March 8, 2025
Ottawa, Ontario
The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today issued the following statement on International Women’s Day:
“Women in Canada have made transformative progress in shaping our country for the better. Today, we celebrate their remarkable achievements, we honour their legacy of breaking norms and ceilings and lifting up others, and we reaffirm that there’s more work to be done.
“More gender equality means stronger, fairer economies. When women and girls are meaningfully supported, valued, and empowered, we break barriers, spur progress, and shape a better future for generations to come. That means giving women more choices in the workforce, closing the gender wage gap, and reaffirming our collective commitment to women’s leadership – from public offices to corporate boardrooms to university and college campuses.
“Since 2015, we have made important and meaningful progress. With our first-of-its-kind, universal $10-a-day child care program, families – especially moms – are getting the support they need to join the workforce or continue their career while raising their kids. Earlier this week, we reached extension agreements with 11 out of 13 provinces and territories so more families can get affordable child care.
“We also introduced Canada’s first Women Entrepreneurship Strategy – backed by a nearly $7 billion investment – to help women entrepreneurs start up, scale up, and soar in their businesses. With the Women’s Economic and Leadership Opportunities Fund, we are making sure more women are at the leadership table.
“Beyond our borders, our Feminist International Assistance Policy has ensured Canada remains a global leader in gender equality. Every year, we are investing an average of $1.4 billion to advance our 10-Year Commitment to Global Health and Rights, with $700 million dedicated specifically to supporting comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights for women and girls. We’re sharing the message loud and clear – through action and engagement – that sexual and reproductive care is health care.
“Guided by the Federal Pathway and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act Action Plan, we also continue our efforts to end the national crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people. This includes projects like the Red Dress Alert pilot in Manitoba, which can inform the public when an Indigenous woman, girl, Two-Spirit, or gender-diverse person goes missing, so they can be brought home safely. And in partnership with provinces and territories, we are advancing the National Action Plan to End Gender-based Violence to deliver critical support to victims, survivors, and their families – because everyone has the right to live free from violence.
“Finally, our government is proudly, firmly pro-choice. That doesn’t just mean supporting the right to choose, it also means increasing the choices available for women. With our pharmacare agreements, we are making contraception medications and devices free – from birth control pills, to IUDs, to the morning after pill – so women are free to choose if, when, and how they plan their family. With this coverage, nine million women will have more choices and, importantly, more affordable choices – so their right to reproductive freedom isn’t restricted by cost.
“On this International Women’s Day, let’s celebrate the incredible contributions of women and girls to our communities, our country, and our world. We all have a role to play – as partners and allies – in achieving gender equality and building a better future. Because when women and girls succeed, we all do.”
March 7, 2025
Ottawa, Ontario
The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today announced that the Governor General, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon, appointed the following individuals as independent senators to fill vacancies in the Senate:
- Dawn Arnold, for New Brunswick
- Tony Ince, for Nova Scotia
- Katherine Hay, for Ontario
- Farah Mohamed, for Ontario
- Sandra Pupatello, for Ontario
Dawn Arnold is an accomplished public servant and a valued leader in her community. She brings over 30 years of experience in municipal government, community development, and publishing. In 2016, she made history as the first woman to serve as Mayor of Moncton. She was also previously Councillor-at-Large with the City of Moncton, earning a reputation for transparency and leadership in sustainable city-building, and has served on the boards of numerous organizations.
Tony Ince is a former Member of the Legislative Assembly of Nova Scotia, where he represented and served his community for eleven years. He is a strong advocate for social justice, equity, and diversity, particularly within African Nova Scotian communities. Beyond his political career, he also contributed to advancing diversity and inclusion across the province and Canada, including as co-founder and co-Chair of the Canadian Congress of Black Parliamentarians, where he advocated for Black Canadians’ rights.
Katherine Hay is a not-for-profit executive and long-time champion for mental health care for children and youth. Since taking on her current role as President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Kids Help Phone in 2017, she has transformed the organization into Canada’s only national, 24/7, multilingual e-mental health service for young people. Prior to this, she worked as President and CEO of the Women’s College Hospital Foundation, where she led record-breaking fundraising efforts to support women’s health.
