Now it’s up to the federal Liberal government to sell a spending plan it says will help younger Canadians catch up with their elders.
So far, predictably, his critics and political rivals are unimpressed.
The $535 billion budget seeks to restore economic justice for millennial and Gen Z voters at a time when the minority government is weakening in the polls.
It includes $8.5 billion over five years to help build millions of homes and another $2.6 billion for grant and student aid programs.
And it commits funding to the first phase of national pharmaceutical care and promises federal standards for long-term care, two commitments the Liberals made to the NDP.
But New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh is in no rush to say whether his party will vote to support the budget and keep the Liberal minority in power.
The Liberals have seen their once healthy voter base among young people evaporate in favor of the Conservatives, largely because younger Canadians feel the economic situation is stacked against them.
Freeland denied Tuesday that her latest budget is primarily a political exercise, but still acknowledged that for anyone under 40 in Canada, it is “simply harder to get established” than for previous generations.
A middle-class income and a good job are no longer enough to feel financially secure, he said.
“It’s really not fair what they’re struggling with right now,” Freeland said at a news conference Tuesday before her budget speech.
The 2024 budget is designed to fix that problem, he said: “open the door to the middle class” for more Canadians.
“We are acting today to ensure justice for every generation.”
Overall, planned spending in the budget will increase to $535 billion in 2024-25, compared to $497.5 billion in 2023-24. The deficit is projected at $39.8 billion, compared to $40 billion last year.
There is $11.5 billion in new spending this year and $53 billion over the next five years.
Freeland said she will maintain the fiscal anchors she set for the government, keeping the deficit below $40 billion and less than one percent of GDP from 2026-27.
Ottawa is paying for part of that with better-than-expected economic growth, but also with specific changes to the capital gains tax that are expected to raise more than $19 billion over the next five years.
Currently, Canadians only pay taxes on 50 per cent of the money they make from capital gains, which primarily refers to profits made from the sale of an asset like a stock.
Freeland is adjusting that figure to 66 percent for all capital gains earned by corporations and trusts, and for those exceeding $250,000 for individuals.
He said the change should affect the 0.13 per cent of Canadians who have an average annual income of $1.4 million. He said he knows the tax increase will create a pushback.
“But before you complain too bitterly, I would like the one per cent of Canada – the 0.1 per cent of Canada – to consider this: What kind of Canada do they want to live in,” he asked in his speech.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre left little doubt Tuesday about how his party feels about the budget, which he described as “an arsonist adding gas to the inflationary fire.”
Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-François Blanchet also said his group would not support the budget.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 17, 2024.