Foundation welcomes $52 billion for clean electricity, warns Bill C-39 weakens protections

The David Suzuki Foundation says the $52 billion for clean electricity in the federal government's Budget 2026 could lower household energy bills and create jobs, but it warns that continued backing for fossil fuel projects and proposed rollbacks in Bill C-39 put that progress at risk. The foundation issued its assessment of the budget on Nov. 5 from Vancouver, on the territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations.¹

Pierre Iachetti, the foundation's executive director, said the electricity money is a smart investment and could be transformative for Canada. He said clean electricity gives people cheaper energy bills, healthier air and good jobs, but that realizing those benefits requires getting gas off the grid.¹

The federal government has to stop backing polluting fossil fuel projects and rolling back key environmental protections.¹Pierre Iachetti, executive director, David Suzuki Foundation

Iachetti pointed to the UN Environment Programme's Emissions Gap Report, which he said warned last month that the world is set to overshoot 1.5 degrees, bringing more extreme weather driven by burning fossil fuels. He said Canada is already feeling the effects through wildfire smoke, flooding and heatwaves, and called on the country to set an example when world leaders gather at COP31 in Türkiye next week.¹

Stephen Thomas, the foundation's clean energy manager, said the group and dozens of allied organizations and tens of thousands of people across Canada had advocated for this level of clean electricity investment for more than five years. He called it a hard-fought, once-in-a-generation win.¹

It will create over a million good jobs, it can use Canadian steel and aluminum, and it supports the leadership of Indigenous communities to build renewable projects on their territories.¹Stephen Thomas, clean energy manager, David Suzuki Foundation

Lisa Gue, the foundation's national policy manager, said Budget 2026 also includes funding for energy-efficient retrofits and heat pumps that will help households reduce costs and greenhouse gas emissions. She said it includes more than $300 million to establish and operate two new National Marine Conservation Areas, which she said would move Canada closer to its target of protecting 30 per cent of its marine and coastal areas by 2030.¹

Gue said gaps remain in funding to meet Canada's nature commitments and to tackle plastic pollution. She said the government is investing in expanding forestry and mining, which she argued requires strong legal guardrails to protect nature and uphold Indigenous rights.¹

Yet in Bill C-39 the government is proposing to unravel these very protections.¹Lisa Gue, national policy manager, David Suzuki Foundation

The foundation's release links to the government's Budget 2026 report but does not describe the specific provisions of Bill C-39 or say which protections it would change. The release also does not state how the $52 billion is allocated across programs or over what period it is spent.¹