CAN’T AFFORD CONSERVATIVE CUTS

This federal election, we are calling on youth to vote for a future that is economically just.

We’re worried about the future of social supports in Canada if the Conservative party wins a majority in the next federal election. In particular, we’re worried about cuts to (and honestly, the total decimation of) existing income supports that many Canadians rely on. Even though our focus has been advocating for future income supports, we recognize that in this current moment, the programs we have now need to be maintained.

As young people, we can use our vote to keep power out of the hands of the Conservative Party. It’s important to get informed about where candidates and parties truly stand on poverty reduction and affordability issues. 

The reality is, we can’t afford Conservative cuts.

Conservative cuts won't make life more affordable - they'll just leave us with less support. And cuts have real consequences. Less income support means more poverty. Less housing support means more homelessness. Less healthcare funding means longer wait times, staff burnout, and under-resourced healthcare facilities. Every cut has a cost. And these costs pose real risks to people's chances at happiness, health, and survival. A vote for the Conservatives will only exacerbate poverty in Canada.

We find a lot of hope in advocating for better income support systems, imagining more robust programs than the ones we have today. But we also know that the existing income supports – albeit flawed and inadequate – are certainly better than nothing.

We are not alone in our work: across Canada, front-line and anti-poverty groups have been working tirelessly to support Canadians and lift people out of poverty. From food banks to housing groups, healthcare advocacy to youth groups, we recognize that we are not alone in our fight to end poverty. We will work to amplify the voices of groups on the front-line in our mission to protect and expand current income supports.

This is our priority focus as we head towards a federal election.

Let’s Take Action!

Young people showing up to vote and voting strategically within their own ridings can make a real difference in preventing Conservatives from holding all the cards and gutting programs that are necessary for survival. We want young people to have the resources they need to make informed decisions about who they’re voting for and whether the candidates actually care about making life more affordable, and for who.

What BIYC is looking for from federal candidates and parties

Election “platforms” are documents outlining a political party’s values and their promises if they form government. Political parties usually release their platforms shortly after an election is called and add to it as the campaign carries on. As more information is released by parties, we’ll update this info and share insights on our social media: Instagram, TikTok, and Bluesky.

COMMITMENTS, NOT COP-OUTS

  1. Protections for existing income supports

  2. Investments for improving/expanding existing income supports

  3. Commitments to addressing gaps in our social safety net with more unconditional and universal programs 

Federal policies and programs mitigate and reduce poverty. None of these programs are adequate, and we think there are many ways they can be improved. However, cuts to existing programs will hurt low-income Canadians, making life harder for everyone.

What do we mean by existing income supports? The federal government funds and administers important social programs that put money in people’s pockets when they need it. Although the main source of support for low-income Canadians is social assistance – which is administered by provincial governments – the federal government also runs numerous poverty-focused programs that target specific groups of people. 

We’re looking for specific commitments (not just empty slogans) to maintain and improve these federal programs, which are core pillars of support for low-income Canadians: 

CASH TRANSFERS

SOCIAL INSURANCE PROGRAMS

OTHER PROGRAMS

We also think that our tax structure should be redistributive: the federal government plays a key role in supporting the transfer of income from the very wealthy to the very poor. The federal government should maintain, enforce, and improve progressive tax structures to effectively redistribute wealth and mitigate poverty. Check out this analysis by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ analysis of how Conservative and Liberal promises to change the personal income tax structure will cost Canadians millions.

We are watching candidate/party commitments to ensure that wealthy Canadians and corporations pay their fair share of taxes, through: 

  • Business taxes for large corporations 

  • Increasing capital gains tax  

  • Reducing corporate welfare

  • Higher taxation levels for the wealthiest Canadians

  • Introducing an inheritance tax on the wealthiest Canadians

Make a Voting Plan

There are many ways to vote. Take your pick (and bring your friends!):

  • Vote early at any Elections Canada office (until the April 22nd at 6pm)

  • Vote by mail. You’ll need to apply to vote by mail before April 22nd, and send in your ballot before April 28. Read more about voting by mail here.

Pro tips:

Voting Strategically

As Conservatives tighten their grip on power across Canada, we face a difficult choice. To keep power out of their hands and prevent harmful cuts, we must vote strategically. This means casting your vote not for your ideal candidate, but for the candidate most likely to defeat the Conservative in your riding.

Voting strategically in this context doesn’t mean aligning the progressive vote. It means choosing the candidate who stands the best chance of reducing Conservative power, even if they’re not your first choice.

The specific candidate or party to support will vary depending on where you live. In some ridings, it might mean supporting the Liberals; in others, the NDP, Greens, or Bloc (in Quebec). It's about making sure the Conservatives don't have a clear path to victory.

We recommend using the following resources to figure out the most strategic vote for your riding:

  • StrategicVoting.ca
    (As of March 15, 2025, the website is outdated but it will be updated for the 2025 election.) This site helps guide you in identifying the candidate best positioned to defeat the Conservative in your riding.

  • 338Canada
    While this site doesn’t focus exclusively on voting strategically to remove Conservatives, it offers insights into polling in each riding. It shows whether a seat is safe, likely safe, or a toss-up, which is important in determining how strategic your vote needs to be.

