SHARE THIS:

MSF to Canada’s political leaders: “Stand up for humanity”

Recommendations to Canada’s political parties ahead of the 2025 federal election

March 24, 2025 
On April 28, Canadians will vote in a federal election that is taking place in a period of major global upheaval. The Members of Parliament that Canadians will elect will decide how Canada responds to a world experiencing alarming levels of conflict and crisis, and where hundreds of millions of people’s lives, safety and dignity are at risk.  

Canadians will vote at a time when the international humanitarian system, on which the world depends to prevent catastrophic suffering and loss of life in the face of global crises, is facing an unprecedented assault – on its people, on its funding, and on its very existence.  

For decades, Canada has played a vital role in global efforts to alleviate suffering during humanitarian emergencies. It has done so not only as a donor, but through its diplomacy and its willingness to stand up for human dignity and basic humanitarian principles when they are under attack. Canada is also home to a world-class medical technology sector, which has the capacity to deliver the medicines and vaccines that patients need to help prevent the worst impacts of global health crises. 

Neglecting disease outbreaks and humanitarian crises can cause far-reaching consequences—including here at home. Canadian leadership is essential to uphold our shared humanity.  

But Canada’s impact depends on the choices made by its political leaders. That’s why Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is calling on those leaders to stand up for humanity in this historic moment, and to ensure that Canada’s next government will prioritize the needs of the world’s most vulnerable people, both at home and abroad. 

MSF is an international humanitarian medical organization that responds to emergencies in more than 70 countries. We see first-hand the worst impacts of global crises, and the suffering they cause. We also see the differences that people in Canada, and their representatives in government, can make in reducing that suffering.  

MSF sent the following humanitarian recommendations to Canada’s federal political parties ahead of the upcoming election, to outline the specific actions that all political leaders should insist upon from Canada’s next government: 


For more details, and to read these recommendations in full, please refer to MSF’s 2025 Policy Recommendations for Canada’s Next Government.

We believe that alleviating the suffering of people made vulnerable by crisis and conflict is a fundamental imperative, and the responsibility of every member of the international community. As an independent and mostly privately funded humanitarian emergency medical organization, MSF works to deliver medical care to people in the most severe and complex crises in the world, but we cannot do it on our own. We need governments like Canada’s to stand up for humanity, and place humanitarian priorities at the centre of their domestic and foreign policies.To help make humanitarian needs a key issue in the next Canadian federal election, please share these recommendations with your networks, and tell the politicians asking for your vote that Canada’s humanitarian responsibilities matter.