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Proposed changes to the Borrowing Authority Act in Bill C-15

Jason Stanton
Published on December 15, 2025

This note provides an overview of the Borrowing Authority Act, as well as information on the proposed changes included in Bill C-15.

The Borrowing Authority Act (BAA) and Part IV of the Financial Administration Act (FAA) together provide the Minister of Finance authority to borrow money up to a maximum amount approved by Parliament. The current maximum stock of outstanding market debt, which is set under section 4 of the BAA and came into force in June 2024, is $2,126.0 billion.[^1] The Government is currently proposing amendments to the BAA to increase the maximum stock of outstanding debt to $2,541.0 billion.

The maximum stock of outstanding debt can be categorized into three components:[^2]

  • Government borrowings, which are made by the Minister on behalf of His Majesty in Right of Canada;
  • Canada Mortgage Bonds (CMBs), which are guaranteed by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC);[^3] and,
  • Agent Crown corporation borrowings, other than those borrowed from His Majesty in right of Canada and amounts deemed to be borrowings under any Act of Parliament.

Section 8 of the BAA also requires the Minister of Finance to table a report in Parliament every three years, which outlines the amounts borrowed under the three categories above.[^4] It also must provide an assessment to Parliament on whether the maximum amount should be adjusted in the BAA.

This new proposed increase to the BAA comes only 18 months after the last increase came into force—well in advance of the typical three-year period. Given the unique timing, parliamentarians may wish to request that the Minister of Finance table a new report in Parliament to assist in their review of the new proposed amendment.

Budget 2025 did not provide specific details regarding how the new proposed maximum borrowing was calculated. However, using the combined market debt stock from the Public Accounts (as of March 31, 2025) and the new proposed maximum borrowing amount in Bill C-15, PBO has estimated the remaining components of the BAA maximum borrowing amount (Table 1). This includes our estimates for net incremental borrowings over four fiscal years (2025-26 to 2028-29), which was the duration used as part of the calculation of the new proposed maximum.[^5] It also includes an assumed prudence buffer of 5 per cent, which is consistent with previous maximum borrowing amounts.