A federal House of Commons government operations committee heard that federal managers set easy performance targets that they often fail to meet. Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux testified before the committee on March 20, stating that government department targets “tend to be too easy,” in response to a question from B.C. Liberal MP Parm Bains. “I speak…

Canada’s Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) will be examining the federal government’s recent $19 billion purchase of F-35 fighter jets and has written to Defence Minister Anita Anand requesting information from her department on the deal, according to a report. “In order to provide the analysis to parliamentarians in a timely manner, I ask the information…

Canada’s federal government is among the worst of the G7 countries when it comes to publishing public spending accounts on time, says the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO). “In comparison to other G7 countries Canada was among the last to publish their financial accounts,” Yves Giroux wrote to the House of Commons government operations and estimates…

Canada’s government sector is growing faster than its private sector, and the public sector appears set to continue its growth pace, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO). “Growth has been faster in the public sector, generally speaking, than in the private sector,” PBO Yves Giroux told the Commons government operations and estimates committee on…

Parliamentary budget officer Yves Giroux told members of Parliament on Monday that the federal government did not show fiscal restraint in its recent fall economic statement. At a meeting of the House of Commons finance committee, Giroux said the federal government is spending a significant portion of the new fiscal room it ended up with…

The government’s increased Canada workers benefit (CWB) is set to cost more than double at about $4 billion, and a large reason for the high expenditure is because the benefit will be released to many Canadians who are no longer eligible for it, says Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) Yves Giroux. The CWB is a refundable…

Federal debt charges are expected to hit $53 billion by 2024, says the Parliamentary Budget Office in its “Risk Scenario Analysis” report. Published on Nov. 10, the report says that the debt service ratio, which is public debt charges relative to tax revenues, is projected to reach 14.3 percent in 2024. “Public debt charges are…

New legislation will profit large Canadian media outlets and publishers by upwards of $329 million in government subsidies, if passed, according to Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) Yves Giroux. “We expect news businesses to receive a total compensation around $329.2 million per annum from digital platforms and spend about $20.8 million in transaction and compliance costs…

Albertans will see some extra money coming into their bank accounts starting today as the federal government releases the first batch of 2022 carbon tax returns, according to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF). The first round of the quarterly-based Climate Action Incentive (CAI) rebate starts with a “double-up” payment that returns proceeds from the first two…

The federal government has underestimated by a huge margin the costs needed to extend French-language rights to federally regulated businesses in its proposed changes to the Official Languages Act, according to a report by the parliamentary budget officer (PBO). Bill C-13 seeks to strengthen the state of French in federal public institutions and expand the…