Carney platform promises $130B in new spending, deficits until 2029

Liberal Leader Mark Carney is greeted by supporters prior to departing from Montreal, Friday, April 18, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi

Mark Carney’s plan for Canada includes $130 billion in new spending which will see the country run deficits until at least the fiscal year 2028-2029.

Entitled “Unite, Secure, Protect, Build”-- the platform also commits more than $18 billion of spending on national defence, putting Canada on track to “exceed our NATO target by the year 2030,” according to policy experts who briefed reporters.

Part of those expenditures include new submarines and additional icebreakers for the Royal Canadian Navy, and the purchase of “Canadian-made airborne early warning and control aircraft.”

The billions in new spending over the next four years to support promises outlined in the platform would see the liberals increase Canada’s deficit from a baseline outlined by Canada’s Parliamentary Budget Officer.

The PBO’s baseline indicated a deficit for this fiscal year of $46.8B, equal to 1.47% of Canada’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). That PBO baseline also showed the deficit to GDP ratio would drop to 1% next year and stay under that mark for at least the next two years.

Under a new Liberal government that would no longer be the case, here’s the four year deficit breakdown:

• 2025-26: $62.3B -- > 1.96% of GDP
• 2026-27: $59.9B -- > 1.83% of GDP
• 2027-28: $54.8B -- > 1.61% of GDP
• 2028-29: $47.8B -- > 1.35% of GDP

Carney’s Liberal platform also separates the operating budget from capital spending.

“We will balance the operating budget over the next three years by cutting waste, by eliminating duplication and by deploying technology,” said Carney at a press conference in Whitby, Ontario where he launched his party’s platform.

The Liberal platform does show a $222 million surplus in the operating budget at the end of the four-year term, as promised by Carney. The Liberal leader contends these measures will “grow our economy and offset the impacts of Trump’s tariffs,” according to the Liberal platform document.

“In total our plan over the next five years will create $500 billion dollars in economic value for Canadians,” said Carney today.

$20 billion in revenue from tariffs

The Liberal’s platform also indicates the government expects to generate $20 billion dollars in revenue from Canada’s tariff response. Carney has previously said that money would be used to help support affected businesses and workers.

As the tariff war with the United States looms large over this federal election, U.S. President Donald Trump’s name appears eight times in the Liberal platform, a nod to the persistent threat posed by tariffs from the U.S.

A government led by Mark Carney promises to prioritize Canadian contractors in defence procurement – including the Canadian Aerospace industry. The Liberals also promise to “Establish Buy Canadian” standards for federal infrastructure funding while also maximizing Canadian steel, aluminum, and forestry products.

Carney is also promising to protect Canada’s agriculture industry by promising to exclude all supply-managed sectors out of trade negotiations with the U.S. The Liberals say this will help protect Canadian jobs in those sectors including dairy, poultry, and eggs.

Health care will also see significant investments with $5.4 billion over four years, $4 billion of which will be spent on infrastructure. According to the platform the money will be spent to build hospitals, clinics and renovate community health care infrastructure.

“It’s time to build hospitals so that Canadians have access to the care they need,” says the platform. While health care is a provincial jurisdiction, a Carney government pledges to work with provincial and territorial governments to accelerate the work and “cost-share these investments”.

A Carney-led government promises to also add “thousands of new doctors to Canada’s health care system” by increasing medical school and residency spaces while also building new medical schools.

The Liberals also pledge to work with provinces and territories to streamline the credential recognition system for internally trained doctors and nurses “so that qualified health care professionals already living here can contribute to our health care system,” according to the platform.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh also released his fully costed platform Saturday in British Columbia.

While Pierre Poilievre did present what he called a “New Canada First Economic Action Plan” last week in St. Catharines, Ont., spokesperson for the Conservative party Sam Lilly told CTV News they would be releasing their platform “in the coming days.”

The Conservative Party did post a video of former prime minister Stephen Harper offering an endorsement of Poilievre.

In it, Harper says “the two men running to lead us both worked for me, and my choice, unequivocally, is Pierre Poilievre.”

The current Conservative leader was a minister under Harper and Carney was the governor of the Bank of Canada while Harper was prime minister between 2008 and 2013.

The Bloc Quebecois was the first party to release its full platform five days into the federal election campaign. In it, the separatist party said before ratifying, any text of a free trade agreement should have to face a vote in the House of Commons. The Bloc said it would introduce a private member’s bill demanding such a vote. The policy highlights that it’s necessary with the threats posed by tariffs from the U.S.