Budget 2025 – Canada’s Clean50 Open Letter

November 16, 2025
An Open Letter from 144 Members of Canada’s Clean50,
Business, Academic, ENGO and Government Leaders

 
To:         The Right Honourable Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada, and
The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Finance

We, the undersigned members of Canada’s Clean50 (and our organizations where listed), wish to commend the Carney government for the few budget measures that take meaningful steps toward addressing the climate emergency, including regulating methane, maintaining the federal industrial carbon pricing framework, investments in public transit electrification, significant improvements to the ITC and SRED programs which will help some of our clean tech companies, the establishment of a Youth Climate Corps, and expanded funding for Indigenous-led conservation initiatives.

However, we are extremely disappointed that, overall, the 2025 Budget is neither “transformative” nor “nation-building”, and fails to tackle the broader and accelerating climate crisis – a crisis that will persist long after the temporary “tariff emergency”. 
The measures omitted from this budget could have simultaneously addressed both the tariff and climate emergencies, laying the groundwork for a resilient, future-ready Canadian economy, while not rolling back some existing greenwashing legislation, supported by 93% of Canadians.

Instead of supporting the action this moment demands, Canada’s overall GHGs will be higher, and not on track to meet our 2030, or any other, climate action commitments.

Most critically, we note:

–Insufficient Support for the Clean Economy Sector, leaving Canada at significant risk of losing existing companies, as well as future companies, investment and career-long jobs, in industries expected to triple in size world-wide by 2035

–Cuts to the National Reforestation and Nature Restoration Initiative, especially the 2 Billion trees program, when more investment is called for.

–The Rollback of Anti-Greenwashing Bill C-59, a bill supported by 93% of Canadians, enables misinformation to again be acceptable.

–Abandoning the Emissions Cap, which guarantees higher total emissions from the fossil fuel sector

–Abandonment of existing, and a lack of new climate risk mitigation strategies, leaving communities at significant risk for future forest fires and extreme weather.

We address these specific concerns more fully in the attachment that follows.

We urge like-minded members of the Liberal “Climate Caucus” and representatives from all parties to advocate strongly for the restoration and strengthening of these vital policies and programs and better align spending with a transformation that is built for the future. Canada’s global leadership and future prosperity depend on bold, coherent action that aligns sustainable economic development with environmental stewardship.

“Elbows up” means skating to where the puck is going. Not sitting back in our own end, defending an aging goalie. 
Both the climate and tariff emergencies demand nothing less.

Signed,
140 Members of Canada’s Clean50 (and 70 of their affiliated organizations where shown)  and 5 additional individuals & organizations, as listed below

ADDENDUM to the LETTER ABOVE

Most critically, and in more detail, our concerns are the following:

Insufficient Support for the Clean Economy Sector
The absence of significant new or expanded support for Canada’s clean and climate technology innovators, renewable energy developers, reduced emissions buildings, regenerative agriculture, the greener homes program, bio-tech and eco-friendly products, and circular economy solutions sends a troubling signal to the country’s fastest-growing and most strategically important sectors, in industries destined to triple worldwide by 2035¹.  The present NRC IRAP funding meets less than 20% of the current need, denying Canadian firms the ability to prove their technology in pilots that almost always lead to growth and significant exports.   

With China, the European Union and even individual states in the USA accelerating clean-tech investment through large-scale incentives, Canada risks losing whole companies, talent, capital, intellectual property, and competitiveness – and the great careers of the future – if it fails to match or exceed others’ ambitions.

Clean tech and climate tech alone account for $80 billion of GDP² today (quadruple the size of the aluminum, forestry and steel industries combined ²), with the ability to triple to $240 billion if Canada just keeps pace with international demand, becoming twice the size of the oil industry today. With the vast majority of the industry Canadian owned, profits are poured back into expansion, and spread widely amongst numerous regions of the country.  The outputs mitigate climate impacts and cause minimal health, emissions or environmental risks, while providing the long-term careers of the future, not the at-risk jobs of the past. 

