Federal Government: 1)Dominic LeBlanc to lead large trade mission to Mexico next week; 2)GST credit top-up coming in spring after bill fast-tracked in Parliament; 3)Liberal MP asks government to reconsider return-to-office policy for public servants
1) Dominic LeBlanc to lead large trade mission to Mexico next week
Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press
By Canadian Press Staff, Feb. 13, 2025.
Dominic LeBlanc, President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister responsible for Canada-U.S. Trade, Intergovernmental Affairs, Internal Trade and One Canadian Economy participates in an interview in his office in the Parliamentary Precinct in Ottawa, on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
The minister in charge of Canada-U.S. trade is leading a large delegation to Mexico next week as Ottawa looks to diversify its trade links in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and threats to abandon a critical continental trade pact.
Dominic LeBlanc will be in Mexico from Sunday to Friday with hundreds of delegates representing Canadian businesses, industry associations and partners from across the country.
“The strong and long-standing partnership between Canada and Mexico is critical to the strength of the North American economy,” LeBlanc said in a Friday news release.
“This trade mission will build on that strength by deepening our collaboration in key sectors and showcasing what we know to be true: Canada has what the world needs.”
The news release said the mission’s goal is to strengthen commercial ties and explore new opportunities with Mexico. It will focus on areas like advanced manufacturing, agriculture, clean energy and communication technologies.
LeBlanc is set to play a key role in the upcoming review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade, better known as CUSMA.
Trump has called the trade agreement irrelevant and said it may have served its purpose. Members of his trade team have also spread uncertainty over whether the president could pull the United States out of the trade agreement.
United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has said he’d be open to negotiating separate agreements with Canada and Mexico.
CUSMA has shielded Canada and Mexico from the worst impacts of Trump’s tariffs. The president boosted duties on Canada to 35 per cent last August, but those tariffs don’t apply to goods compliant under the trade deal.
Other Canadian industries like steel, aluminum and automobiles are still being slammed by Trump’s separate Section 232 tariffs.
Ottawa and Mexico City have indicated they intend to stay in CUSMA but officials in both countries are preparing for negotiations.
LeBlanc has said he has no reason to believe the Trump administration is preparing to tear up the free trade agreement. He has said his Mexican counterparts share the same view.
Next week’s mission to Mexico comes after LeBlanc and Prime Minister Mark Carney’s September visit, when they launched a comprehensive strategic partnership with Mexico.
“Together, we will make North America the most competitive, resilient, and prosperous economic region in the world,” LeBlanc said in Friday’s news release.
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce is leading a parallel mission made up of three dozen Canadian business leaders from various corporate sectors, including mining, energy and agriculture.
The delegation also includes CEOs of chambers of commerce from communities across Canada.
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce said in a news release that it’s partnering with CanCham Mexico, a Mexico City-based non-profit organization that’s also seeking to grow Mexico-Canada trade and investment opportunities.
2)GST credit top-up coming in spring after bill fast-tracked in Parliament
Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press
By Catherine Morrison, February 13, 2026
Canadians who receive the GST benefit will get a one-time top up payment this spring after parliamentarians fast-tracked the legislation to set it motion.
The Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit received royal assent late Thursday, after passing the final vote in the Senate earlier in the day and the House of Commons last week.
The finance department says the benefit will provide a one-time top-up payment “as early as possible this spring” worth 50 per cent of the credit.
The normal value of the benefit, which is paid to Canadians with low and modest incomes, will also increase by 25 per cent for five years starting in July.
The government says it will help more than 12 million Canadians and that when combined, the measures mean a family of four will receive up to $1,890 this year, and about $1,400 annually for the next four years.
The Conservatives helped speed the bill through the House last week, offering their support even though they called it a “Band-Aid solution.”
3)Liberal MP asks government to reconsider return-to-office policy for public servants
Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press
By Catherine Morrison, February 9, 2026
The Liberal who unseated Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre from his Ottawa-area riding in the last election is criticizing his government’s new return-to-office policy for federal workers.
Bruce Fanjoy, who represents the Carleton riding in the House of Commons, said in a social media post there’s no evidence the policy will boost productivity and warned it will increase pollution.
He also said the new policy makes it harder for the government to reduce its operating costs, improve affordability and protect the environment.
The federal government is ordering public servants to be in the office at least four days a week starting in July, while executives are expected to return to the office full-time in May.
Fanjoy, who represents an eastern Ontario riding with more than 10,000 public servants, argued the policy also makes it harder for public servants to balance their work with other responsibilities.
He pushed for what he called a “flexible” hybrid model with a mix of in-office and remote work.
“The right balance is flexible and depends on circumstances,” he said. “Done well, a hybrid model reduces the cost of government and benefits workers and all Canadians.”
A Treasury Board message to deputy department heads published last week said working on-site is essential to the building of strong teams, collaboration and culture.
The Canadian Association of Professional Employees posted on social media that it planned to meet with Fanjoy Monday and looked forward to hearing more about how to push back against the new policy together.
Canada’s largest federal public sector union has filed several unfair labour practice complaints over the return-to-office policy, while another union has warned of a possible strike as the government moves to increase public servants’ in-office time.
Sharon DeSousa, national president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, said last week the union filed five unfair labour practice complaints with the Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board in response to the government’s decision.
DeSousa said the federal government is trying to change the working conditions of its members while the union is in active bargaining, which she said is against the law.
Sean O’Reilly, president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, said the union is looking at all options to push back against the decision as it enters contract negotiations. He said the new policy might lead to a strike down the road, though he’s still open to discussing in-office rules with the government.
The federal directive applies to public servants working in the core departments and agencies under Treasury Board, though some separate agencies — like the Canada Revenue Agency and the National Research Council of Canada — have said they intend to follow the same approach.
Remote work rules have been an ongoing source of friction in the public service since COVID-19 forced most federal workers to work remotely in 2020.
After public health restrictions began to ease, the federal government moved in 2023 to have workers return to the office two to three days a week.
The current rule, in place since September 2024, requires public servants to work a minimum of three days a week in-office, with executives in office four days per week.
The government’s most recent order updates that rule.
Treasury Board said the government will engage with unions to implement the new return-to-office plan to work out things like assigned seating and occupational health and safety.
Prime Minister Mark Carney promised late last year that a plan would soon come into “sharper view.”
At the time, Fanjoy said he hoped there would be “flexibility” as employees return to the office.
“A lot of our trickiest problems in cities are because we require everyone to be in a very small space,” Fanjoy said in December. “Having public servants spread out a little bit, that’s good for all the economies of our local communities.”