Green Party of Canada
Parti vert du Canada
Environmentalist federal party founded in 1983. Elizabeth May became leader in 2006 and won the party's first parliamentary seat in 2011 (Saanich-Gulf Islands), held since. May stepped down in 2019; Annamie Paul (2020-2021), Elizabeth May again as interim (2022), Elizabeth May and Jonathan Pedneault as co-leaders from 2022 to 2024. Pedneault stepped down in 2024 and May continued as sole leader. Currently held two seats after the 2025 election: Elizabeth May and Mike Morrice (Kitchener Centre, elected 2021). Federal Green policy centers on climate-emergency response (50% emissions reduction by 2030, net-zero by 2040, faster than Liberal targets), proportional representation, basic income, and pharmacare/dental expansion. Has positioned itself as the most aggressive on civil-liberties and digital-rights issues among federal parties.
Leader
Elizabeth May
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Positions on Issues
AI & Technology Regulation
Supports a precautionary-principle approach: bans on autonomous weapons, public-sector biometric surveillance, and emotion-recognition in workplaces. Mandatory algorithmic-impact assessments for any system used by federal government.
Source ↗Affordable Internet & Digital Equity
The federal Green Party calls for federal regulation of wireless and home-internet pricing at the CRTC level with a binding affordability test (Canadian wireless prices average roughly 1.6 times the OECD average per the federal Open Banking Data Lab benchmark), full $3-billion Universal Broadband Fund delivery accelerated to 2027 from the current 2030 target, mandatory MVNO access at regulated rates (current CRTC framework is partial), federal financial-assistance program for low-income households' internet bills (Canada Affordable Connectivity Plan to match the US discontinued ACP), and a Right to Internet codified in the Telecommunications Act.
Source ↗Agriculture & Food Security
The federal Green Party calls for federal action on food sovereignty including support for the Local Food Infrastructure Fund expansion (currently $200 million over five years through Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada), reinstatement of the Canadian Wheat Board single-desk authority for grain marketing (eliminated 2012 by the Harper government), expansion of the Income Tax Act intergenerational farm-transfer protections (the 2024 budget's Bill C-208 capital-gains-rollover for farms passed to children), Canada Organic Standard enforcement funding, and a National Food Policy implementation budget separate from agriculture-program funding under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (SCAP) 2023-2028.
Source ↗Arts, Culture & Heritage
The federal Green Party calls for restoring CBC/Radio-Canada funding to its 1980s per-capita level (currently approximately $33 per Canadian annually, compared with $115 per UK resident for the BBC), introducing a Universal Basic Income for Artists pilot (recommended by the 2021 Status of the Artist Act review), expanding the Canada Council for the Arts funding budget by 50 percent, full federal-provincial funding parity for francophone-minority and Indigenous-language arts programs, and amendments to the Copyright Act (R.S.C. 1985, c. C-42) for digital-creator royalty schemes.
Source ↗Climate & Environment
The federal Green Party calls for an immediate 60-percent emissions reduction below 2005 levels by 2030 (the current federal target is 40-45 percent), complete phase-out of fossil-fuel exports by 2035, immediate end to all federal fossil-fuel subsidies (estimated $14 billion annually per IISD 2024 tracking), cancellation of the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion (TMX, completed in 2024 at a federal cost of $34 billion versus the original $7.4 billion 2018 estimate), reinstatement of the Federal Marine Protected Area network targeted at 30 percent ocean protection by 2030, and a Just Transition Act with binding worker-protection guarantees stronger than Bill C-50's framework.
Source ↗Climate Adaptation & Disaster Response
The federal Green Party calls for tripling the federal Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA) funding ceiling (currently approximately $100 million per major event), creation of a permanent Canadian Wildfire Service (the 2023 wildfire season burned 18.5 million hectares per Natural Resources Canada, the worst on record), federal flood-mapping coverage expansion to 100 percent of populated Canada (currently approximately 60 percent), federal financial assistance for residential climate-resilience retrofits in flood-prone, wildfire-prone, and tornado-prone communities, and binding climate-risk-disclosure requirements for federally regulated financial institutions through OSFI.
Source ↗Cost of Living
The federal Green Party platform calls for a national Guaranteed Livable Income (a form of universal basic income) at $20,000 per adult per year, immediate elimination of approximately $14 billion in federal direct and indirect fossil-fuel subsidies (per the IISD 2024 tracking), federal rent control on rental units owned by REITs and large institutional landlords, and a windfall-profit tax on banks, grocers, and oil producers reporting over $1 billion in profit. Supports increasing the Canada Disability Benefit to $2,400 per year and indexing it to inflation.
