Liberal Budget to cut $4.23 billion from Veterans Affairs budget

The Liberal government plans to cut $4.23 billion from the Veterans Affairs budget over the next four years.

The Liberal government plans to cut $4.23 billion from the Veterans Affairs budget over the next four years, while other departments, such as the women and gender department, received a fraction of the cuts.

The 2025 federal budget proposes cuts billed as “savings” across several departments over the next four fiscal years, including over $6 billion from the RCMP, $1.92 billion from National Defence, and $408 million to the Canada Border Services Agency’s budget.

The Budget claims that Veterans Affairs will “meet up to 15 per cent” in “savings targets” over three years, vowing that the cuts will be made “while protecting client-facing services.”

“The government is committed to ensuring veterans receive the timely, compassionate support they need,” the budget reads.

Part of the cuts are set to come from a reduction in the amount Veterans Affairs Canada pays to reimburse medical marijuana costs for veterans.

“Currently, the program reimburses medical cannabis at a rate of $8.50 per gram, which is significantly above the market price. VAC will transition to reimburse at $6.00 per gram – which still remains above, but closer to the market price,” the budget reads. “This adjustment maintains existing entitlements to meet the needs of veterans, while ensuring the government is paying a fair price to provide this support.”

The Liberals note that those who already purchase medical cannabis at $6.00 a gram or less will not be affected by that change.

According to a PubMed study, Veterans Affairs Canada reimbursed 18,388 veterans for medicinal cannabis at a cost of $153 million in 2021-22. Though the data is some years old, the price for the program never surpassed $4.3 billion. The budget did not identify where the additional several billion dollars in cuts to the Veterans Affairs budget are coming from.

It notes that in 2026-27, the government plans to cut nearly $1.2 billion, followed by another nearly $1.2 billion in the next year. For the fiscal year 2028-29, it plans to find $1.06 billion in savings from the Veterans Affairs budget and $788 million in the following year.

After those four years, the budget claims the government will cut $374 million each year in the “ongoing” future.

In comparison, the Liberals have asked “The Department of Women and Gender Equality” to cut just two per cent of its annual budget, making it cut $8 million each year for the next five years and on. The budget claims WAGE “empowers women and “2SLGTBQI+ people through programs that “enhance meaningful participation” in the economy.