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ifsd-ifpd.bsky.social
IFSD – The Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy at uOttawa
@ifsd-ifpd.bsky.social
13 followers 10 following 37 posts
IFSD, hosted at uOttawa, is both a global advisory practice & a public interest think tank.

A team with decades of experience. A trusted voice to governments, politicians, businesses, media and opinion leaders.

More at: ifsd.ca
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IFSD – The Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy at uOttawa @ifsd-ifpd.bsky.social · Nov 13
Interested in updates from IFSD?

Sign up here to join our mailing list: 👇
eepurl.com/dHxNFv

And check out our latest update.
Read IFSD's #Budget2025 takeaways:
mailchi.mp/ifsd.ca/ifsd...
ifsd-ifpd.bsky.social
Thinking ahead–skating to where the puck will be–is critical for Canada to build on #Budget2025’s focus on capital investment to take on sagging productivity in #Budget2026.

Check out the latest piece in Policy Magazine from @ifsd-ifpd.bsky.social's Kevin Page.
www.policymagazine.ca/canadas-nobe...
Canada's Nobel Moment and Budget 2026: Inspiring an Innovation Agenda - Policy Magazine
On November 4th, Budget 2025 shifted the Carney government's policy priorities to economic growth and national defence in response to a rupture in Canada-US
www.policymagazine.ca
December 11, 2025 at 9:54 PM
ifsd-ifpd.bsky.social
If you are looking for more comprehensive background today on FN child welfare reform, read @ifsd-ifpd.bsky.social's report.

Requested by the AFN and the Caring Society, and guided by CHRT's orders, this report provides a blueprint for funding FNCFS Program reform.

ifsd.ca/wp-content/u...
ifsd.ca
December 3, 2025 at 7:43 PM
ifsd-ifpd.bsky.social
Does the political noise around the deficit TREE risk us losing our way in the FOREST of this extraordinary policy moment for 🇨🇦 and our economy?

In Oct, Kevin Page wrote about the moment and its historical context in "Financing Canada’s Hinge Moment."

More: 📰
www.policymagazine.ca/budget-2025-...
Budget 2025: Financing Canada’s Hinge Moment - Policy Magazine
Budget 2025 will be tabled in Parliament by Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne on November 4th. It is an opportunity for Prime Minister Mark
www.policymagazine.ca
November 26, 2025 at 7:45 PM
ifsd-ifpd.bsky.social
Kevin Page sat down with MIR Talks host Theodore Yohalem Shouse.

They talk #Budget2025, revisit the creation of the PBO and discuss Kevin's previous experience with PM Mark Carney when he was a public servant in the early 2000's.

Listen to their full discussion on 👇
www.podbean.com/ew/pb-zrdk6-...
MIR Meets: Kevin Page
Host Theodore Yohalem Shouse sits down with economist Kevin Page, Canada’s inaugural parliamentary budget officer and current director of the Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy, to discuss the ...
www.podbean.com
November 19, 2025 at 7:17 PM
ifsd-ifpd.bsky.social
Will AI save the govt 💲? Or become another Phoenix-like fiasco for the government?

@ifsd-ifpd.bsky.social VP @sahirkhan.bsky.social told the @hilltimes.com the govt will “have to do some hard thinking” about how new AI cost savings can actually be achieved.

www.hilltimes.com/story/2025/1...
Skeptics say billions of dollars in AI-driven government efficiencies ‘fiscally dubious’
Despite the budget's projections, grand promises of technology heralding big savings and government efficiency is evoking the memory of the disastrous Phoenix pay system for some observers.
www.hilltimes.com
November 18, 2025 at 8:07 PM
ifsd-ifpd.bsky.social
"Achieving the proposed cuts is a ‘very doable’ goal, but ‘it's not going to be an easy job.’”

Kevin Page in today’s Star. He added heightened transparency is needed.

"When the prime minister talks about a hinge moment, let's make this a hinge moment for scrutiny.”

www.thestar.com/politics/fed...
Why it will take months to get details on Mark Carney’s plans to cut $58.2 billion in federal spending
But more than a week after the prime minister revealed his highly-anticipated first budget, questions remain about what exactly the sacrifices will be and how they will come to fruition
www.thestar.com
November 15, 2025 at 12:01 AM
ifsd-ifpd.bsky.social
Interested in updates from IFSD?