Source ↗Crime & Public Safety
The federal Green Party supports community-based and restorative-justice approaches over carceral approaches to crime. Calls for the elimination of all mandatory-minimum-sentencing provisions in the Criminal Code beyond the changes already made by Bill C-5 (Mandatory Minimum Penalties reform, S.C. 2022, c. 15, royal assent November 17, 2022), expanded federal funding for Indigenous-led restorative-justice programs, federal Gun-Buyback Program expansion for prohibited assault-style firearms (the Liberal government's May 2020 Order-in-Council banned approximately 1,500 firearm models with a buyback delayed to 2024 then further delayed), opposes the federal-Bail-Reform-Act post-Pierzchala expansion of reverse-onus provisions (Bill C-48, S.C. 2023, c. 30).
Source ↗Democratic Renewal & Electoral Reform
The federal Green Party has supported proportional representation since its founding in 1983. Specifically calls for Mixed-Member Proportional (MMP) as recommended by the 2004 Law Commission of Canada Voting Counts report. Supports lowering the federal voting age to 16 (backed C-227 and the 45-1 C-210 successor), permanent independent citizens' assemblies on key files (along the lines of British Columbia's 2004 citizens' assembly on electoral reform), and a citizen-initiated referendum mechanism for constitutional questions. Opposes the first-past-the-post system that distorted the 2019 and 2021 election results.
Source ↗Digital Rights
The federal Green Party supports codified net-neutrality protection in federal statute (currently a CRTC policy not a binding law), opposes mandatory age-verification systems requiring document upload or facial-estimation tools (as proposed in Bill C-63 Online Harms Act and S-209 Senate companion), supports the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act with stronger pre-deployment risk-assessment requirements than the 44-1 Bill C-27 version contained, full implementation of the Privacy Act modernization for public-sector data handling, and the Right to Disconnect from work as a federal labour-law right (built on Quebec's 2018 disconnect framework and the EU Working Time Directive).
Source ↗Disability & Senior Care
The federal Green Party calls for the Canada Disability Benefit to be increased from the current $200 per month to $2,400 per year (approximately $200 per month, matching the platform commitment from 2021 but higher in practice would be $4,200 per year to match the federal poverty line LIM-AT). Supports OAS expansion for 65 to 74 to match the 2022 boost (Bill C-12, S.C. 2022, c. 5), federal funding parity for long-term-care facilities tied to public-administration standards under a National Standards Act, expansion of the Veterans Independence Program for aging-at-home, and the Federal Dental Care Plan expansion beyond the current 70-percent coverage cap. Maintains the federal Charter protection of disability as section 15 protected ground.
Source ↗Drug Policy & Harm Reduction
The federal Green Party supports full decriminalization of personal-use possession of all currently controlled substances under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (S.C. 1996, c. 19, currently illegal except for BC's January 2023-onward pilot exemption under section 56), expansion of supervised-consumption-site networks (currently approximately 40 federally exempted sites across Canada under section 56 CDSA), regulated safer-supply programs to address the toxic-drug crisis (Canada saw approximately 8,500 opioid-toxicity deaths in 2024 per PHAC), and a federal commitment to evidence-based harm reduction over recovery-only frameworks. Opposes Smith UCP's 2024 dismantling of Alberta's prescribed-safer-supply program.
Source ↗Economy & Jobs
The federal Green Party calls for a Guaranteed Livable Income at $20,000 per adult per year (the Parliamentary Budget Officer 2021 analysis estimated $93 billion annual gross cost; the Greens cite offsetting savings from program consolidation), a Tobin tax on financial transactions, immediate elimination of approximately $14 billion in annual federal direct and indirect fossil-fuel subsidies (per IISD 2024 tracking), expansion of the Just Transition Act framework beyond Bill C-50 to include retraining-wage replacement and pension protection for fossil-fuel-sector workers, and a binding minimum-wage federal-jurisdiction inflation-indexation mechanism beyond the current federal minimum wage of $17.30 per hour (effective April 1, 2024).
Source ↗Education
The federal Green Party platform calls for tuition-free post-secondary education funded through expanded federal transfers, cancellation of federal student-loan debt up to $35,000 per borrower, indigenous K-12 funding parity with provincial systems (currently federal on-reserve schools receive 30 to 50 percent less per student per Auditor General reports), and permanent residency pathways for international students after two years of study and work.
