BUDGET MANAGEMENT
Thanks to the collaboration of the OECD and the delegates of the Annual Intergovernmental Budget Conference (bringing together senior public servants from the Treasuries Boards and Ministries of Finance of the federal, provincial and territorial governments), between summer 2009 and fall 2010, Paul-Émile Arsenault and Benoît Rigaud, researchers of L’Observatoire, compiled data pertaining to the budget practices and procedures in Canada. For doing so, they received authorization from the OECD to use a modified version of the OECD questionnaire that is administrating in 97 countries since 2008. The Observatoire’s project is the first in which the OECD questionnaire is applied to sub-national entities. This study has been made possible thanks to the participation of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC – program Management, Business, Finance 2008-2011) and thanks to the contribution of the Government of Quebec's Secrétariat aux affaires intergouvernementales canadiennes through its Research support program.
The survey on budget management is part of the so-called “Public administration in Canada” research program conducted by L’Observatoire which is aiming at comparing public administrations within Canada. This comparative survey has four objectives:
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Contribute to a better knowledge of budget practices;
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Identify the key factors of effective budgeting;
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Promote the dissemination of best practices;
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Encourage more in-depth analyses in the field.
At the present stage of the research project, you may consult factual data concerning procedures and practices of the budget process within the 14 governments in Canada on a database (see down the page).
This database is accompanied by a report in which two questions are raised:
1) What are the differences and similarities between the federal, provincial and territorial governments in the specific area of fiscal management?
2) How are these differences and similarities to be explained?
Download the report concerning the budget processes in Canada
Canadian Budget Practices and Procedures Database