Budget 2023 proposes across-the-board 3 per cent spending cut for government departments
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The federal budget proposes an across-the-board three per cent spending cut for all departments and agencies, a belt-tightening move after years of massive growth in the federal public service.
The federal budget proposes an across-the-board three per cent spending cut for all departments and agencies, a belt-tightening move after years of massive growth in the federal public service.
The proposal is one of several the Liberals say will save more than $15 billion in government spending over the next five years.
"We think there are opportunities to tighten the management of the ship," a senior government official told reporters on Tuesday inside the budget lockup. "We have seen costs go up, we have seen the size of the public service go up."
The three per cent spending cut will be phased in by 2026-27, the government says, adding the plan will save $7 billion over four years.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said the spending cuts will not include layoffs or staff reductions in the public service.
"Those savings will come from government operations, and I think that those savings are eminently attainable," Freeland told reporters on Tuesday.
Freeland added that the savings are "the right thing to do" and the government was aiming to find a balance between investing in Canadians and continuing "to be a fiscally responsible government."
