2023–24 Report on the Activities of the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer

Message from the Parliamentary Budget Officer

I am honoured to present the 2023–24 Report on the Activities of the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer, as outlined in the Parliament of Canada Act.[^1]

This report provides a comprehensive overview of our activities, achievements and progress over the last year, touching on every aspect of our organization.

Again this year, we had the opportunity to serve parliamentarians by providing independent, credible and non-partisan financial and economic analysis on a timely basis, covering a wide range of topics associated with public finances and the Canadian economy.

Despite our achievements, we are aware of emerging and ongoing challenges. Public finance remains a complex subject, particularly as government spending and the implementation of new programs continue to exceed pre-pandemic levels. In addition, global economic uncertainty and environmental challenges increase the complexity of our work.

In conclusion, it is with great pride that I lead a dedicated and talented team with whom I am committed to fulfilling the two distinct mandates entrusted to me by Parliament.

Yves Giroux,
Parliamentary Budget Officer

Mandates

As a result of amendments made to the Parliament of Canada Act in 2017, Parliament has given the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) two distinct mandates.

When Parliament is not dissolved

The PBO provides independent economic and financial analysis to the Senate and the House of Commons, analyzes the budget forecasts of the government and, if requested, estimates the financial cost of any proposal over which Parliament has jurisdiction.

During the 120-day period before a fixed election or when Parliament is dissolved for a general election

The PBO provides political parties, at their request, with estimates of the financial cost of election campaign proposals they are considering making.

Activities

During the 2023–24 fiscal year, the PBO published 25 Legislative Costing Notes, 6 additional analyses and 31 reports, including the 2024–25 PBO’s Work Plan, the 2022–23 Report on the Activities of the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer, and the Accessibility Progress Report: December 2022 to December 2023.

Independent economic and financial analysis

The Parliament of Canada Act provides that the PBO may prepare reports containing the PBO’s analysis of the government's budget, economic and fiscal updates, fiscal sustainability reports and the estimates.[^2]

The PBO may also prepare reports on matters of particular significance relating to the nation’s finances and economy that are listed in the PBO’s annual work plan tabled in the Senate and the House of Commons.[^3]

In 2023–24, the PBO published 7 regular reports or analyses:

• an analysis of the Main Estimates and each of the three supplementary estimates for 2024–25 (4 reports);

• a report entitled Budget 2023: Issues for Parliamentarians;

• the Fiscal Sustainability Report 2023; and

• a report of the Fall Economic Statement 2023 – Issues for Parliamentarians.

In addition to its regular reports, in 2023–24, the PBO published 16 updates and stand-alone reports, some of which supplemented regular reports, while others provided analysis of specific matters related to the nation’s economy or finances:

• a personnel expenditure analysis – update;

• a distributional analysis of the Clean Fuel Regulations;

• an estimate of the responsiveness of taxable income to changes in the corporate income tax rate of small businesses;

• a fiscal analysis of Canada’s support for Volkswagen’s electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant;

• an update on the energy sector and agriculture: federal revenue forgone under certain tax provisions;

• an analysis of household purchasing power at different income levels since 2019;

• an assessment of changes to the alternative minimum tax as proposed in Budget 2023;

• a break-even analysis of production subsidies for Stellantis-LGES and Volkswagen;

• a force structure model of Canada’s military: costs and personnel;

• a cost estimate of a single-payer universal drug plan;

• an analysis of the economic and fiscal outlook – October 2023;

• a fiscal analysis of the life cycle cost of Canada’s F-35 program;

• an estimate of the cost of the Canada Disability Benefit: model and scenarios;

• an analysis of costing support for EV battery manufacturing;

• an analysis of the income dynamics of new immigrants to Canada; and

• an analysis of the economic and fiscal outlook – March 2024.

The PBO also published 6 supplementary analyses, which provide relevant information and/or additional detail related to PBO publications:

• a study on full-time equivalents in the federal public service – 2023–24 departmental plans;

• an analysis of Bill C-234: extension of the exemption for qualifying farming fuel to marketable natural gas and propane – updated cost estimate;

• an update on the costing support for EV battery manufacturing – factual information;

• a personnel expenditure analysis tool update: 2022–23 personnel expenditures;

• a study on full-time equivalents in the federal public service – 2024–25 departmental plans; and

• an update on foregone corporate income tax revenue as regards support for EV battery manufacturing.

Additionally, the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer (OPBO) published 3 administrative reports:

• The 2022–23 Report on the Activities of the OPBO;

• The Accessibility Progress Report: December 2022 to December 2023; and

• The Work Plan for 2024–25.

