Published in The Globe and Mail. There is much to like in the expenditure “cuts” announced in the federal budget. Contrary to my initial concerns, the government did not impose across-the-board reductions to the narrow review base. Departmental proposals were vetted centrally, allowing reductions to vary by department. And the spending review is accompanied by targeted […]
November 13, 2025 – Canada’s latest federal budget promises fiscal restraint, but recent experience provides sobering context. Successive projections for spending, deficits, debt, and total liabilities have repeatedly overshot their predecessors. The gap between the projections in the November 2025 budget and the projections in the Fall Economic Statement of 2024 continues this pattern, raising […]
Edited remarks delivered to the Toronto Association for Business and Economics (TABE) webinar, “Living on the Edge: Federal Budget Post-Mortem,” on November 13, 2025. In isolation, the words and numbers in the federal budget presented on November 4, 2025, show a government getting a grip on the excesses that doubled its debt over the past […]
C.D. Howe Institute fellow-in-residence Don Drummond says the economic forecast in the Liberal budget effectively says to ‘don’t worry, be happy’ despite the impacts of a U.S. trade war, suggesting a rebound in growth and employment in just a couple of years. Drummond argues that the measures in the budget fall short of the Liberals’ […]
From: Colin Busby, Don Drummond and Alexandre LaurinTo: Budget watchers Date: November 12, 2025Re: Rosy Forecasts and Weak Fiscal Anchors in This ‘Generational’ Budget Ottawa’s budget lands at a pivotal moment. As a Globe and Mail editorial put it, we have reached a fork in the road. The test for this budget was whether it would […]
From: Don Drummond and Nick DahirTo: : Federal spending observers Date: November 11, 2025Re: Is Spending Restrained or Bloated in the 2025 Federal Budget? In its new budget plan the federal government makes the case spending is restrained by emphasizing how much is being saved. “The Comprehensive Expenditure Review will rein in government spending – […]
The trajectory of spending projections in each successive federal Fall Economic Statement (FES) since 2022 tells a story of fiscal drift. The 2022 FES put total spending for 2025/26 – the fiscal year we are now in – at $515.3 billion. Now, according to Budget 2025, the government projects spending $585.8 billion. In just three […]
From: Tingting ZhangTo: Healthcare observersDate: November 6, 2025Re: Federal Health Funding: Promises and Performance Gaps In Budget 2023, the federal government committed an additional $25 billion over 10 years to fix Canada’s ailing healthcare system, with improved family health services as the first of four shared health priorities. This investment came with strings attached: Bilateral […]
Canada does not have a credible fiscal plan. After Ottawa revealed the details of its “sea change” budget, the Institute’s Bill Robson explains why Mark Carney’s first budget in the age of Trump fails to get a passing grade.
Canada does not have a credible fiscal plan. After Ottawa revealed the details of its “sea change” budget, the Institute’s Bill Robson explains why Mark Carney’s first budget in the age of Trump fails to get a passing grade.
Published in The Hub. Slogging through the 493 pages of the federal government’s November 4th, 2025, budget reveals the pre-release hype about transformational change to have been just that: hype. Start with the bloated page count. Like its predecessors, the budget buries the key numbers in hundreds of pages of repetition, reannouncements, and condescending political […]
Published in The Globe and Mail. Ottawa’s budget lands at a pivotal moment. As Sunday’s Globe and Mail editorial put it, we have reached a fork in the road. The test for this budget was whether it would level with Canadians about the scale of the economic problems and chart a credible path forward. By that […]
Membership Application
Interested in becoming a Member of the C.D. Howe Institute? Please fill out the application form below and our team will be in touch with next steps. Note that Membership is subject to approval.
"*" indicates required fields
Member Login
Not a Member yet? Visit our Membership page to learn more and apply.
Published in The Globe and Mail. There is much to like in the expenditure “cuts” announced in the federal budget. Contrary to my initial concerns, the government did not impose across-the-board reductions to the narrow review base. Departmental proposals were vetted centrally, allowing reductions to vary by department. And the spending review is accompanied by targeted […] 
Edited remarks delivered to the Toronto Association for Business and Economics (TABE) webinar, “Living on the Edge: Federal Budget Post-Mortem,” on November 13, 2025. In isolation, the words and numbers in the federal budget presented on November 4, 2025, show a government getting a grip on the excesses that doubled its debt over the past […] 
C.D. Howe Institute fellow-in-residence Don Drummond says the economic forecast in the Liberal budget effectively says to ‘don’t worry, be happy’ despite the impacts of a U.S. trade war, suggesting a rebound in growth and employment in just a couple of years. Drummond argues that the measures in the budget fall short of the Liberals’ […] 
From: Colin Busby, Don Drummond and Alexandre LaurinTo: Budget watchers Date: November 12, 2025Re: Rosy Forecasts and Weak Fiscal Anchors in This ‘Generational’ Budget Ottawa’s budget lands at a pivotal moment. As a Globe and Mail editorial put it, we have reached a fork in the road. The test for this budget was whether it would […] 
From: Don Drummond and Nick DahirTo: : Federal spending observers Date: November 11, 2025Re: Is Spending Restrained or Bloated in the 2025 Federal Budget? In its new budget plan the federal government makes the case spending is restrained by emphasizing how much is being saved. “The Comprehensive Expenditure Review will rein in government spending – […] 
The trajectory of spending projections in each successive federal Fall Economic Statement (FES) since 2022 tells a story of fiscal drift. The 2022 FES put total spending for 2025/26 – the fiscal year we are now in – at $515.3 billion. Now, according to Budget 2025, the government projects spending $585.8 billion. In just three […] 
From: Tingting ZhangTo: Healthcare observersDate: November 6, 2025Re: Federal Health Funding: Promises and Performance Gaps In Budget 2023, the federal government committed an additional $25 billion over 10 years to fix Canada’s ailing healthcare system, with improved family health services as the first of four shared health priorities. This investment came with strings attached: Bilateral […] 
Canada does not have a credible fiscal plan. After Ottawa revealed the details of its “sea change” budget, the Institute’s Bill Robson explains why Mark Carney’s first budget in the age of Trump fails to get a passing grade. 
Published in The Hub. Slogging through the 493 pages of the federal government’s November 4th, 2025, budget reveals the pre-release hype about transformational change to have been just that: hype. Start with the bloated page count. Like its predecessors, the budget buries the key numbers in hundreds of pages of repetition, reannouncements, and condescending political […] 
Published in The Globe and Mail. Ottawa’s budget lands at a pivotal moment. As Sunday’s Globe and Mail editorial put it, we have reached a fork in the road. The test for this budget was whether it would level with Canadians about the scale of the economic problems and chart a credible path forward. By that […]