Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer
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PBO Releases “The Government’s Expenditure Plan and the Main Estimates for 2026-27”

Ottawa (Ontario), May 7, 2026

The Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) is releasing today an analysis of the federal government’s Expenditure Plan and the Main Estimates for 2026–2027.

The Main Estimates for 2026–2027 indicate that the government is seeking Parliament’s approval for $230.4 billion in spending, to be approved through an appropriation bill. In addition, the government reports statutory expenditures totaling $272.4 billion, for which the government already has authority to spend under other laws.

Major spending categories profiled in Main Estimates include elderly benefits, which are expected to increase by $5.7 billion (6.9 per cent) to reach $88.8 billion. The Canada Health Transfer will increase by $2.7 billion (5 per cent) to reach $57.4 billion. Public debt charges are also on the rise, reaching $53.7 billion, up by $4.7 billion (9.7 per cent) compared to all 2025-2026 Estimates to date.

These Main Estimates are the first since the government’s transition to a fall budget cycle. PBO assesses that the Main Estimates includes $14.7 billion to implement measures announced in Budget 2025, or 72 per cent of new such measures.

Finally, these Estimates are also the first to incorporate changes resulting from the Comprehensive Expenditure Review, also announced in Budget 2025, which aims for a 7.5 per cent reduction in direct program spending in many departments and agencies for fiscal year 2026–2027. Overall, PBO assesses a 6.3 per cent decrease in total operating expenditures compared to all Estimates to date for 2025-2026. However, excluding the Canada Post Corporation, the reduction in operating expenditures amounts to 5.1 per cent across the government.

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    {"id":"RP-2627-004-S","is_published":"2026-05-07T12:57:10.000000Z","release_date":"2026-05-07T13:00:00.000000Z","last_revised_date":null,"title_en":"The Government\u2019s Expenditure Plan and the Main Estimates for 2026-27","title_fr":"Le Plan de d\u00e9penses du gouvernement et le Budget principal des d\u00e9penses de 2026-2027","internal_id":"RP-2627-004-S","metadata":{"abstract_en":"This report examines the federal government\u2019s Expenditure Plan and Main Estimates for 2026-27, which supports the appropriation bill that seeks Parliament\u2019s approval of $230.4 billion in budgetary authorities.","abstract_fr":"Le pr\u00e9sent rapport porte sur le Plan de d\u00e9penses et le Budget principal des d\u00e9penses pour 2026-2027 du gouvernement f\u00e9d\u00e9ral, qui appuient le projet de loi de cr\u00e9dits pour lequel le gouvernement demande au Parlement d\u2019approuver des autorisations budg\u00e9taires de 230,4 milliards de dollars.","highlights":[{"content":{"en":"The Main Estimates are enacted through an appropriation bill for the 2026-27 fiscal year, which require Parliament\u2019s approval for $230.4 billion. Parliament has already provided legislative authority for most of the planned spending ($272.4 billion) for the 2026-27 fiscal year through other pieces of legislation.","fr":"Le Budget principal des d\u00e9penses est mis en \u0153uvre par l\u2019adoption d\u2019un projet de loi de cr\u00e9dits pour l\u2019exercice 2026-2027, \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9gard duquel le Parlement doit approuver des fonds de 230,4 milliards de dollars. Le Parlement a d\u00e9j\u00e0 accord\u00e9 son autorisation pour la plupart des d\u00e9penses pr\u00e9vues (272,4 milliards de dollars) pour l\u2019exercice 2026-2027 par le biais d\u2019autres textes l\u00e9gislatifs."}},{"content":{"en":"The Canada Health Transfer is set to increase by $2.7 billion (5 per cent) to $57.4 billion in 2026-27.","fr":"Le Transfert canadien en mati\u00e8re de sant\u00e9 augmentera de 2,7 milliards de dollars (5 %) pour atteindre 57,4 milliards de dollars en 2026-2027."}},{"content":{"en":"Federal spending on Elderly Benefits is set to increase by $5.7 billion (6.9 per cent) to a total of $88.8 billion in 2026-27. However, after the tabling of the Main Estimates, the government released its Spring Economic Update 2026, which now forecasts Elderly Benefits to cost 89.3 billion for 2026-27 (an increase of $6.2 billion or 7.5 per cent).","fr":"Les d\u00e9penses f\u00e9d\u00e9rales en prestations aux a\u00een\u00e9s devraient augmenter de 5,7 milliards de dollars (6,9 %) pour atteindre un total de 88,8 milliards de dollars en 2026-2027. Toutefois, apr\u00e8s le d\u00e9p\u00f4t du budget principal des d\u00e9penses, le gouvernement a publi\u00e9 sa Mise \u00e0 jour \u00e9conomique du printemps de 2026, qui pr\u00e9voit d\u00e9sormais que les prestations aux a\u00een\u00e9s co\u00fbteront 89,3 milliards de dollars pour 2026-2027 (soit une augmentation de 6,2 milliards de dollars, ou 7,5 %)."}},{"content":{"en":"The 2026-27 Main Estimates outline $53.7 billion in forecasted statutory authorities related to servicing public debt, which represents a $4.7 billion increase (9.5 per cent) from the 2025-26 Estimates to date for the preceding year.","fr":"Le Budget principal des d\u00e9penses 2026-2027 pr\u00e9sente des autorisations l\u00e9gislatives pr\u00e9vues de 53,7 milliards de dollars pour le service de la dette publique. Cela repr\u00e9sente une augmentation de 4,7 milliards de dollars (9,5 %) par rapport au budget des d\u00e9penses \u00e0 ce jour de 2025-2026 pour l\u2019ann\u00e9e pr\u00e9c\u00e9dente."}},{"content":{"en":"These Main Estimates include $14.7 billion in funding for Budget 2025 measures.","fr":"Ce budget principal des d\u00e9penses comprend une somme de 14,7 milliards de dollars pour le financement de mesures du Budget 2025."}},{"content":{"en":"Initiatives related to Rebuilding, Rearming, and Reinvesting in the Canadian Armed Forces represent 71.1 per cent of Budget 2025 proposed spending in these Estimates, including $9 billion to the Department of National Defence (DND) and $675.3 million to the Communications Security Establishment Canada (CES).","fr":"Les initiatives li\u00e9es \u00e0 R\u00e9investir pour reb\u00e2tir et r\u00e9armer les Forces arm\u00e9es canadiennes repr\u00e9sentent 71,1 % des d\u00e9penses du Budget 2025 comprises dans le pr\u00e9sent Budget des d\u00e9penses, dont 9 milliards de dollars pour le minist\u00e8re de la D\u00e9fense nationale (MDN) et 675,3 millions de dollars pour le Centre de la s\u00e9curit\u00e9 des t\u00e9l\u00e9communications Canada 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