Since 2011, on average, Canadian Small and Medium-sized Enterprises have exported $43 B more per year than the exports of all Canadian companies engaged in Mining, Coal, Oil & Gas Extraction and their related services companies combined^2,5. And Canadian SMEs are responsible for 64% of employment and dominate employment growth^2,6. 

Canadian SMEs have played an outsized role in Canada’s prosperity and yet may have been “too small to see”. The budget’s climate plan appears to prove this.

There are numerous ways in which support for the clean economy strategic industries can be included in spending for both defense and housing, and in changes to government procurement policies that take into account the “total cost of ownership”,  when making decisions, which need to be included in the Government’s strategy.

Cuts to the National Reforestation and Nature Restoration Initiative

Removing funding for Canada’s 2 billion trees reforestation and restoration program is short-sighted.  Over 8% of Canada’s forests have been laid to waste by forest fires in the past 3 years alone, and most of the impacted areas have no remaining seeds to start new forests. It is estimated that 7 billion seedlings must be planted to replace just 15% of what we lost in 2023 alone. The government’s program to plant 2 billion trees was very slow to start, due to civil service delays, and because once programs were formalized, it then took four years for seeds to be produced and seedlings to become ready to plant. A significant effort to build companies to fulfill these needs has now succeeded. Cancelling the program wastes all that effort and some 31,000 existing and expected jobs will be lost, and is contrary to Canada’s 2030 Nature Strategy.

More broadly, nature and watershed restoration faces significant cuts to monitoring programs, encouraging irresponsible industrial operators to put our health at risk, while reducing our understanding of the state of our environment. 
Reforestation and Nature Restoration programs are among the most effective and cost efficient tools we have for carbon sequestration, biodiversity protection, and community resilience against floods, fires, and drought ³. 

At the very time when climate-related disasters are escalating and we most need new trees and clean water, cutting these investments is both fiscally and environmentally irresponsible.

Rollback of Bill C-59
The government’s rollback of the recently strengthened climate disclosure / anti-greenwashing rules and corporate accountability provisions originally contained in Bill C-59 represents a major step backward. Transparent, standardized climate risk reporting and a sustainable taxonomy is essential for attracting responsible investment and ensuring Canadian companies remain globally competitive. Weakening these provisions undermines investor confidence, climate accountability, and the credibility of Canada’s transition plan.

Weakened provisions will harm sustainable, innovative, and honest Canadian firms and entrepreneurs who have already adapted to these changes. Further, renewed greenwashing can distort competition and act as a barrier to entry to genuine green firms or drive them from the market.  In a 2024 Angus Reid poll ⁴, this legislation was supported by a massive 93% of Canadians. 

Abandoning the Emissions Cap

Abandoning an emissions cap enables more pollution, in a world where, per capita, Canadians are already amongst the very worst carbon polluters in the world, and the worst in the G7. The fossil fuel industry represents only $120 Billion in GDP², has already produced millions of abandoned wells, and is leaving taxpayers footing the bill for substantial air and water-related health impacts and a massive clean-up legacy, while 50% of profits go to the benefit of foreign investors.  Allowing still more emissions makes achieving our climate goals impossible, while inviting still more pollution.  

Lack of climate risk mitigation strategies

Preparing for and responding to climate change impacts require unique risk management data, expertise, and grassroots support. Risks associated with climate change impact all economies across Canada, including flooding, droughts, wild fires, erosion, extreme weather events and sea-level rise.  A risk management layer and long-term resilience lens needs to be applied to new programs, projects and departmental work to de-risk investments, as committed to in the National Adaptation Strategy. The 2025 Liberal Election Platform pledged $450 million over five years to stand up a national flood insurance program, first promised in 2019, with a launch date of April 2026. Budget 2025 makes no mention of this program, despite billions of dollars in insured flooding damage in 2024. Inaction risks the market contracting, leaving Canadians without financial protection while flood intensity escalates. 
 
