Social workers ‘ignored’ in federal budget, says national association

Maddie Ryan · CBC News

· Posted: Nov 06, 2025 1:55 PM EST | Last Updated: November 6

The Canadian Association of Social Workers says this year’s national fund falls abbreviated connected upholding a committedness made past year.

The 2024 budget, led by erstwhile premier curate Justin Trudeau and past concern curate Chrystia Freeland, laid retired the intent to amend the Canada Student Financial Assistance Act and the Canada Student Loans Act.

The amendments would person included respective much professions successful the Canada Student Loan Forgiveness Program. The programme presently offers to forgive the national information of outstanding loans for household doctors and nurses moving successful agrarian and distant communities.

The 2025 national predetermination came earlier the regulations could beryllium passed, and Prime Minister Mark Carney has not made the aforesaid commitment. 

“We were really, truly hoping it would beryllium portion of this fund and it was not,” said Fred Phelps, enforcement manager of the Canadian Association of Social Workers.

“We're precise disappointed.”

Feeling overlooked

Phelps said societal workers are often the archetypal constituent of interaction and are speedy to respond to situations involving violence, maltreatment and different societal issues — particularly successful agrarian communities. He told CBC News successful an interrogation connected Wednesday that pupil indebtedness forgiveness would person been a large inducement for workers to enactment successful those communities. 

He said the assemblage doesn’t get the aforesaid respect arsenic others, but the indebtedness forgiveness programme would person been a bully archetypal step. The relation had been advocating for it for astir 10 years.

“We’re not considered nationalist information close now,” helium said, speaking from Ottawa.

“We were looking to beryllium included wrong that conception … on with firefighters and constabulary and others that are archetypal responders, truthful that we can, arsenic societal workers, entree immoderate of the aforesaid enactment services.”

Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Tony Wakeham reminded reporters Wednesday that helium has committed to refunding tuition to section graduates who enactment and enactment successful the province. (Julia Israel/CBC)

CBC News antecedently reported that determination were 1,669 licenced societal workers successful Newfoundland and Labrador successful 2021-2022. The state inactive struggled with dozens of vacant positions successful the summertime of 2024.

Newly minted Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Tony Wakeham said helium has a program to clasp workers locally — not conscionable successful societal work, but successful each field. 

“Any pupil who graduates from our assemblage oregon university, if they record their income taxation successful Newfoundland and Labrador, we’re going to springiness them backmost their tuition,” Wakeham told CBC News connected Wednesday. 

Parameters for that programme person not been announced yet, but students astatine Memorial University are hopeful.

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