Federal government to table 2026 budget on Nov. 5

OTTAWA — Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne says the Liberal government will table its 2026 federal budget on Nov. 5.

Champagne announced the timing during Tuesday's question period in the House of Commons.

The upcoming fiscal plan will be the second delivered under Prime Minister Mark Carney and the second consecutive budget to be introduced in the fall, a shift from the traditional spring tabling.

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The announcement came the same day the Parliamentary Budget Office trimmed its outlook for economic growth for this year and next.

"Additional trade measures and ongoing uncertainty" prompted the revision, said Annette Ryan, the parliamentary budget officer.

The PBO now projects real gross domestic product growth of 0.9 per cent for this year and 1.5 per cent in 2027, down from estimated growth of 1.1 per cent and 1.6 per cent, respectively, issued in June.

Since the PBO's last forecast, trade talks between Canada and the U.S. collapsed and both countries slapped new rounds of tariffs on certain imports.

The PBO also said it now projects a budgetary deficit of $63.3 billion for the 2026-27 fiscal year, which will peak at $70.2 billion in 2027-28.

Relative to its June outlook, the deficits are $3 billion higher per year on average over 2026‑27 to 2030‑31, as new spending measures more than offset stronger revenues.

While higher oil prices have provided a short-term boost to federal revenues, new spending announcements have already used all of that fiscal room and more, the PBO said in a report Tuesday.

The government's spring economic update, introduced in April, had projected a lower deficit for the last fiscal year than the previous budget forecast.

Carney has tried to reorient federal spending away from the day-to-day operations of government and instead focus borrowing on an aggressive infrastructure agenda.

He has promised to balance the "operating budget," or how much the government spends on running day-to-day operations.

Originally the prime minister said the government would balance that portion of the budget by 2028, but Carney announced in September that the government would hit an operating balance in 2027, a year ahead of schedule.

The PBO released a report last month that projects Ottawa will instead hit that marker a year late, in fiscal 2029-30, and has flagged inconsistencies in how government departments define operational spending versus investment spending.

The budget will be presented as the inflation rate has crept back up in recent months.

Canada's annual inflation rate rose to 3.1 per cent in September, Statistics Canada said on Monday, attributing the increase to higher fuel prices.

The PBO expects higher energy prices will keep the annual inflation rate raised in 2026, averaging 2.8 per cent, before easing to 2.4 per cent in 2027.

It assumes the Bank of Canada will start raising its policy rate in early 2027 "to keep inflation expectations anchored," reaching 2.75 per cent by mid-year.

The government has said fall budgets help provinces and municipalities plan for the year ahead and give federal departments more time to incorporate budget decisions into their financial plans.

The budget date means the government will table its fiscal plan days after the U.S. midterm elections, which are scheduled for Nov. 3.

With files from The Canadian Press, CityNews and CBC News