Federal Election 2025: 12 hot topics and where each party stands​on April 16, 2025 at 1:00 pm

Liberals: The Liberals promise a tax cut that will save a “middle class” two-income household up to $825 a year by reducing the marginal tax rate on the lowest tax bracket by one percentage point. The party says more than 22 million Canadians will benefit, mainly those with low and middle incomes. In response to U.S. tariffs, the Liberal government has relaxed employment insurance requirements so support money can get to laid-off workers more quickly.

Conservatives: A Conservative government would cut income taxes by 15 per cent, saving the average two-income household up to $1,800 a year. The party promises to pay city halls half the cost of cutting building fees, up to $25,000, with the goal to slash these fees by a total of $50,000 a home. And it would allow anyone selling an asset to avoid capital gains tax if the proceeds are reinvested in Canada, until the end of 2026.

NDP: The NDP pledges to raise the basic personal amount, saving $505 a year for low- and middle-income earners. The party proposes tax-free victory bonds, with the profits going towards public infrastructure, and say a $100 bond would grow to $141.06 in a decade. It says Canada is unable to collect up to $39 billion in taxes annually, which it will stop with new financial reporting rules, by closing tax code loopholes and by ending agreements with offshore havens like Bermuda.

Liberals: Liberal Leader Mark Carney says the country will not bow down to U.S. President Donald Trump, whom he called a bully, and won’t stand by as illegal U.S. tariffs hurt workers and their families. He says he supports dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs aimed where they will be felt the most in the United States but will have the least impact in Canada. At the same time, he said the government needs to support Canadian workers and diversify the country’s trading relationships.

Conservatives: Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says that if he becomes prime minister his first order of business would be to tell U.S. President Donald Trump he is prepared to jump-start renegotiation of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico free trade agreement. The agreement was renegotiated at Trump’s demand in his first term in office. Poilievre says the deal must be renegotiated in 2026, so why wait. He says part of his proposal to Trump would be for both countries to pause tariffs while renegotiating the deal.

NDP: The NDP vows to “raise seniors out of poverty” by increasing the guaranteed income supplement, which provides monthly payments to seniors who receive an old age security pension (OAS) and have an annual income lower than $22,056. The party’s other campaign promises could also help seniors, including a pledge to double the Canada disability benefit, a monthly payment to help low-income people with disabilities, raising it by up to $2,400 a year.

Greens: The Greens pledge to help more people train as care workers, a growing need as the population ages. The party says it would support home care services for seniors, and create intergenerational co-housing for elders and youth. And it promises to ensure family members who look after elderly relatives get protection from employers so they won’t lose their jobs, as well as financial support through the federal paid leave program.

Liberals: The Liberals say they will help Canada become an energy super power to protect 700,000 existing jobs and create new jobs. This includes spending on critical minerals, getting clean-energy projects built and working with provinces to build an East-West electricity grid, which the party calls a historic nation-building project. They also promise to improve “trade-enabling” infrastructure to help diversify trade away from the U.S., create new jobs and build a stronger economy. That includes a new $5-billion trade diversification corridor fund.

Conservatives: The Conservatives have committed to meeting all five policy recommendations from Canada’s energy sector. Those include repealing the Liberals’ major project review process and a West Coast oil tanker ban, scrapping carbon emission caps, and axing the industrial carbon tax. They promise a national energy corridor to fast-track transmission lines, railways, pipelines, and other infrastructure. They also promise “shovel ready zones” — areas where permits are already in place — to build mines and LNG terminals and pipelines.

NDP: The NDP has had little to say directly about energy or natural resources. In the past, the NDP has supported a move to a clean-energy economy and opposed incentives for the oil and gas sector. This election the party has announced support for an East-West energy grid to deliver affordable, secure energy and for encouraging value-added processing in Canada — such as refining raw materials domestically.

Liberals: The Liberals pledge to make Canada a world leader in batteries, help industries adopt clean technologies and build a carbon-net-zero electricity grid by 2035. They would introduce incentives to help families spend on clean energy, including zero emission vehicles. They would require half of all passenger vehicles sold to be zero emission by 2030. They would tighten the industrial carbon pricing scheme and impose a mechanism to tax imports from countries that don’t have comparable carbon pricing.

Conservatives: The Conservatives would get rid of all carbon taxes, including the tax on industry. They would boost innovation and incentives for companies to reduce emissions. They support pipelines. The Conservatives oppose the government’s clean fuel regulations and have criticized zero-emission vehicle sales targets. The Conservatives want to reduce global emissions by displacing dirty energy with cleaner Canadian exports.

Liberals: The Liberals plan to keep the current immigration caps until housing has expanded to accommodate more people. There is no predetermined point for the removal of the caps.

Conservatives: The Conservatives want to tie Canada’s population growth rate to a number below the number of new homes built. They propose to cap the number of asylum seekers Canada receives. They want to crack down on fraud related to international students and temporary foreign workers, but allow workers in “rare circumstances where there are not enough Canadians to fill jobs.”

NDP: The NDP says immigration should match Canada’s needs and the resources available for newcomers. They want to study the question of “appropriate immigration levels.” They propose providing temporary workers with open work permits.

Greens: The Greens say they would consult with provinces on immigration levels to balance ethical and pragmatic considerations. They plan to immediately suspend the safe third country agreement due to U.S. human-rights violations and want major spending on refugee resettlement, Immigration Department staffing, and integration programs.