Liberals aren't planning to table a budget this year, finance minister says

Darren Major · CBC News

· Posted: May 14, 2025 2:34 PM EDT | Last Updated: 5 minutes ago

Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne says the Liberal authorities has a fig of priorities to tackle earlier the House of Commons is scheduled to emergence successful June — but tabling a fund isn't 1 of them.

Prime Minister Mark Carney's furniture met for the archetypal clip connected Wednesday up of the House returning adjacent week.

Carney's authorities is staring down a fig of important challenges in the aftermath of past month's election, including the ongoing U.S. commercialized war. The premier curate has besides committed to implementing a fig of cardinal run promises by the summer.

Champagne told reporters aft Wednesday's furniture gathering that his Number 1 precedence is to walk authorities to instrumentality a promised taxation cut, which Carney has said volition beryllium successful spot by Canada Day. But the concern curate said the authorities won't beryllium outlining its wide fiscal program until aboriginal this year.

"Canadians person seen the priorities we person outlined during the campaign. Priorities are not going to beryllium different," Champagne told reporters connected Parliament Hill.

Champagne said the authorities is taking a "step-by-step" attack by ensuring the promised taxation chopped and throne code are dealt with earlier the House rises for the summer. 

The concern curate said the authorities volition outline its fiscal spending successful a autumn economical connection — a benignant of mini-budget the authorities typically provides each year.

But Champagne wouldn't connection a much circumstantial timeline for that outlook different than to accidental it would beryllium tabled successful the "fall." The past autumn economical connection was enactment guardant successful mid-December. 

WATCH | Finance Minister Champagne says Liberals volition supply economical update successful fall: 

The national budget, which provides an update connected the wellness of the nation's coffers and outlines the government's spending priorities, is typically tabled successful April. But due to the fact that the national predetermination took spot that month, and because Parliament was prorogued anterior to the motorboat of the predetermination run successful precocious March, nary fund has been tabled this year.

The timing of the predetermination doesn't needfully forestall the authorities from crafting a budget. Former premier curate Stephen Harper's authorities tabled 1 successful June 2011 contempt that year's predetermination taking spot successful aboriginal May. (The Conservatives had tabled a akin papers successful March earlier the campaign.)

The past clip the authorities didn't merchandise a fund was successful 2020, astatine the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Even though the authorities won't enactment guardant a fund this spring, MPs will inactive request to walk the supplementary estimates — portion of the legislative process for asking Parliament for much wealth to screen initiatives that haven't already been funded, oregon that necessitate further funding. 

Governments are required to array supplementary estimates 3 times passim the twelvemonth portion the House is sitting. The adjacent deadline for the estimates is June.

The House is acceptable to instrumentality connected Monday and the throne code volition beryllium work Tuesday.