Requests for financial analysis and cost estimates from parliamentarians

In 2023–24, the PBO received 25 requests for financial analysis and cost estimates from parliamentarians. The PBO also received tens of informal requests and questions.

The PBO published 8 Legislative Costing Notes (see Appendix) and 5 reports that were undertaken at the request of senators, MPs or parliamentary committees:

• an estimate of the cost of removing the tax exemptions for Real Estate Investment Trusts, at the request of Member of Parliament Mike Morrice (Kitchener Centre);

• a budgetary analysis of the Creative Export Strategy, at the request of Member of Parliament Michelle Rempel Garner, P.C. (Calgary Nose Hill);

• an analysis of the overview of the government’s digital service transformation, at the request of Senator Colin Deacon;

• an analysis on refocusing government spending in 2023–24, at the request of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates; and

• a study on the planned capital spending under Canada’s defence policy: 2024 update, at the request of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates.

PBO reports cover the state of the nation’s finances, the government’s economic and budgetary projections, and cost estimates for proposals under Parliament’s jurisdiction.

PBO legislative costing notes provide parliamentarians with cost estimates of bills that are before Parliament.

During the 2023–24 fiscal year, the PBO published 31 reports and 25 notes on various topics of interest to parliamentarians and Canadians.

Every report that the PBO has prepared for Parliament, parliamentarians and parliamentary committees can be found in the reports section of our website. Reports are always published simultaneously in both official languages.

This last year, the PBO added a hubs feature, which provides a list of reports, data, communications products and other content on a common theme.

• Climate Plans and Targets hub

• Electric Vehicles and Battery Manufacturing hub

To learn more about PBO reports and costing notes, visit our website.

Information access

Although some of the information the PBO needs to prepare economic and financial analysis is publicly available, much of it is not.

Under the Parliament of Canada Act, the PBO “is entitled, by request made to the head of a department or of a parent corporation, to free and timely access to any information under the control of the department or parent Crown corporation that is required for the performance of his or her mandate”.[^4]

While it is often possible for the PBO to prepare an estimate of the cost of implementing a bill without having access to the government’s data, it will often be more costly and time-consuming to do so, potentially reducing the resources available to respond to other requests from parliamentarians and committees. Having access to the government’s data will often improve the quality of the PBO’s estimates and make them more useful to parliamentarians.

If a government department or Crown corporation refuses to provide access to information, the PBO can notify the Speakers of the Senate and of the House of Commons or any relevant parliamentary committee.[^5]

The PBO expects that if he were to give such notice, the Speakers, and the Houses over which they preside, would assist the PBO in obtaining access to the information the PBO requires to provide relevant analysis in support of the Senate and the House of Commons.

Exceptions

The PBO is not entitled to access information that falls under five limited exceptions:

• personal information whose disclosure is restricted under section 19 of the Access to Information Act;[^6]

• information protected by attorney-client privilege or by litigation privilege;[^7]

• information whose disclosure is restricted under any provision set out in Schedule II of the Access to Information Act;[^8]

• information that is a confidence of the King’s Privy Council for Canada as defined in subsection 39(2) of the Canada Evidence Act;[^9] and

• information whose disclosure to the PBO is specifically restricted under another federal statute.[^10]

The PBO remains of the opinion that providing relevant and timely analysis to the Senate and the House of Commons requires access to certain confidential information. This includes the government’s estimate for the cost of implementing bills before Parliament, and gender-based analysis of those bills.

Additionally, the PBO is concerned that the exception based on Schedule II of the Access to Information Act is unduly narrowing the PBO’s access to information. There is clearly scope for improving the PBO’s access to information held by government departments and agencies.

We thank government departments and Crown corporations for the attention and diligence they exercised in providing us with the data we need to report to parliamentarians.

Information requests in 2023–24

During 2023–24, the PBO submitted 131 information requests to government departments and Crown corporations.

The PBO received all the information it requested in 124 of the 131 requests submitted. This represents a 95% response rate, the highest average response rate recorded since the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer was established.

Of the 7 requests for which the PBO did not receive all the requested information, the departments provided only part of the information requested in 5 cases (often because the remaining information was not available) and did not provide any information in the remaining 2 cases because the information was either not available or could not be disclosed.

Yield

Debates and committee meetings

In 2023–24, the PBO and the work produced by his office were mentioned 522 times in the Senate and House of Commons debates. The PBO was mentioned 576 times in Senate committee meetings and 763 times in House of Commons committee meetings.

