Federal budget is “silent” on foreign aid, sector says

OTTAWA — Canada’s aid sector is dismayed that the federal budget makes no mention of foreign aid, the first such omission in more than 15 years. Aid groups are calling on Ottawa to set out its direction in an upcoming foreign policy review.

Kate Higgins, head of Co-operation Canada, said the budget is “largely silent” on international development co-operation and humanitarian action. She said that approach is wrong at a time when the stakes around the world are high. Her coalition includes most Canadian aid groups working abroad.

The budget tabled Thursday by Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government makes no mention of international assistance, foreign aid or international development. The Canadian Press reviewed every budget tabled since 2010 and found references to those terms in each one. Thursday’s budget mentions Ukraine only in connection with drone production. It refers to aid workers only in passing, in a section about an existing permit program for aid organizations operating in areas controlled by groups Ottawa lists as terrorist entities.

Higgins said the sector assumes Ottawa will stick with its plan, announced last year, to cut $2.7 billion in foreign aid over four years. She and other advocates were relieved the government did not announce further cuts. Higgins said Ottawa should also recognize how development funding helps address crises abroad, including the humanitarian plight of Palestinians in Gaza and the spread of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Higgins said international development co-operation addresses challenges the government says it wants to prioritize, including defence, stability, diplomacy, economic partnerships, trade diversification, and a rules-based order that upholds democracy and human rights. She hopes Ottawa will provide more detail on its plans for “international development assistance and humanitarian action” in a foreign policy review expected later this month.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said at a news conference Friday that the foreign policy update would come “in a matter of weeks” and include “our approach on development.” Speaking on Parliament Hill, she said development assistance is a priority for Global Affairs Canada, pointing to humanitarian assistance provided this year to Cuba, Lebanon, Gaza and Sudan, among other places.

The budget’s silence on foreign aid came days after Tom Fletcher, the United Nations’ global humanitarian chief, praised Canada as a “humanitarian superpower” for the world’s most vulnerable. Four days before the budget, he said he hoped Canada would “continue to hold the line.”

Results Canada, an anti-poverty advocacy group, posted a photo of a deflated balloon on social media shortly after the budget was released Thursday. Policy director Lindsay Sheridan said her team searched the document in vain for terms relevant to its work. At a video conference with supporters that day, she said they looked for “international assistance, foreign aid, vaccines, tuberculosis” and found nothing; there was nothing on famines either. The team was surprised, she said, and had hoped the budget would provide more context and a better sense of the government’s direction.

UNICEF Canada also expressed disappointment. In a news release, it said Ottawa should at least mention international development when discussing its response to global threats and volatility. The organization said international assistance helps children survive and thrive while strengthening the health, education and protection systems that peaceful, stable societies depend on.

The One Campaign, which advocates for partnerships with African countries, said Ottawa should commit to spending $5.5 billion annually on development to safeguard global health and humanitarian investments that underpin long-term economic stability. In a news release, it also called on Ottawa to align its development, trade and investment institutions to support co-ordinated, mutually beneficial partnerships with African countries.

The House of Commons finance committee had urged Ottawa to use the budget to be more transparent about where Canada’s aid dollars go and to focus funding on the world’s most vulnerable. Critics have argued that the Carney government should set clearer priorities for aid spending and spearhead initiatives with peer countries.

Sheridan cited the Harper government’s focus on maternal health and the Trudeau government’s work to provide education to children in conflict zones. Canada led both initiatives with support from G7 peers and global financing institutions. Sheridan called the budget a missed opportunity for a well-rounded, robust strategy, saying the lack of even a mention was confusing.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2026. Reporter: Dylan Robertson.