A second Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on November 4, 2025
On balance, the bill advances productivity and industrial capacity through the non‑compete ban and a purpose‑built defence investment and procurement regime, while sharpening clean‑tech incentives. However, the Nunavut mineral‑rights cancellation powers, expanded compliance burdens, and higher mortgage guarantees pose material risks that should be corrected to fully align with growth, investment, and fiscal prudence.
What measurable procurement speed and cost targets will the new Defence Investment Agency commit to, and by when, to demonstrate that defence projects will be delivered faster and at better value for taxpayers?
Will the government amend the Territorial Lands Act changes to guarantee independent, fair‑market compensation and a right of review when mineral rights in Nunavut are cancelled in the name of the national interest, so investment is not driven out of the North?
How will raising CMHC’s mortgage guarantee cap to $1 trillion avoid fueling housing inflation and moral hazard, and what concrete risk limits and stress‑test triggers will protect taxpayers in a downturn?
Promotes prosperity via defence procurement modernization, non‑compete ban, and clean‑tech incentives, but risks long‑run prosperity with broad mineral-right cancellation powers in Nunavut and higher housing risk from the larger CMHC guarantee.
Worker mobility improves markedly under the non‑compete ban and some filing/licensing processes are streamlined, yet new CRA penalties/stop‑the‑clock powers and carving Official Languages Act instruments out of red‑tape relief cut against deregulation.
Labour mobility, faster defence procurement, and clearer clean‑tech/hydrogen incentives support productivity, supply‑chain resilience, and competitiveness.
Expansive authority to cancel or freeze mineral rights in Nunavut chills exploration and development, undermining future resource exports; the bill offers few direct trade‑facilitating measures to offset this.
Strong pro‑investment measures (defence financing tools, clean‑tech credits) are counterbalanced by the Nunavut national‑interest cancellation power that deters resource investment and by a global minimum top‑up tax that may reduce after‑tax returns for some MNEs.
Centralizing defence procurement and fixing passenger complaint timelines improve service, but creating a new agency and expanding enforcement regimes add overhead; net efficiency gains are unclear absent costed KPIs.
Implements Pillar Two top‑up taxes without broad-based rate or structural relief that would incentivize work and risk‑taking; sectoral credits help targeted innovation but do not substitute for pro‑growth tax reform.
Major structural moves—non‑compete ban, a dedicated defence investment agency with financing tools, and a re-architected passenger rights process—go beyond incremental tweaks.
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