Reports - 2017-18

• Status Report on Phase 1 of the New Infrastructure Plan
  Mar 29, 2018 • RP-1718-369
  In December 2017, the PBO submitted information requests to 32 departments, agencies and Crown Corporations responsible for all Phase 1 NIP projects. PBO was able to build an inventory of 10,052 projects, which we believe to represent a substantial majority of total planned NIP Phase 1 funding.
• Update on Costs of Incarceration
  Mar 22, 2018 • RP-1718-368
  This report updates the Parliamentary Budget Officer’s estimates of the financial costs associated with offenders in federal custody. For this analysis the costs associated with correctional interventions and internal services are not included. In 2016-17, an average of 14,310 offenders were in federal custody. The average institution-specific expenditure associated with each inmate were $114,587 /year or $314/day per offender and 96% of those cost are attributable to custody.
• Federal Personnel Spending - Past and future trends
  Mar 20, 2018 • RP-1718-366
  This report examines federal personnel spending, including: (i) recent trends in spending on federal personnel , (ii) PBO’s medium-term forecast for personnel spending and (iii) analysis of important cost drivers underlying PBO’s personnel forecast.
• Federal Financial Support to Provinces and Territories: A long-term Scenario Analysis
  Mar 20, 2018 • RP-1718-367
  This report provides a long-term scenario analysis of the three largest federal transfers: Equalization, the Canada Health Transfer and the Canada Social Transfer.
• Budget 2018: Issues for Parliamentarians
  Mar 15, 2018 • RP-1718-365
  To assist parliamentarians in their budget deliberations, this report highlights key issues arising from Budget 2018.
• Income Sprinkling Using Private Corporations
  Mar 8, 2018 • RP-1718-364
  This report analyzes potential changes to the taxation of dividends paid to family members of the owners of a Canadian-controlled private corporation (CCPC), one of the policy proposals put forth as part of the consultations and confirmed in Budget 2018.
• Supplementary Estimates (C )2017-18
  Feb 26, 2018 • RP-1718-363
  The Supplementary Estimates (C) 2017-18 ask Parliament to authorize an additional $4.0 billion in spending, some of which is offset by a $0.3 billion reduction in statutory spending. This increases total planned budgetary spending outlined in the estimates to $271 billion for the 2017-18 fiscal year (5.4% higher than the preceding fiscal year).
• Cost Estimate for Bill C-364: An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act and to make a consequential amendment to another Act (political financing)
  Jan 30, 2018 • RP-1718-362
  Bill C-364 is a private member’s bill that seeks to amend the Canada Elections Act by reducing annual individual political contribution limits while reintroducing public funding for registered political parties through quarterly allowances. There is also a consequential amendment to the Income Tax Act, impacting the amount individuals can claim as tax credits for political contributions. This report estimates the cost of Bill C-364.
• PBO and Finance Canada Long-term Projection Comparison
  Jan 23, 2018 • RP-1718-360
  This report provides a comparison of long-term economic and fiscal projections prepared by Finance Canada and PBO in 2017.
• Economic and Fiscal Monitor - January 2018
  Jan 23, 2018 • RP-1718-361
  This report provides an in-year estimate of Canadian gross domestic product in 2017 and the Government of Canada’s budgetary balance in 2017 18, based on data released since our October 2017 Economic and Fiscal Outlook, up to and including 12 January 2018.
• Bill C-342 - Cost of Carbon tax deduction from GST
  Dec 12, 2017 • RP-1718-359
  The PBO examines provincial carbon pricing regimes to estimate the cost of excluding tax, duty or fee imposed by a province in respect of carbon from the calculation of the GST.
• Budget Sufficiency for First Nations Water and Wastewater Infrastructure
  Dec 7, 2017 • RP-1718-358
  This report responds to a request of Mr. Charlie Angus, the member for Timmins-James Bay, to estimate the costs of upgrading water and wastewater infrastructure on First Nations reserves, in order to eliminate long-term boil water advisories, and to compare these estimates with the actual and planned spending included the announced funding in Budget 2016. PBO estimates the minimum capital investment required to meet actual and future W&WW needs until 2020 at $3.2 billion. PBO’s estimate of the annual operating and maintenance (O&M) needs is $361 million. PBO analysis indicates that the estimated capital and O&M costs are considerably more than the total actual and planned funding.
• Bill S-3: Addressing sex based inequities in Indian registration
  Dec 5, 2017 • RP-1718-357
  Bill S-3 amends the Indian Act to address residual discrimination on the basis of sex with respect to eligibility for registration on the Indian Register. The Senate proposed an amendment which would effectively extend eligibility for registration to all persons with First Nations ancestry. We assume that Parliament will proportionately increase funding for benefits provided to registered persons in order to maintain current service levels. The total cost for Bill-S-3 as initially proposed or amended by the House of Commons is estimated to be $19 million in upfront administrative costs plus $55 million/year to maintain program service levels and tax exemptions. The total cost of Bill S-3 as amended by the Senate is expected to be about $71 million in one-time administrative costs plus $407 million a year in ongoing costs.
• Analysis of Changes to the Taxation of Corporate Passive Investment Income
  Nov 23, 2017 • RP-1718-356
  On July 18, 2017, the Minister of Finance announced consultations on tax planning strategies involving the use of private corporations. This report analyzes potential changes to the taxation of corporate passive investment income, one of the policy proposals put forth as part of the consultations.
• Fall Economic Statement 2017: Issues for Parliamentarians
  Nov 21, 2017 • RP-1718-354
  This report identifies key issues arising from the Government’s Fall Economic Statement.
• Federal Support for Low Income Individuals and Families
  Nov 21, 2017 • RP-1718-355
  In 2016, the Government committed to developing a poverty reduction strategy. To support parliamentarians in their deliberations regarding this strategy, the Parliamentary Budget Officer initiated a census of all existing federal support and services to low income Canadians and vulnerable groups. Overall, we identified 75 federal initiatives that provide roughly $57 billion of financial support or services to people with low income and other vulnerable groups in 2017-18—55 programs with expenditures of $39.3 billion and 20 tax expenditures that provided $17.5 billion.
• Supplementary Estimates (B) 2017-18
  Nov 7, 2017 • RP-1718-353
  This note presents a detailed analysis of the Government’s second supplementary estimates for the 2017-18 fiscal year.
• Economic and Fiscal Outlook – October 2017
  Oct 31, 2017 • RP-1718-352
  Consistent with the Parliamentary Budget Officer’s legislated mandate, this report provides PBO’s economic and fiscal outlook.
• Cost Estimate for Bill C-323: An Act to amend the Income Tax Act (rehabilitation of historic property)
  Oct 19, 2017 • RP-1718-351
  Cost estimate of Bill C-323, a private member’s bill that seeks to amend the Income Tax Act to create a 20 per cent tax credit for expenses related to rehabilitating a historic property, and to create a tax deduction for the capital cost of property used in the course of such rehabilitation.
• Fiscal Sustainability Report 2017
  Oct 5, 2017 • RP-1718-350
  This report provides PBO’s assessment of the sustainability of government finances over the long term for the federal government, subnational governments and public pension plans.
• Federal Cost of a National Pharmacare Program
  Sep 28, 2017 • RP-1718-349
  This paper estimates the cost to the federal government of implementing this particular framework for Pharmacare.