale to all participants in a transaction.
• Move forward with a publicly accessible beneficial ownership registry.
• Ensure banks and lenders offer mortgage deferrals for up to 6 months in the event of job loss or other major life event.
• Require mortgage lenders act in your best interest so that you are fully informed of the full range of choices at your disposal, including the First Time Home Buyer Incentive.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Stop “renovictions” by deterring unfair rent increases that fall outside of a normal change in rent.
Require landlords to disclose, on their tax filing, the rent they receive pre- and post-renovation, and implement a proportional surtax if the increase in rent is excessive.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Green
Human Rights & Equality
Conversion Therapy
Liberal
- Within 100 days, reintroduce legislation to ban conversion therapy.
- Extend the ban to include people over 18 years of age.
Re-introduce legislation within the first 100 days in office, to eliminate the practice of conversion therapy for everyone, and extend coverage of the ban to include people over 18 years of age.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
NDP
Data Privacy
Employment Discrimination
Liberal
- Adapt & apply the Canada Business Corporations Act diversity requirements to federally-regulated financial institutions.
- Require Crown corporations to implement gender & diversity reporting, beginning next year.
Adapt and apply the Canada Business Corporations Act diversity requirements to federally regulated financial institutions, applying an intersectional lens to ensure diversity among senior ranks of the financial sector.
Move forward with our commitment to require Crown corporations to implement gender and diversity reporting, beginning next year.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
NDP
- Add sexual orientation, & gender identity & expression to the Employment Equity Act.
- Conduct a comprehensive review of the existing employment equity regime to help close the racialised wage gap.
- Strengthen labour laws.
- Ensure diverse & equitable hiring within the federal public service & federally-regulated industries.
- Work with the provinces & territories on employment equity legislation.
We can also do more to end employment discrimination faced by members of the LGBTQI2S+ community. A New Democrat government will add sexual orientation, gender identity and expression to the Employment Equity Act, in order to address the disadvantages experienced by the LGBTQI2S+ communities – and particularly transgender people – in finding work.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
A New Democrat government will conduct a comprehensive review of the existing employment equity regime to help close the racialized wage gap. New Democrats will strengthen labour laws and ensure diverse and equitable hiring within the federal public service, and in federally-regulated industries. Jobs and training for under-represented groups will be a core part of federal infrastructure plans. Lastly, we will work with the provinces and territories to develop and enforce effective employment equity legislation, and to collect and analyze data on the racialization of poverty – because everyone should be able to build a good life with equal opportunity.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Green
Gender Equity
Liberal
- Adapt & apply the Canada Business Corporations Act diversity requirements to federally-regulated financial institutions.
- Require Crown corporations to implement gender & diversity reporting, beginning next year.
Adapt and apply the Canada Business Corporations Act diversity requirements to federally regulated financial institutions, applying an intersectional lens to ensure diversity among senior ranks of the financial sector.
Move forward with our commitment to require Crown corporations to implement gender and diversity reporting, beginning next year.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Conservative
- Implement a national mentorship strategy for women of all ages to prepare & help them network for senior leadership roles in corporations & civil society.
- Seek out qualified female candidates for federal appointments.
- Require federally-regulated corporations & federally-mandated organisations to implement recruitment plans to seek out qualified female candidates for senior leadership positions.
NDP
Green
- Pass pay equity legislation.
- Immediately implement full pay equity for women employed in the federal sector.
- Develop tax incentives for companies to meet standards.
- Establish specific job reentry programmes for women with children.
- Advocate that all political parties nominate, train, & support more women & gender-diverse candidates.
● Pass pay equity legislation, as recommended by the Pay Equity Task Force; immediately implement full pay equity for women employed in the federal sector and develop tax incentives for companies to meet the highest standards of gender and pay equity.
● Establish specific job re-entry programs for women with children who want to restart their working lives either part-time or full-time.
● Ensure that the criteria for new appointments to public boards and agencies include equal opportunity for women.
● Support greater engagement of women in the political life of Canada by advocating that all political parties nominate, train, and support more women and gender-diverse candidates.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
Hate Crimes & Hate Speech
Liberal
- Present a National Action Plan on Combating Hate by 2022 as part of a renewed Anti-Racism Strategy.
- Establish a National Support Fund for Survivors of Hope-Motivated Crimes to help with uninsured costs for survivors.
Present a National Action Plan on Combating Hate by 2022 as part of a renewed Anti-Racism Strategy. It will include recommendations from the Antisemitism and Islamophobia summits and specific action on combatting hate crimes in Canada, including possible amendments to the Criminal Code, training and tools for public safety agencies, and investments to support digital literacy and prevent radicalization to violence.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Establish a National Support Fund for Survivors of Hate-Motivated Crimes to help survivors with any uninsured costs that they have had to bear such as, mental health care, physiotherapy, medical equipment, and paramedical services.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Conservative
- Clearly criminalise statements that encourage violence against people or identifiable groups, focusing on online incitement.
- Provide $25M to law enforcement to quickly investigate online threats of violence, hate speech, & disinformation campaigns by foreign governments or extremist groups.
- Require social media platforms to remove illegal content, such as content that incites violence.
NDP
- Work to ensure all major cities have dedicated hate crime units within local police forces.
- Convene a national working group to counter online hate.
- Set national standards for identifying & recording all hate incidents.
- Create a national action plan to dismantle far-right extremist organisations.
- Make social media platforms legally responsible for removing hateful & extremist content.
It’s time for the federal government to tackle white supremacism, terrorism and the growing threat of hate crimes targeting communities in Canada. We will begin work immediately to ensure that all major cities have dedicated hate crime units within local police forces, and to convene a national working group to counter online hate. New Democrats will always stand up against all forms of hate, racism, including anti-Black racism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, gender-based violence, homophobia, and transphobia.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
New Democrats will take on white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups with a national action plan to dismantle far-right extremist organizations, including those that promote white supremacy. We’ll establish national standards for identifying and recording all hate incidents and their dispensation in the justice system and work in collaboration with non-profits to increase the reporting of hate crimes.
Anti-Semitism, anti-Black racism, Islamophobia and other forms of hate are too often allowed to flourish on the internet. A New Democrat government will convene a national working group to counter online hate and protect public safety, and make sure that social media platforms are legally responsible for the removal of hateful and extremist content before it can do harm.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Green
Indigenous & Black Incarceration
Liberal
NDP
- Start a national task force to create a plan to end over-incarceration of Black & Indigenous people.
- Address the impacts of mandatory minimums.
- Provide greater judicial discretion in sentencing.
- Develop culturally appropriate bail programmes.
- Increase restorative & community justice.
- Better integrate Gladue principles.
- Develop & implement an African Canadian Justice Strategy.
To address the chronic over-representation of Indigenous peoples and Black Canadians in the federal prison population, we will put in place a national task force to develop a roadmap to end this systemic injustice. Working alongside Indigenous communities, this approach will include addressing the discriminatory impact of mandatory minimums, providing greater judicial discretion in sentencing, developing culturally appropriate bail programs, increasing restorative and community justice programs and better integrating Gladue principles in court proceedings. We will also develop and implement an African Canadian Justice Strategy, working with Black Canadians with experience and expertise on criminal justice issues.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Green
- Expand on & codify the requirement for sentencing judges to take into account systemic & historical racism.