The use of the PBO’s analysis to inform interventions in the Senate and House, as well as during debate and committee proceedings is one of the more visible forms of support to parliamentarians.

The PBO’s committee appearances

In 2023–24, the PBO or his staff appeared on 11 occasions before Senate committees and on _11 occasions before House of Commons committees_. These figures are similar to the number of times the PBO was invited to appear before committees the previous year.

The PBO’s budget assessments, main and supplementary estimates analyses, cost estimates of military capabilities, the results of a break-even analysis of the support for Stellantis-LGES and Volkswagen, and a report on Bill S-233, An Act to develop a national framework for a guaranteed livable basic income, are examples that demonstrate how the PBO and his staff can use their specialized expertise to support the work of parliamentary committees.

Briefing sessions on reports

The PBO presented 4 reports in 2023–24 via virtual and in-person briefing sessions to allow parliamentarians to ask questions and further explore the topics covered in PBO publications. These briefings were offered to all parliamentarians and their staff.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we began offering these sessions online and continue to do so, although in-person sessions are once again offered, this method is very popular with our clientele and ensure that parliamentary staff based outside the national capital region can participate.

The PBO provided briefing sessions on the following reports for the 2023–2024 fiscal year:

1. Fiscal Analysis of Canada’s Support for Volkswagen’s Electric Vehicle Battery Manufacturing Plant;

2. Break-even Analysis of Production Subsidies for Stellantis-LGES and Volkswagen;

3. Cost Estimate of a Single-payer Universal Drug Plan; and

4. The Life Cycle Cost of Canada’s F-35 Program – A Fiscal Analysis.

Multiple sessions were offered for each report to facilitate participation by all parliamentarians across time zones. On average, approximately 20 participants attended each of these sessions. The PBO also offered briefings for the media for select publications.

At these sessions, the PBO presented a summary and conclusions of the published report and answered questions from participants.

Outreach to Canadians

In 2023–24, the PBO continued to promote greater budget transparency and accountability by communicating his findings to the public and the media. This open and accessible approach allows the PBO to better serve parliamentarians who can speak to the PBO’s reports knowing that the public is aware of them.

Over the course of the fiscal year, the work of the PBO was mentioned over 6,000 times in the media nationwide, underscoring the relevance of the PBO’s analysis in contributing to the public discourse.

Diversity, equity and inclusion

Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) have always been a PBO priority. The Office places special emphasis on having a diversity of backgrounds, ways of thinking, identities and work experience so we can solve problems more effectively, encourage innovation in order to attract and retain talent, and better understand the unique needs of our clients and staff.

To uphold this commitment, the PBO continues to take diversity into account in its competency profiles. Our goal is to remove barriers and help staff create an inclusive, non-judgmental workplace.

In August 2023, for the second time, PBO staff participated in the Capital Pride Parade. This annual parade creates an opportunity for members of the 2SLGBTQI+ community in the national capital region to increase their visibility within the community and raise awareness of their diverse identities and experiences.

Publication of the first accessibility progress report

The PBO understands the importance of accessibility and is committed to providing a barrier-free environment for employees, clients and the general public. In December 2023, we published our first accessibility progress report, which is an important step in working to achieve this goal. Much was accomplished over the course of the fiscal year. 

Since the beginning of the 2023–24 fiscal year, all PBO’s analyses (reports and notes) have been published in an HTML format designed specifically to optimize universal accessibility on the website. This HTML version is available in addition to the PDF version with tags.

The Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer works closely with other parliamentary entities on various projects and initiatives.

In 2023–24, we continued to collaborate with the Senate and House of Commons administrations, the Library of Parliament, the Parliamentary Protective Service and the Office of the Ethics Commissioner to pool our knowledge and work on initiatives together in a number of areas.

PBO employees participate in each of the following working groups:

• Parliamentary Precinct Working Group on Accessibility;

• Group of human resources directors on the Hill;

• Community of practice on attracting talent on the Hill;

• Working group on the labour relations community;

• Working group on the community of practice on pay equity;

• Community of practice of Hill partners – diversity, equity and inclusion;

• Joint committee of mental health and wellness champions;

• Parliamentary Security Awareness Working Group;

• Committee on updating workplace health and safety with Hill partners;

• Group promoting the Government of Canada Workplace Charitable Campaign; and

• Organizing “Take Our Kids to Work” day.

Financial information

The budget process for the PBO is established in the Parliament of Canada Act. Before each fiscal year, the PBO prepares its budget. The estimate is considered by the Speaker of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Commons and, if approved by both Speakers, is transmitted to the President of the Treasury Board, who tables it before the House with the estimates of the Government of Canada.