Good morning, everyone.

It is a pleasure to be here with colleagues from the National Capital Region.

Thank you, David, and your team at Produce Depot, for welcoming us today.

The rapidly changing world is leaving Canadian families and businesses under a cloud of uncertainty and worry.

Our new government is focused on what we can control.

We’re building a stronger, more resilient Canadian economy – so Canada is less reliant on a single trading partner, and we are more resilient to global shocks.

We’re moving fast and seeing results.

We have already signed 12 trade and security deals on four continents over the last six months to forge reliable partnerships abroad.

We’ve referred 11 projects to the Major Projects Office, worth $116 billion in investment in Canada.

The new Build Communities Strong Fund will build local infrastructure in neighbourhoods across Canada – hospitals, roads, bridges, and transit systems.

All of these measures are part of our core strategy to catalyse $1 trillion of new investment over the next five years.

We’re starting to fundamentally transform our economy – building a stronger, more resilient, and more independent Canada.

It’s already getting results: from securing a dozen new partnerships abroad, to launching Build Canada Homes, to fast-tracking major nation-building projects.

Canada’s economy has created 190,000 jobs on net since August – more than the United States over the same period.

We have the right plan. The world is knocking on our door, and momentum is building.

But the biggest payoffs will take time.

And many Canadians are feeling the pressures of everyday expenses right now.

Canadians need a boost today and a bridge to tomorrow.

That’s why Canada’s new government is relentlessly focused on making life more affordable for Canadians.

On day one, we cancelled the consumer carbon tax, bringing down gas prices by 18 cents per litre.

We then cut taxes for 22 million middle-class Canadians – saving a two-income family up to $840 this year.

We have cut taxes for first-time homebuyers, saving them up to $50,000 on their first home.

We reduced tolls for vehicles on the Confederation Bridge from over $50 to $20 and cut fares by 50% on ferries in Atlantic Canada.

We just launched Automatic Federal Benefits, which will help 5.5 million low-income Canadians get the benefits they are entitled to – such as the Disability Tax Credit and the Canada Disability Benefit, and indeed the new measures we are announcing today.

We made the National School Food Program permanent, feeding 400,000 children healthy meals, while saving their parents $800 per year on groceries.

Some of our initiatives to improve affordability are structural, like building lots of affordable housing through Build Canada Homes.

And the new strategic partnership with China which will make available tens of thousands of affordable electric vehicles in Canada.

Our decision to support the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s (CRTC) initiative to expand mandatory wholesale market access in the telecommunications sector was made for one reason only: to lower the cost of high-speed Internet for Canadians. For you.

In Budget 2025, our government chose to protect the essential social programs that give every Canadian a fair chance to get ahead – child care, dental care, and pharmacare.

In the years ahead, our government will work relentlessly to make life more affordable for all Canadians.

Overall inflationary pressures are easing, with consumer price inflation back in the Bank of Canada’s target range, and average wages consistently growing faster than inflation since we took office.

Fees for child care across Canada have dropped by around 35% over the last three years thanks to our $30 billion child care program.

And the average cost of cell services has fallen by more than 40% since 2020. That is, if you’re able to switch plans.

Gas prices have dropped by 14% from where they were a year ago, helped by the elimination of the consumer carbon tax.

That’s all good news, and with our economic plan kicking into gear, there’s more good news on the horizon.

At the same time, for many Canadians, the cost of groceries and everyday essentials has been too high for too long. They need support now.

The pandemic caused inflation to spike worldwide, pushing up the costs of groceries and essentials, including rent.

Global supply chain shocks caused by tariffs, weather events from a changing climate, and geopolitical disruptions have caused food prices to rise faster than overall inflation.

Orange juice is up 12% year-over-year, ground beef is up 19%, and coffee and tea are up by 24%.

This is not an issue affecting a very vulnerable few.

Last year, Food Banks Canada reported that nearly 2.2 million Canadians visited a food bank each month.

Right now, 25% of households are food insecure, and 50% of Canadians are on the brink of needing to use a food bank.

