2025 Federal Budget Must Go Further to Deliver Climate and Environmental Justice
Ottawa, on the traditional, unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg Nation — November 4, 2025 — Today’s federal budget arrives after prolonged delays and a period of significant uncertainty for public-serving programs. While it signals continued interest in industrial decarbonization and economic competitiveness, it falls short in delivering the robust, community-centered investments required to advance environmental and climate justice in Canada.
Shake Up The Establishment, a national organization advancing community-centred climate and environmental justice, emphasizes that any credible climate plan must prioritize frontline communities, Indigenous governance and sovereignty, environmental health protections, community-owned renewable energy, sustainable workforce development, and climate-resilient infrastructure.
“The decisions made in the budget today will directly determine what our collective future looks like,” said Anna Huschka (she/her), Director of Policy at Shake Up The Establishment. “The federal government must ensure that its funding priorities reflect the health, resilience, and leadership of communities and ecosystems across the country.”
Earlier this year, the government confirmed Canada is on track for only a 34% emissions reduction by 2030, falling short of the at-least 40% target. Meeting climate commitments equitably requires multi-year, community-driven public funding—not austerity or cuts to essential environmental programs.
Advancing Equity: Supporting Youth, Indigenous, and Frontline Leadership
In August, as conveners of the Infiltrate the System (ITS) Network, Canada’s first youth-centered climate justice policy coalition, 14 organizations issued recommendations urging federal leaders to prioritize community-led climate action, justice-centered public spending, and transparent accountability mechanisms.
Within a broader landscape of communities historically excluded from decision-making—including Indigenous Nations, racialized and low-income communities, people with disabilities, migrants, rural and Northern communities—youth leaders remain dramatically underfunded, receiving just 0.96% of climate-philanthropy grants (2022–2024). The federal government must address this gap by ensuring sustained, resourced participation and leadership from groups on the frontlines of climate and environmental harm.
Federal Budget Must Deliver: What Communities Need Next
To build a just, equitable, sustainable and thriving futures, Canada must ensure:
- Stable multi-year investment in community-based, non-extractive climate solutions
- Funding streams that prioritize frontline, Indigenous-led, racialized, disability justice, and low-income communities
- Public accountability and transparent implementation of emissions targets
- Programs that advance environmental health and a Right to a Healthy Environment
- Community power and oversight in climate policy, not only industry-driven pathways
Under capitalism, budget decisions shape the world we build. We cannot meet climate goals or uphold environmental rights through market-driven measures alone. Communities across this land—particularly those historically marginalized by colonization, racism, underfunding, and environmental harm—need dedicated, long-term public investment and shared decision-making power in climate solutions.
Contact Us
Asha Swann (She/Her), Director of Communications, Shake Up The Establishment, asha@shakeuptheestab.org (Please CC Elaine (Chief Operations Officer) at Elaine@ShakeUpTheEstab.org)
About Us
Shake Up The Establishment (SUTE) is a national youth-led registered not-for-profit organization (#1190975-4) dedicated to advancing climate justice across what is currently known as Canada. We use an intersectional approach to promote non-partisan political advocacy, craft accessible evidence-informed educational resources to improve climate and environmental literacy and work to collaborate directly with underserved and structurally vulnerable communities to address injustices. Our founders dreamt up, organized and registered this organization upon Treaty 3 lands, belonging to the Erie, Neutral, Huron-Wendat, Haudenosaunee and Mississaugas Peoples. We are humbled to follow the lead of Indigenous-led efforts towards the protection and stewardship of the lands currently known as Canada, since time immemorial.
For more info, visit ShakeUpTheEstab.org.
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