Employment and Social Development Canada’s 2025 to 2026 Departmental plan: At a glance

A departmental plan describes a department's priorities, plans, and associated costs for the upcoming three fiscal years.

• Mandate, role and operating context

Key priorities

Employment and Social Development Canada's top priorities for 2025 to 2026 are as follows:

• support the Government’s commitment to make housing more affordable by creating new careers in the skilled trades. We’ll do this by helping workers gain the skills needed for jobs in residential construction to build both traditional and modular housing, through initiatives such as the Sustainable Jobs Training Fund, the Sectoral Workforce Solutions Program and the Canadian Apprenticeship Strategy
• contribute to the Government’s efforts to attract the best talent in the world to help build our economy, while returning our overall immigration rates to sustainable levels. We will support this by ensuring that only genuine employers with real labour market needs can access the Temporary Foreign Worker Program
• keep working with our partners to build and maintain a Canada-wide early learning and child care system
• continue our work to implement the National School Food Program in collaboration with provinces, territories, and Indigenous partners
• continue to help seniors afford retirement through the delivery of the Old Age Security (OAS) program and the Canada Pension Plan (CPP)
• expand the Foreign Credential Recognition Program to start at least 5 projects in the residential construction and health care sectors. This will help people trained abroad join the Canadian workforce to build more homes and meet the demand for health care workers
• make amendments to the Employment Insurance Act to add a new 15-week adoption benefit that parents can share
• onboarding eligible Canadian adults, aged 18 to 64, to the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP) and introducing a renewal process for existing clients, with support from Health Canada

Highlights

In 2025 to 2026, total planned gross spending (including internal services) for Employment and Social Development Canada is $208.2 billion and associated full-time equivalent staff (including internal services) is 34,324. The reported Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs) are based on the funding approved within the Department’s reference levels as of the preparation of the 2025-2026 Main Estimates. These figures are subject to adjustment in accordance with subsequent funding decisions and/or the renewal of partnership agreements. For complete information on Employment and Social Development Canada's total planned spending and human resources, read the Planned spending and human resources section of the full plan.

The following provides a summary of the department's planned achievements for 2025 to 2026 according to its approved Departmental Results Framework. A Departmental Results Framework consists of a department's core responsibilities, the results it plans to achieve, and the performance indicators that measure progress toward these results.

Core responsibility 1: Social Development

Planned gross spending: $9,305,468,025

Planned net spending: $9,305,468,025

Planned human resources: 507

Departmental results:

• Affordability of early learning and child care is increased.
• Not-for-profit organizations, communities and other groups have an enhanced capacity to address a range of social issues such as the social inclusion of persons with disabilities, the engagement of seniors and support for children and families.
• Barriers to accessibility for persons with disabilities are removed.
• Clients receive high quality, timely and efficient services that meet their needs.

We will keep working with provincial, territorial and Indigenous partners to build and maintain a Canada-wide early learning and child care system (ELCC). The system aims to provide high-quality, affordable, flexible, and inclusive ELCC. The goal is to lower fees to an average of $10 per day and to create 250,000 new spaces by March 2026.

We will also continue to work on Opportunities for All - Canada's First Poverty Reduction Strategy. The target is to reduce poverty in Canada in half by 2030 compared to 2015 levels. Several measures are helping Canada meet its poverty reduction target. This includes the Canada Child Benefit, which provides substantial income support to families raising children and the Canada Workers Benefit, a refundable tax credit that helps supplement the earnings of low-income workers. For Canadian seniors, enhancements were made to the Old Age Security (OAS) program and the Guaranteed Income Supplement.

This year, the Social Finance Fund (part of the Social Innovation and Social Finance Strategy) will continue to help Social Purpose Organizations (SPOs) access flexible funding opportunities by disbursing about $60 million to funding recipients to make social finance investments and undertake market-building activities. This funding helps SPOs address social and environmental problems.

The Supporting Black Canadian Communities Initiatives (SBCCI) will continue to fund Black-led organizations so they can make Black communities stronger. This includes projects that help Black youth and Black people experiencing mental health and other health challenges.

More information about Social Development can be found in the full plan.

Core responsibility 2: Pensions and Benefits

Planned gross spending: $156,750,636,455

Planned net spending: $87,514,529,036

Planned human resources: 7,517

Departmental results:

• Seniors have income support for retirement.
• Persons with disabilities and their families have financial support.
• Clients receive high quality, timely and efficient services that meet their needs.

We are implementing the new Canada Disability Benefit with funding of $6.1 billion over six years, starting in 2024 to 2025, and $1.4 billion each year after that. Following completion of the regulatory process and consultations with persons with disabilities, eligible Canadians will start receiving the benefit in July 2025. It will provide a maximum of $2,400 per year for low-income persons with disabilities between the ages of 18 and 64.

We will continue delivering the Old Age Security program and the Canada Pension Plan (CPP), which provided $137 billion in benefits to 8.5 million seniors and persons with disabilities in 2023 to 2024. This includes extra support for low-income seniors through the Guaranteed Income Supplement.

As part of our Benefits Delivery Modernization, we’ll finalize the migration of Old Age Security (OAS) benefits to a modern platform in 2025, which is expected to benefit approximately 7.4 million seniors with features like application saving, online submissions, and managing personal details like payment preferences.

Changes are being made to the CPP following the 2022 to 2024 Triennial Review. They include new monthly benefits of $150.89 starting in January 2025 for dependent children (aged 18 to 24 who are in part-time studies of deceased or disabled CPP contributors.

We will continue to improve the client experience for eligible Canadians with severe and prolonged disabilities, and their families, through the Canada Pension Plan - Disability Program. This year we will improve the client experience, for example by expanding our quality assurance for fair and consistent medical decisions.

