William Francis Morneau Jr. PC (born October 7, 1962) is a Canadian businessman and former Liberal Party politician who served as minister of finance and member of Parliament (MP) for Toronto Centre from 2015 to 2020.

Morneau currently serves on the Board of Directors for CIBC, and has authored a book on his time in office, Where To From Here: A Path to Canadian Prosperity.

Morneau was born in Toronto at St. Joseph's Health Centre and attended Senator O'Connor College School.

At 17, Morneau and a friend started a business servicing swimming pools for homeowners, mostly in the Toronto neighbourhood of Don Mills.

[10] In the years when Morneau ran the firm, the company absorbed competitors across Canada as it grew to become the nation's biggest player in the sector.

[18] His report led to the eventual establishment of Investment Management Corporation of Ontario, which now pools funds and offers public-sector pension plans lower costs with economies of scale.

In the employee assistance part of his business, he saw a rising anxiety among Canadians, and a matched increase in mental health challenges.

Through these experiences, Morneau said he began thinking seriously about helping people on a broader scale and that led him to eventually run for the Liberal Party nomination in the downtown riding of Toronto Centre.

Items of note in the budget included $120 billion over 10 years for public infrastructure—focusing on transit, water, waste management and housing—as well as the introduction of the Canada Child Benefit.

The budget included new federal investments in early learning and child care, more flexible benefits for family caregivers, more support for Indigenous women, and a national strategy to address gender-based violence.

The budget also included new investments to tackle the opioid crisis, cope with a surge in asylum seekers crossing the border from the United States and improve living conditions for Indigenous people.

The stated goals of the budget were to help Canadians feel a greater sense of financial security, gain new career skills, and be able to afford a first home.

[31] Morneau received criticism for abandoning the Liberal's 2015 platform commitment to run annual deficits of less than $10 billion during the first couple years of their mandate, and return to balance by 2019–20.

[35][36] The Liberal government changes to small business taxation, proposed in 2017, were a controversial issue during Morneau's tenure as finance minister.

[37] The changes involve restricting several tax planning strategies, including passive investment income and income-sprinkling for private corporations, that are often used by small businesses.

[40] Morneau was also investigated in 2018, over false accusations of insider trading, and in 2020 for his family accepting $41,000 in luxury hospitality from WE Charity, which he paid back before publicly revealing the error.

[41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48] Although never investigated by the commissioner, Morneau also received public criticism in the Fall of 2017 for not holding his assets in a blind trust, something he was incorrectly reported to have done.

Morneau responded to this criticism by selling the shares, donating a portion of the proceeds to charity, and setting up a blind trust for his remaining assets.

[58] Morneau established the Advisory Council on Economic Growth, which called for a gradual increase in permanent immigration to Canada to 450,000 people a year.

The expanded CPP was designed to address the shortfall in middle-income retirement planning that is opening up as a result of disappearing corporate pensions.

[69] Morneau's resignation came amid reports of disagreements with Trudeau over the scandal, environmental initiatives, and COVID-19 relief spending.

[70][71] In 2023, Morneau cited disagreements with Trudeau over COVID-19 relief spending and overreach of the Prime Minister's office as the reason for his resignation.