What does Canada’s 2024 Federal Budget mean for young leaders?

Fora: Network for Change’s Advocacy Manager, Tehreem analyzes Canadian Parliament’s 2024 Federal Budget with one important question in mind: What does this budget mean for young women and those marginalized by their gender in Canada?

Through the lens of Fora’s recently published, youth-informed Young Feminist Economy Report, we question the implications of the 2024 Budget on Canada’s potential in building a young feminist economy.

Here are some of our key takeaways:

1. YOUTH EMPOWERMENT AND AFFORDABILTY - We celebrate the many initiatives taken to boost prospects for youth in the current economy and lay the groundwork for future financial independence. The increases to student grants, interest exemptions on student and apprentice loans, and commitments made to increasing youth employability represent significant strides in the right direction.   
   
   Furthermore, we welcome the allocation of funds for training youth in high-performing industries of the future and the commitment of $500 million to youth mental health services. These investments demonstrate a comprehensive understanding and consideration of the various challenges faced by today’s youth.
   
   Additionally, we support the amendment to include housing costs to determine students' financial needs and the strategy to increase student housing supply.  
   
   Our Recommendation: While these are steps taken in the right direction, we must highlight that supports for youth are often directed towards students or those with limited academic portfolios, inadvertently leaving out a significant demographic of young professionals who graduated into a challenging post-pandemic job market.
   
   We strongly urge for resource allocation and development of strategies targeted at assisting these individuals who also need support. 
   

2. ADDRESSING SYSTEMIC DISCRIMINATION - We commend the commitment to combating systemic and social discrimination directed towards members of the 2SLGBTQ+, Jewish, Muslim, and Indigenous communities through investments like the allocation of $12 million to Women and Gender Equality Canada to combat anti-2SLGBTQ+ hate and the $12.5 million allocated to support Indigenous youth-led reconciliation work.
   
   We support investments committed to establishing the Red Dress Alert System and amplify calls from feminist Indigenous organizations for increased funding to protect Indigenous women and reconcile lives lost to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women crisis.  
   
   Our Recommendation: We echo the disappointment expressed by our peers on the lack of new direct funding towards combating gender-based violence in Canada and the disability benefit falling short of what is necessary in the current economic climate. 
   

3. THE CARE ECONOMY – We wish to emphasize the undeniable link between women’s economic empowerment and the care economy. The measures taken to alleviate this burden and streamline support for caregivers are indeed praiseworthy.
   
   The federal commitment to rolling out and expanding childcare support, and commend steps taken to ensure access to contraceptives for all women regardless of financial capacity.  
   
   We also welcome the government’s commitment to hosting a National Sectoral Table on the care economy and stress the importance of involving young caregivers, especially gender-marginalized youth, in the consultation process.
   
   Our Recommendation: Our research found that gender-marginalized young Canadians tasked with stepping into a caregiver role early in their lives are often generalized as dependents and miss out on the support they need. We urge you to consider this vital aspect of support for this demographic. 

We appreciate the meaningful steps Budget 2024 has taken. However, we also feel compelled to express our concern that the feminist sector has seen little to no commitment towards its capacity building, stabilizing, or election proofing.

This lack of support raises concerns about our sector's sustainability and impacts organizations like Fora’s capacity to address roadblocks to gender equity and safeguard Canada from the global backlash against women’s rights, and those of everyone navigating gender-based barriers.