REGINA, SK – The 2025 federal budget takes a measured approach to balancing near-term cost-saving measures with long-term economic priorities. While the projected $78.3 billion deficit highlights ongoing fiscal challenges, the government’s commitment to generational investments in infrastructure, productivity, and competitiveness represents a constructive focus on growth. The Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce (the Chamber) welcomes this approach and supports measures that pair fiscal responsibility with economic ambition. Plans to identify $60 billion in savings over five years and streamline public sector spending are essential steps toward long-term fiscal sustainability. Lowering Canada’s marginal effective tax rate from 15.6% to 13.2%, making it the lowest in the G7, has the potential to attract private-sector capital and strengthen investor confidence.

The Chamber is particularly pleased to see commitments in the budget that align with several of its longstanding advocacy priorities, including:

• Infrastructure and Competitiveness: $115 billion over five years for national and local infrastructure projects, and $110 billion in productivity and competitiveness measures to support trade corridors and industrial development.
  
• Investment Incentives: Immediate expensing for manufacturing and processing buildings, reinstated accelerated capital cost allowances for low-carbon LNG facilities, and expansion of the Clean Technology Manufacturing Investment and Critical Mineral Exploration tax credits. The availability of full credit rates for the Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage Investment Tax Credit was also extended by five years.
  
• SME Support and Trade Diversification: $46.5 million over four years for a new SME Export Readiness Initiative and enhanced CanExport funding to help businesses access federal procurement opportunities and new export markets.
• Nuclear Energy and Critical Minerals: Funding to strengthen Canada’s nuclear export capacity and $443 million over five years to support the development of critical minerals.

While the Chamber welcomes these constructive measures, important work remains to ensure that Canada’s regulatory framework supports sustainable growth and competitiveness. Greater movement is needed on the Oil and Gas Emissions Cap, which continues to create uncertainty for investment in Saskatchewan’s energy sector. Canada cannot build a strong and united economy while maintaining policies that restrict development in its most productive sectors.

“Budget 2025 delivers a mix of fiscal restraint and investment,” said Prabha Ramaswamy, CEO of the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce. “What we need now is consistency, predictable regulations, timely infrastructure investments, and a competitive business environment that allows Saskatchewan’s industries to thrive.”