Federal Budget’s Big Bet: Nature Sidelined Again

CPAWS Statement | Government and Policy

Sandra Schwartz | November 10, 2026

For every $12 of public money spent, $1 helps nature – the rest supports billionaires, developers and industrialists

Today’s federal budget reinforces a troubling premise: that protecting nature must take a back seat to strengthening Canada’s economy.

CPAWS recognizes that Canadians are deeply concerned about affordability, jobs and the strength of the economy. Those concerns are real, and governments have a responsibility to respond to them, including protecting the natural infrastructure that is the foundation of our economy.

The newly released budget makes the imbalance clear: for every $12 of public money committed to industrial strategies, only $1 is committed to nature. The government’s priorities are plain. It is prepared to invest in building more, but not in protecting the natural wealth that development puts at stake.

But Canadians should not have to choose between a strong economy and a healthy environment. Canada’s protected and conserved areas generate billions of dollars in economic activity each year, according to a recent CPAWS report. Yet even these figures capture only part of nature’s value. Canada can build both.

Instead, this government is pouring money into development while gutting conservation. It is cutting jobs at Parks Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada, putting thousands of people out of work who establish, manage and monitor our protected areas. It is also pushing legislation that CPAWS believes will weaken environmental safeguards. These choices pit development against the lands, waters and wildlife that sustain us.

“There is a growing disconnect between what this government says about nature and what it actually does,” says Sandra Schwartz, National Executive Director, CPAWS.

“You cannot call nature one of Canada’s greatest assets while cutting the institutions that protect it, reducing conservation investment and weakening environmental safeguards. At some point, actions must match words.”

– Sandra Schwartz

Earlier this year, the government announced a national $3.6B nature strategy and described nature as central to Canada’s prosperity and resilience. Budget 2026 is simply a reannouncement of the nature strategy investments, with a little extra funding added for the creation of a few future national marine conservation areas.

“The additional funding for new marine conservation areas is a small step, but it falls short of addressing the 55% cut to ocean protection funding under the Force of Nature strategy,” said Alexandra Barron, National Director of Oceans, CPAWS.

The government’s failure to deliver positive investment in nature is a failure of priorities, not an outcome Canadians should be asked to accept. CPAWS entered this budget with low expectations for any positive nature investment. We are deeply disappointed that the government has confirmed those expectations rather than risen above them.

But the problem is bigger than what is missing from one federal budget. It is a pattern of political choices that treats nature as expendable when other priorities take centre stage.

Canada is embarking on a period of significant economic and infrastructure development with significant government spending on major projects and new industrial strategies. That should create an even greater responsibility to protect nature, not an excuse for putting it aside.

“Forests, wetlands, rivers and oceans are not obstacles to economic growth,” says Chris Rider, National Director of Land and Freshwater Conservation, CPAWS, “they are assets that provide clean water, support jobs and livelihoods and make communities more resilient. Running down those assets for short-term growth doesn’t make Canada richer. It leaves us poorer.”

Better planning, strong environmental rules and smart conservation investments can help Canada build what it needs while protecting nature. This is the approach CPAWS supports in its recommendations on Bill C-39: faster, more efficient and predictable federal decisions through better planning, without weakening environmental standards. It can give business greater certainty, move projects forward and protect the places and ecosystems Canadians depend on.

We need stronger protection along with predictability at a time when we are building more. Government is responsible for delivering all three: making life more affordable, strengthening the economy and protecting the natural places fundamental to Canada’s prosperity and way of life. These are not competing ambitions. Protecting nature is not a luxury to postpone until economic conditions improve.

Canada’s commitment to protecting 30 percent of its lands and waters by 2030 requires more than promises: sustained investment, strong environmental laws and political choices that match the government’s rhetoric.

“A serious economic strategy must protect the natural assets our communities, businesses and quality of life depend on. Addressing affordability, jobs and the economy means not putting aside the natural infrastructure that supports them.” says Schwartz.

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Media Contact:
Jayney Davidson
Yulu PR
[email protected]

STATEMENT WRITTEN BY

Sandra Schwartz

National Executive Director
CPAWS