- Develop clear laws & guidelines aligned with R. v. Ipeelee & R. v. Gladue.
- Implement additional laws to reduce incarceration of Indigenous peoples.
- Eliminate mandatory minimum sentences.
● Expand on, and codify the requirement for sentencing judges to take into account systemic and historical racism when dealing with Indigenous persons, and the requirement that they act to reduce the impact of systemic racism.
● Develop clear laws and guidelines aligned with the principles set out by the Supreme Court in R. v. Ipeelee and R. v. Gladue, and implement additional laws to reduce incarceration of Indigenous Peoples in provincial and federal prisons.
● Implement the calls to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that deal with justice (sections 25-40).
● Develop laws and policies aimed at providing social, housing, health, economic and educational support in order to reduce the over-policing and over-incarceration of Black and Indigenous peoples.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
● Eliminate mandatory minimum sentences and enable courts to determine appropriate sentences based on the circumstances of each individual case and established sentencing laws and principles.
● Take steps to ensure that, where some form of incarceration is necessary, individuals are, as quickly as possible, held close to their community to allow for more effective reintegration and rehabilitation.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
LGBTQ2 Rights & Opportunities
Liberal
- Complete the Federal LGBTQ2 Action Plan within 100 days.
- Provide $40M over 4 years for capacity funding to Canadian LGBTQ2 service organisations.
Complete the Federal Action Plan within the first 100 days in office.
Provide $40 million over 4 years starting in 2021- 2022 for capacity funding to Canadian LGBTQ2 service organizations.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Green
- Establish a funding programme within Health Canada to support community-based organisations offering targeted LGBTQI2+ youth mental health & well-being programmes.
- Fund community-driven education & awareness programmes & referral programmes.
- Ban & condemn the practice of medically unnecessary surgeries on intersex children.
● Establish a funding program within Health Canada to support community-based organizations offering targeted LGBTQI2+ youth’s mental health and well-being programs, including suicide prevention, peer support, coming out, and counselling.
● Fund community-driven education and awareness programs that lead to a greater understanding of intersex realities and the diversity of sexualities and gender identities, and referral programs to direct for trans, non-binary and Two Spirit people to appropriate services.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
● Ban and condemn the practice of medically unnecessary surgeries on intersex children.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
Race-Based Data
NDP
Racism & Discrimination
Liberal
- Increase funding to both the Anti-Racism Strategy & the Federal Anti-Racism Secretariat.
- Increase funding to multicultural community programmes.
Strengthen and boost funding to both the Anti-Racism Strategy and the Federal Anti-Racism Secretariat.
Build on the progress made over the last 6 years and increase funding to multicultural community programs. These programs play an important role in supporting community organizations across the country as they fight racism.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Green
Sex Work
Green
- Reform sex work laws to focus on harm reduction.
- Legalise the sex work industry.
- Increase funding for community organisations providing services to those driven to sex work by economic deprivation.
● Reform sex work laws in Canada with a clear focus on harm reduction, given the dangers that sex trade workers face. Legalising the industry will allow sex workers to access law enforcement and social services when needed.
● Increase funding of community organizations providing services to those driven to sex work by economic deprivation.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-19
Solitary confinement
Green
- Immediately ensure the Federal Advisory Committee on Prisoner Isolation receives access to required information to monitor the state of solitary confinement in Canada's prisons.
- Ensure the recommendations of the Office of the Correctional investigator with respect to Structured Intervention Units are implemented.
- Implement the Senate amendments to Bill C-83.
● Immediately ensure that the Federal Advisory Committee on Prisoner Isolation receives access to all required information to monitor the state of “structured intervention units” (solitary confinement) within Canada’s prisons.
● Ensure that the recommendations of the Office of the Correctional Investigator with respect to SIUs are implemented.
● Implement the Senate amendments to Bill C-83, particularly the increased use of non-carceral and therapeutic options, judicial oversight and remedies for correctional interference and mismanagement of prisoners’ sentences
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
The Blood Ban
Trans Health & Access
NDP
- Work with the provinces to ensure equal access to gender-affirming surgery across the country, & that gender-affirming procedures & medication is covered by public health plans.
- Review & eliminate systemic barriers related to gender in the delivery of federal public services.
- Provide funding to support the creation & expansion of shelters for trans youth.
Green
- Negotiate the Canada Health Accord to prioritise access to gender-affirming health services.
- Listen to feedback on census questions.
- Ensure trans, non-binary, & Two Spirit people are able to alter their sex designation on all federally-issued documents, without undertaking surgeries.
- Require accessible facilities in all federal buildings, including gender-neutral washrooms & changing facilities.
Negotiate the Canada Health Accord to prioritize mental health and rehabilitation services, access to safe abortion services and access to gender-affirming health services such as hormones, blockers, and surgery.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
● Listen to feedback about the appropriate nature of new 2021 federal census questions attempting to capture data on trans and non-binary Canadians.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
● Ensure access to comprehensive sexual health care and gender affirming health care, including hormone treatments and blockers, and gender confirmation surgeries.
● Ensure that trans, non-binary, and Two Spirit people, without undertaking surgeries, are able to alter their sex designation on all federally-issued official documents, consistent with their gender identity.
● Ensure that the national census is designed to reflect the diversity of sex and gender identity and ask appropriate questions to ensure adequate, safe and effective data collection.
● Require accessible facilities in all federal buildings, including gender-neutral washrooms, changing facilities, etc. while also re-affirming trans, non-binary and Two Spirit people’s right to use whichever facilities with which they identify.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
Immigration & Refugees
Administrative Backlogs
Conservative
- Create an efficiency mechanism, where those waiting for their applications to be reviewed can pay a fee for expedited processing, with revenue collected going to hiring additional staff for processing.
- Attempt to identify unutilised resources.
- Simplify and streamline the application process and eliminate duplication.
CBSA
Green
Credential Recognition
Liberal
Conservative
One area this task force will study is credential pre-qualification – allowing people in other countries to acquire Canadian-standard proficiency through accredited institutions overseas or distance learning with Canadian institutions.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
Green
- Review & update accreditation policies & licensing programmes.
- Work with accreditation institutions to recognise foreign training & education.
- Allocate more funding to provide training language & employment skills, & accreditation recognition for any newcomers legally eligible to work in Canada.
- Incentivise employers to hire newcomers & refugee claimants.
● Review and update accreditation policies and licensing programs to better and more accurately reflect the current needs of our Canadian society.
● Collaborate with accreditation institutions in Canada to recognize foreign training and education.
● Allocate greater funding to provide training language skills, employment skills. and accreditation recognition for any newcomer legally eligible to work in Canada.
● Create incentives for employers to hire newcomers and refugee claimants.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
Family Reunification
Liberal
NDP
Green
- Increase the number of accepted applications for parent & grandparent sponsorship by IRCC.
- Review adoption bans for Muslim majority countries.
- Remove visa requirements for most parents visiting their children.
● Increase support for parent and grandparent sponsorship by IRCC by increasing the number of accepted applications and decreasing processing times.
● Review adoption bans from Muslim majority countries so that adoptive parents can remain together through their immigration process, as well as allowing adoption from these countries by Canadian citizens.
● Lower barriers for convention refugees to reunite with their children and bring them to Canada by making the process more accessible
● Remove visa requirements for most parents visiting their children - including international students, temporary workers, Canadian citizens and convention refugees.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
Immigration Process
Liberal
- Make the citizenship application process free for permanent residents who have fulfilled the requirements needed to obtain it.