Sign up here to join our mailing list: 👇
eepurl.com/dHxNFv

And check out our latest update.
Read IFSD's #Budget2025 takeaways:
mailchi.mp/ifsd.ca/ifsd...
November 13, 2025 at 9:24 PM
ifsd-ifpd.bsky.social
📰I give #Budget2025 an overall grade of ‘B+’...I want Parliament to approve the Budget Plan & then work with the govt to strengthen transparency & accountability to ensure taxpayer resources are deployed effectively to meet the moment.

@ifsd-ifpd.bsky.social's Kevin Page in today’s @thestar.com
🧵1/
November 12, 2025 at 2:58 PM
ifsd-ifpd.bsky.social
💬 the two Indigenous depts receive almost the lowest reductions...they were hit less hard than other departments.💬

@ifsd-ifpd.bsky.social's Kevin Page to @aptnnews.bsky.social on #Budget2025 impact on Indigenous Peoples – and how reconciliation remains a work in progress.

➡️ Watch here (@6:00):
November 7, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Reposted by IFSD – The Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy at uOttawa
cpac.ca
Former Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page goes on the investments made in the new federal budget: "Right now we got a strategy, but we have to see the implementation".

Full interview: youtu.be/tt_STtIBrDQ?...
November 5, 2025 at 10:01 PM
ifsd-ifpd.bsky.social
""If the situation deteriorates on the economic side, this [budget] will have to shift,' says @sahirkhan.bsky.social of IFSD. 'It’s about confidence in the short term, but the results of a major capital strategy & defence strategy are going to be felt over decades.'”

www.cbc.ca/news/busines...
ANALYSIS | Budget charts difficult path out of current crisis — with small margin of error | CBC News
The 2025 federal budget plots a path for the Canadian economy to emerge from the current crisis. But it also highlights just how deep a hole the economy is in right now and how small the margin for er...
www.cbc.ca
November 5, 2025 at 11:36 PM
ifsd-ifpd.bsky.social
Craving more #Budget2025 talk?

IFSD VP @sahirkhan.bsky.social was a guest on CBC Radio's Ontario Today –– answering great questions from callers on yesterday's budget.

Listen in here:
www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...
www.cbc.ca
November 5, 2025 at 8:28 PM
ifsd-ifpd.bsky.social
What's the verdict on #Budget2025?

IFSD's Kevin Page told @globalnews.ca it was consistent with the Liberal platform but the govt's plan to build, diversify trade & attract investment will take time.

With 🇨🇦-🇺🇸 trade rupture, 1st hurdle will be passing the budget.

globalnews.ca/video/embed/...
Global Player
globalnews.ca
November 5, 2025 at 7:51 PM
ifsd-ifpd.bsky.social
IFSD's VP Sahir Khan told BNN #Budget2025 is more a pivot than generational change, but could redefine fed governing for a decade.

Budget gets a good grade but it's a midterm mark. The final grade depends on execution, the Achilles heel of the previous govt.

👉 www.bnnbloomberg.ca/video/shows/...
- BNN Bloomberg
Sahir Khan, vice president of Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy and former assistant parliamentary budget officer at UOttawa, joins BNN Bloomberg to
www.bnnbloomberg.ca
November 5, 2025 at 4:18 PM
ifsd-ifpd.bsky.social
"Is there a consensus on the economic and political challenges facing Canada? Is this a hinge moment requiring major policy shifts or a storm that can be navigated with existing equipment?"

Read more from IFSD's Kevin Page on #Budget2025 in Policy Magazine 👇

www.policymagazine.ca/budget-2025-...
Budget 2025: A Capital Investment Agenda - Policy Magazine
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne tabled Budget 2025 on November 4th, 2025. Given the spring election and the government’s commitment to change the
www.policymagazine.ca
November 5, 2025 at 3:13 PM
ifsd-ifpd.bsky.social
IFSD's @sahirkhan.bsky.social told CBC the deficit is manageable.

