Topic
Cost of Living|Canada
Finance tabled the budget on 5 November. Annex 1 projects a $62.3 billion deficit in 2026-27 and $62.5 billion in 2027-28, with the deficit-to-GDP ratio then declining. Day-to-day operating balance turns positive in 2027-28 under the capital-budgeting framework. Public debt charges rise to $85.5 billion by 2030-31.
Policy Watch|Canada
Order in Council P.C. 2026-1047 (30 October) adds the Delta, B.C., container terminal to Schedule 1 of the Building Canada Act. Under the Act, listing means the substantive preconditions for the remaining federal permits are deemed met; conditions will be set in a single Conditions Document. Cabinet says the port expansion avoids $800–900 million a year in shipping costs from 2031. Its own explanatory note says the project ‘would cause significant adverse effects’ to endangered southern resident killer whales.
Accountability|Canada
The Prime Minister’s Office says the investment will be staged, alongside private investors. In return, Cohere commits to keep its Canadian incorporation and headquarters, add at least 1,000 Canadian technical jobs by 2030 and spend at least $1.7 billion on computing infrastructure in Canada. The release does not give the size of the stake, the valuation Ottawa is paying, or what happens if targets are missed.
Policy Watch|Canada, European Union
Prime Minister Mark Carney and EU leaders launched a Canada–EU “Alliance for the Future” at the 21st summit in Montréal on 30 October. The joint statement commits both sides to define, by the 2027 summit, “an ever-closer association of Canada to the EU, short of full membership itself”. Ottawa’s own news release goes further and calls Canada the EU’s future “first Associate Member”. Concluded: a Digital Trade Agreement and a competition agreement. Promised: work toward mutual recognition of digital identity, a joint LNG feasibility study, and a look at immigration information-sharing.
Policy Watch|Canada
On 26 October the House of Commons negatived a Bloc Québécois opposition-day motion (Division No. 181) calling on the government to uphold the CRTC’s levies on online streaming services under the Broadcasting Act and to make a promised $600 million interim payment to the cultural sector. Liberals and Conservatives voted no; the Bloc, four NDP MPs and Green leader Elizabeth May voted yes. Opposition motions are not binding either way.
Debt & Fiscal|Canada
The Parliamentary Budget Officer’s October outlook (20 October) projects a $63.3 billion deficit this year, peaking at $70.2 billion in 2027-28 and still $67.8 billion in 2030-31. New measures since June, led by the $36 billion Productivity Mega Deduction, cost $52.6 billion over five years and outweigh the extra revenue from higher prices. Debt charges climb from $59.3 billion to $83.0 billion. The same day, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said he will table Budget 2026 on 5 November.
Policy Watch|Canada
IRCC says that from 3 November 2026 a new Labour Market Integration factor will award up to 150 Comprehensive Ranking System points for Canadian work experience, with up to 70 extra for high-wage occupations, or up to 100 for a qualifying high-wage job offer. Job offers will no longer need a labour market impact assessment. Invitation rounds pause for up to two weeks while every profile is re-scored.
Policy Watch|Canada
In Reference re Impact Assessment Act, as amended, 2026 ABCA 320, released 9 October 2026, a majority of the Court of Appeal of Alberta found that the ‘designated projects’ part of the federal Impact Assessment Act and its Physical Activities Regulations remains unconstitutional except where it applies to federal undertakings. Parliament rewrote the scheme in 2024 after the Supreme Court struck down the original in 2023. One judge dissented. The opinion is advisory and the Act stays on the books unless Parliament changes it or the Supreme Court agrees.
Cost of Living|Canada
A Parliamentary Budget Officer cost estimate for Bill C-38, published 8 October 2026, puts the cost of suspending federal fuel excise taxes from 20 April 2026 to 31 January 2027, then halving them to 31 March, at $4.943 billion in 2026-27. Average savings are $276 per family, from $132 in the lowest income quintile to $468 in the highest. The House has agreed to sit until midnight on 19 October to deal with C-38.
Policy Watch|Canada
On 7 October 2026 Justice Minister Sean Fraser and Health Minister Marjorie Michel said a government bill this fall will keep the exclusion of MAID where mental illness is the sole condition “on an indeterminate basis” and will allow advance requests, with provinces deciding whether to permit them. That afternoon the House rejected Conservative MP Tamara Jansen’s Bill C-218 at second reading, 141–187. No government bill has been tabled. Under current law, the exclusion still ends on 17 March 2027.
