Election 2025: Canada Strikes Back?

This story was originally published in the TLDR newsletter, before the Conservatives had released their fully costed platform. You can read coverage of it here.

Why is Canada’s favourite (we are your favourite, right?) financial outlet devoting a full feature to … politics? Well, consider the state of this election — consider the state of Canada. Just a few months ago, the main issue on Canadians’ minds was the housing crisis, and the incumbent Liberals looked bound for a bruising election. Then: plummeting stock markets. A global trade war. Trump blustering about annexing Canada by force. Thanks to all this drama, the election has shaped up far differently than any of us guessed. And though it’s a cliché that every election is about the economy — well, this one is really about the economy.

We created this special feature not to tell you who to vote for but to outline how each major party plans to meet this moment, so you’re well-informed as you head to the polls on April 28. To do that, we started by asking you what your top money priorities are, then we pored through the candidates’ speeches, interviews, and policy platforms to figure out where each stands. 

The campaign so far can be summed up in a single chart:

Now let’s talk about the issues. This time last year, federal politics centred almost entirely on housing. Now, readers tell us their worries have broadened. Below, we’ve rounded up the top pledges each party has made to address some of Canada’s biggest financial concerns. Many parties share similar positions — like wanting to provide additional funds for apprenticeship training, and to upgrade highways and railways for trade — so we tried to highlight novel ideas each group is promoting.

BIG ISSUE #1: 💰 Affordability 

All the major parties (or, well, almost all of them) seem to agree that one thing will help bring down Canada’s painfully high cost of living: cutting taxes!

Conservatives: 

• Cut income taxes by 2.25% for the lowest tax bracket (between $16,000 and $57,000 a year). That’ll save the average two-income family about $1,800 a year. Annual cost in federal tax revenue: $7 billion to $14 billion. 

• Defer capital-gains tax if proceeds are reinvested in Canadian companies between July 2025 and December 2026.

• Allow Canadians to invest an additional $5,000 annually into their TFSAs if they invest that money in Canadian companies. 

Liberals: 

• Cut income taxes by 1% for the lowest tax bracket. Annual savings for an average two-income family: about $825. Annual cost in federal tax revenue: $5.9 billion. 

• Expand the National School Food Program to reach more children and develop a food-security plan for Northern communities. 

• Reform the Disability Tax Credit application process, and look at expanding eligibility.

NDP:

• Eliminate income taxes on all earnings below $19,500, and lower the untaxed amount for Canadians who earn more than $253,414 (meaning Canadians who earn more than that will pay more). Annual savings for an average two-income family: about $1,450. Annual cost in federal tax revenue: $10 billion.

• Create an “emergency price cap” on grocery staples.

• Waive General Sales Tax (GST) on essentials like diapers, internet service, and home heating.

Greens: 

• Eliminate income taxes on all earnings below $40,000 (the threshold is currently around $16,000). Annual cost in federal tax revenue: $47 billion. (Plus, they’d introduce a guaranteed livable income.) 

• Eliminate tuition for college and university studies.

Bloc Québécois: 

• No big income-tax cuts, because they “aren’t possible” alongside current spending. 

BIG ISSUE #3: 🏠 Housing

Home prices have outpaced wage growth for the past two decades, making Canada one of the most unaffordable places to live in the world. Every party agrees we need more housing supply, fast, but they’re each proposing different strategies to make it a reality:

Conservatives: 

• Scrap GST on all new builds under $1.3 million.

• Cancel $8 billion in previous government housing incentives and instead tie all federal funding to municipal housing starts. (I.e., cities that increase homebuilding by 15% get incentives; those that don’t will lose funding for projects, like transit or roads.) 

• Sell off 15% of government buildings to developers for affordable housing.

Liberals: 

• Spend $35 billion to finance prefabs and affordable housing.

• Build homes on federal land.

• Scrap GST for first-time homebuyers on new builds under $1 million.

NDP: 

• Spend $16 billion to fund non-market and affordable-housing projects.

• Tie provincial infrastructure funding to rules like a Renters’ Bill of Rights, which would introduce rent-control rules and prevent practices like “renovictions.” 

• Ban corporate landlords from buying rental properties. 

Greens: 

• Use rent-hike covenants to ensure public-built homes stay affordable. (I.e., housing costs won’t exceed 30% of a household’s pre-tax income.)

Bloc: 

• Increase the share of affordable housing built nationally to 20% of total housing.

BIG ISSUE #4: 📈 Economic Growth

NOW GO VOTE!

OK! So you feel reasonably informed now, right? We hope so! We wish we had space to cover every last financial issue — we didn’t even touch on the federal debt, for instance — but, if nothing else, we’d like to think this guide serves as a reminder that politics can really, really affect the economy, even if it sometimes seems like politics is just a bunch of empty talk. And your vote actually, truly matters: previous elected Parliaments have created weekends and paid overtime, tax-free savings accounts, and our Charter of Rights and Freedoms. 

If you haven’t voted (a record number of people already have), we recommend checking out Vote Compass’s handy independent tool for comparing your views to each party. 

Written By

Sarah Rieger

Sarah Rieger is a senior news writer for Wealthsimple Media, and co-host of the TLDR podcast. She was previously a reporter at CBC News and editor at HuffPost Canada. You can reach her at srieger@wealthsimple.com.

Written By

Claire Porter Robbins

Claire Porter Robbins is a freelance journalist. She founded Btchcoin News, a financial and economics newsletter, and has written for a variety of publications including The Atlantic, the New Yorker, and The Globe and Mail.