November 10, 2026
Vancouver B.C.
Budget 2026 uses significant public borrowing to encourage investment, build housing and improve Canada’s productivity.
You should not have to read hundreds of pages to understand what the federal budget means for your household or business. The short version is this: the government is investing for a stronger economy tomorrow, but most Canadians will not feel significant relief today.
For households, there is targeted support, including help with groceries, workers’ benefits and caregiving costs. The housing plan also puts more emphasis on building supply. But the larger reality has not changed: housing, food, insurance and borrowing remain expensive. Better access to a mortgage does not necessarily mean housing has become more affordable.
For small businesses, the Productivity Mega Deduction lowers the effective tax rate on new investment from about 13 per cent to 6.4 per cent. That is meaningful. But lower taxes alone will not unlock investment. Businesses still need access to financing, timely approvals and customers with enough confidence to spend.
There is also an important financial-services story. More proportionate regulation and better access to stable funding could strengthen Vancity's ability to finance housing, small businesses and community projects. But investment incentives only work if financing reaches the people and businesses expected to act on them. The test is whether it reaches local economies and creates opportunities in the communities we serve.
For now, households and small businesses should plan around today’s high cost base. The budget may strengthen tomorrow’s economy, but it does not make today significantly easier.
Read our analysis in the report.
Vancity is a values-based financial co-operative serving the needs of its 588,000 member-owners and their communities, with offices and more than 60 branches located in Metro Vancouver and Squamish, the Fraser Valley, the Sunshine Coast, the Vancouver and Gulf Islands and Alert Bay, within the territories of the Coast Salish and Kwakwaka'wakw Peoples. With $42.4 billion in assets plus assets under administration, Vancity is Canada's largest credit union. Vancity uses its assets to help improve the financial well-being of its members while at the same time helping to develop healthy communities that are socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable.