Source ↗Federalism & Quebec
The federal Green Party supports a cooperative-federalism framework recognizing Quebec's distinct status while maintaining federal social-program delivery in all provinces. Voted in favour of the November 2021 House of Commons motion recognizing Quebec as a nation. Supports Quebec's Bill 21 (Loi sur la laicite de l'Etat) court challenges before the Supreme Court of Canada under Charter section 33 notwithstanding-clause review, opposes the federal pattern of asymmetrical federal-provincial bilateral agreements (the Greens argue universality should be preserved), defends federal employment-insurance jurisdiction over Quebec workers, and supports stronger Indigenous-federal-provincial tripartite governance models in Quebec.
Source ↗Foreign Policy & Defence
The federal Green Party calls for Canada to refuse to meet the NATO two-percent-of-GDP defence-spending target if it requires cutting social spending, supports the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW, 2017; Canada has not signed despite 86 state parties), demands Canadian recognition of the State of Palestine alongside Israel under the two-state solution (joining Spain, Norway, Ireland, and others who recognized in 2024), supports an arms-export embargo on Saudi Arabia (Canadian arms exports to Saudi Arabia exceeded $4 billion since 2014 per Global Affairs Canada data), and ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty implementation.
Source ↗Gender Equality & Reproductive Rights
The federal Green Party supports codifying access to abortion as a federally guaranteed right (currently the SCC's R. v. Morgentaler (1988) ruling left abortion lawful but provinces have varying access), increased Pay Equity Act (S.C. 2018, c. 27, s. 416) enforcement and audit funding, full federal-provincial parity for women's-shelter funding, expansion of universal early-learning and child-care benefits to maintain the $10-a-day target permanently (currently expires 2026 under federal bilateral agreements), and codified federal protection for trans-rights under section 15 of the Charter.
Source ↗Healthcare
The federal Green Party supports full national Pharmacare under a single-payer model (the federal Liberal-NDP Pharmacare Act passed as Bill C-64 in 44-1, S.C. 2024, c. 20, but covers only contraceptives and diabetes drugs as a first phase), expansion of the Canadian Dental Care Plan beyond the current 70-percent coverage cap, a federal Mental Health Transfer separate from the CHT (similar to NDP position), and codification of section 5 of the Canada Health Act (R.S.C. 1985, c. C-6) public-administration principle to apply to any new private surgical clinic taking publicly funded contracts.
Source ↗Housing
The federal Green Party calls for a federal Acquisition Fund to enable non-profits to buy existing apartment buildings before they convert to condos, federal rent control on REITs and large institutional landlords holding more than 1 percent of any province's rental market, full restoration of the National Housing Strategy social-housing budget cut in the 2024 federal budget, repeal of REIT tax preferences under the Income Tax Act (R.S.C. 1985, c. 1), and a federal Right to Housing codified beyond the National Housing Strategy Act (S.C. 2019, c. 29, s. 313) declaration. Supports the federal Housing Accelerator Fund but argues it should require zoning reform as a condition rather than encouragement.
Source ↗Immigration
The federal Green Party supports expanding family-class reunification permits (the Parents and Grandparents Program currently operates with a 2024 lottery-based annual intake of 28,500 visas applications selected from approximately 35,000 invitations), refugee-resettlement quotas matching the UNHCR demand-of-resettlement target (Canada resettled approximately 25,000 refugees in 2024 per IRCC, the second-most in the world after the United States), full credential recognition for skilled-economic-class immigrants under regulated-profession frameworks, end to detention of asylum-seekers in immigration holding centres (over 9,000 detentions in 2022-2023 per Canada Border Services Agency data), and stronger anti-trafficking enforcement on temporary-foreign-worker exploitation.
Source ↗Indigenous Rights
The federal Green Party supports full implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (S.C. 2021, c. 14), free-prior-and-informed-consent (FPIC) as a binding statutory requirement for natural-resource projects on Indigenous traditional territories, full implementation of all 94 Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action (federal government tracking by 2024 marks 13 as fully implemented out of 94), permanent end to long-term boil-water advisories on First Nations reserves (Indigenous Services Canada had 28 active long-term advisories as of January 2025), and reformation of the Indian Act (R.S.C. 1985, c. I-5) toward self-government by community choice.
