Good afternoon.
Thank you, John, for the introduction.
It is great to be with Canada’s Building Trades Unions.
You are the force of the Canadian economy; 14 international unions bound together to represent more than 600,000 skilled trades workers across the country.
Union workers have built the foundations of shared prosperity.
Canada needs you more than ever.
Throughout Canada’s history, whether in the face of economic hardship, threats to our sovereignty, or the pursuit of greater prosperity, we have chosen to build.
Before Confederation, we built the Rideau Canal.
As a young nation, we built the Canadian Pacific Railway.
In the 1950s, we built the St. Lawrence Seaway.
All nation-building projects that connected and transformed our country were built by workers like you.
Workers like Andres Flores, a member of Canada’s Building Trades Unions, whose father would point to projects and say, “I helped build that.”
Thank you, Mr. Flores, and to every worker in this room, everything you helped build – from homes, to stadiums, to power lines, to ports – has shaped the country we know today.
Today, Canada faces new challenges from a world that is changing rapidly.
Since we cannot control what other nations do, we are focusing on what we can control.
We choose to build.
We are building a stronger, more independent, and more resilient Canadian economy.
To do this, we are diversifying our partnerships abroad.
We have established over 20 economic and security partnerships on five continents in less than a year.
And we are building our strength at home.
We are making historic investments to deliver major projects, build more affordable homes, and construct local infrastructure.
Canada’s economic transformation is happening on construction sites.
And it’s builders who are making it happen.
To build Canada strong, we are catalysing a series of nation-building projects in energy, trade, critical minerals, transport, data, and beyond. The work is just starting.
Last spring, construction began on the Darlington New Nuclear Project in Ontario.
This month, we broke ground on the Contrecœur terminal expansion at the Port of Montréal.
And this summer, there will be shovels in the ground on the Mackenzie Valley Highway in the North.
Projects that had been only dreams for decades are becoming realities within months.
We are cutting red tape to get homes built faster.
Build Canada Homes has already committed to building over 10,000 new homes; and this is just the beginning.
Through the new Build Communities Strong Fund, we are building new hospitals, public transit, and community centres – from the Embleton Community Centre and Park in Brampton to new roads in Laval to the new Marpole Community Centre in Vancouver.
And we are just getting started.
The next few decades are going to be a great time to be in the trades.
Yesterday, the Minister of Finance released this government’s first Spring Economic Update. The next step in our plan to build a stronger, more independent, more resilient Canadian economy.
It’s message: Despite the turmoil in the world, Canadians can have certainty and confidence in our future.
As responsible fiscal managers, Canada’s new government has made tough, pragmatic choices to deliver results.
In our Spring Economic Update, the deficit is $11 billion below what we projected in the fall.
And the deficit will keep going down, every year, for the next five years. We are cutting more than $60 billion in expenses.
Within two years, we will balance the operating budget – right on schedule.
That matters – because just as Canadians carefully manage their expenses, they expect their government to do the same.
And because when we spend less on government operations, we can invest more to build a brighter future for all Canadians.
In this update, we combined responsible fiscal management with new measures to ensure that all Canadians can take part in our nation building.
The first flagship measure is the new Canada Strong Fund – Canada’s first sovereign wealth fund.
This fund will allow all Canadians to play a direct role in building Canada strong.
Alongside private investors, the fund will invest in major Canadian projects.
And for those who would like to contribute more directly, we will ensure that every Canadian can invest in the fund and, therefore, own a small piece of nation-building projects and share in their returns.
Our future will benefit all Canadians – not just the fortunate few.
To build the next port, bridge, mine, or data centre, we need investors, to build Canada strong.
We need welders. We need crane operators. We need electricians. We need builders like you.
By 2033, Canada will need more than 1.4 million additional trades workers – to build more homes for families, new transit lines for cities, and new hydro plants to power communities.
That means we need to expand, speed up, and make more effective our training and apprenticeship programs.
There are too few seats in training programs.
The certification path is too long. It is tough to start – and disconnected throughout.
And too many employers won’t take a chance on a first-year apprentice.
In 2024, over 100,000 new apprentices registered, but only about 34,000 completed their apprenticeship.
If we don’t do something, Canada will face a gap of over 20,000 skilled trades workers annually.
We cannot afford to turn people away from the skilled trades.
If a young person wants to lay concrete, install power lines, or drive an excavator, we need to train them and get them working as soon as possible.
