Canada’s federal deficit is projected to hit nearly $50 billion this year, Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux told senators, warning that without a spring budget, the true fiscal picture remains uncertain.“In the absence of a budget it is very difficult to know exactly what the government’s forecasts are,” Giroux testified before the Senate national finance committee. “The numbers are still in flux.”Giroux said an updated Economic and Fiscal Forecast will be released Thursday with more details. But when asked by Sen. Elizabeth Marshall of Newfoundland and Labrador whether this year’s shortfall would top last year’s $61.9 billion, Giroux replied, “Probably not. I’d say probably in the range of $45 billion to $50 billion.”Blacklock's Reporter said Marshall, a former provincial auditor, expressed concern over the lack of transparency. “We have no budget,” she said. “We don’t know anything about the revenues. We don’t know anything about the borrowing. We have no idea what the deficit is going to be.”Parliament has not passed a balanced budget since 2007. In a May 27 Throne Speech, cabinet promised to set “a reasonable target for reduction” of deficit spending but gave no specifics.Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne postponed the spring budget in favour of a Fall Economic Statement, with no firm release date. “Fall is fall,” Champagne told reporters on May 14. “So, fall 2025.”Asked why the government wouldn’t deliver a budget before summer, Champagne replied, “First thing, tax cuts,” and confirmed it would come in the second half of the fiscal year.The most recent Budget Implementation Act was passed June 19, 2024. The last Fall Economic Statement was tabled December 16.Conservative MP Jasraj Hallan of Calgary East said the delay is unacceptable. “Release a spring budget and be clear and transparent with Canadians,” he said in the Commons. “Canadians need to know how much worse things are going to get.”
