The 2025 federal budget—Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne’s first under Prime Minister Mark Carney—offers incremental progress on data rights and credential recognition, but stops short of delivering the targeted support Canada’s automotive aftermarket needs.

Presented amid weak economic growth, rising unemployment,cost pressures, and the ongoing trade uncertainties initiated by the U.S., the fiscal plan provides a mixed picture for the auto care industry—from mechanical and collision repair to parts, equipment and diagnostics.

While the budget advances policy language on digital data and skilled trades, it offers no direct relief for the independent aftermarket’s technicians and shop owners who keep Canada’s 26 million registered vehicles on the road.

It is also important to note that automakers and car dealers were also disappointed.

Whjle calling on the Federal Government to continue to press to engage with the U.S. for a resolution to the trade friction, said David Adams, President and CEO of Global Automakers of Canada called for more certainty on EV policy:

“While the budget mentioned the Electric Vehicle Availability Standard only briefly in conjunction with the Government’s Climate Competitiveness Strategy, the industry does require certainty with respect to this program based on industry feedback and focused on the objective of pragmatic emissions reduction,” said Adams, adding that the exclusion of vehicles from the removal of luxury tax (it was axed from aircraft and boats) was “inconsistent with the Government’s policy of encouraging electric vehicle adoption.”

Canadian Automobile Dealers Association (CADA)  reportedly echoed this disappointment.

Data Mobility Initiative Falls Short of a True Right to Repair

A key proposal in Budget 2025 is the creation of a data-mobility right under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). The measure would allow Canadians to transfer personal information between organizations, expanding consumer control over their data.

However, as the Automotive Industries Association of Canada (AIA Canada) notes in its post-budget analysis, this proposal does not guarantee independent repairers access to essential vehicle repair and diagnostic data. “While data mobility supports consumer choice in principle, it does not compel manufacturers to share the technical information, tools and software that independent businesses require to compete fairly,” the association stated.

The distinction is critical. As vehicles become increasingly connected and software-driven, access to diagnostic data determines whether independent businesses can service them effectively. Without equal access, AIA Canada warns, consumers could lose the ability to choose where and how their vehicles are repaired.

Other jurisdictions have gone further. The United States and the European Union are advancing automotive-specific right-to-repair frameworks designed to ensure independent access to repair data and digital tools. “Canada’s approach is progressive in principle but incomplete in practice,” AIA Canada concluded.

Industry experts agree. Automotive analyst David Booth, writing in Driving.ca, notes that “without mandated data-sharing, Canada risks creating a two-tiered service market—OEM-authorized versus everyone else.”

Separately of course, Quebec has ushered in its “right to repair” law, which does specifically address automotive aftermarket service issues–which does perhaps give hope for other jurisdictions to do the same–but progress on specific legislation at the federal level has so far been slow. The latest budget does not indicate any change in that situation.

Skilled Trades: Recognition Without a Roadmap for Auto

Budget 2025 allocates $97 million over five years, beginning in 2026-27, to the Foreign Credential Recognition Action Fund—an initiative to improve fairness in evaluating international qualifications, mainly in the health and construction sectors.

While the investment signals awareness of skilled-trades bottlenecks, the budget omits any automotive-specific measures, despite the aftermarket’s well-documented technician shortage.

In 2022 alone, vacancies for automotive service technicians increased by 65% from 2021 according to the Ernst & Young LLP Labour Market Research Report in 2023. A labour gap of over 4,000 automotive service technicians is expected to persist between 2024 and 2028, offered AIA Canada in its pre-budget submission to the feds..

Statistics Canada reports that job vacancies for automotive service technicians doubled between 2021 and 2023, while RBC forecasts more than 700,000 skilled-trades retirements by 2028 across all sectors.

The budget’s decision to reduce temporary resident admissions—from 673,650 in 2025 to 370,000 by 2027–28—may further constrain access to skilled labour.

Tooling Costs and Competitive Pressure

Budget 2025 provides no updates to the tradesperson’s tools deduction and introduces no offset programs to relieve the cost burden of advanced diagnostics, calibration systems or EV-service equipment.

For many independent facilities, these are now essential investments—often in the tens of thousands of dollars.

“These costs are a major barrier to modernization,” AIA Canada’s analysis stated. “Without relief measures, many small and medium-sized shops will struggle to keep pace with rapid advances in vehicle technology.”

The lack of support comes as inflation and technology costs compound. According to Statistics Canada, repair and maintenance service prices have risen nearly 8 per cent year-over-year, while tool and equipment costs continue to outpace general inflation.

Broader Economic Context

Budget 2025 outlines $141 billion in new spending over five years, offset by $51 billion in savings, and projects a $78 billion deficit for 2025–26. The government’s priorities—defence, infrastructure and trade diversification—offer limited short-term benefit for the small service-based businesses that dominate Canada’s automotive aftermarket.

“The fiscal direction prioritizes national-scale investments, not sectoral competitiveness,” said AIA Canada’s analysis. “Independent automotive service providers are left to manage workforce, tooling and data-access challenges with minimal direct support.”

Looking Ahead

For Canada’s auto-care sector, Budget 2025 represents a starting point rather than a solution. The data-mobility right marks progress toward consumer data control, but not yet a true automotive right-to-repair. The funding for skilled-trades recognition acknowledges workforce challenges but excludes the trades critical to maintaining a safe, reliable vehicle fleet.

In short: Budget 2025 signals awareness of the challenges facing the automotive trades, but the sector is still waiting for the policy tools needed to help secure its future.