- Implement a program to issue visas to spouses & children abroad while they wait for processing of their permanent residency application.
Reduce processing times that have been impacted by COVID-19 to under 12 months.
Introduce electronic applications for family reunification.
Implement a program to issue visas to spouses and children abroad while they wait for the processing of their permanent residency application, so that families can be together sooner.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Conservative
- Record all interactions between immigration officers & applicants to ensure oversight, fairness, & accountability.
- Use technology to speed application vetting.
- Increase cultural awareness training.
- Use remote meeting technology to match applicants with immigration officers who best understand their cultural context.
- Let applicants correct simple application mistakes within a set amount of time.
• Moving the technological infrastructure of immigration online and recording all interactions between immigration officers and applicants to help ensure oversight, fairness, and accountability.
• Introducing technology to speed application vetting by immigration officers.
• Increasing cultural awareness training and using remote meeting technology to match applicants with immigration officers who best understand the cultural context of the applicant.
• Letting applicants correct simple and honest mistakes in an application within a set amount of time.
° Currently, if a person makes an error in an application, the application is rejected, and the person is required to re-submit the application entirely.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
Green
- Update the citizenship guidebook to include a more accurate history of Canada & Turtle Island, including residential schools & the Indian Act.
- Address all forms of hate & xenophobia in all aspects of settlement in Canada.
- Introduce exceptions for permanent residency & citizenship application costs based on household income.
1. Update the citizenship guidebook
● Update the citizenship guidebook to include a more accurate history of Canada and Turtle Island that includes the harms of residential schools and the Indian Act.
2. Address all forms of hate and xenophobia in all aspects of settlement in Canada
● Address xenophobia in all aspects of settlement, including temporary visa liberalization, issuing of temporary permits (study, work, visit, etc.) and family reunification (including increasing capacity for family sponsorship and revision of adoption processes)
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
Introduce exceptions for permanent residency and citizenship application costs based on household income (for many refugees, the $1,000 application fee for citizenship is unaffordable).
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
Refugees
Liberal
Build on the Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot and work with employers and communities across Canada to welcome 2,000 skilled refugees to fill labour shortages in in-demand sectors such as health care.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Conservative
- Replace all public, government-assisted refugee places with more private & joint sponsorship places, except for special cases.
- Make the Rainbow Refugee Assistance Project a permanent program.
- Allow private sponsorship of the most vulnerable victims of persecution directly from their country of origin.
- Create a program to allow direct private sponsorship of persecuted religious & sexual minorities.
• Replace public, government-assisted refugee places with more private and joint sponsorship places. All refugees arriving in Canada will do so under private or joint sponsorship programs, with exceptions in cases of emergency or specific programs (such as the human rights defenders program discussed below).
° This does not mean a reduced financial commitment to refugee sponsorship or lower overall numbers of protected persons. It means that public dollars will be directed through joint sponsorship programs where newcomers benefit from community support and the better outcomes associated with private sponsorship.
° Moving from “private” and “public” sponsorship streams to “private” and “joint” sponsorship streams ensures every refugee family arriving in Canada will do so with a group of dedicated and motivated Canadians, ready to make them feel welcome.
° This also ensures that private sponsors will not always have to bear the full costs of sponsorship, allowing them to help more refugees.
• These changes will revolutionize the experience of compassionate organizations conducting private refugee sponsorship. Sponsors will spend more time helping people in distress with more government support and less government hassle.
When it comes to financial allocations for joint sponsorships, Conservatives will prioritize the following categories:
• Support delivered to the most vulnerable.
• Support delivered through sponsorship agreement holders with a demonstrable track record of successfully integrating refugees.
• Support delivered through a new, specialized, “human rights defender” stream, welcoming human rights advocates such as notable Hong Kong protestors who are particularly vulnerable in their home country as a result of their willingness to stand up for the rights of others.
Canada’s Conservatives have a proud record of assisting the world’s most vulnerable refugees, including our pioneering assistance to LGBTQ+ people, especially from Iran, who would otherwise face a death sentence.
• Canada’s Conservatives will make the Rainbow Refugee Assistance Project a permanent government program. We will work with LGBTQ+ organizations in Canada to encourage and facilitate greater participation by these organizations in refugee sponsorship, and we will lead a global network of free countries to assist the world’s persecuted sexual minorities.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
• Allow private sponsorship of the most vulnerable victims of persecution directly from their country of origin.
• Work with Canadian communities to create a specific program to allow direct private sponsorship of persecuted religious and sexual minorities.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
NDP
Green
Temporary Foreign Workers
Liberal
- Reform economic immigration programmes to expand pathways to Permanent Residence for temporary foreign workers & former international students through the Express Entry points system.
- Create a Trusted Employer system with a streamlined application process for Canadian companies hiring temporary foreign workers to fill labour shortages that can't be filled by Canadian workers.
Conservative
- Create a trusted employer system so companies don't have to reapply.
- Work with provinces to harmonise federal & provincial systems.
- Set clear standards & timelines for Labour Market Assessment processes, including options for fee-based expedited visas when needed.
- Revise how regions are zoned to ensure rural areas & tourism hotspots are not coupled with urban hubs.
- Establish a path to permanence.
Green
- Introduce low-barrier, more accessible pathways to permanent residency for temporary foreign workers.
- Develop safe strategies for temporary foreign workers & whistle blowers to report abusive employers without losing their status.
● Introduce exceptions for permanent residency and citizenship application costs based on household income (for many refugees, the $1,000 application fee for citizenship is unaffordable).
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
● Develop safe strategies for temporary foreign workers and whistle blowers to report abusive employers without losing their status.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
Visas
Liberal
Implement a program to issue visas to spouses and children abroad while they wait for the processing of their permanent residency application, so that families can be together sooner.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Conservative
- Increase the capacity of the Immigration and Refugee Board to hear asylum claims.
- Strengthen integrity and enforcement overall.
- Explore requiring more enforceable commitments for visitors to abide by.
- Allow family members of citizens to come & live in Canada for up to 5 years without permanent status, renewing their stay for additional time, where appropriate, if they purchase health insurance.
• Allow family members of Canadians to come and live in Canada for up to five years without permanent status, renewing their stay for additional time, where appropriate, provided that they purchase health insurance.
• Allow those coming to Canada on a super visa to purchase health insurance from the government of their province or territory on a cost-recovery basis where the provincial or territorial government wishes to offer this option.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
Green
Remove visa requirements for most parents visiting their children - including international students, temporary workers, Canadian citizens and convention refugees.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
Indigenous Relations & Reconciliation
Drinking Water
Liberal
- Make any investments necessary to eliminate all remaining advisories.
- Make sure resources & training are in place to prevent future advisories.
- Move forward on agreement in principle to resolve national class action litigation.
- Maintain commitment to invest $6B to ensure sustainable access to clean water for First Nations.
Make any investments necessary to eliminate all remaining advisories.
Make sure that resources and training are in place to prevent future ones.
Continue to move forward on our agreement in principle to resolve national class action litigation related to safe drinking water in First Nations communities.
Maintain our commitment to invest $6 billion to ensure sustainable access to clean water for First Nations.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Conservative
- Recognise safe drinking water as a fundamental human right.
- End long-term drinking water advisories.
