Case Studies of Selected OECD Countries

Canada has a Westminster model of government and therefore does not highlight the legal basis for annual budget processes. A combination of laws, regulations and conventions govern budget preparation, adoption and budget reporting to Parliament. Although the principle of the supremacy of Parliament is enshrined in the Constitution, in practice, the executive – in particular the Cabinet of Ministers – has strong powers regarding the policies and amounts provided in annual budgets. The government has exclusive power to introduce the budget, and the legislature’s power to amend the budget proposed by the executive is extremely limited. Legislation does not provide a deadline for the executive to submit the budget to Parliament. In practice the budget is submitted to Parliament about one month before the fiscal year and adopted about three months after the fiscal year begins. The Constitution Act 1867, the Financial Administration Act 1985 (FAA) and the Auditor General Act 1977 (AGA) are the fundamental statutes governing budgetary processes (Box 1).1 The FAA has played a particularly important role in establishing the budget and financial management system. The Parliament of Canada Act 1875 does not contain any provisions on the parliamentary budget review process.