Source ↗Languages & Bilingualism
The federal Green Party supported Bill C-13 (Official Languages Act reform, S.C. 2023, c. 15) adding French-language-of-work rights in federally regulated workplaces, calls for stronger federal Indigenous-language preservation funding under the Indigenous Languages Act (S.C. 2019, c. 23), full implementation of the Action Plan for Official Languages 2023-2028 at $4.1 billion, federal-funding parity for English-minority communities in Quebec and French-minority communities outside Quebec (the latter typically receives more under the Action Plan framework), and recognition of additional Canadian languages (Indigenous, Inuktitut, Cree) under section 16 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Source ↗Mental Health
The federal Green Party calls for codification of mental-health services as insured services under section 5 of the Canada Health Act (R.S.C. 1985, c. C-6) ensuring universal coverage parallel to physical-health services, a separate federal Mental Health Transfer of $5 billion over five years outside the Canada Health Transfer (similar to NDP position), full federal funding for the 9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Helpline (launched November 30, 2023), federal Crown-corporation mental-health-services pay-equity protections, and expanded Operational Stress Injury clinic network for veterans (currently 11 clinics nationally).
Source ↗National Security
The federal Green Party calls for Canada to refuse meeting the NATO two-percent-of-GDP defence-spending target if achieved by cutting social spending, supports the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW, 2017; 86 state parties; Canada has not signed), Canadian recognition of the State of Palestine alongside Israel under the two-state solution, an arms-export embargo on Saudi Arabia (Canadian arms exports to Saudi Arabia exceeded $4 billion since 2014 per Global Affairs Canada data), opposes additional federal defence-spending increases not tied to specific peacekeeping or domestic-disaster-response mandates, and supports the Hogue Commission's January 2025 final report findings on foreign interference.
Source ↗Northern & Arctic Sovereignty
The federal Green Party calls for Indigenous-led conservation in the Canadian Arctic, expansion of the Tallurutiup Imanga National Marine Conservation Area, full Canadian participation in the Arctic Council's working groups, a stronger Canadian Coast Guard presence on the Northwest Passage, and rejection of US claims that the Northwest Passage is international waters rather than Canadian internal waters. Opposes new fossil-fuel exploration in the Beaufort Sea and supports renewable-energy investment in Nunavut, Northwest Territories, and Yukon communities currently dependent on diesel generation.
Source ↗Public Transit & Infrastructure
The Green Party of Canada under Elizabeth May and Jonathan Pedneault calls for a permanent federal Public Transit Operating Fund (currently transit funding is mostly capital-only, not operating), a national high-speed rail corridor connecting Québec City, Montréal, Ottawa, Toronto, and Windsor, full federal funding for intercity bus restoration after Greyhound's 2018 western withdrawal, and free transit for low-income riders under a federal-provincial cost-share.
Source ↗Tax & Fiscal Policy
The federal Green Party calls for a one-percent annual wealth tax on net assets over $20 million (a Parliamentary Budget Officer 2024 analysis estimated approximately $7 billion in annual revenue), a 0.5-percent financial-transactions tax on stock and derivative trades (a Tobin tax), increasing the corporate-tax rate on profits over $500 million from 15 to 25 percent, closing the section 110 stock-option deduction loophole (50-percent deduction worth approximately $1 billion annually per Finance Canada data), and a five-percent windfall-profit tax on banks reporting over $1 billion in profit (RBC, TD, BMO, Scotiabank, CIBC).
Source ↗Veterans & Military Families
The federal Green Party calls for restoring the Veterans Affairs ombudsman's office to the budgetary capacity it held before the 2014 cuts under the Harper government, automatic pension-adjustment indexation to inflation under the Pension Act and the Veterans Well-being Act, expanded mental-health-services funding for OSI (Operational Stress Injury) clinics, increased access to a Veterans Independence Program for veterans aging in place, and a binding requirement that Veterans Affairs Canada decision-timelines on disability claims not exceed 16 weeks (the current target average is 32 weeks per VAC backlog reports).
Source ↗Workers' Rights & Labour
The federal Green Party supports sectoral bargaining (collective agreements covering all workers in a sector, not just unionized employers), gig-worker protections classifying ride-share and food-delivery drivers as employees, extension of Employment Insurance sickness benefits beyond the current 26 weeks (Bill C-31 of 44-1), and consistent opposition to back-to-work legislation imposed on legally striking federally regulated workers.
Source ↗Youth & Future Generations
The federal Green Party platform centres a generational-equity frame: free post-secondary education (federal-tuition reimbursement and student-loan-debt cancellation up to $35,000), lowering the federal voting age to 16 (Bill C-227 of 44-1 and C-210 of 45-1, both Green-supported), Guaranteed Livable Income at $20,000 per adult, expansion of the Canada Disability Benefit beyond $200 per month, climate-policy reform tied to youth-impact analysis under a proposed Future Generations Commissioner office (modelled on Wales's Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015), and an end to fossil-fuel subsidies (estimated $14 billion annually per IISD 2024 tracking).
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