Nearly $3 billion in federal spending approved for ’16-17 to go unspent: PBO
OTTAWA — The federal budget watchdog says nearly $3 billion in planned government spending authorized by Parliament will go unspent this fiscal year.
A large portion of that total — almost a third — is tied to the government’s infrastructure program, said an analysis released Thursday by the parliamentary budget office.
The Trudeau government has faced criticism over the slow movement of billions in new infrastructure spending that it promised in last year’s budget.
The budget office’s report identified large amounts of authorized spending for this year that were “administratively frozen” in government estimates, the largest of which was $829 million allotted to Infrastructure Canada.