{"id":2432,"date":"2025-11-05T01:45:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T01:45:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/?p=2432"},"modified":"2025-11-05T01:45:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T01:45:07","slug":"budget-2025-ottawa-to-slash-foreign-aid-spending-to-pre-pandemic-levels-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/?p=2432","title":{"rendered":"Budget 2025: Ottawa to slash foreign aid spending to pre-pandemic levels – National"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Carney government says it is cutting foreign aid spending to a level in line with Canada\u2019s pre-pandemic aid allocations \u2014 without specifying the size of this year\u2019s aid budget.<\/p>\n

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Tuesday\u2019s budget forecasts $2.7 billion in cuts over four years, which will affect things like global health projects. Ottawa is also withdrawing some support for a world-renowned aid research centre.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere will be reductions in development funding to global health programming, where Canada\u2019s contribution has grown disproportionately relative to other similar economies,\u201d the budget document says.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not clear where the aid cuts will land. The budget talks of \u201cleveraging innovative tools, while focusing support for countries that need it the most\u201d and rejigging existing agreements with specific countries.<\/p>\n

The budget also says that Canada will cut funding \u201cto some international financial institutions\u201d while finding ways that \u201cCanada\u2019s contributions can be leveraged further.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Canada spent $6 billion on aid in the last reported fiscal year ending in March 2024, along with $2.6 billion for international financial assistance such as loans for Ukraine. Total spending on all aid-related files \u2014 including support for refugees in Canada and development grants \u2014 came to $12.3 billion in the last reported fiscal year.<\/p>\n

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Ottawa increased its development and humanitarian spending during the pandemic, in part to restore stalled progress on fighting major illnesses such as AIDS and tuberculosis as governments turned their attention to COVID-19.<\/p>\n

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Developing countries are still grappling with a debt crisis driven by high interest rates that spiked as wealthier governments spent big during the pandemic. They\u2019re also facing an increase in the number and intensity of natural disasters due to climate change.<\/p>\n

Under the banner of \u201ctrade finance,\u201d the government is repurposing $138 million in current funding for Global Affairs Canada \u2014 primarily from an allocation Ottawa taps to make funding announcements at global summits \u2014 to rebuild Ukraine\u2019s critical infrastructure.<\/p>\n

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The government says Ukraine\u2019s reconstruction could boost Canadian industry \u201cacross nearly every sector, from engineering and energy to agri-food, health care and technology.\u201d<\/p>\n

The International Development Research Centre will see steadily deeper cuts, starting with $11.4 million in the fiscal year that starts in April, rising rising to $23.5 million annually at the end of five years.<\/p>\n

Parliament has allocated $159.4 million to the IDRC for the current fiscal year.<\/p>\n