Canada’s financial watchdog says the federal government’s new budget framework contains inconsistent and “contradictory” definitions for some spending categories, making it difficult to predict how future expenditures will be treated.
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal government introduced a new budget structure last year that separates day-to-day operating expenditures from spending classified as capital investment. Known as Capital Budgeting Framework, it was officially introduced last October by Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne and was formally implemented as part of Carney’s first federal budget released in November 2025.
The framework broadly defines capital investment as government spending or tax expenditures that contribute to public or private-sector capital formation….