The trajectory of spending projections in each successive spring federal budgets (and last week’s Economic Update) since 2022 continues to tell a story of fiscal drift. The 2022 Budget’s total spending projections for 2026/27 was at $504 billion. Now, according to the Spring 2026 Update, the government plans to spend $595 billion, an increase of $91 billion in just four years. Each spring, the size of the federal government expands at a rate that far exceeds what was projected just one year prior. Without hard targets, there is no credible path to lowering Canada’s debt ratio.
For more on the continued fiscal drift in the Spring 2026 Economic Update, please see this C.D. Howe Institute memo.
