Weekly Roundup - June 5, 2026
Top Federal Stories
The government released its long-awaited National Artificial Intelligence Strategy this week, promising up to 90,000 AI jobs for young people, free public training, and new legislation on chatbot safety and child protection. Prime Minister Mark Carney and AI Minister Evan Solomon were in Toronto Thursday to launch AI for All, the federal government's blueprint for Canada's place in an AI-driven economy.
The strategy attaches more than $2.3 billion to a set of priorities: adopting AI, building the workforce around it, and scaling and empowering Canadian companies.
New West dug into the new strategy to understand what organizations need to know to ensure their objectives align with the government's goals. Click here to read our comprehensive analysis.
Canada's May jobs report dropped Friday, revealing unemployment fell to 6.6 per cent from 6.9 per cent in April while the labour market added 88,000 jobs, far exceeding the 10,000 economists had previously expected. The report lands as debate rages over whether the country's technical recession even matters, given stagnant wages and high inflation have squeezed households since 2022. The report is the last major economic release before the Bank of Canada sets interest rates on June 10th, and economists expect the bank to hold its benchmark rate at 2.25 per cent where it has sat through four consecutive decisions.
Trade tensions with the U.S. don’t seem to be easing. The Office of the United States Trade Representative concluded that 60 economies are not doing enough to keep goods made with forced labour out of their markets, and named Canada among six it says have failed to effectively enforce a prohibition. Carney said these assertions will not affect Canadian trade and that the House will bring forward legislation to tighten existing rules. Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre pressed the prime minister to condemn forced labour directly in reference to Chinese supply chains and the EV agreement Ottawa signed with China in January.
On major projects, the government has signalled a slower approach than it originally intended. Consultation on proposed changes to the federal assessment process has been extended to July 22, and government now plans to introduce legislation in the fall rather than before the summer break. The proposed changes would cap federal project decisions at one year, create a consultation hub for Indigenous groups and remove the requirement for pipelines to undergo Impact Assessment Agency review. The Assembly of First Nations and several Indigenous groups have asked for a full committee hearing.
Top Alberta Stories
This week, Premier Smith announced her government will prepare an estimate on the potential cost of Alberta separating from Canada. Early ballpark figures cited by Smith suggest separation could involve roughly $400 billion in start-up costs and $25 to $50 billion annually to replace federal services. Separatist groups have disputed the figures, arguing the Premier is overstating the cost of independence. The newly appointed Minister of Finance, Jason Nixon, has been tasked with coming up with a more precise estimate by the end of July.
Leger polling from June 5th suggests the vast majority of Albertans remain supportive of confederation, with 73 per cent of respondents reporting they believe Alberta should stay in Canada, while 15 per cent support independence. A separate Postmedia-Leger poll found 39 per cent of Albertans said they would continue living in an independent Alberta, while 38 percent said they would move to a different province.
On Friday morning, Premier Smith, Transportation and Economic Corridors Minister Devin Dreeshen, and Calgary Airports CEO Chris Dinsdale made an announcement at Calgary International Airport on the next steps of Alberta’s Passenger Rail Master Plan. The now completed 30-year plan identifies rail connections between Edmonton and Calgary, Calgary and Banff, and commuter connections to the YYC and YEG airports. The next phase of passenger rail planning will be supported by a $15 million investment.
Alberta will begin issuing new and renewed driver’s licences and identification cards on July 2nd that include personal health numbers and Canadian citizenship markers. The province says the change will help streamline access to services and eventually replace paper health cards, with Service Alberta Minister Dale Nally arguing the shift is intended to improve convenience and security. The inclusion of healthcare and citizenship information has drawn criticism from the NDP, privacy experts, and advocacy groups. The Canadian Civil Liberties Association warns that displaying citizenship status on commonly used pieces of ID could open the “floodgates to discrimination and profiling,” while privacy experts argue centralizing sensitive health and citizenship information increases security risks. Alberta’s Information and Privacy Commissioner Diane McLeod had previously recommended against using personal health numbers on identity cards, saying the “Personal health numbers of Canadians are a sought-after commodity on the dark web (...) adding this number to identity cards that are used in a number of settings beyond healthcare creates risks including of fraud.” Alberta's privacy commissioner is developing guidance to help organizations prepare for the upcoming changes.
Top Ontario Stories
Ontario’s legislature rose for the summer on Tuesday, not to return until October 27. The 21-week break is among the longest in recent memory and caps a sitting of just 30 days. The government says it does not want the legislature sitting during this fall’s municipal elections, but opposition leaders counter that the real motivation is to reduce debate and lessen accountability. Facing pointed questions about how few of those 30 days he personally attended, Premier Doug Ford quipped, “no one could question my work ethic.”
The Progressive Conservative government cleared several items off the legislative agenda in the session’s final days. Bill 9, allowing municipal councils to remove members for code-of-conduct breaches, received royal assent, as did legislation taking over the Toronto island airport. The Solicitor General’s omnibus justice bill, Bill 119, cleared second reading, as did legislation restricting foreign ownership of farmland, which is now headed to summer committee hearings. With the legislature recessed, the red tape reduction package and all other remaining legislation will be on the government’s back burner until the fall.
The long break also gives Ford room to reset his front bench, though for now he has moved only to fill the gap left by Caroline Mulroney whose resignation from cabinet and as MPP took effect June 5th. Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy was sworn in as interim President of the Treasury Board and remains in his finance role. Long-Term Care Minister Natalia Kusendova-Bashta added Francophone Affairs to her responsibilities. Meanwhile, Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria will sit as vice-chair of the Treasury Board/Management Board of Cabinet. That role is usually held by the Finance Minister, but with Bethlenfalvy pulling double duty the position falls to Sarkaria who previously served as President of the Treasury Board prior to being shuffled to Transportation. When asked if a broader reshuffle may still come, Premier Ford offered “stay tuned.”
Mulroney’s exit triggers a byelection in York-Simcoe within six months, and her departure comes amid a series of unfortunate events for the Premier. Media reported that Will Bouma was removed as caucus chair after a confrontation with the Premier over the MPP pension plan, while the PC party failed to secure high-profile candidate Gary Crawford for the pending byelection in Scarborough Southwest, which must be called by early August.
The recess will not be quiet on the labour front. Ontario’s education unions served formal notice to bargain on June 3, starting a 15-day clock for the parties to meet; all of their collective agreements are set to expire August 31. The unions are pressing for smaller class sizes, more special-education funding, and higher wages, citing what they haracterize as years of underfunding. Education Minister Paul Calandra says he is optimistic a deal can be reached “without disruption,” but teacher negotiations have a long and contentious history. A breakdown could threaten the September school start and pull MPPs back to Queen’s Park before October 27, making the education bargaining table one to watch.
The New West Team is ready to guide clients through this uncertain time in Canadian politics.
