Hub Podcasts The budget warning that Canada cannot ignore
Oct 1, 2025
Trevor Tombe, an economics professor, discusses Canada’s looming budget crisis, highlighting how unannounced commitments could triple deficits by 2028. He warns that rising debt outpaces economic growth, stressing the need for clear fiscal rules. Felice Chin provides a lively take on the Alberta Next tour, where locals passionately debated autonomy and major policy shifts. With protest and humor, the tour revealed Albertans' mixed feelings about significant changes, like leaving the CPP and reworking tax collections.
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Deficit Growth Is Much Worse Than Expected
- The PBO finds federal deficits will be far larger than budget 2024 projected, driven by revenue declines and spending increases.
- Trevor Tombe warns this pushes Canada toward an unsustainable debt trajectory with rising interest costs.
Debt Rising Faster Than The Economy
- Federal debt is projected to grow faster than the economy, a rare and worrying projection according to the PBO.
- Tombe calls this a fiscal precipice requiring attention before higher interest costs and fewer policy options arrive.
Hidden Platform Promises Deepen The Hole
- Adjusting for unannounced platform measures raises four-year cumulative deficits to roughly $360 billion in Tombe's estimate.
- He highlights interest costs may consume about 14 cents of every revenue dollar by 2030, nearly double pre-pandemic levels.