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<\/p>\nBut the report also offers a series of recommendations for strengthening the PBO \u2014 especially the appointment process.<\/p>\n
\t<\/p>\n
\u201cPersistent delays in permanent leadership appointments and reliance on interim arrangements present risks for the PBO\u2019s independence and stability,\u201d the report read.<\/p>\n
Parliamentary Budget Officer Jason Jacques, who was appointed to the role on an interim basis in September, reaches the end of his six-month term on Monday and the government has not yet named a permanent replacement.<\/p>\n
If no budget officer is in place \u2014 interim or otherwise \u2014 when that term expires, the PBO would be left unable to publish any fiscal analysis until someone new is appointed.<\/p>\n
The parliamentary budget officer is selected through the governor-in-council appointment process for a seven-year term which requires parliamentary approval. A posting for the permanent role went live in November.<\/p>\n
Jacques said he would apply for the permanent posting. He told The Canadian Press that as of Wednesday, he had not heard anything from the Privy Council Office about succession plans.<\/p>\n
\u201cA selection process is underway to identify the next PBO. Information regarding the appointment of a PBO will be made available in due course,\u201d a Privy Council Office spokesman said in an email to The Canadian Press on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Jacques, a mainstay of the PBO before stepping into the top role six months ago, was tapped over the Labour Day long weekend last year to take on the interim position when outgoing budget officer Yves Giroux\u2019s term was set to expire without a successor.<\/p>\n
The OECD report warned that \u201cdelays in appointing a new leader and use of interim arrangements can weaken the institution\u2019s leadership and stability.\u201d<\/p>\n
The report suggested removing the possibility of consecutive appointments \u2014 which it said could encourage incumbents to soften their analysis in hopes of securing a second term.<\/p>\n
The OECD argued that interim appointments \u2014 which come with no parliamentary oversight and no limits on consecutive terms \u2014 could be exploited for partisan interests.<\/p>\n
Jacques made a splash soon after his appointment in September with a blunt review of what he called Ottawa\u2019s \u201cunsustainable\u201d fiscal track. The federal Conservatives pushed for him to take on the role permanently and claimed the Liberals would use the interim title to keep Jacques on a \u201cshort leash\u201d and fire him if they didn\u2019t like his conclusions.<\/p>\n
\u201cLegislative amendments should set clear arrangements for timely appointments, remove reappointment options, and introduce structured interim arrangements with cross-party backing,\u201d the OECD report reads.<\/p>\n
The OECD also urged Ottawa to grant new powers to the office that would give it better access to information outside of current informal agreements across government departments. The budget office has reported delays in recent months in getting information on planned workforce adjustments from certain departments.<\/p>\n
The report also made recommendations to improve the PBO\u2019s workflow and communications strategies.<\/p>\n
The PCO spokesman said the federal government is aware of the OECD\u2019s analysis and will be reviewing the recommendations in the report.<\/p>\n
The OECD said \u201ctimely, independent analysis\u201d from the PBO will be critical for Ottawa as it faces a series of economic and fiscal challenges.<\/p>\n
\u201cCanada\u2019s changing fiscal context \u2014 marked by shifting trade dynamics, heightened national security concerns and rising public debt \u2014 underscores the need for action to restore public finance,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 26, 2026.<\/p>\n
Craig Lord, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"But the report also offers a series of recommendations for strengthening the PBO \u2014 especially the appointment process.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":500619,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194295],"tags":[879,49,48,2467,2461,2468,2460,2462,2463,44,2464,20739,2465,2466,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-500618","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ottawa","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-central-vancouver-island","12":"tag-nanaimo","13":"tag-nanaimo-breaking-news","14":"tag-nanaimo-news","15":"tag-nanaimo-news-now","16":"tag-nanaimonewsnow","17":"tag-news","18":"tag-oceanside","19":"tag-ottawa","20":"tag-parksville","21":"tag-qualicum","22":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=500618"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500618\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/500619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=500618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=500618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=500618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}