Canadian relief and development organizations are expressing concern and disappointment with Ottawa’s decision to cut the country’s foreign aid budget.
In its budget released Nov. 4, the federal government said it will reduce international assistance through Global Affairs Canada by $2.7 billion over four years. For context, in 2024-2025, Canada’s total international assistance envelope was about $7.9 billion.
The reductions announced in the budget are expected to return international assistance from Canada to pre-COVID levels, the government said. It singled out funding for global health programming as an area to be cut.
For Cooperation Canada, a coalition of more than 100 non-governmental organizations, the cuts could not have come at a worse time, with global instability increasing, human rights under threat and humanitarian needs at an all-time high.
“It is clear that any savings resulting from cutting the international assistance budget will be short-lived,” said Kate Higgins, CEO of Cooperation Canada.
The cuts “erode Canada’s credibility with our global partners and blunt our capacity to shape outcomes that affect Canadians at home,” she said.
Paul Farran, who directs policy and advocacy at Cooperation Canada, says he is concerned Canada is pouring more money into defence — “hard power” — while cutting back on international assistance, or “soft power.”
International assistance “is part of [the] foreign policy toolkit” he said, adding it costs less to prevent conflict than to respond to needs caused by it after it happens.
Farran also believes the government should view assistance as part of its overall trade and investment strategy — not as a form of charity.
He cited a study from the Canadian International Development Platform, an independent data and analytics platform, that found every $1 in aid returned up to $1.20 in trade to Canadian businesses.
“We could save money now, but it is shortsighted in the longer term,” he said, adding that the cuts to global health programs are “worrisome.”
“Canada is a leader in that area. Why are we stepping away from it?” he asked, noting it has “built networks, contributed expertise and saved lives” over the years.
Not charity
Andy Harrington is executive director of Canadian Foodgrains Bank, a partnership of 15 Canadian churches and church-based agencies working together to end global hunger.
Harrington also noted foreign aid is not charity.
“It’s strategy with compassion. That’s why we are dismayed at the cut to the aid envelope,” he said.
Canadian aid is not just extending a helping hand to those in need, he said. “We’re shaping a safer, more prosperous world for everyone, including Canadians,” he said.
He cited a United Nations-World Bank study showing money spent on programs that prevent conflict save money in the long term.
Canadian global leadership has always been strongest “when rooted in our values of fairness, inclusion, cooperation, and empathy,” Harrington added, noting this is a way to “earn trust, open markets, and build stability in a world facing complex, interconnected challenges.”
Nicolas Moyer, CEO of Cuso International, also finds the cuts to be challenging. But the direction the government is going also presents opportunities for relief and development groups to see how they can work with its goals of promoting trade.
“More than 75 per cent of the new budget’s actions are a response to significant global economic shifts, including the need to redefine trade relationships,” Moyer said. “[T]hat includes redefining the role of international development assistance.”
As the federal government looks for ways to align foreign aid with its trade interests, aid groups can get on board by encouraging partnerships between Canadian companies and development organizations that do work in the Global South, he said.
At the same time, Moyer cautioned that there are important questions to consider. These include how development groups and Canadian business can work more closely together while still honouring longstanding principles about human rights and respect for the dignity of people in the Global South.
There are also practical barriers to this new approach within Global Affairs Canada itself, he said. Its systems are not designed to support blended finance, cross-sector partnerships or locally-driven collaborations, he said.
“If Canada is to develop a model of international cooperation that involves aid groups working with the private sector without abandoning overarching development principles, it will need to make sure that conversations happen, along with reviewing the best ways for GAC to facilitate innovation,” he said.
We need to be putting money into defence. Foreign aid is good but our country’s safety and welfare is priority. Giving should be a sensible balance.
Canadians are a generous people. Unfortunately we do not trust the media and the government anymore. Too much deception and untruth.