Federal government will release budgets in the fall instead of the spring: officials

Finance Minister Phillip Francois-Champagne discusses the government’s new capital budget framework and budget cycle.

In a break with tradition, federal budgets will now be released in the fall instead of the spring starting this year.

The fall fiscal update, meanwhile, will now be tabled in the spring.

It’s a change that comes less than two weeks after the parliamentary budget officer estimated a sharp increase in the deficit to $68.5 billion.

The federal government has not released a budget since April 2024 under former prime minister Justin Trudeau.

Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne is scheduled to deliver Budget 2025-26 on Nov. 4. The minister says this move will increase transparency in how the government is spending taxpayer dollars.

Prior to the election in April of the current Liberal government under Mark Carney, budgets were usually released in the spring followed by a fall economic statement.

Ahead of his appearance before Parliament’s finance committee, Champagne told reporters that the new budget cycle provides “more clarity for parliamentarians,” and provides more predictability for provinces and territories.

This change in the timing of the budget is part of the government’s new Capital Budgeting Framework, which will also separate day-to-day operational spending from capital investment.

Champagne says the new accounting framework will “provide more focus” for Parliamentarians so they can make decisions involving “spending less so we can invest more.”

“People will have more transparency and clarity about how much we’re spending in day-to-day operations of government salaries and other things, as well as see the shift that we need to do towards capital investments.”

Champagne told reporters that the government is committed to balancing the operational budget over the next three years but did not give details as to how this will be done. The government has plans to reduce spending by up to 15 per cent by 2028.

Canada has also lost billions in revenue from counter-tariffs on U.S. products, after dropping most of its retaliatory measures.

Carney is travelling to Washington, D.C. this week to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump, in hopes of making progress on lifting punishing U.S. tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum.

During Champagne’s hour-long appearance in front of the finance committee, Conservative members tried to get an answer on when the full budget would be balanced, not just the operational expenses.

“I understand you’re distracting Canadians with accounting rule changes… when will the budget be balanced?” Calgary Crowfoot MP Pat Kelly asked repeatedly during his questioning.

Conservative finance critic, Jasraj Hallan, also chined in, asking if the finance minister was “cooking the books.”

Hallan noted that the Parliamentary Budget Officer found that the accounting changes will not change the bottom line of the government.

“Debt is still debt at the end of the day – doesn’t matter how many columns you try to present to Canadians and try to trick them.”

Champagne accused the Conservatives of using “irresponsible language” and said at committee that “the deficit and the debt will be calculated and presented as it always is in accordance with accounting principles.”

In an interview with CTV National News, former parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page called the new budget framework “an improvement on the financial cycle of the Government of Canada.”

“It’s considered an OECD best budget practice to table a budget at least a few months prior to the start of the fiscal year,” said Page who is now the President of the Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy at the University of Ottawa.

Page says the shift allows provinces, territories and municipalities “to better plan their budgets” by providing more information on what the government is going to do with federal transfers and if there will be changes to the tax base.

Page also points out that tabling a budget in the fall will mean that authorization for big construction projects can take place in the winter, facilitating a spring start.

In a background briefing with reporters on Monday, senior government sources with the Department of Finance said this new framework will “enhance — not replace — existing financial reporting, while providing a clearer picture of the investments that strengthen Canada’s economy.”

Going forward, spending that is not categorized as capital investments will be considered day-to-day operational spending. Those expenses include health and social transfers and the cost of running government operations like employee salaries and benefits.

Capital investments include funds the federal government will direct towards major projects such as ports and pipelines, along with investments to grow the housing stock.

In a news release, the federal government said this new framework will help guide decisions as it prioritizes capital investments that generate long-term benefits for Canadians — such as major projects, housing, clean energy and infrastructure — help grow the economy and attract private investment.