This year, eligible Canadians will receive the second enhanced portion of their CPP. The annual increase will be between $12 and $45 in this first year depending on the client situation and will continue to rise with each additional year of contributions after 2024. This increase is expected to benefit an estimated half a million eligible clients in 2025.

More information about Pensions and Benefits can be found in the full plan.

Core responsibility 3: Learning, Skills Development and Employment

Planned gross spending: $37,441,357,910

Planned net spending: $7,748,222,181

Planned human resources: 15,610

Departmental results:

• Canadians access education, training, and lifelong learning supports to gain the skills and work experience they need.
• Canadians participate in an inclusive and efficient labour market.
• Canadians receive financial support during employment transitions such as job loss, illness, or maternity/ parental leave.
• Students, including those from low and middle-income families, are provided with federally funded supports to help them participate in post-secondary education (PSE).
• Student borrowers are able to repay their federal student debt.
• Clients receive high quality, timely and efficient services that meet their needs.

We will continue to ensure that the Employment Insurance program meets the evolving needs of the workforce in relation to job loss and other life events. We will keep providing up to 5 extra weeks of Employment Insurance (EI) benefits to seasonal workers in 13 regions until October 2026. This measure is expected to help 62,000 seasonal workers this year. We will also continue to implement the new 15-week shareable Employment Insurance adoption benefit. This will help approximately 1,700 parents (including surrogates), each year, by giving them more time and flexibility when they welcome a new child. In addition, we are working to improve the Employment Insurance program to ensure it works well in all labour markets, is financially sustainable, supports workforce development and adapts to changes in the economy.

We will fund the Supports for Student Learning Program to help over 40,000 equity-deserving students who face challenges completing their studies. This program will help them complete their transition to post-secondary education and/or employment.

We’ll also provide financial assistance to approximately 700,000 post-secondary students through non-repayable Canada Student Grants and interest-free Canada Student Loans under the Canada Student Financial Assistance (CSFA) Program.

We will lead the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy (YESS) and collaborate with 11 other federal departments, agencies, and Crown Corporations to deliver it. Together with its partners, this year, the department will support at least 90,000 youth, including 75,240 supported directly through the Employment and Social Development Canada YESS Program (5,240) and Canada Summer Jobs (70,000).

Under the Canadian Apprenticeship Strategy - Sustainable Job Stream, we expect to fund up to 20 projects to provide green training for journeypersons and apprentices in Red Seal trades. This will help reduce carbon emissions and strengthen the trades and apprenticeship training ecosystem in Canada.

This year, the Opportunities Fund for Persons with Disabilities program will support 118 ongoing projects advancing the goals of the Employment Strategy for Canadians with Disabilities. These projects will improve employment opportunities for persons with disabilities by empowering employers to create more inclusive workplaces.

We will support Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada's 2025-2027 Immigration Levels Plan commitment to reduce temporary resident levels to 5% of Canada's population by the end of 2026. We will ensure that only genuine employers with real labour market needs can access the Temporary Foreign Workers Program. At the same time, we will continue to protect foreign workers' rights, ensure safe work environments, monitor employers to prevent abuse, and curb Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) misuse by suspending positive LMIAs in cases of suspected misuse of the program, thereby preventing these employers from hiring additional temporary foreign workers.

More information about Learning, Skills Development and Employment can be found in the full plan.

Core responsibility 4: Working Conditions and Workplace Relations

Planned gross spending: $193,294,667

Planned net spending: $192,394,667

Planned human resources: 839

Departmental results:

• Workplaces are safe and healthy.
• Work conditions are fair and inclusive.
• Labour relations are cooperative.
• Clients receive high quality, timely and efficient services that meet their needs.

We will implement amendments to the Canada Labour Code (the Code) to give employees in the federally regulated private sector three days of paid leave after a pregnancy loss. This will allow them to recover without worrying about job security or income.

We will work to amend the Code to ensure equal pay and fair treatment for employees, especially those in temporary or insecure jobs. For example, the changes will require temporary help agencies to pay their employees the same rate as the client's employees for similar work.

To meet Canada's commitment to uphold labour rights and improve Canada's global competitiveness, we will continue to analyze forced labour risks and labour exploitation in international supply chains. This analysis will be used to inform federal initiatives against exploitation in global supply chains.

More information about Working Conditions and Workplace Relations can be found in the full plan.

Core responsibility 5: Information Delivery and Services for Other Departments

Planned gross spending: $518,284,645

Planned net spending: $518,284,645

Planned human resources: 4,045

Departmental results:

• Clients receive high quality, timely and accurate government information and services that meet their needs
• Canadians can obtain a passport within Canada in a timely manner.

We will onboard eligible Canadian adults, aged 18 to 64, to the Canadian Dental Care Plan and introducing a renewal process for existing clients, with support from Health Canada.

We will work with community organizations to support hard-to-reach individuals. We aim to increase community organization participation in the Service Referral Initiative by 10% by October 2025. This initiative connects individuals with a Service Canada representative who can help them apply for benefits.

We will enhance community outreach through our Outreach Support Centre by partnering with organizations like United Way 211 and the Canada Revenue Agency's CARES. These partners can warm transfer clients to the Outreach Support Centre for help with ESDC's services. A warm transfer means the contact centre employee stays on the line with the client to ensure a smooth transition.

We will collaborate with partners like Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Canada Post, community organizations, and Members of Parliament to improve passport services. This includes exploring new ways to enhance quality, accessibility, and client experience across all regions, including rural, remote, and northern communities.

More information about Information Delivery and Services for Other Departments can be found in the full plan.