New budget watchdog says ‘deficit will absolutely be higher’ than forecast, feds have no clear fiscal anchors

'I don't know that the government currently has fiscal anchors, which, of course, causes the people that I work with a considerable degree of concern at this point,' says interim Parliamentary Budget Officer Jason Jacques.

Jason Jacques, pictured, was appointed as the interim Parliamentary Budget Officer on Sept. 2 by Prime Minister Mark Carney for a six-month term. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

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BY IREM KOCA

September 17, 2025

Interim Parliamentary Budget Officer Jason Jacques says the deficit will “absolutely be higher” than previous forecasts, and that his office does not know if the government has committed to any fiscal anchors.

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