Budget 2025: Seven Takeaways for our National Security

1. Enforcement Resources. The budget increases funding for Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) by $617M (over five years) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) by $1.7B (over four years). These resources will be dedicated to addressing a spectrum of threats, including financial crimes, organized crime, border controls, and national security threats. Expanded resources will also enable both agencies to invest in staffing. The government has previously committed to expand CBSA and the RCMP by 1,000 personnel, respectively. The budget will enable both agencies to increase allowances for recruits, which will help grow talent. While these investments are welcome, the Customs and Immigration Union has noted that CBSA alone is short 2,000 front-line officers. The deployment of these new funds for staffing, as well as the continued shortage of personnel, suggests that Ottawa is a long way from filling these critical gaps that weaken our national security.

2. Financial Crimes. The budget also announced the creation of the new Financial Crimes Agency, to become our country’s lead enforcement agency dedicated to financial crimes, such as money laundering and organized crime. Recent government reports confirm the acute challenge of terrorist fundraising in Canada and its link to organized crime, with Hezbollah being a foremost offender. While the details of the new agency remain to be seen, its creation is a welcome and meaningful dedication of resources to tackle this complex threat.

3. National Defence. The budget will provide $81.8B over five years for the Canadian Armed Forces to “rebuild, rearm, and reinvest”. This includes substantial investments in force recruitment and retention, readiness and training infrastructure, digital and cyber capabilities, vehicles, drones, and “precision strike capabilities”. The budget also establishes a new Defence Investment Agency to build the industrial capacity to deliver on these needs. These are welcome investments not only in strengthening our sovereignty and defence capacity, but also in demonstrating Canada’s commitment to shoulder our fair burden alongside our NATO and other allies. As Canada works toward its NATO commitments, transparency combined with streamlined implementation will be critical to success.

4. Immigration Policies. The budget announced that the 2026-28 Immigration Levels plan should “stabilize” permanent resident admission numbers at 380,000 per year for four years, down from 395,000. Temporary resident admission numbers will also reduce from 673,000 to 385,000 as of 2026, with many expected to be granted PR admission. While this represents a step in the right direction, unfortunately a 3.8% drop in PR admissions will make little impact on an immigration system that is both porous from a security perspective and overwhelmed by volume.

   
   

   Canada faces a cascading enforcement crisis: hundreds of experienced CBSA officers may retire within a year due to pension incentives, creating an operational vacuum as file volumes explode. Meanwhile, dangerously high criminal inadmissibility thresholds let offenders involved in terrorism, violence, sexual crimes, and organized crime secure lenient sentences by citing immigration consequences—then exploit those reduced sentences to avoid removal. Without urgent reform—lower inadmissibility thresholds, automatic deportation for serious offenses, overseas processing where applicants bear the burden of proof, and security-first screening—Canada will keep admitting credible threats while lacking capacity to identify, detain, or remove them.

5. Canada Community Security Program. The Canada Community Security Program (CCSP) is an important federal tool in supporting local institutions—such as houses of worship, schools, and recreational centres—in communities that are frequently targeted by hate crimes. The escalation of such incidents, combined with an overall increase in violent extremism and antisemitism since October 7^th, 2024, have underscored the need to increase funding for the CCSP, as the government committed in this year’s election. Unfortunately, no such funding is contained in this year’s budget, which instead references the program and commits to program consultation and reforms, to be announced “in due course.” Just as more must be done to confront the sources of extremism in our country, the government should avoid any further delay in bolstering this program – which is key to elevating protective infrastructure and readiness at at-risk facilities across Canada.

6. Non-profit status and terror listings. The budget also seeks to amend multiple acts related to business, non-profit, and cooperative registrations in Canada, in order to enable faster dissolution of any such statuses when an organization is listed as a terrorist entity. This reflects forward progress toward Secure Canada’s policy recommendation, published in July, stating that terror listings should automatically trigger a whole-of-government response to holding the relevant organization and its leaders accountable, including a listed entity’s loss of non-profit status.

7. Transportation Preclearance. The budget provides nearly $15M over four years for Transport Canada to create a new preclearance system at transportation facilities across Canada. While details remain to be seen, such a system could improve border efficiency through digital tools that enable vetted travellers to access an expedited security check prior to boarding their flight, for example. While streamlining is important, the success of any such approach will depend on robust safeguards to ensure implementation reduces, rather than increases, the risk to public safety.

   
   

As Canadians seek to build a country that is secure and prosperous, it is crucial for our government to ensure that federal investments go hand-in-hand with program reform, stronger and clearer laws, and consistent enforcement.