Farah Mohamed has spent 30 years working alongside politicians, philanthropists, and business leaders to improve the lives of Canadians, especially young people, newcomers, and women. She is the current CEO of The King’s Trust Canada, a charity founded by His Majesty King Charles III to help young people facing barriers increase their employability. She is also the former CEO of the Malala Fund and a recipient of the Governor General’s Meritorious Service Medal, among other distinctions.
Sandra Pupatello is a former politician, an experienced businesswoman, and an advocate for Ontario’s economic growth and development. She is currently the President of Canadian International Avenues Ltd., a management consulting firm she founded following a distinguished 16-year career as a Member of Provincial Parliament. As Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development and Trade, she led trade delegations around the world and provided steady leadership through a uniquely challenging economic climate.
These new senators were recommended by the Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments and chosen using a merit-based process open to all Canadians. Introduced in 2016, this process ensures senators are independent and able to tackle the broad range of challenges and opportunities facing the country.
With the appointment of these five senators, all 105 seats in the Senate are now filled.
Quote
“Congratulations to Ms. Arnold, Mr. Ince, Ms. Hay, Ms. Mohamed, and Ms. Pupatello on their appointment as Parliament’s newest independent senators. With their broad range of experience and commitment to public service, I am confident they will make important contributions to the Senate and represent the voices of Canadians from coast to coast to coast.”
— The Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada
Quick Facts
- The Senate is the Upper House in Canada’s parliamentary democracy.
- Candidate submissions were reviewed by the Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments, which provided recommendations to the Prime Minister. The Board is guided in its work by public, transparent, non-partisan, and merit-based criteria to identify highly qualified candidates for the Senate.
- With today’s announcement, there have been 100 independent appointments to the Senate made on the advice of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. All of them were recommended by the Board.
- Under the Canadian Constitution, the Governor General appoints individuals to the Senate. By convention, senators are appointed on the advice of the Prime Minister.
- Once appointed by the Governor General, new senators join their peers to examine and revise legislation, investigate national issues, and represent regional, provincial and territorial, and minority interests – important functions in a modern democracy.
Biographical Notes
Associated Links
- Senate of Canada
- Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments
- Senate appointments Process – Questions and Answers
March 7, 2025
Ottawa, Ontario
The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today announced the following change in the senior ranks of the public service:
David Angell, currently Political Director and Assistant Deputy Minister, International Security and Political Affairs, Global Affairs Canada, becomes Foreign and Defence Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister, Privy Council Office, effective March 31, 2025.
The Prime Minister also congratulated Stephen de Boer, Foreign and Defence Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister, Privy Council Office, as well as Jean-Guy Forgeron, Executive Vice-President of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, on their upcoming retirements from the public service. He thanked them for their dedication and service to Canadians throughout their careers and wished them all the best in the future.
Biographical Note
March 6, 2025
Ottawa, Ontario
Every child deserves the best start in life. But for young families, the costs of child care can add up to a second rent or mortgage payment. As a result, parents – especially moms – often face impossible choices between their careers and child care fees.
As a government, we introduced the first-of-its-kind, universal $10-a-day child care program, so that families can save thousands of dollars every year and access affordable child care. Because of our Early Learning and Child Care program, 900,000 children across Canada are getting affordable, high-quality child care, and families are saving up to $16,200 per child, per year.
We’ve made significant progress, but there is always more to do.
Today, the Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, alongside the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Jenna Sudds, announced that the federal government has reached early learning and child care extension agreements with 11 out of 13 provinces and territories, ensuring families get all the supports they need so they can join the workforce or continue their career while raising their kids.
With these extensions, provinces and territories will receive $36.8 billion to move forward on progress to create new child care spaces, reduce waitlists, and hire more early childhood educators across the country. Affordable child care is good for kids and parents, and it’s good for the economy as well. With this increased and continued investment in early learning and child care, more parents – especially women – can enter the workforce and advance their careers. That means more good-paying jobs, more opportunities for early childhood educators, more economic growth across our communities, and a stronger, fairer Canada for everyone. It is estimated that for every dollar invested in child care, the economy gets $2.80 in return – a testament to the fact that affordable child care is good for families, and good for our country.