"Everybody in the G7 would gladly trade positions with 🇨🇦. There is no fiscal crisis & we’re not on any precipice." But “in the end, it’s all about execution. That was the Achilles’ heel of the last govt.”
www.cbc.ca/news/politic...
Carney's 1st budget calls for billions in new spending to prop up tariff-hit economy | CBC News
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne presented his first federal budget Tuesday and it includes big-ticket items to prop up an economy grappling with major economic disruptions but also cuts t...
www.cbc.ca
November 5, 2025 at 12:31 AM
ifsd-ifpd.bsky.social
IFSD's Mostafa Askari spoke to CTV News about how this wasn't a "feel good kind of budget for average Canadians that they can feel right away" but has more of a long term vision "that the economy needs to pivot" to achieve better growth and higher productivity.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QewT...
Economist doesn't think 'this a feel-good kind of budget for an average Canadian'
YouTube video by CTV News
www.youtube.com
November 4, 2025 at 11:27 PM
ifsd-ifpd.bsky.social
IFSD's @sahirkhan.bsky.social told CBC the job cut target is “relatively modest” compared to what some expected but #Budget2025 was light on detail.

"If you don’t know who’s getting cut, which programs are getting cut, how do you know what the results are going to be?”

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Carney budget to slash public service by 16,000 over 3 years | CBC News
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first budget seeks to slash the public service by 16,000 full-time equivalent positions, or about 4.5 per cent of the workforce, over three years.
www.cbc.ca
November 4, 2025 at 10:50 PM
ifsd-ifpd.bsky.social
IFSD's Sahir Khan told CBC uptake on the Public Service Pension Plan early retirement offer in #Budget2025 could depend on what’s actually being offered.

“I think if you were thinking of leaving...then maybe that’s an incentive to go, if the packages are generous enough."
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Budget ushers in 'transformational' era for federal public service | CBC News
Budget 2025 aims to trim the size of the federal public service, but also promises an early retirement incentive, less reliance on external consultants and a made-in-Canada AI tool to be deployed acro...
www.cbc.ca
November 4, 2025 at 10:11 PM
ifsd-ifpd.bsky.social
Kevin Page spoke to @theglobeandmail.com saying the spending review "is significant, but I don’t think they’re done yet.”

On the budget's bottom line he added that extra spending is understandable in light of the economic shock Canada is facing due.

More: www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/art...
Ottawa plans to cut 40,000 public service jobs to find internal savings
Most of the savings to be achieved through attrition, early retirement and potential layoffs
www.theglobeandmail.com
November 4, 2025 at 9:43 PM
ifsd-ifpd.bsky.social
IFSD's Kevin Page spoke to Global about economic growth and #Budget2025

"It has to tell people that, you know, we can do this. We can build, you know, we built infrastructure before, we can do this again. And we could do it in a very timely way."

Read more:
globalnews.ca/news/1151058...
Carney’s 1st budget aims to balance ‘generational’ spending with cuts - National | Globalnews.ca
The question now is whether Carney’s decision to simultaneously run a sizeable deficit while slashing public service jobs will find support among opposition parties.
globalnews.ca
November 4, 2025 at 9:23 PM
ifsd-ifpd.bsky.social
Less than half an hour until #Budget2025 is tabled.

While you wait, check out IFSD's VP Sahir Khan speaking to CP24 about the high stakes and challenges facing the government today.

And come back after the Budget is released for more on what today's budget means for you and 🇨🇦's economy.
November 4, 2025 at 8:36 PM
ifsd-ifpd.bsky.social
Follow IFSD for analysis and reaction to Minister Champagne's highly anticipated #Budget2025.

We'll look past the top line and dig into what the numbers really mean.
November 4, 2025 at 4:58 PM
ifsd-ifpd.bsky.social
IFSD VP Sahir Khan told CTV about how the budget must focus on capital and investment, while affordability and employment will remain top concerns.

“I think it’s fair to say we’re dealing with trade that’s been weaponized by our largest trading partner...I don’t think it’s business as usual."
November 3, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Reposted by IFSD – The Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy at uOttawa
A former assistant parliamentary budget officer says Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first budget will need to focus on investment and growth as Canada struggles with the fallout of a trade war with the United States.
‘Government will have to respond,’ says former budget officer ahead of federal budget
A former assistant parliamentary budget officer says Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first budget will need to focus on investment and growth as Canada struggles with the fallout of a trade war with the United States.
bit.ly
November 3, 2025 at 10:15 AM