Canada to table Budget 2025 in the fall with new capital framework

Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced on Monday that the federal government will permanently shift its annual budget to the fall, with Budget 2025 to be tabled on Nov. 4 in Ottawa, and will introduce a new capital budgeting framework that separates capital investments from day to day operating spending. The move is intended to align federal planning with construction seasons and give businesses, builders and other orders of government more predictability, officials said, while the parliamentary budget officer has warned the change will coincide with substantially larger deficits.

Champagne told reporters the new cycle will see the main budget presented in the fall and an economic and fiscal update moved to the spring, with prebudget consultations scheduled for the summer. He said the separate capital framework is designed to increase transparency about where government money is being invested. "You are going to be able to say, OK, where is the government of Canada investing my money?" he said.

Under the framework, officials said capital spending will be identified where it contributes to public or private capital formation. Categories cited by the government...