Federation response to Federal Budget 2025

November 6, 2025

The Federation of Community Social Services of BC acknowledges the federal government’s 2025 budget focus on long-term capital investment, particularly through the new $51 billion Build Communities Strong Fund and the broader $280 billion, five-year capital plan. These are significant initiatives aimed at shaping the future of Canada’s infrastructure.

For our more than 160 member organizations, community social service agencies working across British Columbia, the key question is how these investments will translate into tangible support for people, families and communities.

As pressures facing our sector grow — including rising operational costs, increasingly complex service needs and ongoing challenges recruiting and retaining qualified staff, especially in rural and remote areas — it is critical that infrastructure dollars be matched by investments in human infrastructure.

Many of our members deliver vital services through contracts that do not reflect the true cost of delivery or provide the flexibility needed to invest in training, supervision or workforce stability. While the budget offers hope, particularly through the continuation of the federal-provincial child-care agreements, there is growing concern about the sustainability of funding in other critical areas, including community mental health, affordable housing supports, early intervention services and immigration.

We recognize the federal government’s continued commitment to child care, with the national agreements extended until 2031 and an annual three per cent escalator beginning in 2027-28. But other essential community programs — including mental health, housing supports, early intervention and pharmacare — remain under pressure. In B.C., even child-care spending is projected to remain flat in 2025, raising broader concerns about sustainability across the social services sector.

And if ordinary Canadians continue to face growing financial pressures, demand for community social services will inevitably increase, placing even greater strain on agencies already stretched thin.

We are hopeful, but clear-eyed. Budgets are about choices. While infrastructure is essential, so too are the people and organizations who bring that infrastructure to life. As the budget is implemented, we urge our federal and provincial partners to ensure that funding reaches community-based organizations in ways that promote equity, sustain operations and strengthen access, particularly in rural and remote regions.

We are stronger together and altogether better. Now is the time to ensure that the goals of Budget 2025 are realized not only through construction and capital investment, but through the resilience of our communities and the well-being of the people we all serve.