What do Canadians want to see in the upcoming federal budget?
CBC
All eyes will be on Ottawa on Tuesday as the federal government is set to deliver its annual budget.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his ministers have been on a countrywide tour in recent weeks to make a series of pre-budget announcements. Many of those announcements have focused on housing, but Trudeau has also signalled the government's intent to launch a national school food program and invest in the artificial intelligence sector.
CBC spoke with Canadians from across the country about what further budget items they hope to see on Tuesday. Here's what we heard.
Despite the federal government's pre-budget tour largely focusing on housing, a number of Canadians still listed it as their No. 1 priority.
"I want to see the housing — I mean a lot more commitment to housing — to provide affordable housing to Canadians," said Wisdom Wissi.
Mike Haddad from Toronto agreed, saying he's concerned about future generations' ability to afford a home.
"I think housing is a big issue. Affordability of housing. Being able to own anything. You can't own anything anymore," Haddad said.
Stephen Crego from B.C. said he's concerned that he might have to move due to the high cost of rent in the province.
"The rent's been way too high. It's insane," he said.
Others said they'd like the government to do more to address the price of groceries. That includes Dolly Hurtado from Winnipeg.
"Food is the priority, the pressing challenge," she said. "The [cost of] food has to go down."
Hurtado's sentiments were echoed by Daxxon Sheppard and Dale Murphy from St. John's.
"If they just lowered even the price of groceries by just a little. That would help a lot, honestly. It would really benefit a lot of people," said Sheppard.
"I'd like for them to keep the cost of food down and to keep the cost of fuel down if at all possible," Murphy said.