- Target high-risk water systems.
- Work with Indigenous communities to find new approaches, such as regional or coalition-based governance, that will help ensure water systems investments are protected and continue providing clean drinking water in the long term.
NDP
Green
Indigenous Broadband
Liberal
Require those that have purchased the rights to build broadband actually do so. With this use it or lose it approach, Canada’s large national carriers will be required to accelerate the roll-out of wireless and high-speed internet in rural and northern Canada by progressively meeting broadband access milestones between now and 2025. If these milestones are not met, we will mandate the resale of spectrum rights and reallocate that capacity to smaller, regional providers.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Indigenous Businesses
Liberal
- Expand the Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Program to enable businesses to access a new, zero-interest loan when a 10% advance is not possible.
- Create a navigator position to help Indigenous entrepreneurs find programs that apply to their situation.
- Work with all government departments to analyse &, as appropriate, adjust eligibility criteria to ensure programs are inclusive.
Expand the Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Program to enable businesses to access a new, zero-interest loan when a 10% advance is not possible.
Create a navigator position to help Indigenous entrepreneurs find programs that apply to their situation.
Work with all government departments to analyze and, as appropriate, adjust eligibility criteria to ensure that programs are as inclusive as possible.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Conservative
- Provide $4M over 3 years in targeted funding to train local & regional economic development officers.
- Develop an Indigenous Business Mentorship Program.
- Update the First Nations Land Management Act.
- Improve opportunities for Indigenous businesses to receive government contracts by setting active targets, enforcing govt. accountability, and providing constructive feedback for unsuccessful bidders.
• Provide $4 million over three years in targeted funding for the hiring and training of local and regional economic development officers.
• In collaboration with municipal and First Nations organizations, promote mechanisms that foster relationships between municipalities and neighbouring First Nations.
• Utilizing the existing infrastructure of Indigenous national organizations (NACCA & CCAB), provide capacity building and business education to enhance and promote Indigenous business success and success stories.
• Develop an Indigenous Business Mentorship Program where Indigenous communities and entrepreneurs can connect with and receive guidance from others who have succeeded.
• Modernize the First Nations Land Management Act to bring it more in line with the Framework Agreement.
• Commit $25 million to a national police support and community training program to reduce the incarceration rates of Canada’s Indigenous communities.
• Working with Indigenous community groups, establish a national working group in the Canadian public service to encourage applications from Canada’s Indigenous communities.
• Improve opportunities for Indigenous businesses to receive government contracts by:
° Setting active targets and accountability mechanisms for departmental procurement officers.
° Ensuring procurement rules don’t unnecessarily exclude legitimate Indigenous businesses.
° Providing constructive feedback to unsuccessful bidders.
° Working with ISED, investigating new measures (or enhancing previous measures) through the Industrial and Technological Benefits policy to increase Indigenous business involvement in the defence and security industries.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
NDP
- Work with Indigenous communities to support locally-driven economic development.
- Create good jobs through infrastructure & public service investments.
- Work with Indigenous entrepreneurs to find solutions for accessing capital & invest in Indigenous social enterprises & entrepreneurship.
- Prioritise procurement from Indigenous companies where possible.
- Dedicate regional economic development support.
We believe that the economic recovery from COVID-19 must further reconciliation and economic justice for Indigenous peoples. A New Democrat government will work with Indigenous communities to support locally-driven economic development and create good jobs through infrastructure and public service investments, and expanded access to broadband internet and cell service for rural and remote communities. We commit to working with Indigenous entrepreneurs to find solutions for accessing capital and scale up, investing in Indigenous social enterprise projects and entrepreneurship, and to ensure that the federal government prioritizes procurement from Indigenous companies where possible.
Smaller Indigenous communities left behind by the current funding model need dedicated regional economic development support to help expand economic opportunities in a way that reflects the community’s social and cultural values.
A New Democrat government will also create a Northern Infrastructure Fund to fast-track investment and focus on improving much-needed infrastructure like roads and broadband internet for communities in the north.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Indigenous Children
Liberal
- Ensure First Nations youth who reach the age of majority receive the supports they need for up to 2 additional years.
- Implement orders of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal.
- Work with Indigenous partners to ensure compensation for those harmed by the First Nations Child & Family Services program.
- Fully fund Jordan's Principle & Inuit Child First Initiative.
- Fund needs of Métis children.
Continue to fully implement the Act Respecting First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Children, Youth and Families and continue to support communities looking to lift up jurisdiction over child and family services.
Continue to reform child and family services in Indigenous communities.
Continue to work with Indigenous communities to help children and families stay together.
Permanently ensure that First Nations youth who reach the age of majority receive the supports they need for up to two additional years and implement the orders of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Continue to work with Indigenous partners to ensure fair and equitable compensation for those harmed by the First Nations Child and Family Services program.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Move forward on building an Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care system that meets the needs of Indigenous families, wherever they live.
Ensure more Indigenous families have access to high-quality programming.
Create 3,300 new spaces.
Invest in Aboriginal Head Start in Urban and Northern communities.
Continue to support before and after school care for First Nations children on reserve.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Continue to fully fund Jordan’s Principle.
Continue to fully fund Inuit Child First Initiative.
Continue to work with the Métis Nation to fund the unique needs of Métis children.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
NDP
- Immediately take action to respect, support, & resource Indigenous jurisdiction over child welfare systems, backed up with long-term, predictable funding guaranteed in legislation.
- Fully implement Canadian Human Rights Tribunal orders on funding of child welfare services on reserve.
- Implement the Spirit Bear Plan.
- Stop litigation against Indigenous children.
- Fully implement Jordan's Principle.
Indigenous children and young people have the right to culture, language and to be raised in their own communities – all of which are vital to overall well-being. By implementing the United Nations Declaration, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action and supporting self-determination, New Democrats will make sure that all First Nations, Inuit, and Métis children, young people and families are treated with the justice, respect and care that they deserve.
New Democrats will take immediate action to respect, support and resource Indigenous jurisdiction over child welfare systems, and will back this commitment with long-term, predictable funding guaranteed in legislation so that Indigenous peoples can exercise their jurisdiction and authority over matters involving their own children and families.
We also commit to ending discrimination against Indigenous children, young people and families by fully implementing the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal orders which ordered the Canadian government to stop chronically underfunding child welfare services on reserve, and working with the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society to implement the Spirit Bear Plan. We will put an immediate end to government litigation against Indigenous children.
A New Democrat government will also fully implement Jordan’s Principle, working with the provinces and territories to end the delays and ensure equitable access to health services and educational supports for Indigenous children from coast to coast to coast. We’ll end the court challenge and ensure that Jordan’s Principle applies to children off-reserve. And we will create a Spirit Bear Day to promote awareness of Jordan's Principle and of the challenges faced by First Nations children when accessing government services.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Green
- Recognise that Indigenous children in residential schools have been replaced by Indigenous children in foster care.
- Stop fighting the Human Rights Tribunal Orders regarding compensation for child & family victims.
- Ensure non-status First Nations' children living off-reserve have access to Jordan's Principle.
- Adopt recommendations on funding for First Nations Child & Family Services from the Institute for Fiscal Studies & Democracy's 2020 report.