The following Individual Members of the Clean50 and their Organizations endorse this message
Francis Allard – CEO, Ramo Group
Colin Armstrong – President & CEO, HTEC
Natalie Ashdown – COO, Evoco
Fraser Atkinson – CEO, GreenPower Motor Company
Céline Bak – President and Founder, Analytica Advisors
Lisa Bate – President, Lisa Bate Advisory Inc.
Felix Böck – CEO, ChopValue Manufacturing ltd
Kevin Brady – President, Sustainable Enterprise Consulting
Bryan Buggey – Executive Director, Vancouver Maritime Centre for Climate
Deborah Byrne – Owner, Deborah Byrne Resilient Building Consultant
Angela Carter – Professor and Canada Research Chair, Memorial University
Howard Chang – CEO, The Turn Lab Inc.
Stephen Cheeseman – President, Chinook Power Corp.
Love-Ese Chile – Founder, Grey to Green Sustainable Solutions
Soula Chronopoulos – President, AquaAction
Truzaar Dordi – Assistant Professor, University of York
Karen Farbridge – President, Karen Farbridge & Associates
Gillian Flies – Executive Director, The New Farm Centre
Gregary Ford – Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, Swim Drink Fish
Sebastien Gendron — CEO, TransPod Inc.
Kaitlyn Gillis – Founder, Human Nature Connections
Pamela Goertzen – Executive Director, SSRIA
Thomas Green – CEO, EcoAxis Inc.
Jury Gualandris – Academic Director, Ivey BSV Centre.
Michelle Hjort – Managing Partner, Energy Neighbour
Charles Hopkins – UNESCO Chair, York University
Don Huff – Owner, ECO Strategy
Beth Hunter – Director, FoodBridge
Diane Kilcoyne – Principal, Operativa Consulting
Brent Kopperson – Executive Director, Windfall Ecology Centre
Nina Lantinga – President, Nets for Net Zero
Jean Luc Lavergne – CEO, Lavergne Groupe Inc.
Melissa Lem – President, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment
Peter Love – President, Love Energy Consultants Inc
Maria Maisuradze – CEO, ED4S
Elizabeth May – MP, Leader, Green Party of Canada
Bob Mitchell – Principal, Pure Enertech Research
Sandra Phillips – Chair Woman, movmi
Gavin Pitchford – CEO, Delta Management Group & ED, Canada’s Clean50
Joan Prowse – President, CineFocus Canada Inc.
Patrick Racine – CEO, ChillSkyn
William Redelmeier – Proprietor, Southbrook Vineyards
Tim Reeve – President, Reeve Consulting 
Paul Richardson – Managing Partner, Renewal Funds
Chad Rickaby – CEO, ClimateDoor
Chris Rider – National Director, Conservation, CPAWS
Michael Riedijk – CEO, Lucent Bio
Sarah Riley – Sustainable Brand Advisor, R&G The Sustainability Agency
John Robinson – Professor, University of Toronto
Minto Roy – Co-Founder & Managing Partner, International Social Print Paper ltd.
Agata Rudd – Co-founder, Korotu
Anthea Sargeaunt – CEO, 2S Water
Dianne Saxe – Councillor, City of Toronto
Natalie Schmitt – CEO/Founder, WildTechDNA
Adam Scott – Executive Director, Shift: Action for Pension Wealth & Planet Health
Carolyn Sedgwick – Vice President, VETTA Windows
Jean Shoiry – President, Groupe PureSphera
Triveni Singh – CEO, CMI Group Inc
Apoorv Sinha – CEO, Carbon Upcycling Technologies Inc.
Grant Smith – CEO, Pond Technologies
Lauren Smith – Postdoctoral Fellow & Adjunct Professor, Royal Roads University
Megan Takeda-Tully – CEO, Suppli
Bruce Taylor – President, Enviro-Stewards Inc.
Andrew Telfer – Director, Circular Innovation Council
Conner Tidd – CEO, Just Vertical
