Co-Founder + CEO @build_canada | Founder @canada_spends | Chair, Advisory Board @usepatch | Building a better Canada đ
Joined October 2014
- Tweets 2,946
- Following 1,472
- Followers 3,650
- Likes 3,562
To really cook as a nation, âsmall business owners and entrepreneurs and innovators want all levels of government to lower friction, reduce red tape, and get out of the way.
Thanks for having me on the show @BenMulroney!
"Any evaluation of this weekâs federal budget fundamentally comes down to one question: Is this a national emergency or not?
Judging by what the Minister of Finance presented to the House of Commons last Tuesday, the Liberal governmentâs answer to that question is, âitâs not.â
đĽ A normal budget for abnormal times
New newsletter in your inbox or available here: buildcanada.substack.com/p/sâŚ
Lucy Hargreaves retweeted
We're doing this in Vancouver next week, and the response has been overwhelming
We're 400% over capacity â we have room for 15, and more than 70 have registered their interest đ¤Ż
Canadians are chomping at the bit to engage. @build_canada is making it happen. đ¨đŚ
Discussing the federal budget with a bunch of strangers on a Thursday evening was NOT on my bingo card for 2025.
@build_canada really is a magnet for people that genuinely care about the future of this country.
Lucy Hargreaves retweeted
Students, this is your movement too. Build Canada is coming to a campus near you đ¨đŚ
Join @fnthawar & @melkuo at the University of Toronto on Nov 13, and @lucyhargreaves4 & @ColinMang at McMaster on Nov 20 as they talk about how you can build the future of Canada.
I spoke to Renfrew Today about the budget. Three takeaways:
> some steps in the right direction
> lacks urgency and boldness needed to unlock growth
> execution matters more than promises
renfrewtoday.ca/2025/11/07/bâŚ
budget 2025 is an incremental step in the right direction for growth..... with a huge price tag and some big bets
the question everyone is asking: will these bets pay off?
thanks for having me on to talk about this @billcarrolltalk
this is the heart of @build_canada
people who care about growth coming together on a thursday night to talk about the future of our country
Discussing the federal budget with a bunch of strangers on a Thursday evening was NOT on my bingo card for 2025.
@build_canada really is a magnet for people that genuinely care about the future of this country.
What does patriotism in entrepreneurship mean to you?
That was my closing surprise question in yesterday's @SAASNORTH panel.
Fun conversation with some incredibly inspiring Canadian leaders. S/o to @rachelz_to @matthimel @claudio__rojas for being part of it.
See the full memo here: buildcanada.com/en/memos/fixâŚ
A simplified application process along with a pre-claim option for SR&ED is a great change for Canada's entrepreneurs.
Special shoutout to @FP_Champagne and his team for being so responsive to calls for improving this + to @harleyf for sharing ideas via Build Canada.
Couldn't find any more recent polling on this, but an 2018 Angus Reid poll found that 4 in 10 Canadians say floor-crossing should be banned
> the majority who support the practice prefer allowing members to continue their terms as independents
> Quebec residents are most opposed to floor-crossing as a concept, at 50%
curious to learn more about reactions to the "Productivity Super-Deduction"
is this something that would move the needle for your business?
It's been a long day of budget lock-up, reading, talking and thinking. I still don't think I've fully digested it all.
As of now, I think Budget 2025 is a step in the right direction for growth, but lacks the urgency and boldness I was hoping to see given the crisis we're facing as a nation.
Build Canada has only been around a short time and it's incredible to see that so many of the ideas we shared were included in today's budget. This is definitely a win.
But ... there's more I would've liked to see. Aggressive spending reductions. Ambitious deregulation. Less bureaucracy and more free market approaches. Less incrementalism and more boldness. It doesn't seem like a $78.3B deficit, or 2.5 per cent of GDP, is truly necessary.
I'm sure I'll continue to digest in the coming days, but as of now my mind turns to next steps. Can this budget pass? If so, how quickly can the ideas be executed? How will plans and strategies currently under development like the AI Strategy be incorporated? How will the markets react?
ON TODAY'S BUDGET
Over the past year, Build Canada has shared bold policy ideas to grow our economy. From finance to government transformation, housing to immigration, the message has been clear: Canada needs to cut wasteful spending, reduce friction for builders, and increase competitiveness.
This budget is a step in the right direction towards growth. It shows that Ottawa is starting to listen to the builders â the people who create innovation, jobs, and prosperity for our country. The budget gets some of the direction right, but lacks the boldness and urgency needed to truly unlock growth.
In particular, weâre encouraged to see:
* Proposals to streamline SR&ED, including âup-front technical approvalâ and streamlining âthe review process by eliminating unnecessary stepsâ
* Announcements to come to âlaunch an accelerated pathways for H1-B visa holdersâ
* Transformation of Interchange Canada into a âBuild Canada Exchangeâ program to bring 50 external leaders into the public service
Which are all ideas we have shared in our memos.
However, many of these budget commitments lack details, a concrete plan, or donât go far enough. For example:
* Accelerated immigration to attract the worldâs best researchers and innovators are announcements of intentions, with âadditional details on the launch of recruitment processes [for top researchers to] be announced in the coming weeksâ and changes to attract H1-B visa holders will come âin the coming months.â
* Plans to conduct a red tape review to streamline processes, modernise outdated requirements, and eliminate unnecessary steps with results of the review âavailable in Budget 2026â.
* The analysis in the Build Canada memo found that operational spending reductions of 15-20%, while maintaining commitments to defence, security, retirement and childrenâs benefits, were immediately possible, rather than the proposed 10% reduction over 5 years
Execution now matters more than promises, more than plans, more than strategies. This government no longer has any excuses or any reason not to act. The real test of this budget, and of the Liberal governmentâs seriousness, will be whether it can turn these ideas into action.
Seeing corporate tax reform in tomorrowâs budget would be a strong signal of how serious this government is about competitiveness.
ICYMI: @AliciaPlanincic: Cutting spending wonât cut itâCanadaâs tax system needs a serious overhaul
thehub.ca/2025/10/31/cuttingâŚ
Lucy Hargreaves retweeted
The budget is tomorrow. This will be a telling moment of the priorities of our government, and the future of our country.
Over the past 2 weeks, weâve resurfaced bold policy ideas â from finance to government transformation, housing to immigration â that could meaningfully grow our country.
Taken together, there are similar themes weâll be looking out for tomorrow:
1. Are we cutting wasteful spending? The sheer size of public spending has grown exponentially in recent years, placing an increasingly unsustainable debt burden on Canadians. The PBO itself has raised alarms. The Liberal target of shrinking government spending by 15% over the next three years should be raised, and accelerated.
2. Are we getting out of the way? One of the biggest obstacles to increased investment is the regulatory regime. As a StatsCanada report from last February noted, the growth in the regulatory environment since 2006 has cut business sector investment by 9%, reduced startups, cut GDP by 1.7 percent, employment growth by 1.3 percent, and labour productivity by 0.4 percent. Outside of key investments, the budget should look to reduce friction and get the government out of the way so that builders can build.
3. Are we increasing competitiveness? With more competition comes better products and increased productivity. The budget should offer businesses incentives to innovate and invest, and ways for our country to attract and retain top talent.
We know that Canadians are ready to build. Tomorrowâs budget will tell us if our government is too.