Brief: Federal Pre-budget Submission 2025

2025 - 08 - 18

Context and Alignment with Federal Priorities

 

 Prime Minister Mark Carney’s 2025 federal mandate letter underscores a renewed commitment to building a more productive economy and ultimately a stronger Canada. Addressed to his cabinet ministers, it outlines seven priorities for support and change across the country, ranging in focus from the experiences of everyday Canadians to federal institutions and international ties. This encompasses ensuring that Canadians have access to affordable essentials, strengthening skills training, investing in infrastructure, maximizing cross-provincial communication and trade, and fostering international trade.

PERT’s work directly supports this federal vision. As a provincial leader in employment research and programming for Québec’s Official Language Minority Community (OLMC), we understand how local employment support and intervention can drive significant economic contributions and productivity gains.

Recommendations

  • Recommendation 1: That the federal government allocate funding to improve the availability and quality of linguistic labour market data through the Labour Force Survey and Job Vacancy and Wage Survey, with a particular focus on underrepresented communities between census years.
  • Recommendation 2: That the federal government increase investments in community-based research capacity to support organizations serving English-speaking Quebecers in identifying and responding to regional labour market needs.
  • Recommendation 3: That the federal government adopt a holistic and intersectional approach to employability programming, acknowledging the importance of tailored programming that is responsive to the needs of both the population and labour market in question.
  • Recommendation 4: That the federal government enhance communication and coordination with the Government of Québec to ensure the delivery of employment services, including supports to bridge into the Francophone labour market, within a for-us-by-us framework for English-speaking Quebecers.
  • Recommendation 5: That the government develop and invest in a national framework to replicate and scale community-driven employability models that reflect regional realities, mobilize hidden talent pools, and foster collaboration across sectors.