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Appropriation Act No. 3, 2026-27

An Act for granting to His Majesty certain sums of money for the federal public administration for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2027

Summary

  • Authorizes up to $11.127B in additional spending for 2026–27, plus $17.5M for the Canada Revenue Agency, consistent with Supplementary Estimates (A).
  • Provides major top-ups for Housing, Infrastructure and Communities ($2.206B), Crown–Indigenous Relations ($3.108B), National Defence ($1.080B), Canada Post ($673M), and the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority ($740M), among others.
  • Limits each item to the stated purposes in the Estimates, deems items effective April 1, 2026, and affirms transfers previously executed.
  • Permits post–year-end accounting adjustments and allows certain appropriations (Schedule 2) to be charged through March 31, 2028, before lapsing.

Builder Assessment

Vote No

This bill secures funding for essential services and public safety, but it largely expands spending without structural reforms, performance targets, or efficiency guarantees. The incremental approach and extended charge windows conflict with goals of efficiency, deregulation, and large-scale prosperity.

  • Positive: Maintains critical operations for security, defence, transportation safety, and essential services Canadians rely on.
  • Concerns: No outcome-based reporting, efficiency benchmarks, or cost-control measures attached to major allocations; prolonged charge periods can weaken fiscal discipline.
  • To align better: Tie each large allocation to public, auditable KPIs and service-level targets with clawbacks; require departmental efficiency plans and cost-neutral offsets; attach permitting acceleration and red-tape reduction conditions to housing and infrastructure dollars; include time-bound turnaround plans for Crown corporations (Canada Post, VIA) with subsidy-reduction milestones; prioritize productivity-enhancing infrastructure and procurement streamlining.

Question Period Cards

Why is the government seeking $11.1 billion in supplementary spending without tabling clear, itemized performance targets and outcome-based metrics for each major allocation before the vote?

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Of the $2.206 billion for Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, how many net new housing starts and transit-oriented units will be delivered in 2026–27, and what clawbacks or penalties apply if those targets are missed?

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What is the turnaround plan tied to the $673 million for Canada Post and $261.8 million for VIA Rail to reduce ongoing subsidies, improve on-time performance, and achieve measurable productivity gains within the fiscal year?

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Principles Analysis

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Canada should aim to be the world's most prosperous country.

A broad supply bill that funds ongoing operations; any impact on national prosperity is indirect and unspecified.

✗

Promote economic freedom, ambition, and breaking from bureaucratic inertia (reduce red tape).

Adds substantial program funding without deregulatory measures or streamlining; extends appropriation mechanics rather than reducing administrative burden.

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Drive national productivity and global competitiveness.

Some allocations (infrastructure, transport security) could reduce frictions, but there are no performance targets or structural reforms to lift productivity.

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Grow exports of Canadian products and resources.

No direct export-expansion measures; any trade benefits from departmental operations are incidental.

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Encourage investment, innovation, and resource development.

Modest funding to innovation-related entities (e.g., NRC) is incremental and not tied to investment-attraction or permitting acceleration.

✗

Deliver better public services at lower cost (government efficiency).

Significant new spending lacks clear efficiency commitments, outcome metrics, or cost-saving offsets; multi-year charge windows reduce lapse discipline.

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Reform taxes to incentivize work, risk-taking, and innovation.

No tax policy changes are included.

✗

Focus on large-scale prosperity, not incrementalism.

Primarily an incremental top-up to many programs and Crown corporations, with no structural pro-growth reforms.

Did we get the builder vote wrong?

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C-33

PartyPresident of the Treasury Board
StatusAt second reading in the Senate
Last updatedN/A
TopicsEconomics, Infrastructure, Indigenous Affairs, Housing and Urban Development, Technology and Innovation, National Security, Foreign Affairs
Parliament45