Ottawa’s $798M in New ‘Non-Announced’ Spending Measures Concerning, Says PBO

Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux waits to appear before the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance in Ottawa on Oct. 25, 2022. Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press

Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) Yves Giroux says his office has some concerns about the nearly $800 million worth of new “non-announced” spending measures to be implemented over the next several years that were identified by the federal government in its most recent budget.

Giroux told MPs on the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance on April 18 that tracking the source of the funding could be problematic going forward as the money was not earmarked in Budget 2023 for any specific spending measures.

“The concern we have is that when the spending gets announced publicly, it’s very difficult to trace it back to the source of funds,” he said. “Was it Budget 2023? Was it Budget 2022? And so it’s very difficult to figure out what was the source of funds and is this new funding when it finally gets announced.”

“It’s very difficult for us to follow that kind of money. And that’s the main concern we have with that.”

Giroux added that his office has raised its concerns on the matter in reports and with federal officials.

“They are well aware of our concerns,” he said.

Giroux’s comments on the issue come several days after his office mentioned it in a report titled “Budget 2023: Issues for Parliamentarians,” in which the PBO said the non-announced spending presents a “lack of transparency.”

“In Budget 2023, the Government identified $798 million—on a net basis—in new ‘non-announced’ measures over 2022–23 to 2027–28,” wrote Giroux in the report.

He added that this funding “in absolute terms” represents “over $12 billion in either revenue or spending decisions for which there are no specific details.”

“This lack of transparency presents challenges for parliamentarians and the public in scrutinizing the Government’s spending plans, as well as reconciling between previously provisioned amounts and their announcement,” Giroux wrote.

‘Clearly Planned Spending’

However, Giroux also told the Commons finance committee on April 18 that it’s “not unusual” for governments to include non-announced funding in a budget as a safety net in case of “unforeseen events.”

“What makes this one particularly challenging is that there are positives and negatives,” he told MPs.

He said the Liberal government’s non-announced measures this year have “a level of detail that is quite high,” which he suggested indicates that Ottawa already knows how the funds will be used but is not yet certain of the specific amounts needed for individual measures.

“There’s clearly planned spending that the government has a clear idea on and decisions that are either made or almost made and for which the quantities are quite clear. So it’s presented as an aggregate, so we don’t have any clear idea obviously what’s included,” he said.