Prime Minister Mark Carney vowed Wednesday to cut Canada’s half-trillion dollar budget this fall. “Canada’s new government will spend less so Canadians can invest more,” Carney told the Liberal caucus in Edmonton.

“In the election we made a clear commitment to Canadians to bring a new fiscal discipline to the federal budget.”

Carney, who campaigned on change to the federal bureaucracy, instead tabled plans for $25 billion in reductions over three years. That marks a departure from his campaign pledge to cap public sector jobs and boost productivity.

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'This is really a big deal': Franco Terrazzano slams Carney Liberals for not tabling budget

Despite being touted by the Liberals as a 'financial wizard', Carney "can't even be bothered" to put together a budget, says Franco Terrazzano, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers… pic.twitter.com/cNNwBmYbPy

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) May 18, 2025

“These are tough times,” Carney stated Wednesday, adding his Cabinet will "streamline government operations to be more efficient and effective so we can bring costs down for Canadians.”

The Department of Finance forecast 2025 federal spending at $558.3 billion, but the former central banker pledged to “spend less” without specifying cuts.

The 2024 Fall Economic Statement revealed that over half of Canada's projected 2025 spending will be allocated to seniors' benefits ($85.5B), payroll ($71.1B), health care transfers ($54.7B), debt interest ($54.2B), and the Canada Child Benefit ($29.6B).

That follows comments from Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre, who advised cuts to the half-trillion a year budget. “We need to cut bureaucracy, consultants, foreign aid, corporate welfare, handouts to phony and fraudulent refugees,” he clarified. 

Poilievre rips into the Carney Liberals for rolling out a half a trillion in new spending without a releasing an actual budget.

Carney's extra spending is "not for investments," Poilievre says, but for "bureaucratic administration and other high-priced consultants." pic.twitter.com/N89nxtOxzq

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) May 30, 2025

Poilievre stated September 4 that this year's federal deficit will likely exceed $80 billion, far surpassing Cabinet's initial $42.2 billion forecast due to overspending.

With no 2025 budget yet, the December 16 Fall Economic Statement projected a $42.2 billion deficit for 2025. This follows 2023 and 2024 deficits that were 55% ($61.9 billion) and 21% ($48.3 billion) higher than initially predicted, respectively.

“Mark Carney is even more expensive than Justin Trudeau, something we would have thought unimaginable,” said Poilievre. Parliament has not balanced a budget since 2007.

“Nobody should be talking about Mark Carney’s austerity,” said Poilievre. “Everyone should be talking about his hypocrisy. He is doing exactly the opposite of what he said he would do.”

.@MarkJCarney says he'll cut feds' half-trillion budget but didn't say where or how much: "That full budget will spend less."  https://t.co/DpH94OojcF @FinanceCanada pic.twitter.com/m7e09SHKNC

— Blacklock's Reporter (@mindingottawa) September 11, 2025

On June 17, former Budget Officer Yves Giroux testified that cabinet's failure to present a spring budget made accurate deficit calculations difficult, despite prior warnings that a $42.2 billion deficit target was unrealistic.

“In the absence of a budget it is very difficult to know exactly what the government’s forecasts are,” Giroux told the Senate national finance committee. “The numbers are still in flux.”

December accounts excluded new costs, such as a $5.8 billion income tax cut reducing individual charges from 15% to 14% on the first $57,375 of taxable earnings. Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne stated on May 27 that Canadians desire bold, quick actions.

Canada's federal debt ceiling, currently $2.13 trillion under the Borrowing Authority Act, has been raised by $1 trillion since 2016 by the Cabinet.