If you're a student, you can vote either where you live for school or where you usually live when you’re not at school, as long as you have ID to show you live there.

We understand that voting for a non-progressive candidate might feel difficult, especially in our current political climate. But the reality is clear: we can’t afford Conservative cuts.

“Can’t Afford Conservative Cuts” Posters

We've created posters and stickers with a clear message about our priorities for this federal election: we can't afford Conservative cuts! By putting posters up in your community, on a local community bulletin board, or around campus, you're sharing a clear sign that you stand against cuts that would deepen poverty and reduce essential supports. Your action helps amplify our collective voice and reminds others that every cut has a real cost to people's lives.

You can download our posters and print them yourselves. We also have campaign stickers which we will gladly mail you for free, along with free colour copies of the posters - just reach out to us if you are interested!

Contact us for free colour copies of the campaign poster to share in your community!

Download the campaign poster (8.5 x 11 inch version)

Download the campaign poster (11x17 inch version)

Contact us for free campaign stickers to share in your community!

Add your voice to other campaigns!

Our lives and community priorities are intersectional and complex. In addition to real solutions to addressing poverty , we know there are many important issues to consider in this election. 

To further inform your vote, check out these campaigns and advocacy orgs to learn more about intersecting issues on the table this election. 

  • Drag the Vote "Powered by Queer Momentum - a leading Canadian queer advocacy organization - Drag the Vote is an initiative led by drag performers to help mobilize 2SLGBTQIA+ people and allies in the next federal election."

  • Eat Think Vote "Eat Think Vote is a campaign where communities across the country hold events with electoral candidates to talk about food systems issues that matter most to them. We eat together, we think about the food issues, then we vote in the federal election!" 

  • Disability without Poverty works to "build a movement that lifts people with disabilities out of poverty in Canada by mobilizing grassroots power, working with government and securing public support for ending disability poverty."

  • Migrant Rights Network "Migrants are being scapegoated for the housing, healthcare and affordability crisis. Now migrant numbers are being cut while migrant exploitation is increasing. We need to show politicians that the majority of people in the country support migrants and immigrants, and we reject racism, discrimination and scapegoating."

  • Lead Now's Raise the Bar Campaign aims to "to fight back against Poilievre’s Conservatives and elect leaders who will raise the bar and fight for us—not for corporate interests."

  • Vote Palestine is a "non-partisan campaign pushing for Palestinian rights and freedom during the Canadian federal election."

The cost of living is hitting youth extra hard. While shaped by various intersecting identities and socio-economic factors, youth are being impacted in all areas of the economy, including:

  • Education: The collective Canadian student debt is $23.5 billion as of July 2022. But education is increasingly failing to result in job security.

  • Work and career: Young people are more likely to work in unstable and underpaid jobs and are more often asked to take on unpaid opportunities.

  • Housing affordability: Home ownership is out of reach for many young people and in a environment where tenant protections are insufficient, it is not feasible for most young people to live alone. This affects youth mobility.

  • Care: Existing policies fail to recognize the role of youth as providers and caregivers, and youth are often assumed to be dependents.

The economic challenges facing youth are glaring, but these concerns are often absent from party platforms. While existing income support for youth is inadequate, youth are currently benefiting from programs and policy positions that stand to face cuts should the Conservatives be elected.

Even if some federal income support programs don’t directly benefit you as a young person, we do not exist in a vacuum. As family members are laid-off, work hours are reduced, and health needs unexpectedly arise, youth have to respond with their wallets and their labour. Protecting existing income supports help enable youth to withstand an endless number of shifting financial circumstances, by strengthening the greater communities and networks of support that we exist in.

Why should youth care?

Learn More About Federal Politics and Elections

Our political process was not designed with youth in mind. While we want to empower youth to be politically engaged, we recognize that information on political processes is often inaccessible, and there are insufficient opportunities for youth to engage with decision-makers.

With this in mind, we have compiled a list of resources from organizations who break down the basics of the federal electoral system in Canada:

Here is some introductory information about our electoral system:

  • Canada operates under a parliamentary democracy, this means that the government is formed by elected MPs in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister is the leader of the party that has the most seats in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister is sworn-in by the Governor General.

  • Canada uses a First-Past-The-Post system for federal elections. This means that in each riding (electoral district), the candidate with the most votes wins, even if they don’t win the majority of votes. This system can sometimes result in a party winning a majority of seats in the House of Commons without receiving a majority of the popular vote.

  • The major political parties in Canada include: The Liberal Party of Canada, The Conservative Party of Canada, New Democratic Party (NDP), The Green Party of Canada, and the Bloc Québécois (in Quebec only).

  •  There will be 343 seats up for election in the House of Commons, up from the previous 338 due to redistribution of ridings and accounting for population growth.

  • An election must be held on/before October 20th although the Prime Minister can call an earlier election by asking the Governor General to dissolve Parliament. At that point, the Governor General will direct the Chief Electoral Officer to issue the Writ of Elections, officially beginning the election campaign.

Learn More About Income Supports and Poverty in Canada

Want to learn more about poverty in Canada and how policymakers are (or are not) responding? Here are some resources we have found helpful from research, activist, and non-profit groups and organizations doing important work in this area:

Stay tuned for more updates!

Feedback, questions, or ideas?