Last week, our Cabinet convened in Québec City – where we focused on how to make life more affordable for Canadians now and how to tackle the root causes of food insecurity in Canada.

We invited Kirstin Beardsley, the CEO of Food Banks Canada, to talk about these critical issues, and what different levels of government can do to address them.

One of the best things about Canada is that we look after each other.

We believe that our economy is strongest when it serves everyone.

So, Canada’s new government is acting today to provide a boost to those Canadian families who most need one, while creating a bridge to longer-term food security and affordability.

Everyone pays the same Goods and Services Tax (GST) on items they buy, no matter how much they make.

But since groceries and other essentials make up a larger share of the budget of lower-income Canadians, the GST puts a higher burden on those less well off.

The GST Credit has helped make our tax system fairer by returning a portion of the federal sales tax to Canadians with lower incomes – providing some relief for people who feel that extra cost at the checkout more acutely.

The rise in food prices means that a lot of those Canadians need more support right now.

So, today I am announcing that our government is launching the new Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit.

This will deliver hundreds of dollars more into the bank accounts of more than 12 million Canadians.

Starting this year, we are taking the existing GST Credit amount – and raising it by 25% for five years.

In addition, we’re providing a one-time payment equivalent to 50% this year.

Here’s what that means for Canadians:

Right now, a family of four receives about $1,100 a year with the existing GST Credit. With the new Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit, that same family will receive up to $1,890 this year, and about $1,400 a year for each of the next four years.

A single person receives about $540 a year with the existing credit. With this new benefit, that person will receive up to $950 this year, and about $700 a year for the next four years.

On average, these payments make up for the higher level of food prices since the pandemic.

In parallel, we are addressing the root causes of inflation and working on long-term solutions to bring down the cost of groceries in Canada.

We are starting by improving the resilience of supply chains.

When issues arise in supply chains – from transportation to processing to distribution – costs rise at every step, and those costs end up on grocery bills. Tariffs can be part of that problem.

In September, we launched a new Strategic Response Fund to help sectors impacted by tariffs to adapt, diversify, and grow.

We are committing up to $500 million from this fund to support capital investments that help food businesses expand capacity and increase productivity, which will strengthen Canada’s food supply for the future.

And through the Regional Tariff Response Initiative, we are providing $150 million for small and medium enterprises.

This will mean more resilient supply chains and more greenhouses and abattoirs that are closer to customers, and most importantly, lower prices and better food security for Canadians.

To lower the cost of food production, we are introducing accelerated immediate expensing for greenhouses.

This allows growers to fully write off the cost of new greenhouses immediately – freeing up capital so they can invest in modern equipment, expand domestic food production, and grow more food here at home, year-round.

Farmers can produce more food at a lower cost, increasing Canada’s food supply, and easing price pressures for families at the grocery store.

To address the root causes of food insecurity, we are developing a National Food Security Strategy that strengthens domestic food production and improves access to affordable, nutritious food.

This strategy will include measures to implement unit price labelling so you can easily shop and compare in this era of “shrinkflation”, and support for the work of the Competition Bureau in monitoring and enforcing competition in the market including across supply chains.

And it will include new measures to strengthen food security in the North, where food insecurity and affordability challenges are felt most intensely.

To ease pressures for food banks, we are providing a $20 million top-up to the Local Food Infrastructure Fund.

This will boost community food programs, helping them to deliver more nutritious food to families in need.

Canadians are a generous people. We take care of each other in times of need; we know we are stronger together.

During this time of global turmoil, Canadians are coming together to build Canada strong – a more independent, secure and prosperous country that works for all.

We know that getting there will be tough at times – that progress won’t always move in a straight line. And we know that, in times like these, we have to look out for ourselves, and we have to take care of each other.

That starts with everyone being able to put good food on the table.

That’s why our government is working relentlessly to make life more affordable for everyone.

That’s why we’re stepping up today to help people who need it most.

Because we cannot control what other countries do.

We can control how we support each other during tough times. We can control what we build so times are better in the future.

We choose to build Canada strong for all Canadians.

Thank you.