Dozens of Canada's Leading international aid agencies are asking Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland to increase the country's foreign assistance contributions in her next budget.
The request comes in a letter signed by 75 non-governmental organizations, including the Canadian chapters of groups like Oxfam, Unicef and World Vision.
They're asking Freeland to increase international aid from the 8.15- billion dollars promised in the last budget and to ramp that number up to 10-billion dollars by 2025.
The Liberals have pledged to increase foreign aid funding each year since taking office in 2015, though crises like the war in Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic changed plans for how that money was spent.
The aid agencies say failing to maintain that commitment would threaten previously completed work that has changed the lives of millions of people for the better.
Freeland has previously stressed the need the reduce and review government spending amid a global economy challenged by pandemic, war, rising inflation and increased interest rates.
The 2023 budget is expected to be tabled sometime this spring.