Liberals Announced Billions in Funding Right Before the Election
Just days before the 45th general election began on March 23, Liberal Members of Parliament (MPs) announced $3.86 billion in federal funding for 411 projects across Canada.
In the final week before the election, 38 different Liberal MPs made announcements in 37 different communities — from Yellowknife to Winnipeg to St. John’s — handing out cheques for various projects. On March 22 alone, one day before the election started, 26 MPs announced $1.8 billion in funding for 116 projects.
This kind of last-minute spending is not new. Similar spending happened before previous elections under both Liberal and Conservative governments. Over the last four governments, over 67,000 projects have received federal funding.
For example, right before the 2021 election, Liberal MPs announced $30.3 billion in funding for 495 projects. Before the 2015 election, Conservative MPs handed out 430 cheques worth $2.7 billion.
During the 44th Parliament, which lasted four years, Liberal MPs announced 22,290 projects totaling just over $110 billion in federal funding.
Some of the largest funding announcements in the final week before the 2025 election were for public transit in Quebec — the Quebec City Tramway and Montreal’s Blue Line extension — which received an extra $332.3 million and $650 million, respectively. Other major announcements included $400 million for 11 green infrastructure projects across Quebec.
These announcements came just before election campaigns began, and the Liberals went on to win 44 seats in Quebec — their best result there in years.
In Ontario, Liberal MP Terry Sheehan faced a tough re-election fight after riding boundaries changed. His new riding, Sault Ste. Marie–Algoma, included many new areas where more people had voted Conservative in the last election. To boost his chances, Sheehan began visiting those areas in 2024 to hand out government cheques, even though they weren’t part of his old riding. He gave out cheques in Wawa, Elliott Lake, and Serpent River First Nation — all areas that used to be held by a New Democrat MP. In the end, Sheehan won by just 1,728 votes.
However, giving out cheques doesn’t always lead to a win. In Calgary, Liberal MP George Chahal lost his seat even though he announced $8.3 million in funding for 13 Alberta projects the day before the election was called.
The same happened in other areas. In the riding of Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine in Quebec, the Liberal government funded 267 projects worth $242.42 million over four years, but the Liberal MP still lost. In Long Range Mountains, Newfoundland, the Liberals funded 209 projects worth $77.12 million and still lost to the Conservatives.
Overall, the amount of funding and number of projects announced during the 44th Parliament was higher than any of the three Parliaments before it. Here’s how it compares:
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44th Parliament (2021–2025): 22,290 projects, $110 billion
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43rd Parliament (2019–2021): 16,761 projects, $29.5 billion
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42nd Parliament (2015–2019): 20,672 projects, $80 billion
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41st Parliament (2011–2015): 7,307 projects, $90 billion (under Conservative PM Stephen Harper)
Spending announcements are only made by government MPs or ministers. Opposition MPs are never listed in press releases, even if they help local groups apply for federal funds.
So far, in the new 45th Parliament under Prime Minister Mark Carney, the government has announced just four funding projects. The biggest is a $410 million contract to build a federal science and safety center in Ottawa.
Across all these projects, about 500 announcements (worth $10.7 billion) were for projects outside Canada. About 1,100 announcements (worth $25.9 billion) couldn’t be linked to any specific riding or covered multiple ridings.
For projects where the location was clear, most funding went to ridings held by Liberal MPs. Here’s the breakdown:
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Liberal ridings: 9,834 projects, $35.8 billion
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Conservative ridings: 7,038 projects, $23.5 billion
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NDP ridings: 2,456 projects, $7.27 billion
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Bloc Québécois ridings: 1,043 projects, $10.7 billion
