Budget experts warn that the recently passed federal budget is doing no favour for students and younger generations.
The 2025 Federal Budget was tabled by Mark Carney and his minority Liberal government on Nov. 4 in the House of Commons. Later passed on Nov. 17, the Budget’s contains 406-pages outlining the national deficit, new or increased investments, cuts to investments and plans to “build Canada strong.”
The budget introduces a new two-part framework separating day-to-day operating expenses from long-term capital investments. The federal deficit is projected to hit $78 billion this year, with plans to return to balance by 2029–30 through $60 billion in savings over five years.
It includes several funding changes that could impact post-secondary institutions, such as a $1.7 billion investment to recruit international talent, including attracting over 1,000 highly qualified researchers to Canada.
The $1.7 billion investment includes allocating $1 billion over the next 13 years to the Tri-agencies for an “accelerated research Chairs initiative.” Tri–agencies are three federal research funding agencies, including the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
Additional funds will be allocated to the Canada Foundation for Innovation and infrastructure, as well as to support new researchers.
The budget has also set aside $1.5 billion over the next three years for student and youth training and employment, with $600 million allocated to the expansion of the Canadian Summer Jobs program over the next two years.
Besides the increased investment in attracting new talent to universities, the budget includes multiple cuts that directly concern university revenue and students. These cuts include limiting access to the Canada Student Grant in a line item, a detailed entry that breaks down costs, showing each specific expense separately, specifying that the government will provide $1.2 billion in funding this year for the grant, with small reductions implemented annually until 2030.
International study permits have also been cut by 49 per cent in the 2025 budget, with a goal of reducing study permits to 155,000 in 2026, compared to the 305,900 study permits goal in 2025. According to the 2025-26 Queen’s Budget Report, approximately 10 per cent of the University’s operating budget revenue comes from international undergraduate student tuition fees.
In an interview with the Journal, budget expert and Adjunct Professor at the School of Policy Studies, Don Drummond, claimed that the budget fails to deliver meaningful change for students and universities and fails to fully utilize the University’s potential to be a leading player in reshaping Canada and the economy.
“It’s okay. It’s not generational, it’s not profound. It’s incremental,” Drummond continued, “It’s a budget to tread water. It’s keeping in store the potential universities and students could play, but it’s not unleashing it.”
With provincial funding cuts and frozen tuition, Drummond said the financial pressure is forcing universities to increase class sizes, shift to remote learning, and rely more on contract instructors.
“It’s better to pay more and get a better education,” he continued, “getting a lousy education isn’t doing [students] a favour.”
Drummond argued some portions of the budget could positively impact students, such as the $1.7 billion to attract academic talent. However, he said the commitments are vague, lack a clear strategy, and don’t set students or universities up to be leaders in Artificial Intelligence (AI) or infrastructure.
The long-term economic vision of the budget also drew criticism from Drummond, who warned of deteriorating job prospects for students. Citing Canada’s over dependence on U.S. exports and declining public support for immigration, Drummond warned, “we’re in deep trouble,” and that the economic outlook for students now and in the future is bleak.
“We’re [going to] be pessimistic for students, but that doesn’t bode well for the future,” he said.
While some youth-focused initiatives, such as Canadian Summer Jobs and work-integrated learning, saw funding increases, Drummond called the broader fiscal stance unsustainable and unfair to younger generations.
“It’s actually younger people being asked to sacrifice something for older people,” he continued, “that’s the generational part, sadly.”
The Journal reached out to the office of Kingston and the Islands Member of Parliament, Mark Gerresten, but didn’t receive a response in time for publication.
Tags
Budget, Federal Budget 2025, Mark Carney, students
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