Search

Search results

1. Interest Cost Risks to Government Budgets

   This essay calculates the change in government interest costs and budget balances if interest costs return to their 2019-20 levels. Estimates are calculated for 2021-22 gross debt levels for each of the provinces and the federal government. ...

2. To fulfill Trudeau’s latest fiscal promise, spring budget must chart path to budget balance

   Prime Minister Trudeau’s end-of-year comments, where he committed to “absolutely” returning to a balanced budget post-COVID, will continue to ring hollow unless the spring budget includes decisive action. The pre-Christmas statement to ...

3. Making sense of Canada’s $381.6 billion federal budget deficit

   The Trudeau government this week published its fall fiscal update for 2020. The headline-grabbing number emerging from the report was the government’s forecasted budget deficit for the year—$381.6 billion. As is often the case when it ...

4. Trudeau government’s approach to federal finances anything but ‘prudent’

   Appeared in the National Newswatch, December 2, 2020 Since coming to power in 2015, Prime Minister Trudeau —and his finance ministers —have characterized their management of federal finances as “prudent,” an adjective meaning to act with or show care and ...

5. Fiscal update—federal finances in worse shape than previously thought

   The Trudeau government released its fall fiscal update for 2020, which included more spending measures and grimmer deficit projections than previously anticipated. Unfortunately, the federal government also demonstrated little concern for ...

6. Trudeau government continues to dodge democratic accountability

   This government has not released a long-term forecast of spending, taxation and borrowing since 2018. ...

7. Canada’s Aging Population and Long-Term Projections for Federal Finances

   Canada’s fiscal challenges extend far beyond just the short-term impact of COVID-19. An aging population will continue to place upward pressure on federal finances and a new structural imbalance between revenues and spending means deficits and ...

8. Fiscal snapshot highlights deteriorating state of federal finances

   On Wednesday, the Trudeau government released a “ fiscal snapshot ” on the state of the economy and expectations for government finances for this year (2020/21). As expected, Finance Minister Bill Morneau confirmed a significant increase ...

9. Trudeau government should provide fiscal projections to Canadians

   The CERB is now estimated to cost $61.1 billion compared to the original estimate of $40.6 billion. ...

10. Governments across Canada must reduce spending post-recession

    The recession caused by the response to the COVID-19 pandemic means governments across Canada now face tremendous fiscal challenges. Recent forecasts from the Royal Bank and Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) estimate that annual deficits ...