Provincial governments. They’re just like us. They tell themselves they're gonna rein in spending and then go, “Hmmm, maybe next year.” 

What happened: Canada’s most populous province tabled its budget for 2024-25. Like most provinces, it put balanced books on the back burner in favour of higher spending, planning to operate on a $9.8 billion deficit this fiscal year, which is more than triple last year’s deficit. 

A drastic Donald Trump campaign promise has got the feds in a frenzy (and no, it’s not about building a really big border wall). 

Driving the news: Over a dozen Canadian diplomats spent last week in Washington meeting with U.S. lawmakers to discuss the implications of a potential Donald Trump presidency. 

When it comes to temporary residents in Canada, the government now feels that 2 million is company, but 2.5 million is a crowd.

What happened: For the first time, Canada will set a target for non-permanent residents (NPRs) as it looks to reduce the number of them in the country by 20% over three years. This means cutting the number of NPRs by 500,000, down from 6.2% of the population to 5.0%. 

This budget season, provinces are primed to rack up more debt than us during the holidays.

Driving the news: As the 2024-25 provincial budgets roll in, new research from the National Bank of Canada estimates that provinces facing deficits will be $130 billion in debt this fiscal year. That’s a 21.5% surge from the year before and, excluding 2020, the highest tally in at least a decade.

Canadians who say they don’t have the time to vote could soon be left looking for a new excuse. 

What happened: The government has tabled an election reform bill that looks to increase voter turnout, an effort that is reportedly part of the supply-and-confidence agreement between the Liberal and NDP that has kept the Trudeau government in power.

While Alberta formally ended its “Alberta is Calling” advertising campaign last year meant to attract workers to the province, the province is still singing a siren’s song.

What happened: Alberta has introduced a program to offer skilled tradespeople from outside the province a $5,000 tax credit if they pack up shop and move to Alberta. The province will shift $10 million in its budget to pay for it, making up to 2,000 workers eligible. 

Getting users and creators to lobby on its behalf didn’t help TikTok’s parent company make new friends in Washington.

In next month’s federal budget, the feds are poised to put forward a framework legislation to bring open banking to the financial system. What is that, exactly? We’re glad you asked.  

Driving the news: Open banking is a system that lets users decide how their financial data is shared. Under the framework, banks would share a customer’s financial data with third parties, like fintech apps, via APIs.

Like a student who hasn’t been paying attention during class, the Canadian Armed Forces are unprepared and hoping they don’t get called on.

Driving the news: Just 58% of Canadian troops who are meant to respond to a potential crisis in a NATO nation are actually ready to do so, per a Department of National Defence report seen by the CBC, mainly due to a lack of personnel and a lack of ready-to-use equipment. 

With the Paris Olympics less than five months away, Canada’s sports bodies have put out a plea for more cash. 

What happened: The Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Committees (COC and CPC) submitted a budget request to the feds for $104 million in extra annual funding to cover rising operational costs of increased stakeholder demands, made clear by a new Deloitte report.