● Recognize that Indigenous children in residential schools have been replaced by Indigenous children in foster care; Indigenous children account for 7.7 per cent of children in Canada, but 52.2 percent of children in care;
● Stop fighting the Canada’s Human Rights Tribunal orders requiring the government to compensate the child and family victims of Canada’s discrimination; and ensure non-status First Nations’ children living off reserve have access to Jordan’s Principle.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
6. Adopt recommendations on funding for First Nations Child and Family Services from the Institute for Fiscal Studies and Democracy’s 2020 report.
● Adopt a results framework for the well-being of children, families, and communities, such as the Measuring to Thrive framework proposed in the report.
● Budget for results with a block funding approach 13 that addresses gaps and is linked to the results framework.
○ Undertake a full assessment of current capital stock.
● Establish a non-political First Nations policy and practice secretariat to support First Nations and First Nations Child and Family Services (FNCFS) agencies to transition to First Nations governance.
● Establish a group of FNCFS agencies and First Nations willing to be early adopters of the new performance and funding approach to model implementation.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
Indigenous Education
NDP
- Implement Shannen's Dream of equitable access to education with federal investments & infrastructure.
- Provide financial assistance & increased education opportunities for children who grew up in care.
- Provide support for post-secondary distance learning for rural & remote students.
In government, New Democrats will ensure that every child is provided a safe place to learn and an opportunity to succeed, whether on or off reserve. We will implement Shannen’s Dream of equitable access to education, backed by federal investments and infrastructure, so no student will be forced to learn in dangerous environments, as we have witnessed in Kashechewan First Nation.
Recognizing that barriers to post-secondary education and training continue, we will support Indigenous youth and help them bridge the gap to post-secondary education through expanded financial assistance and increased educational opportunities for children who grew up in care, and distance education for rural and remote students.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Green
- Ensure access to quality educational opportunities based on expressed cultural, political, & social priorities of Indigenous governments, following meaningful consultation.
- Support developing Indigenous education curricula that are language & culture-specific.
- Remove the 2% funding gap for post-secondary education.
- Support & sustain the transmission, proliferation, & regeneration of Indigenous cultural works & languages.
4. Ensure access to quality education for every First Nations, Métis Nation, and Inuit child.
● Ensure that every First Nations, Métis and Inuit child has access to quality educational opportunities based on the expressed cultural, political and social priorities of the First Nations, Métis and Inuit governments, following meaningful consultation.
● Support the development of Indigenous education curricula that are language and culture-specific.
● Increase access to post-secondary education for Indigenous youth by removing the two per cent funding cap, as well as fully funding the program backlog.
● Support and sustain the transmission, proliferation, and regeneration of Indigenous cultural works and languages.
● Educate non-Indigenous Canadians on the histories, customs, traditions and cultures of the First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples of Turtle Island.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
Indigenous Health
Liberal
Fully implement Joyce’s Principle and ensure it guides our work in co-developing distinctions-based Indigenous Health legislation to foster health systems free from racism and discrimination where Indigenous peoples are respected and safe.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
NDP
- Close the health gap in Indigenous communities.
- Support health self-determination.
- Implement Joyce's Principle.
- Invest in Indigenous healthcare infrastructure, supplies, & diagnostic equipment.
- Build a treatment centre for residents affected by long-term mercury exposure.
- Compensate families affected by mercury poisoning in Grassy Narrows.
- Support food sovereignty.
- Reform Nutrition North.
Joyce’s Principle will be the basis for a new approach to tackling systemic racism in health care under a New Democrat government. This principle is named for Joyce Echaquan, an Atikamekw woman who died tragically in hospital after suffering racist care. Joyce's Principle demands that all Indigenous people have an equal right to the highest standard of physical and mental health, with a right to access traditional medicines.
We will make sure that people can get the treatment they need in their community through investments in Indigenous health care infrastructure, medical supplies and diagnostic equipment. We will work in partnership with Indigenous communities to improve access to mental health and addiction treatment services both on and off reserve – including an evidence-based action plan to prevent suicide, backed by dedicated federal resources, fully implementing the New Democrat motion on suicide prevention passed by the House of Commons.
A New Democrat government will also work with communities and care providers to ensure that Indigenous-led, culturally appropriate home care and long-term care is available for Elders, in their home communities and languages.
We will support Indigenous food sovereignty, and reform the Nutrition North program to improve families’ access to food, including country and traditional food. New Democrats will work with northerners to turn Nutrition North into a social program that benefits communities in the North directly, rather than simply subsidizing companies.
Finally, we will build a treatment centre for residents affected by long-term mercury exposure and compensate families affected by the inter-generational problem of mercury poisoning in Grassy Narrows.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Green
- Uphold Jordan's Principle in full.
- Support First Nations, Métis, & Inuit in rebuilding traditional knowledge systems around healing & wellness, including formally including traditional healing within mental wellness & home & community care programmes.
- Devote sufficient resources for maternal & infant care.
- Expand access to non-insured health benefits to all Indigenous people, regardless of Status, residency, membership.
● Uphold Jordan’s Principle in full, ensuring Indigenous Peoples receive the health care they need without being delayed by bureaucratic disagreements over jurisdiction.
● Implement Calls to Action 18-24 from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, improving health care for Indigenous Peoples.
● Support First Nations, Métis and Inuit in (re)building traditional knowledge systems around healing and wellness, including the formal inclusion of traditional healing within mental wellness and home and community care programs. This process must be led by First Nations, Métis Nation and Inuit organizations.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
● Support healthcare services that incorporate traditional practices and recognize the role of extended families and elders.
● Devote sufficient resources for maternal and infant care, and culturally appropriate reproductive health services that uphold reproductive autonomy.
● Increase investments in Indigenous-led mental health (See “Life with Dignity - Expanded and enhanced mental health support”)
● Sustain the Aboriginal Health Human Resources Initiative to continue capacity building in the healthcare profession for Indigenous communities.
● Expand access to non-insured health benefits (NIHB) to all Indigenous people, regardless of Status, residency, membership or any other factors.
● Ensure that compensation funds are made available to the spouses and families of all Aboriginal veterans.
● Allocate dedicated funding to support communities providing culturally appropriate home and community care for seniors, ensuring that Elders remain connected to their communities and culture.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
Indigenous Housing
Liberal
- Invest $2B more in Indigenous housing w/ over half available by next summer.
- Work w/ Indigenous partners to develop an Urban, Rural, & Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy, with dedicated investments.
- Work w/ Indigenous partners to create a National Indigenous Housing Centre w/ Indigenous people overseeing federal Indigenous housing programmes.
- Make additional investments in Indigenous housing.
Work with Indigenous partners to co-develop an Urban, Rural, and Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy and support this strategy with dedicated investments.
Work with Indigenous partners to create a National Indigenous Housing Centre with Indigenous people overseeing federal Indigenous housing programs once fully realized.
Make additional investments in First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Nation housing, as we continue to work towards meeting our 2030 commitment on closing the gaps for Indigenous Infrastructure.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Invest a further $2 billion in Indigenous housing for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Nation, with over half of the funding available by the upcoming summer construction period.
Co-develop a new Indigenous Urban, Rural, and Northern Housing Strategy with Indigenous partners and organizations that will be a stand-alone companion to the National Housing Strategy, supported by a $300 million initial investment.
Co-develop and fund Canada’s first-ever National Indigenous Housing Centre, through which Indigenous people will fully oversee federal Indigenous housing programs once fully realized.
