Federal leaders pledge family doctors, red tape cuts, skilled trades support

OTTAWA — Party leaders are making announcements across the country on Day 14 of the federal election campaign, pledging to tackle the shortage of family doctors, support skilled trades, and cut government red tape.

In Oakville, Ont., Liberal Leader Mark Carney announced a plan he says will help boost Canada’s skilled trades workforce.

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Without taking action, Canada will see a shortfall of tens of thousands of skilled workers, Carney said. He pledged a new apprenticeship grant, increased access to union-led training initiatives and a new $20 million capital funding stream for colleges to support new training spaces for apprenticeships.

We need more Canadians to start a career in the skilled trades. We'll cover apprenticeship costs, create more training opportunities, and make it easier and cheaper to work anywhere in Canada — because it’s time to build. pic.twitter.com/drQPxDTQ85

— Mark Carney (@MarkJCarney) April 5, 2025

The Liberal plan would also increase labour mobility between provinces and territories, in an effort to “build one Canadian economy” — a reference to removing interprovincial trade barriers that have become increasingly a topic of concern since U.S. President Donald Trump was elected.

Carney’s announcement follows a week of him signalling to Canadians he is serious about bolstering the economy in the face of threats from the White House, spending much of his week in factories and training schools.

We are who we are as Canadians because we take care of each other.

And that's the Canada New Democrats want to keep building.

A Canada where people matter, where workers matter, where human rights matter, and where everyone can afford a good life.

If Trump wants to pick a… pic.twitter.com/SvtsUZH2fo

— Jagmeet Singh (@theJagmeetSingh) April 5, 2025

Meanwhile, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is in Atlantic Canada, where he promised to ensure all Canadians have access to a family doctor by 2030.

Singh made his announcement in St. John’s in earlier in the day, promising an NDP government would offer an additional one per cent in Canada Health Transfer funding to provinces that guarantee access to a family doctor.

LIVE: Cut red tape 25% to unleash business & stand up to the U.S. https://t.co/qpvSHg68mq

— Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) April 5, 2025

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is in B.C., where he promised to cut bureaucratic red tape by 25 per cent in two years.

The plan for what he calls a “two-for-one” law would mandate two regulations be repealed for every new one that is brought in. It would also require that for every dollar in new administrative costs, two dollars must be cut elsewhere to ease the burden.

With just over three weeks left until Canadians vote on April 28, polls indicate the Liberals are leading the Conservatives in Canadians’ voting intentions.

A new poll from Leger suggests more than one in five people planning to vote for the Liberals are being motivated by their belief that Carney is the best option to deal with Trump.

The poll suggests Poilievre’s ability to stand up to Trump is driving the vote of only a small number of people who said they’re voting for his party, as Conservative voters appear to be more motivated by anti-Liberal sentiment and a desire for change.

The poll, conducted by Leger for the Association for Canadian Studies, surveyed 1,628 people between March 29 and 31.

The polling industry’s professional body, the Canadian Research Insights Council, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.

— by Anja Karadeglija, with files from Alessia Passafiume in Oakville, Maura Forrest in St. John’s, and Catherine Morrison in Ottawa.

Read more:

• Canada Votes 2025: Your trusted source for election coverage
• Carney, Singh pledge support for CBC for sovereignty, Poilievre says it’s too costly
• Nuclear waste agency looking for Canada’s second deep geological repository