David Macdonald

Budget cuts are about to wreck Canada’s immigration system - CCPA Crunching the numbers on the announced cuts at Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada shows a bloodbath in the making

This is just a single department and this is going to be happening across almost all fed departments, more details to come. There is much more in our full analysis at www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...

Finally IRCC has slashed its staff by between 2,000 and 3.000 people starting in early 2025. Those staff had managed to get backlogs under control in 2023 and 2024, most application streams on track. But with so many fewer staff application backlogs are blowing up again. 5/x

In several big cities roughly half of the homeless pop is actually just asylum seekers. The cities pick up the tab and the feds re-imburse them...or they did. The feds are now cancelling that program to "save" money, but its really just cost downloading that onto four cities 4/x

We're going to accept about 5% more new Canadians in the next 3 years because of their skills, but now we're going to slash the integration supports by 30%. The Settlement Program helps them get jobs and use their skills to benefit us all. 3/x

The biggest efficiency "savings" is actually about cutting refugee and asylum seeker health care. People with nothing aren't going pay 1/4 billion a year, instead they'll avoid treatment making the situation worst 2/x www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...

Today we're revealing the cuts plans for our immigration system from Budget 2025. TLDR: These aren't efficiency savings they are major services cuts and cost downloads to cities poised to wreck our immigration system. @policyalternatives.ca 1/x

Yes exactly. If the corporate sector is only passing on higher prices along the supply chain, you wouldn't see margins increase ... but you are seeing margins increase which means that costs are being passed along and part of the higher prices is being scooped as profits

Things like tariffs can be very bad for corporate profits, but much higher prices on everything combined with higher margins are what is driving the record high dollar profits in 2025.

One if the big reasons for this is that corporate margins are just much higher than they used to be, hitting on average 10.3% in 2025, just like the inflation/profit hey days of 2021-22. The "ordinary" margins we see now would have been extremes pre-pandemic

Corporate profits hit a new all time high of $676 bil in 2025, besting the previous 2022 record www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quo... @policyalternatives.ca

Today we uncovered that just under half of the budget 2025 cuts at Dept immigration, refugees and citizenship are just cuts to dental and prescription coverage for asylum seekers. Read about it in the @ottawacitizen.com or the full @policyalternatives.ca www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...

Ahh, I think he's doing it to fund defence which is seeing its budget double while everyone else's is being cut.

Great article in the @theglobeandmail.com this morning that I'm quoted in. It's looking at the self-inflicted job losses in Ottawa www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art... @policyalternatives.ca @jasonkirby.bsky.social

Today I'm appearing before the Senate committee on finance about the upper income tax cut that the middle class happens to see a small benefit from. Here is my full analysis www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc... @policyalternatives.ca

Research Assistant - 4 Month Term Research Assistant Research · Ottawa, Ontario The Organization: The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) is an independent, non-partisan research institute concerned with issues of social, ...

We just put up the application for this summer's progressive economics fellowship. Its a paid 4 month term to work with me at @policyalternatives.ca and 100 other progressive policy experts to create this year's Alternative Federal Budget. Apply now: ccpa.bamboohr.com/careers/48

Yeah definitely some of the folks losing their jobs will move to dnd as their budgets for everything explode

My preliminary take on the new stats on federal job job cuts . Which depts and services could be hit hardest? There's plenty more analysis to come @policyalternatives.ca

New research out today from @policyalternatives.ca on the groceries and essential benefit. Read the full details at www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...

Interesting to see that HALF of all econo activity in Canada is just gvts providing: health care, education, infrastructure, pensions. The other half is the private sector selling things. Cuts to govts are cuts to GDP growth...shocking ;) @policyalternatives.ca
www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quo...

Budget cuts by stealth: Letting programs “sunset” to cut costs won’t be painless - CCPA The feds will quietly “sunset” programs as part of their cost-cutting in the November 4, 2025 budget. Quiet cuts can still hurt.

If folks are interested, here's the full write up with a detailed list of over 120 programs that will "sunset" in the coming years putting them at real risk of being lost: www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...

Social programs could be 'sunset' along with jobs of public servants who administer them: analysis The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives estimates that 52 of 88 departments and agencies will "sunset" programs.

Some great coverage on my latest analysis of what programs may be lost due to the 15% fed program cuts in the @ottawacitizen.com : ottawacitizen.com/public-servi... @policyalternatives.ca

Alternative federal budget 2026: Building true Canadian sovereignty - CCPA What true Canadian sovereignty and independence might look like when the public good is at the heart of budgetary planning

Budget are about choices. We don't have to choose these cuts, we can choose to invest in Canadian priorities instead. Today our Alternative Federal Budget includes 100s of costed programs we should be choosing: www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc... 7/x

Budget cuts by stealth: Letting programs “sunset” to cut costs won’t be painless - CCPA The feds will quietly “sunset” programs as part of their cost-cutting in the November 4, 2025 budget. Quiet cuts can still hurt.

Read the full details about what we'll be losing: www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc... 6/x

So what's at risk? We've compiled over 120 programs that are going to sunset in the next three years. Many climate change programs, women fleeing violence, airline complaints resolution, student jobs programs are at risk 5/x

One of the ways depts will get to their 15% cut target will be to just sit on their hands and let programs sunset and not get renewed. It will be an accident of timing of what will be lost 4/x

Table 1: Proportion of expenditures that sunset by department | Created with Datawrapper Departments have to cut 15 per cent of expenditure. Many departments have far more than that in sunsetting programs in the next three years.

Depts of Women & Gender, Transport & environment the majority of programs are sunsetting in next 3 yrs. Although you can see the full list here: www.datawrapper.de/_/Ee4AB/ 3/x

Many fed programs aren't permanent, they have to be renewed every few years. Over the next 3yrs, almost no programs will be renewed due to the 15% cuts. This "sunsetting" affects some depts more than others. 2/x

Budgets are meant to be good news docs. This one will downplay all that will be lost with 15% cuts in most depts. We've scoured dept docs to identify programs likely to be "sunset" and the 52 depts likely to use this strategy @policyalternatives.ca 🧵👇👇👇

We set it at 5km radius in urban areas or 10km in rural. That's about 2 to 3 times further than the closest public school so its a generous "nearby"

Cash cow: Assessing child care space creation progress - CCPA Canada’s $10-a-day child care program isn't creating enough spaces to meet demand and isn't doing enough to make sure that new spaces are non-profit

Read the full report here: www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...