Continue to support the establishment of Indigenous-led institutions in housing and infrastructure, such as the First Nations Infrastructure Institute, that assists First Nations with their infrastructure needs.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
NDP
- Work with Indigenous communities to implement a co-developed, fully-funded Indigenous National Housing Strategy within 100 days of assuming office.
- Address the mould crisis.
New Democrats will address the Indigenous housing crisis and put an end to chronic overcrowding and long-wait lists by working with Indigenous communities to implement co-developed, fully funded Indigenous National Housing Strategy within our first 100 days in office. This innovative, ground-up strategy will mean sustainable and dedicated funding to meet the needs of Indigenous peoples, whether in urban, rural or remote communities.
We believe that the federal government must immediately step up to tackle the mold crisis affecting tens of thousands of homes, and provide support for First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples to ensure that their homes are safe and healthy. We will also ensure that Indigenous communities have the resources to make homes greener and more energy efficient, working to keep the benefits of good jobs, training and investment close to home.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Green
- Allow Indigenous organisations to access financing through CMHC for self-determined housing needs.
- Allocate funding toward urban Indigenous housing providers.
- Develop & implement an Urban, Rural, & Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy.
- Transfer federal lands & property to off-reserve Indigenous organisations to create housing.
- Establish a For Indigenous, By Indigenous housing support program.
1. Guided by First Nations, Inuit and Metis Nation, develop inclusive and culturally appropriate Urban Indigenous Housing Strategies - for Indigenous Peoples and by Indigenous Peoples - as proposed by the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association’s Indigenous Caucus.
2. Reinvest in housing for Indigenous communities
● Change the legislation that prevents Indigenous organizations from accessing financing through CMHC to invest in self-determined housing needs.
● Allocate funding towards urban Indigenous housing providers.
● Develop and implement an Urban, Rural, and Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy.
● Ensure that all housing in Indigenous communities is built following principles laid out in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
● Leverage federal lands and real property for transfer to off-reserve Indigenous organizations to create housing and economic development opportunities.
● Assist urban and rural Indigenous people in identifying emergency accommodations and affordable housing options for youth, Elders, 2SLGBTQQIA+, and vulnerable populations.
● Establish a “For Indigenous, By Indigenous” housing support program for all off-reserve and urban Indigenous communities, and include off-reserve Status and non-Status Indigenous Peoples.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
Mental Health
Liberal
Commit an additional $1.4 billion for a distinctions- based mental health and wellness strategy with First Nations, Inuit, and the Métis Nation, expanding on our recent commitment of $597.6 million, for a total investment of $2 billion over five years.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Conservative
- Provide $1B over 5 years to boost funding for Indigenous mental health and drug treatment programs.
- Support innovative approaches, such as land-based treatment programs and programs delivered in Indigenous languages.
• Provide $1 billion over five years to boost funding for Indigenous mental health and drug treatment programs.
• Support innovative approaches to address the crises of mental health and addiction, such as land-based treatment programs and programs delivered in Indigenous languages.
• Support the development of mental health and drug treatment programs by Indigenous people to develop capacity at the community level and allow for the delivery of culturally appropriate programs delivered in the appropriate Indigenous language.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
NDP
- Work in partnership with Indigenous communities to improve access to mental health & addiction treatment services both on & off reserve, including an evidence-based action plan to prevent suicide.
- Dedicate federal resources.
We will work in partnership with Indigenous communities to improve access to mental health and addiction treatment services both on and off reserve – including an evidence-based action plan to prevent suicide, backed by dedicated federal resources, fully implementing the New Democrat motion on suicide prevention passed by the House of Commons.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Green
- Increase support for Indigenous-led, culturally safe, mental health programs & services.
- Ensure all programming is guided by the First Nations Mental Wellness Continuum Framework.
- Establish permanent funding for land-based, trauma-informed, community addictions care for Indigenous peoples.
- Double the Aboriginal Health Human Resources Initiative's budget.
2. Increase investments in Indigenous-led mental health
● Increased support for Indigenous-led, culturally safe, mental health programs and services, rooted in Indigenous healing practices, land-based healing and the principle of self-determination.
● Ensure all programming is guided by the First Nations Mental Wellness Continuum Framework.
● Establish permanent program funding for the delivery of land-based, trauma-informed, community addictions care for Indigenous peoples.
● Increase targeted investment in the mental health workforce serving Indigenous communities.
● Double the current budget of the Aboriginal Health Human Resources Initiative.
● Take active steps to implement Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action, specifically those related to mental health.
3. Support First Nations, Métis and Inuit in (re)building traditional knowledge systems around healing and wellness
● Incorporate the formal inclusion of traditional healing within mental wellness and home and community care programs.
● Ensure this process is led by First Nations, Métis Nation and Inuit organizations.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls
Liberal
- Accelerate implementation of the Federal Pathway to Address Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People with Indigenous partners.
- Create a standing Federal-Provincial-Territorial table on Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, & 2SLGBTQQIA+ People to facilitate & coordinate this work.
Accelerate the implementation of the Federal Pathway to Address Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People with Indigenous partners.
Accelerate our work with all partners in our collective and shared priorities in the 2021 National Action Plan.
Create a standing Federal-Provincial-Territorial table on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People to facilitate and coordinate this work.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
NDP
- Work with Indigenous women, the families of the missing & murdered, & Indigenous communities to implement the Calls for Justice from the National Inquiry into Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls.
- Establish a comprehensive plan to address violence against Indigenous women, girls, & LGBTQI2S+ People.
- Ensure full gender equality for First Nations status.
The report from the National Inquiry must not sit on a shelf. New Democrats will work in partnership with Indigenous women, the families of the missing and murdered, and communities to implement the Inquiry’s Calls for Justice and the calls to action brought forward by communities. This includes establishing a comprehensive, plan to address violence against Indigenous women, girls and LGBTQI2S+ People — ensuring that all those fleeing violence have access to culturally appropriate programming, emergency shelters and transitional housing.
We believe it’s wrong that Indigenous women, and their children, still do not have equal status rights — including the right to pass on the ability to qualify for Indian status registration. Successive Conservative and Liberal governments have failed to fix this gross inequality. New Democrats will act to ensure full gender equality for First Nations status as a matter of priority, consistent with Canadian and international court rulings.
New Democrats acknowledge that respect for Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit people must be made real by ensuring equitable access and self- determination over land, culture, language, housing, child care, income security, employment, education, and physical, mental, sexual, and spiritual health.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Green
Natural Resources Development
Conservative
- Work with Indigenous-led organisations to support Indigenous communities partnering on projects.
- Guarantee loans to Indigenous groups to invest in projects, based on the Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation.
- Provide $5B for investment in projects.
- Provide $10M/y to foster collaboration w/ Indigenous groups.
- Require govt. to consult with Indigenous communities before cancelling projects.
Work with First Nations and other Indigenous groups to ensure they are partners in prosperity and the development of our natural resources by creating a Canadian Indigenous Enterprise Corporation.
° Based on the Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation, it will apply rigorous market analysis to guarantee loans to Indigenous groups so they can invest in natural resource projects and related infrastructure.
° We will provide an initial $5 billion of capital for investment in projects.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
To promote mutually beneficial conversations between Indigenous communities and resource project proponents, we will provide $10 million per year to organizations that foster collaboration and encourage partnerships between these two groups.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
• Working with Indigenous-led organizations, such as the First Nations Major Project Coalition, the Indigenous Resource Network, the Indian Resource Council, the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business, the Council for the Advancement of Native Development Officers, the National Coalition of Chiefs, and First Nations LNG Alliance, to support communities that wish to become partners in good projects that meet high environmental standards.
