Research publications

New government initiatives are announced through different sources, including the Speech from the Throne, the federal budget, international agreements, federal–provincial-territorial agreements, ministerial mandate letters and ministerial proposals. However, before a new initiative receives funding, approvals from Cabinet, the Treasury Board and Parliament are needed. This paper describes these approvals along with the role of the central agencies involved in this process – the Privy Council Office, the Department of Finance Canada and the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat – and the role of Parliament. A budget initiative is selected as an example; the allocation of funds for this initiative is followed in the estimates, and actual spending is followed in the Public Accounts of Canada.

One of Parliament’s fundamental roles is to review and approve the government’s taxation and spending plans. To fulfill this role, parliamentarians follow the parliamentary financial cycle, which consists of a continuous loop of activities that take place throughout the calendar year. The goal of this HillStudy is to provide a broad overview of the various components of the Canadian parliamentary financial cycle, and the reporting documents associated with it, to assist parliamentarians in their consideration of the government’s taxation and spending plans. The paper is organized around the various components of the financial cycle, notably, the budget, the estimates and the public accounts.