Big Spenders: Canada’s Senior Governments Have a Bad Budget Habit

Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial governments have spent a combined total of $91 billion more than they said they would since 2000, according to a new C.D. Howe Institute report.

In “Big Spenders: Canada’s Senior Governments Have a Bad Budget Habit,” authors William B.P. Robson and Farah Omran compare the budgets of Canada’s senior governments with the revenues and expenses published in their audited year-end financial statements. They find governments routinely spend and tax more than projected in their budgets – and that those overshoots have materially raised the size and cost of government over time.