• Creating the Canadian Indigenous Opportunities Corporation that will support First Nations and Inuit organizations seeking to purchase an equity stake in major projects.
° Based on the Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation, it will apply rigorous market analysis to guarantee loans to Indigenous groups so they can invest in natural resource and infrastructure projects.
° We will provide an initial $5 billion of capital for investment in projects across the country.
• Requiring future governments to consult with Indigenous Communities before cancelling approved projects when they have signed or are negotiating benefit agreements or partnerships.
• Implementing Article 18 of UNDRIP by working with First Nations to develop a transparent process that communities can use to identify who represents them in consultations if it is to be someone other than elected Chiefs.
• Working with First Nations and other Indigenous rights holders to develop a consultation process that allows for more meaningful dialogue.
• Creating a streamlined environmental review process for major projects that partner with First Nations during the environmental assessment phase.
° This will encourage early partnerships, allow the incorporation of traditional knowledge, and build confidence in the assessment process.
° For clarity, such agreements will not be prejudicial to First Nations consultation.
• Supporting Indigenous Protected Areas that safeguard culturally significant areas without alienating future benefits that may accrue to the impacted Indigenous community if used in a way that maintains those safeguards.
° Support an Indigenous Guardians program that will support communities in developing and maintaining protected areas, among other things.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
On-Reserve Funding
NDP
Policing & the Justice System
NDP
- Remove most mandatory minimum sentences.
- Increase the discretion of judges during sentencing.
- Ensure bail programmes are culturally appropriate.
- Increase funding for community justice programmes focused on healing & restorative justice.
- Uphold use of Gladue principles.
- Develop a First Nations justice & policing strategy.
- Take steps to end discriminatory policing practices.
New Democrats believe government must work to end systemic discrimination against Indigenous peoples in the justice system. In accordance with Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action 30, 31 and 32, we will remove most mandatory minimums, increase the discretion of judges during sentencing, ensure bail programs are culturally appropriate, bolster funding for community justice programs that focus on healing and restorative justice rather than incarceration, and uphold the use of Gladue principles in court proceedings.
We will work with Indigenous communities to enhance community safety and develop a First Nations justice and policing strategy. We will make First Nations Policing an essential service with long term, sufficient and equitable funding, while taking steps to end discriminatory policing practices like carding. New Democrats also believe that Inuit should have control over policing in their own communities, and we will allow the Inuit to independently oversee policing in Nunavut. We will also work with the Inuit to develop a long-term strategy for recruiting and retaining Inuit and Inuktitut speakers to work in community safety roles.
A New Democrat government will uphold and strengthen the Directive on Civil Litigation Involving Indigenous Peoples that puts an end to costly and adversarial legal battles with Indigenous communities. We will also keep residential school Survivors at the heart of decisions around justice for their experiences, ensuring fair compensation for St. Anne's residential school Survivors, Métis Survivors, and those who survived abuse in day schools.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Reconciliation
Liberal
- Provide funding towards the construction of a permanent home for the National Centre for Truth & Reconciliation.
- Provide sustained financial support for the Centre for core operations.
Provide funding towards the construction of a permanent home for the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.
Provide sustained financial support for the Centre for core operations in fulfilling the mandate issued by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission with dedicated support for the work on Missing Children and Unmarked Graves.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
We will also continue to accelerate implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
NDP
- Work in partnership with Indigenous peoples to fully implement UNDRIP & the Truth & Reconciliation Commission's 94 Calls to Action.
- Co-develop a National Action Plan for Reconciliation.
- Establish a National Council for Reconciliation.
- Replace consultation with a standard of free, prior, & informed consent.
- Respect treaties.
- Ensure funds for commemorating a National Day for Truth & Reconciliation.
In partnership with Indigenous peoples, a New Democrat government will fully implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action.
New Democrats will work with Indigenous peoples to co-develop a National Action Plan for Reconciliation, drawing directly from the Calls to Action and the Declaration to ensure that Canada’s laws, policies, and practices are consistent with Canada’s human rights commitments – including cultural rights, land rights, and rights to self-determination and self-government.
Through legislation, we will establish a National Council for Reconciliation to provide oversight and accountability for this process, reporting regularly to Parliament and Canadians.
A New Democrat government will replace mere consultation with a standard of free, prior and informed consent for Indigenous communities affected by government policies – including for all decisions affecting constitutionally protected land rights, like energy project reviews. We are committed to good-faith, consent-based engagement and negotiations consistent with the Tsilhqot’in decision, an approach that honours Canada’s legal and constitutional obligations.
We will recognize and respect treaties, supporting Indigenous Nations who are building and re-building their governance structures.
We will also respect Inuit self-determination by co-developing the federal government’s Arctic Policy Framework through shared governance within the Inuit- Crown Partnership Committee, including through the adoption of an Inuit Nunangat policy in full partnership with Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. We will support the economic and social self-reliance of Inuit by addressing the massive infrastructure deficit in Northern communities, including housing, access to high-speed broadband, and airports, and ensuring that federal election ballots include Indigenous languages like Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun.
New Democrats recognize Métis self-determination and in government, we will respect the path forward established by the Métis National Council and its governing members. We will pursue government-to-government negotiations on issues including self-government, education, housing and health.
A New Democrat government will work in partnership with Indigenous communities across the country to help protect and revitalize the incredible diversity of Indigenous languages in Canada with new legislation and stable funding. In response to Truth and Reconciliation Commission Call to Action 80, we will ensure there are funds to communities to commemorate a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to acknowledge the painful legacy of colonization, honour the Survivors of residential schools, and help communities across Canada commit to meaningful reconciliation.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
And we believe that all Canadians should be aware of the contributions and history of Indigenous peoples and understand the legacy of residential schools. We will work with the provinces to establish Indigenous history education programs for all Canadians, based on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action 62 and 63 – and ensure that the development and implementation of these programs are led by Indigenous peoples.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Residential Schools
Liberal
- Build a national monument in Ottawa to honour residential school survivors & victims.
- Work with Indigenous partners to appoint a Special Interlocutor to work with governments & Indigenous communities to develop a legal & regulatory framework for justice regarding unmarked graves & make recommendations.
- Provide support for communities doing burial searches at former Day Schools & Indian Hospitals.
Continue work to build a national monument in Ottawa to honour residential school survivors and all the children who were taken from their families and communities.
Move forward on work with Indigenous partners to appoint a Special Interlocutor who will work with Indigenous communities, provincial and territorial governments, to develop the necessary legal and regulatory framework to advance justice regarding unmarked graves and make recommendations relating to federal laws, regulations, policies, and practices surrounding unmarked and undocumented graves and burial sites at residential schools.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Provide the necessary supports for communities who wish to continue to undertake the work of burial searches at the former sites of these institutions.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Conservative
- Develop a comprehensive plan to implement TRC Calls to Action 71 through 76.
- Fund investigations at all former residential schools with unmarked graves.
- Develop a detailed set of resources to educate Canadians of all ages about residential schools.
- Build a national monument.
Develop a comprehensive plan to implement TRC Calls to Action 71 through 76.
