Table federal budget before summer 2025
Petitioners ask the Government to table a federal budget before Parliament rises for the 2025 summer recess. The government responds that it provides fiscal updates and will table a budget this fall.
Why we would sign this petition
- It would restore transparency and accountability by giving Parliament and the public a full fiscal plan before the summer recess.
- A timely budget could set concrete measures to address inflation, housing pressures and cost‑of‑living challenges, helping households and markets plan.
- Tabling before recess preserves Parliament’s ability to scrutinize, amend and debate fiscal priorities rather than delaying oversight until later.
Why we wouldn’t sign this petition
- The government cites urgent, evolving US trade actions that may materially affect revenues and spending; delaying the budget could allow incorporation of those developments.
- Monthly Fiscal Monitor reports and other documents already provide ongoing fiscal information, so immediate tabling may not be strictly necessary for transparency.
- Rushing a budget to meet a deadline could produce incomplete analysis or poor long‑term planning; waiting for clearer data may yield a stronger fiscal plan.
The summary and both sets of reasons are AI-generated from the petition and given equal weight. Claims are the petitioners’ own; consult the official record for the full text.
Official petition
Petition to the House of Commons We, the undersigned citizens and residents of Canada, draw the attention of the House of Commons to the following: Whereas: a federal budget is a critical tool for ensuring transparency and accountability in government spending and priorities; Canadians are facing significant economic uncertainty, including inflation, housing pressures, and cost-of-living challenges, and deserve to see the government's financial plan to address these issues; delaying the presentation of a federal budget undermines the ability of Parliament and the public to scrutinize and debate the government's fiscal policies before the summer recess. Therefore we, the undersigned citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government to present a budget before the house rises for the summer recess of 2025.
Government response
Response by the Minister of Finance and National Revenue Signed by (Minister or Parliamentary Secretary): The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, P.C., M.P The government is committed to ensuring fiscal transparency and accountability. Throughout the year, there are multiple channels through which the government demonstrates this commitment. These include budgets and economic updates (or statements), the estimates documents, which provide detailed projections of planned spending, the Public Accounts of Canada, which include the official annual audited financial statements of the Government of Canada, and the Fiscal Monitor. Published by the Department of Finance, the Fiscal Monitor is a monthly report that provides an overview of the federal government’s consolidated financial operations. This allows Canadians to stay informed, with timely updates on revenues, expenses, the budgetary balance, and federal debt, and includes comparisons with the same period in the previous fiscal year. The most recent edition of the Fiscal Monitor is available on the Department of Finance Canada’s website and can be accessed here: The Fiscal Monitor - March 2025 - Canada.ca. As detailed therein, the government posted a budgetary deficit of $43.2 billion for the April to March period of the 2024-25 fiscal year, compared to a deficit of $50.9 billion reported for the same period of 2023-24. The budgetary deficit before net actuarial losses was $39.1 billion, compared to a deficit of $43.4 billion in the April to March period of 2023-24. Additionally, compared to 2023-24: Revenues were up $50.0 billion, or 11.3 percent, reflecting increases in all categories of revenue. Program expenses excluding net actuarial losses were up $39.6 billion, or 9.0 percent, reflecting increases across all major categories of spending, led by direct program expenses. Public debt charges increased by $6.2 billion, or 13.0 percent, primarily reflecting higher average effective rates on the outstanding stock of marketable bonds, as well as an increase in the stock of marketable bonds. Net actuarial losses decreased by $3.5 billion, or 46.8 percent, reflecting both the amortization of gains arising from actuarial valuations of the government's pension and other employee future benefit plans as of March 31, 2024, and the end of the amortization of certain prior years' net actuarial losses. The results reported in the March Fiscal Monitor are not the final results for the fiscal year as a whole. The final results are published in the annual Public Accounts of Canada and incorporate post-March end-of-year adjustments made once further information becomes available, including the accrual of tax revenues reflecting assessments of tax returns and valuation adjustments for assets and liabilities. At present, the government is devoting its full attention to responding to fast-changing and unjustified trade actions by the United States, and discussions are ongoing. Although governments often face economic uncertainty, the current situation differs when it comes to the scale, complexity, and immediacy of the risks, and the way they interact. Given the significance of these developments, it would be premature to finalize a multi-year fiscal plan without a clearer view of how Canada’s most important trading relationship will evolve in the near-term. Canadians rightly expect a budget that reflects the full economic and fiscal context and provides a stable, forward-looking economic plan, and the government has committed to tabling a budget this fall.