Panayotis (Peter) Tsantrizos – CEO, CTO, Terragon Environmental Technologies Inc.
John van Leeuwen – Founder & CEO, Universal Matter
David Van Seters – President, Sustainability Ventures
Peter Victor – Emeritus Professor and Senior Scholar, York University
Helen Watts – Executive Director, Student Energy
Russell Wesley – Chief, Cat Lake First Nation
Jonathan Westeinde – CEO, Windmill Development Group, Ltd.
Kate Whalen – Principal, Kate Whalen Coaching & Consulting
David Wheeler – Principal, Sustainable Transitions
Bob Willard – Founder, Sustainability Advantage
Tayber Yastremski – President, Sustainable Projects Group
Shanon Zachidniak – City Councillor, Regina
Ryan Zizzo – CEO & Founder, Mantle Climate
The following Individual Members of the Clean50 endorse this message:
Eddy Adra
Mike Andrade
Jean Andrey
Shari Austin
Afaf Azzouz
Kody Baker
Philippe Bernier
Martin Bureau
Peter Busby
Stephanie Cairns
Dustin Carey
Kai Chan
Ranah Chavoshi
Shivani Chotalia
Jenn Clipsham
Alison Coates
Alex Cool-Fergus
Richard Corley
Raymond Cote
Mita Dasog
Guy Dauncey
Arthur De Jong
Daniel Dicaire
Aaron Freeman
Ana Gonzalez Guerrero
Katie Harper
Cheeying Ho
Rob Keen
Lisa Lafave
Basma Majerbi
Antony Marcil
Jessica McIlroy
Stephanie McLarty
Kristina Michaud
Dr. Wren Montgomery
Mike Morrice
Lynn Mueller
Teika Newton
Steven Nitah
Emma Norton
Mohamed Ouf
Geneviève Paul
Neil Pegram
Allison Penner
Monica Pohlmann
Nathan Renaud
Kyle Robinson
Susan Rohac
Brian Roth
Sean Rudd
Vicky Sharpe
Dominique Souris
Jyoti Stephens
Elizabeth Straszynski
Tonya Surman
Bernard Tan
Serguei Tchertok
Stephen Thomas
Adria Vasil
Kate White
The following Additional Supporters and their Organizations Endorse this message:
Rick Findlay – President, RFCL Innovations
Sherry Olson – Board Member,  Climate Justice Saskatoon
David Roy -Executive Director, Workshops for Biodiversity
Richard Van der Jagt, MD, FRCP – Board Member, Canadian Association for the Club of Rome (CACOR)
Melinda Zytaruk – CEO, Tooketree Passive Homes

References: 
 ¹ International Energy Association  (https://www.iea.org/news/global-market-for-key-clean-technologies-set-to-triple-to-more-than-2-trillion-over-the-coming-decade-as-energy-transitions-advance )
² Statistics Canada and Ministry of Natural Resources
³. Fuss, Sabine, et al. “Negative emissions—part 2: costs, potentials and side effects.” Environmental Research Letters 13 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aabf9f.
Goldberg, M., & Gurgel, A. 2025. What is the most efficient way to remove CO2 from the atmosphere? MIT Climate Portal. Available at: https://climate.mit.edu/ask-mit/what-most-efficient-way-remove-co2-atmosphere
⁴.https://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/press-release/67397/canadians-overwhelming-93-support-anti-greenwashing-legislation-poll/
⁵ Natural resource exports – Statistics Canada  https://natural-resources.canada.ca/maps-tools-publications/publications/mineral-trade
SME exports – 2025 Canada Report on Trade – https://international.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/corporate/reports/chief-economist/state-trade/2025
⁶ SME Employment – https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/sme-research-statistics/en/key-small-business-statistics/key-small-business-statistics-2024