Debt & Fiscal|Canada
A Parliamentary Budget Officer primer published 6 October 2026 works through what Canada’s NATO pledge costs. On a gradual path, core defence spending rises from $95.7 billion in 2030-31 to $163.6 billion in 2035-36. That is $70.1 billion more than staying at 2% of GDP. On an accrual basis it would add $63.7 billion to the deficit in 2035-36 and 5.7 points of GDP to federal debt. The PBO says the paths are illustrative, not projections, and that the extra cost is not yet in budget forecasts.
Accountability|Canada
Introduced 6 October 2026, the Strengthening Canada’s Defence Sector Act turns the Defence Investment Agency into the Canadian Corporation for Defence Investment. It could lend, guarantee and buy shares, and draw up to $1 billion at a time from the Consolidated Revenue Fund. A rewritten Defence Production Act requires competition for contracts but lets the minister waive it on 13 listed grounds. The bill does not add the new corporation to the Access to Information Act’s list of covered institutions.
Accountability|Canada
With all 20,704 polling stations reported overnight, Élections Québec’s preliminary results give the Parti Québécois 59 seats on 28.0% of the vote, five short of a majority. The Liberals take 40, the Conservatives 19, and Québec solidaire 9. The governing CAQ wins none despite 13.3% of the vote. Turnout was 66.9%. The PQ’s 35,000-a-year immigration pledge is now a governing party’s promise, not yet a provincial plan. Update, 7 October: after the official addition of the votes, seat totals are unchanged; Vachon’s margin is now 10 votes.
Debt & Fiscal|Canada
The Parliamentary Budget Officer’s 1 October 2026 report, requested by the Senate finance committee, estimates the baseline Toronto–Québec City route (without the Kingston option) would cost $75 billion to $113 billion to build, in 2024 dollars. The government’s own range is $60–90 billion. Tunnels, the Canadian Shield, and later start dates drive the number. Ridership and operating costs come in a second report.
Economy & Jobs|Canada
Joint-venture partners took a final investment decision on LNG Canada’s Phase 2 expansion in Kitimat, B.C. Company primary: capacity rises from 14 to 28 million tonnes a year. The PMO (29 Sep) welcomed a $33-billion private investment and a companion Coastal GasLink Phase 2 FID — distinct from the West Coast oil-pipeline Schedule 1 listing (PC 2026-0925, 1 Oct) tracked separately on this site.
Accountability|Canada, United States
Presidential Proclamations 11061, 11062 and 11063 exclude specified Canadian alcoholic beverages, dairy products and motor-vehicle products from importation into the United States effective 29 September 2026 at 12:01 a.m. ET — escalating from the prior 50% Section 338 duties. CBP is rejecting covered entries in ACE. Distinct from steel tariffs that Stelco cited when idling Hamilton cold-rolled lines.
Data Desk|Canada
The Parliamentary Budget Officer’s 24 September 2026 note on the Operating Budget Fiscal Anchor projects balance in 2029–30, one year after Budget 2025’s 2028–29 target and two years after the prime minister’s 15 September claim of a 2027–28 path. Granular Finance attributions of “operating” vs “capital” look contradictory in places.
Accountability|Canada
Order in Council PC 2026-0925 (1 October 2026) amends Schedule 1 of the Building Canada Act to list the West Coast Oil Pipeline — branded Pacific Link by Ottawa and Alberta — as a project of national interest. That starts a single federal review and conditions track toward 1 September 2027. It is not a CER certificate and not construction.
Accountability|Canada
Bill C-39, the Building Canada Strong Act, is still at second reading. On 5 October 2026, the House’s first day back, the Projected Order of Business puts it first under Government Orders: resuming debate on the previous question moved by Ryan Turnbull on 25 September, with a legislative-committee referral pending. Labour Code s.107 guardrails and Indigenous consultation clocks are the live citizen fights. Update, 8 October: at midnight on 7 October the House carried the previous question on division; the second-reading recorded division is deferred to 8 October after Question Period, and its 11-member legislative committee has been named. Update, 9 October: on 8 October the House passed second reading 296–26 (Division 178) and referred C-39 to the Legislative Committee on Bill C-39, chaired by James Maloney. Conservatives and Liberals voted yes; the Bloc, the NDP and Elizabeth May voted no. The bill is not yet law.
Accountability|Canada
A sourced accountability ledger — deficit math, Bill C-5 fast-tracks, housing delivery gaps, Brookfield ethics optics, and immigration integrity — measured against what supporters say he fixed.
Policy Watch|Canada
Indigenous, environmental, and labour coalitions filled downtown Toronto against the PM’s trillion-dollar pitch — and named Mackenzie Valley, Grays Bay, and a nuclear DGR as the next Building Canada Act flashpoints.