Fund the investigation at all former residential schools in Canada where unmarked graves may exist, including the sites where children have already been discovered.
Ensure that proper resources are allocated for communities to reinter, commemorate, and honour any individuals discovered through the investigation, according to the wishes of their next of kin.
Develop a detailed and thorough set of resources to educate Canadians of all ages on the tragic history of residential schools in Canada.
Build a national monument in Ottawa that honours residential school survivors and all the children who were lost.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
NDP
- Fund the search for grave sites at former residential schools.
- Fund the maintenance, commemoration, reburial, & protection of residential school cemeteries according to the wishes of Indigenous families, Survivors, & communities.
- Establish memorials.
- Appoint a special prosecutor to pursue those involved in residential schools.
- Require churches & governments to hand over records.
- Fund healing.
A New Democrat government will fully fund the search for grave sites at former residential schools, as well as the maintenance, commemoration, reburial and protection of residential school cemeteries according to the wishes of Indigenous families, residential school Survivors and communities. We will also work with nations and Survivors to establish memorials to those lost to residential schools.
In order for there to be reconciliation, New Democrats recognize that there must also be truth, accountability and justice. We will ensure the appointment of a special prosecutor to pursue those who inflicted great harm on Indigenous children in Canada’s residential school system. We will require that churches and governments hand over any and all records that could be helpful in identifying the children who lay buried in unmarked graves, or in finding individuals who were involved in their deaths.
Finally, recognizing the need for special supports to address the inter-generational impacts of colonialism and residential schools, a New Democrat government will support and fully fund community-driven solutions for healing, including projects similar to the former “Aboriginal Healing Foundation”.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
And we believe that all Canadians should be aware of the contributions and history of Indigenous peoples and understand the legacy of residential schools. We will work with the provinces to establish Indigenous history education programs for all Canadians, based on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action 62 and 63 – and ensure that the development and implementation of these programs are led by Indigenous peoples.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Green
- Provide sustainable funding for new & existing Indigenous Healing Centres to address the harms caused by residential schools.
- Honour the TRC request for funding for work on the Missing Children & Unmarked Burials Project.
- Call on the Pope to apologise on behalf of the Catholic Church for its involvement in residential schools.
Self-Determination
Liberal
- Support Indigenous-led processes to rebuild & reconstitute nations, advance self-determination, & implement treaties, & land claim & self-government agreements with oversight mechanisms to hold the federal government accountable.
- Support First Nations-led processes to transition away from the Indian Act.
- Support & fund the revitalisation of Indigenous laws, legal systems, & traditions.
Continue to support Indigenous-led processes for rebuilding and reconstituting nations, advancing self- determination and work in partnership on implementation of treaties, land claim and self-government agreements with appropriate oversight mechanisms to hold the federal government accountable.
Continue to support First Nations-led processes to transition away from the Indian Act.
Accelerate resolution of outstanding land claims.
Continue to advance the priorities of Indigenous communities to reclaim full jurisdiction in the areas that matter to them such as child and family services, education, health care, policing, tax, and the administration of justice.
Further support and fund the revitalization of Indigenous laws, legal systems, and traditions.
Host a First Ministers Meeting on First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Nation priorities.
— Forward. For Everyone., retrieved 2021-09-02
Conservative
- Train young Indigenous leaders, including through the Institute of Corporate Directors.
- Allow the First Nations Finance Authority to monetise government funding.
- Consult with First Nations to overhaul current funding models, with the goal of making it easier for First Nations to escape Third-Party Management, reduce red tape, and better incentives for moving towards block funding.
• Increase Indigenous governance capacity by training young Indigenous leaders including through the Institute of Corporate Directors.
• Empower the First Nations Finance Authority to monetize government funding, leveraging the market to supercharge First Nations infrastructure.
• Remain open to exploring innovative new models to fund and deliver social services and critical infrastructure.
• Develop, in collaboration with Indigenous groups, a National Action Plan that addresses violence against Indigenous women and girls.
• Consult with First Nations on overhauling the current funding models, with the goal of making it easier for First Nations to escape Third-Party Management, reducing red tape, and providing a clearer path with better incentives for moving towards block funding.
— Canada's Recovery Plan, retrieved 2021-08-18
NDP
- Co-develop a National Action Plan for Reconciliation, including ensuring rights to self-determination & self-government.
- Support Inuit self-determination.
- Recognise Métis self-determination & pursue government-to-government negotiations on issues.
We will also respect Inuit self-determination by co-developing the federal government’s Arctic Policy Framework through shared governance within the Inuit-Crown Partnership Committee, including through the adoption of an Inuit Nunangat policy in full partnership with Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. We will support the economic and social self-reliance of Inuit by addressing the massive infrastructure deficit in Northern communities, including housing, access to high-speed broadband, and airports, and ensuring that federal election ballots include Indigenous languages like Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun.
New Democrats recognize Métis self-determination and in government, we will respect the path forward established by the Métis National Council and its governing members. We will pursue government-to-government negotiations on issues including self-government, education, housing and health.
— Ready for Better, retrieved 2021-08-27
Green
- Formally repudiate the doctrines of terra nullius, discovery, & others of superiority.
- Establish a process to transition from the Indian Act, based on free, prior, & informed consent.
- Implement the recommendations of the 1996 Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.
- Work with Indigenous Peoples & their governing institutions on a nation-to-nation basis.
- Recognise the rights of non-status & Métis as Indigenous.
1. Formally repudiate the doctrine of terra nullius, the doctrine of discovery, and other doctrines of superiority.
2. Guided by Indigenous leadership, establish a process to transition out from under the Indian Act.
● With Indigenous leaders at the helm, establish processes for self-governing Indigenous Peoples and nations to transition out from under the Indian Act, grounding this in the doctrine of free, prior, and informed consent.
3. Implement the recommendations of the 1996 Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.
4. Affirm the inherent right of First Nations, Inuit and Métis Nation to determine child and family services.
● Support kinship ties and ensure sufficient funding and resources so that families are kept together.
5. Work with First Nations, the Métis Nation, and Inuit and their governing institutions on a nation-to-nation basis.
● Advance and implement agreements, and work in collaboration with nations to co-develop and co-design policy and programs that will benefit First Nations, Métis Nation, and Inuit.
6. Recognize the rights of non-status and Métis as “Indigenous.”
● Accept CAP-Daniels recognition of non-Status and Métis as “Indigenous”
● Accept UNDRIP recognition of the rights that Indigenous people possess, applying equally to all Indigenous people regardless of distinction, residence or status.
● Work towards the settlement of community land and resource rights for Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CAP) communities
● Respect and act on 2018 CAP-Canada Political Accord
● Include off-reserve Status, non-Status, Métis and Southern Inuit in the implementation of calls to action in Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP), Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), and National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls & 2SLGBTQQIA+.
— Be Daring., retrieved 2021-09-11
3. Build community capacity to support exercising self-determination.
● Support self-determination with effective, fully-funded organizations to represent and provide services to communities by expanding Basic Organizational Capacity (BOC) funding for Indigenous representative organizations.
● Representation of youth, Elders, 2SLGBTQQIA+, and distinct identities among off-reserve Indigenous people must be adequately funded to ensure those perspectives are included.
● Support research and identification of off-reserve Indigenous communities across Canada, with registration and membership systems.
○ Support the application of trusted research and data on urban Indigenous populations to acknowledge under-c