A Stronger Social Safety Net

Budget 2024 takes action to ensure Canada’s social safety net works for every generation, especially for Millennials and Gen Z.

From universal public health care to Employment Insurance to strong, stable, funded pensions, like the Canada Pension Plan (CPP), there has always been an agreement that as Canadians, we will take care of our neighbours when they have the need. Since 2015, the government has invested in even more supports that help people get ahead, investments in Canada-wide child care, strengthening public health care, the Canada Child Benefit, the Canada Workers' Benefit for lower-income workers, and more. Budget 2024 takes action to ensure Canada's social safety net works for every generation, especially for Millennials and Gen Z.

Key Measures in Budget 2024

• Delivering $200 billion over ten years to strengthen universal public health care, as announced in Budget 2023, to better support the health and well-being of Canadians—because a strong and effective public health care system is at the heart of what it means to be Canadian.
• Launching the new National Pharmacare Plan with $1.5 billion over five years. This first phase will ensure the effective roll-out of pharmacare, while providing immediate support for the health care needs of women and covering lifesaving diabetes medication. Free contraception will ensure every woman has the ability to choose the contraception that works best for her, no matter the cost.
• Delivering the Canadian Dental Care Plan, as announced in Budget 2023, to ensure everyone in Canada has access to the dental care they need. By 2025, the fully rolled-out dental plan will cover nine million Canadians, who currently don't have dental insurance.
• Launching a new Canada Disability Benefit with $6.1 billion over six years, and $1.4 billion ongoing, to supplement provincial and territorial benefits, increasing the financial well-being of over 600,000 working-age persons with disabilities. Budget 2024 also addresses barriers to accessing the Canada Disability Benefit by covering the cost of the medical forms required to apply for the Disability Tax Credit.
• Launching a new National School Food Program by providing $1 billion over five years to work with provinces, territories, and Indigenous partners to expand access to school food programs to more than 400,000 kids.
• Launching a $1 billion Child Care Expansion Loan Program to build more child care spaces and renovate existing child care centres, to save more families thousands of dollars a year on child care, enable more parents—especially moms—to pursue a career, and give every child the best start.
• Extending increased student grants and interest-free loans, at an estimated total cost of $1.1 billion this year. With $38.4 billion in up-front grants and interest-free loans, we have already helped 638,000 low- and middle-income students every year, on average, since 2016 to pursue their education, regardless of their background. However, many students still need more support to cover rising costs—and the federal government is increasing its support to ensure every generation can reach their full potential.
• Enhancing the Canada Pension Plan and ensuring the stability and security of Canadian's pension benefits for generations to come. The CPP provides an average of more than $8,400 every year to nearly 6 million retirees.