Along with extending these agreements, we are also increasing the funding that they provide by 3 per cent per year for four years, starting in 2027-28, to help make sure that federal funding keeps up with the cost of child care operations.
This means more families can continue to access child care, find savings, and get ahead. This investment will also help us reach the goal of creating 250,000 child care spaces across the country by March 2026.
This funding will support 35,000 affordable spaces across nearly 1,000 Indigenous early learning and child care sites, including more than 10 new centres in Métis communities, with additional centres planned in the next two years. It will also help improve child care access for military families on bases across Canada, so our Canadian Armed Forces members get quality care throughout their moves and deployments.
Confident countries invest in themselves and in their future. By extending child care agreements and expanding our investments, we are making life better and easier for Canadians. Alongside investing in affordable child care, we are also building more homes, creating more jobs, and standing up for Canadian interests.
Quotes
“Affordable child care is good for kids and parents, and it’s good for the economy as well. Today’s announcement will make sure more families get access to affordable, high-quality child care with lower costs and more savings, and help kids get the best start in life. Confident countries invest in themselves and in their future.”
— The Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada
“We didn’t come this far just to come this far. We must keep building on our progress and make $10-a-day child care a reality for every parent who wants a spot for their kid. That’s what these extension agreements are all about. Affordable child care gives parents, especially moms, options. Options to go back to work, build their careers, and save money, while ensuring their kids get the best possible start in life.”
— The Hon. Jenna Sudds, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development
Quick Facts
- The extensions announced today include the final year (2026-27) of the Early Learning and Child Care Infrastructure Fund, which supports infrastructure projects in underserved communities to help increase inclusion in the Canada-wide early learning and child care system.
- To sustain the progress made from the existing early learning and child care agreements, including infrastructure funding, support for early childhood educators, and access to affordable child care, the federal government is investing an additional $36.8 billion over five years, starting in 2026-27. This includes a 3 per cent funding increase every year for four years, starting in 2027‑28. With today’s announcement, the Government of Canada is providing:
- $16.77 billion to Ontario
- $9.83 billion to Quebec
- $5.38 billion to British Columbia
- $1.9 billion to Manitoba
- $1.05 billion to Nova Scotia
- $876 million to New Brunswick
- $503 million to Newfoundland and Labrador
- $199 million to Prince Edward Island
- $109 million to Nunavut
- $80 million to the Northwest Territories
- $74 million to the Yukon
- This funding will help ensure continued access to $10-a-day on average child care beyond the current agreements, which were set to expire on March 31, 2026.
- The Government of Canada is committed to ongoing collaboration with Indigenous partners and official language minority communities, and expects provincial and territorial governments to do the same while developing action plans in support of these extensions.
- Eight provinces and territories are currently delivering regulated early learning and child care for an average of $10-a-day or less, while the remaining jurisdictions have reduced fees by 50 per cent or more compared to 2019 levels.
- As part of Budget 2021, the Government of Canada made a transformative investment of more than $27 billion over five years to build a Canada-wide early learning and child care system with provinces and territories. Combined with other investments, including in Indigenous early learning and child care, up to $30 billion over five years (2021-22 to 2025-26) is provided in support of early learning and child care.
- Investments will help create more spaces in rural and remote regions, high-cost and low-income urban neighbourhoods, and communities facing barriers to access. This includes supporting racialized groups, Indigenous Peoples, official language minority communities, newcomers, and families with parents, caregivers, or children with disabilities.
- These investments build on the significant progress we have already made to help kids reach their full potential and level the playing field for parents, including by:
- Giving families more money through the Canada Child Benefit, to help with the costs of raising their kids and make a real difference in the lives of children in Canada. The Canada Child Benefit, which can provide up to $7,437 per child per year, is indexed annually to keep up with the cost of living.
- Improving access to dental health care for children under 18 through the Canadian Dental Care Plan, because no one should have to choose between taking care of their kids’ teeth and putting food on the table.
Associated Links
- Toward $10-a-day: Early Learning and Child Care
- Canada Early Learning and Child Care Act
- Early Learning and Child Care Agreements
- Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care Framework
- Budget 2021: A Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Plan
