Career Agency Investment = More Revenue + Less Expense

Canada’s Budget 2026 deficit debate needs a stronger focus on unrealized human potential. Budget 2026 projects a federal deficit of $62.3 billion this year, with substantial deficits continuing throughout the forecast. Canadians are right to ask how we strengthen public finances.

One part of the answer deserves more attention: strengthen the bridge between school and meaningful employment. When young people spend years struggling to find their footing, or working in jobs that underuse their abilities, we lose earnings, productive capacity, and public revenue. Governments also face costs from prolonged unemployment and financial insecurity. What might better transitions be worth? Consider an illustrative scenario, rather than a forecast:

• 100,000 people earn an additional $30,000 annually through sustained employment or better use of their skills: $3 billion in additional annual earnings.

• Assume 20% of those additional earnings reaches governments through income and consumption taxes: $600 million in additional annual revenue.

• If 50,000 of those people each require $5,000 less in annual income support: $250 million in reduced annual expenditure.

That is $850 million a year in combined public revenue gains and expense reductions, before subtracting the cost of strengthening the bridge. At five times that scale, the same assumptions yield $4.25 billion annually. These are scenarios to test, not promised savings. Federal, provincial, and territorial governments would receive most of the direct fiscal benefits. Municipalities could benefit from stronger local economies and reduced pressure on locally funded services, depending on provincial arrangements.

Achieving these gains requires sustained career learning, meaningful employer encounters, informed choices, and support through transitions. It also requires employers to create opportunities where people can contribute and grow. That is why I argue that career development is essential public infrastructure. It helps people build better lives while improving the return on Canada’s investments in education, skills, and economic development.

Our Career Development is Nation Building Working Dialogue at Cannexus27 in Ottawa in January will bring partners together to identify practical steps toward that goal. Every nation-building project needs people who can see a path to contributing. For more on the Working

AI Acknowledgement: I conceived and wrote this post, with creative and editorial assistance from my partner, ChatGPT.