Parliamentary Secretary Ehsassi highlights Budget 2025’s plan to build communities strong

November 9, 2025

Richmond Hill, Ontario

Changes in the global trading system are causing massive disruptions and uncertainty for Canadians. The world has changed, and Canada’s economic strategy must change. Budget 2025: Canada Strong is our plan to transform our economy from one that is reliant on a single trade partner to one that is stronger, more self-sufficient, and more resilient to global shocks. This budget is a plan to enable $1 trillion in investments over the next five years. That can increase our GDP by over 3.5 per cent equivalent to more than $3,500 for every Canadian – delivering far more for Canadians than what’s being taken from us. This is a plan for Canada to give ourselves more than any foreign government can take away – a plan to build Canada strong.

Today, the Honourable Ali Ehsassi, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister responsible for Canada-U.S. Trade, Intergovernmental Affairs, Internal Trade and One Canadian Economy (Canada-U.S. Trade), highlighted Budget 2025’s investments to support a wide range of infrastructure projects and help local communities build Canada Strong.

Through Budget 2025’s Build Communities Strong Fund, we are investing up to $400,000 towards the creation of a memorial of the victims of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 in Unity Park in Richmond Hill, Ontario. The memorial would honour the 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents who were among the 176 people killed in the unlawful downing of the aircraft by Iran on January 8, 2020. The memorial would provide a public space for Canadians to gather and to preserve the memory and honour the legacy of the victims for generations to come.

The Build Communities Strong Fund will invest $51 billion over 10 years, followed by $3 billion per year ongoing, to revitalise local infrastructure – the hospitals, universities, and colleges that serve our people, the roads and bridges that move our goods, and the water and transit systems that sustain our towns. The program will include:

• A provincial and territorial stream that will provide $17.2 billion over 10 years to support infrastructure projects and priorities in housing, health care, and education. This could include transit infrastructure, colleges, universities, medical schools, and water and wastewater facilities.
  • From this stream, $5 billion over three years will be dedicated specifically to a new Health Infrastructure Fund, upgrading health infrastructure such as hospitals, emergency rooms, and urgent care centres.
• A direct delivery stream that will provide $6 billion to support regionally significant projects, large building retrofits, climate adaptation, or community infrastructure. This could include clean-energy generation and storage projects, flood protection, and new community and recreational spaces.
• A community stream that will provide $27.8 billion for local roads, bridges, water systems, and community centres – getting the basics right and helping towns and cities grow.

The Build Communities Strong Fund will build new infrastructure to speed up work and bring down costs. When colleges and universities have archaic buildings, when hospitals are over capacity, and when water systems fail, productivity drops and businesses pay more. The Build Communities Strong Fund will spur economic activity, create new careers in the skilled trades, and give investors the confidence to build around reliable public infrastructure.

This fund is part of the government’s broader nation-building mission. This includes the Major Projects Office to fast-track transformative energy, trade, and transportation projects across the country, Build Canada Homes to supercharge housing construction, and the Defence Investment Agency to use domestic resources and materials to scale up our industrial base.

The past year has revealed there are limits to Canada’s economic independence. Budget 2025 is tackling that challenge head on. It is our plan to take control and build the future we want for ourselves. It is our plan to build Canada Strong.