Liberal Cabinet to Meet in Toronto This Week Ahead of Parliament’s Return

Prime Minister Mark Carney says his cabinet will meet in the Toronto area this week to discuss the Liberal government’s fall priorities ahead of Parliament’s return.

The meetings, scheduled for Sept. 3 and Sept. 4, are set to focus on fast-tracking nation-building infrastructure projects, building affordable homes, boosting Canada’s defence industries, and ensuring sectors most impacted by U.S. tariffs have the resources they need to “retool” and diversify their markets, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a Sept. 2 press release. The meeting is being called a “cabinet planning forum” instead of the usual retreat.

The PMO said the forum will also “advance the beginnings of Canada’s preparations” for the review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which is scheduled to take place next year.

The ministers are also set to review the Liberal government’s seven priorities outlined in the party’s mandate letter, which have a heavy focus on strengthening Canada’s economy and ties with trading partners and allies.

The PMO says the meetings will also focus on addressing crime and making communities safer. This comes as the Conservatives have been intensifying calls for bail reform as well as legislative changes to limit the prosecution of individuals who have used reasonable force to defend their homes against intruders.

The Liberal government has said it intends to introduce new legislation this fall to impose stricter bail conditions in response to escalating crime rates.

This will be Carney’s second cabinet retreat since taking office in the spring. He held a two-day retreat in Gatineau, Que., in May, which was off-limits to media. This marked a change from the access allowed to reporters during former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s time in office, when reporters were allowed to ask questions of cabinet ministers at prior retreats. The media will be allowed access to this week’s cabinet retreat in Toronto.

The Liberal caucus is also set to meet in Edmonton next week ahead of Parliament’s return on Sept. 15.

October Budget

The fall meetings come ahead of the release of the first budget under Carney, which is set to be tabled in October, according to Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne.

The newly re-elected Liberal government didn’t table a budget in the spring, contrary to political custom. Champagne initially said a budget would not be presented this year, but Carney later said it would table one this fall.

The prime minister defended his decision not to release a spring budget by noting the short parliamentary sitting before summer break and the fact that a new cabinet had only recently been appointed. He said it would be premature to present a budget in the spring due to the economic uncertainty brought about by the threat of U.S. tariffs.

Carney’s platform has pledged nearly $130 billion in new spending over four fiscal years, and greater deficits than the previous Liberal government had submitted as estimates. This was before Carney announced in June that Ottawa would increase defence spending by $9 billion by the end of this fiscal year to meet NATO’s spending target of 2 percent of GDP.

The cabinet forum will also take place shortly before Ottawa is expected to announce the selection of its first major projects. The related Major Projects Office (MPO) was launched on Aug. 29 and will be headquartered in Calgary. The office aims to build major projects faster by streamlining regulatory approval processes and coordinating financing, thereby reducing the approval timeline from five years to two.

The MPO will focus on accelerating the development of projects that are deemed to be of national interest, such as ports, railways, energy corridors, and critical mineral mines.

Matthew Horwood, Noé Chartier, and The Canadian Press contributed to this report.