Press release
The QFL reacts to the Quebec government’s budget

28 March 2025

 The CAQ plunges us into austerity and cuts 

Montréal, March 25, 2025 – The Quebec Federation of Labour (QFL) clearly notes that the budget tabled by the Quebec Minister of Finance underfunds the health, education and social services sectors. Even a conservative estimate shows that $1.7 billion is missing just to maintain the current rate of system spending growth to meet existing needs. It’s clear: the government is steering us straight into a wall of austerity and budget cuts. 

This budget also offers nothing to support SMEs or workers in dealing with the collateral damage from the trade war being waged by the Trump administration. The few measures announced are aimed mostly at large exporting corporations, the bare minimum in our view. 

“We must also denounce the government’s complete lack of ambition in addressing the rising cost of living, the housing crisis and homelessness. The projected $13.6 billion deficit is nothing more than the sum of this government’s failures. This is not a social project,” said QFL President Magali Picard. 

“What the government is proposing is more cuts to public services, while pretending this won’t affect service delivery to the population. We’ve already seen how this bad movie ends… It’s called fiscal austerity, and it only worsens social and economic inequality,” added Picard. 

“Quebec is announcing $700 million in investments for public transit, which is a start. But at the same time, it plans to invest $171 million over five years in daycare services while slashing $166 million from the infrastructure program for those same services. That contradiction just doesn’t hold water,” she continued. 

“Finally, the QFL would have liked to see genuine social dialogue with the government to build a budget that meets the challenges ahead: the cost of living, tariff threats, regional realities, and protecting public services, just to name a few,” Picard concluded. 

The QFL, Quebec’s largest labour central, represents more than 600,000 workers. 

Translated into English by SEU 800 from the original French-language press release issued by the QFL.