Government Spending

The Implications of an Aging Population for Government Finances in Atlantic Canada is a new study that finds health-care expenditures in the region will increase 4.2 per cent in New Brunswick, 4.7 per cent in Nova Scotia, 5.1 per cent in Newfoundland & Labrador, and 5.6 per cent in Prince Edward Island annually (on average) over the next 20 years. As a result of the region’s changing demographics, none may balance their budget until at least 2040/41 unless changes are made to spending.

Tax and Expenditure Limitations for Canada’s Federal Government: A Primer is a new study that finds if the federal government had introduced more discipline on the growth in government spending beginning in 2015—even one that allowed for all the COVID emergency spending—the federal budget could have been balanced by 2025/26. Instead, the Parliamentary Budget Officer predicts it will be at least 2070 before the budget is balanced.