Ottawa is currently without a Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) as the interim mandate of Jason Jacques expired Monday without a successor being named, leaving the independent office unable to publish reports or accept new work requests from parliamentarians.
The PBO is an independent body of Parliament tasked with analyzing federal budgets, spending proposals, and election promises to improve the quality of public debate, according to information from the PBO website. The absence of a permanent officer effectively halts the office’s core function of providing independent economic and financial analysis to Parliament.
Jacques was appointed in September for a six-month term, which concluded at 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday. Pierre Cuguen, a spokesperson for the Privy Council Office, stated that the bureau’s work will continue under the direction of senior officials within the PBO while a permanent replacement is sought.
The federal government opened applications for a permanent PBO in November. Cuguen indicated that information regarding the appointment of a permanent PBO would be communicated “in due course.” The appointment process, as outlined in the Parliament of Canada Act, requires approval from Parliament following consultations with leaders of all recognized parties in the House of Commons and the Senate.
The appointment of a permanent PBO for a seven-year term is decided by Cabinet and requires parliamentary approval. Interim PBOs, like Jacques, can be appointed without parliamentary consent for a term of up to six months.
The lack of a permanent appointment has drawn criticism. Marie-Hélène Gaudreau, a Bloc Québécois MP, described the government’s failure to name a replacement as “unacceptable” as Jacques’s mandate neared its end.
Jacques’s tenure, which began in September, was marked by a critique of the Liberal government’s fiscal trajectory, initially deeming it “not viable.” Later, following the presentation of the federal budget for 2025, he assessed Ottawa’s debt trajectory as generally sustainable in the long term, but cautioned that the government had diminished its capacity to absorb future budgetary shocks.
Jacques also advocated for the creation of a new independent body to clarify definitions of capital expenditures within the Liberal government’s new budgetary framework. He argued before a parliamentary committee Thursday that transferring the PBO’s oversight mandate to the office itself would ensure continuity of operations between mandates.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) recently published an otherwise positive assessment of the PBO Canada, but highlighted “persistent delays” by the federal government in appointing new fiscal watchdogs as a shortcoming.
The PBO office will continue to work on existing requests while awaiting the appointment of a new director.
