What is the Parliamentary Budget Officer?

The Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) is an independent officer of Parliament who provides non-partisan analysis on the federal Budget, federal fiscal policy, and individual government spending proposals. The PBO was established by the federal Federal Accountability Act of 2006 (as part of the Conservative government's post-sponsorship-scandal reforms) and began operations on March 25, 2008. The current Parliamentary Budget Officer is Yves Giroux, appointed September 4, 2018.

The PBO's mandate is to provide independent analysis to Parliament on the state of the federal economy and the federal fiscal situation. The PBO produces five main types of reports. Economic and Fiscal Outlooks (typically two per year) provide independent five-year forecasts of federal revenue, spending, and deficit. Cost Estimates evaluate the cost of individual government bills, programmes, or policy proposals. Election Costing analyses (added by Bill C-44 in 2017) provide cost estimates for political party election platforms. Fiscal Sustainability Reports project long-term federal fiscal pressures. Special Reports cover specific topics requested by parliamentary committees or initiated by the PBO.

The PBO operates with about 50 employees in Ottawa. Notable PBO reports include the 2009 Economic Action Plan stimulus analysis (which projected larger deficits than the federal government claimed); the 2013 to 2015 reviews of F-35 fighter aircraft costs (which projected costs significantly above federal estimates); the 2020 to 2024 COVID-19 fiscal outlook and pandemic spending reviews; and the 2024 to 2025 carbon-pricing analyses (which generated political controversy with the federal government over the presentation of fiscal effects).

The Parliamentary Budget Officer's role is comparable to the United States Congressional Budget Office (CBO, established 1974), the British Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR, 2010), and similar institutions in other democracies. The PBO occupies a unique position in the Canadian fiscal-policy landscape: independent of the federal government, accountable to Parliament rather than the Prime Minister, and able to challenge federal fiscal claims with rigorous analysis. The PBO's reports are publicly available at pbo-dpb.ca and are widely cited by parliamentarians, journalists, academics, and the public. The PBO is appointed by the Governor in Council on the advice of the Prime Minister for a non-renewable seven-year term.