Opening remarks by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance at the meeting of Federal, Provincial, and Territorial Finance Ministers

Toronto, Ontario -  December 15, 2023

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I want to start by acknowledging that we are on the traditional territories of many nations, including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat Peoples.

I want to thank Peter Loewen, the Director of the Munk School, for hosting us here. It’s a beautiful place for us to be.

We have a busy agenda today. There will be issues where we do not all agree — but I know that we all want to build a better country for the Canadians we represent.  

And when we work together, that is exactly what we can do.

When we work together, we all know that we can do great things.  Child care is one example of that. Fees have been reduced by an average of 50 per cent across the country, and today, PEI will be the seventh jurisdiction to reach fees of just $10-a-day. That is remarkable. Thank you very much. 

By working together, we are saving families across Canada thousands of dollars a year—and supporting record women’s employment at the same time.

We are together strengthening Canada’s universal public health care system through the historic $198 billion investment our government made earlier this year. We signed our first bilateral agreement, with Minister Katrine Conroy’s government in B.C., in October.

And we are making progress on bilateral agreements which will help provide Canadians with the high-quality health care all of our constituents deserve. 

And this morning, I am pleased to announce that the federal government will deliver a record $99.4 billion in major transfers to provinces and territories in 2024-25, in addition to the other significant support provided by the federal government.

This is an increase of $4.8 billion from last year, and that will make a difference in ensuring that Canadians receive the health care and social supports and services they need. 

Today’s meeting is about building on the important work we are doing together right now and finding new ways to address the challenges that matter most to Canadians.

I am sure that we will be discussing housing, which is the central priority for millions of Canadians today.

That includes how we can work together to build more homes, faster, and how we can work together to do things like cracking down on short-term rentals.

I hope that we will also have the chance to talk about how we can work together to grow the economy— whether by breaking down barriers to internal trade, or by improving foreign credential recognition and labour mobility across the country to help address labour shortages in industries like construction and health care.

We will also be discussing pensions—and the importance of working together to ensure every Canadian can have a safe, secure, and dignified retirement.

Our government’s economic plan is about building an economy that works for everyone—with good jobs that people can count on.

Continuing to build a stronger economy and a better country depends on all of us here today—as Finance Ministers—working together to deliver for Canadians.

Thank you very much.