That is why we are launching the Team Canada Strong initiative with a $6 billion investment.
The $6 billion investment in Team Canada Strong is our new nationwide effort to recruit, train, and hire up to 100,000 new Red Seal trades workers in the next five years.
This is a serious plan to get more young Canadians properly trained and onto job sites faster.
That means:
- End-to-end support – standing alongside young Canadians every step of the way, from their first interest in the trades to their first job.
- Faster results – our goal is to cut the time it takes to get certified by 50%.
- The scale to deliver training capacity for those extra 100,000 skilled workers.
- And a multi-channel approach with unions, colleges, employers, the Canadian Armed Forces, and Indigenous partners.
We will provide youth aged 15 to 30 with paid, entry-level trades-related work experience.
This paves the way to apprenticeship and new careers in the skilled trades.
We are making it easier and more affordable for employers to hire and train apprentices.
With the new Build Canada Apprenticeship Service, we will provide SMEs with up to $10,000 toward a first-year apprentice’s salary.
This will get more skilled trades workers into union jobs and help build major, ambitious projects.
We will also match apprentices with new job opportunities, which will help meet demand. This means they will spend less time looking for work and more time working on-site.
When apprentices want to learn from the best, they contact unions.
And the federal government will support your work in training the next generation by expanding the Union Training and Innovation Program.
This will upgrade union-run training centres, provide them with modern equipment, and expand the number of apprenticeship opportunities.
Right now, too many apprentices are dropping out of training programs, partly because of the costs of training.
So, with the new Team Canada Strong, an apprentice will get a $400 weekly top-up while they are training.
This means a total of up to $16,000 in addition to Employment Insurance payments.
And when an apprentice finishes their certification, they’ll get a $5,000 completion bonus, as an incentive and to help them transition to work.
At the same time, we will create a new pathway for the Canadian Armed Forces: The Reserve Trades Experience Pilot Program, which is designed to attract Canadians into the Primary Reserve.
This program will provide fully funded trades training, along with paid, part-time work experience in critical infrastructure and resilience projects in the Canadian Armed Forces Reserves.
We have a commitment to build a stronger Canada in the face of a more dangerous and divided world. Our plan has always been founded on workers, on builders like you.
One of our first initiatives as a government was to introduce the most comprehensive suite of workers’ supports in Canada’s history.
We created our Buy Canadian Policy so when we build major projects, new homes, and new defence hardware, we are building with Canadian steel, Canadian aluminum, Canadian lumber, and Canadian workers.
We launched the Regional Tariff Response Initiative and Strategic Response Fund to help businesses diversify their products and access new markets in the face of U.S. tariffs.
We brought in a new reskilling package to train 50,000 workers impacted by tariffs.
These measures have provided relief to more than 55,000 workers and enabled more than 20,000 Canadians to keep their jobs.
As we build a better future for you and your family, we are providing a boost today and a bridge to tomorrow.
Nearly half of all new government spending measures in the Spring Economic Update are targeted to bring down the costs for Canadians.
Temporarily suspending the federal fuel excise tax to save you up to 10 cents a litre until Labour Day, cutting taxes for 22 million middle-class Canadians, and the new Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit. Over 12 million Canadians will be getting their first cheques on June 5, which will be up to $533 for a family of four.
We are building a Canada that is not just strong, but good.
A Canada that is not just prosperous, but fair.
A Canada that is not just for some, most of the time; but for all, all the time.
At a time of uncertainty, threats, and economic hardship, Canadians have chosen to build.
That is the legacy we are carrying on today.
We have the same conviction: that ambition and determination can change the fate of a nation.
And as we’ve built a better future, we’ve learned from our past.
Earlier, I mentioned the Rideau Canal.
In the 19th century, it transformed the economy of this region, providing a new supply route from Montréal to Kingston.
But it came at a heavy cost: 1,000 workers died building it. Thousands more toiled in appalling conditions.
The wealth created by it accrued to the few, not the many.
Today, we are building differently. We build better.
Canada’s new government is building sustainably.
We are building inclusively, in full partnership with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis.
We are building in solidarity with workers, creating good union jobs.
Unions help make the difference between prosperity seized by the few and prosperity shared by the many.
Unions have always understood it is not just what we build, but how we build.
Unions have always known that we are strongest when we are united.
Together we are building for all Canadians.
Together, we are building Canada strong for all.
Thank you.