Every federal budget cycle includes a period for public submissions well in advance of budget deliberations. The federal government first solicited submissions for Budget 2024 in August 2023 (you can read our August 2023 submission here). There is also a second period for submissions, usually in Winter, as they continue to work on the federal budget.
ISAC also submitted recommendations to the federal government during the second 2024 Federal Budget pre-budget submission period which closed on February 9, 2024.
ISAC recommends the following for Budget 2024:
Recommendation 1 – Immediately implement Employment Insurance reforms to ensure an accessible, adequate, and equitable program for workers
Recommendation 2 – Adequately invest in the implementation of the Canada Disability Benefit in 2024, ensuring broad eligibility, exemption from clawbacks, and low-barrier appeal rights
Recommendation 3 – Increase access to the Canada Child Benefit
Recommendation 4 – Forgive pandemic debt overpayment for low-income individuals
Recommendation 5 – Invest in policy initiatives that will improve income security in vulnerable communities and account for the intersecting factors that influence and entrench poverty
Recommendation 6 – Make relevant, needed financial investments in Indigenous communities
Recommendation 7 – Bring in a comprehensive and inclusive regularization program for all migrants
Read our full submission in English (PDF) here or in a minimally formatted Word version here (automatic download will start). La version française (PDF) se trouve ici. Please note: you can translate this page by using the Google Translate drop-down menu at the top of the page.
You can also scroll through the submission (in English) in the embedded window below.