The short-term impact of Canada's budget will be small

Significance

The budget keeps the deficit just inside prescribed limits despite an increase in new spending, by stepping up measures to boost revenue. Initiatives designed to target the housing access and cost-of-living anxieties of voters under 40 indicate the importance that the governing Liberal party now puts on retaining the support of this age cohort.

Impacts

• The budget may win back some disaffected younger voters to the Liberals, but a broader voter shift to the Conservatives will continue.
• The government’s proposed housing measures will have little impact on the housing crisis in terms of adding new homes.
• New defence spending is marginal and does not represent an upgrade in capabilities for Canada’s armed forces.
• Indigenous reconciliation is no longer a high priority for the government, with the budget providing little in the way of new commitments.