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An Act for granting to His Majesty certain sums of money for the federal public administration for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026
Short title: Appropriation Act No. 1, 2025-26
Bill type: House Government Bill Appropriation
Sponsor: President of the Treasury Board
This Bill received Royal Assent on Thursday, June 26, 2025
BILL C-6 — SUMMARY Appropriation Act No. 1, 2025–26
Bill C-6 authorizes $149.7 billion in federal spending from the Consolidated Revenue Fund for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026. It is the primary annual budget authorization for federal government operations. It received Royal Assent on June 26, 2025, but was deemed effective April 1, 2025 — meaning it retroactively authorized spending that had already begun.
WHO GAINS POWER
Cabinet gains authority to spend through Orders in Council before Parliament votes. Two orders — P.C. 2025-462 (April 1, 2025) and P.C. 2025-467 (May 2, 2025) — authorized spending before Bill C-6 was passed. The amounts in C-6 represent the balance after deducting what Cabinet had already allocated through those special warrants.
Treasury Board gains control over $6.27 billion in discretionary funds — government contingencies ($1.0 billion), operating budget carry-forwards ($3.0 billion), capital carry-forwards ($750 million), paylist requirements ($600 million) and government-wide initiatives ($21.1 million) — with no requirement for project-specific accountability on how contingency funds are used.
The Canada Revenue Agency and Canada Border Services Agency gain two-year spending windows under Schedule 2 ($3.51 billion and $2.03 billion respectively) — longer timelines than standard annual appropriations given to other departments.
WHO LOSES POWER
Parliament cannot amend appropriation bills — the vote is yes or no on the entire $149.7 billion. No line-item review or veto is available to individual MPs.
Opposition parties had no opportunity to scrutinize, challenge or amend the spending authorized through the two Orders in Council before it was committed.
Provincial governments and Indigenous communities have no direct input into how the $28.43 billion allocated across two separate Indigenous affairs departments — Indigenous Services ($15.36 billion) and Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs ($13.07 billion) — is prioritized or delivered.
WHO GAINS MONEY
Top departmental allocations:
- National Defence — $23.46 billion (operating, capital, grants and contributions; total multi-year commitment authority: $86.76 billion)
- Indigenous Services — $15.36 billion (housing, health, education, infrastructure)
- Employment and Social Development — $13.14 billion (includes $197.2 million for student loan debt forgiveness)
- Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs — $13.07 billion
- Health — $10.30 billion (primarily provincial transfer payments)
- Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development — $8.29 billion (includes international assistance)
- Housing, Infrastructure and Communities — $5.60 billion
- Citizenship and Immigration — $5.47 billion
- RCMP — $5.35 billion (operations, disability and health benefits)
- Public Works and Government Services — $4.71 billion (accommodation, IT, procurement)
Consulting firms, defense contractors, construction companies, settlement service providers and international development organizations receive funding embedded across multiple departmental budgets.
WHO LOSES MONEY
Taxpayers fund $149.7 billion in annual spending with a single yes or no vote — no mechanism exists for Parliament to redirect, reduce or challenge individual line items.
Future generations bear debt servicing costs if spending is deficit-financed.
Canadians who did not attend post-secondary education or who repaid student loans without forgiveness programs receive no benefit from the $197.2 million student loan debt forgiveness allocation.
THE SPENDING STRUCTURE
- Schedule 1 — $144.2 billion: Standard annual appropriations, must be spent by March 31, 2026
- Schedule 2 — $5.5 billion: Two-year appropriations for CRA and CBSA, can be spent through March 31, 2027
- Retroactive effective date: Deemed April 1, 2025 — Parliament authorized spending already committed
- Operating carry-forward — $3.0 billion: Departments can roll unspent funds into the next year
WHO HOLDS THE SYSTEM ACCOUNTABLE?
- ❌ Parliament — cannot amend individual appropriations; votes on the full $149.7 billion as a single block
- ❌ Independent oversight of contingencies — the $1.0 billion government contingency fund has no project-specific accountability requirement built into the statute
- ❌ Outcomes measurement — no statutory requirement to report what results were achieved for each departmental allocation
- ❌ Pre-spending review — Orders in Council authorized billions before Parliamentary debate; retroactive approval is the only mechanism
- ❌ Line-item accountability — carry-forward provisions allow unspent funds to roll over without requiring departments to justify why budgets were not used as planned
[Source: Bill C-6 — Appropriation Act No. 1, 2025–26, Royal Assent June 26, 2025]