The Department of Finance is inviting submissions to its Pre-Budget Consultation in advance of the 2026 Federal Budget. This means it’s time to share your thoughts on what the federal government’s budget priorities for the upcoming year should be.
There are usually two periods of consultation: a consultation in the spring which is conducted by the Standing Committee on Finance (made up of political representatives), and a consultation in late summer, which is conducted by the Department of Finance. This consultation is being led by the Department of Finance. The department has posted some details about this current consultation on their official website here.
You can submit your budget priority thoughts to the Department of Finance in writing by uploading your written document through the consultation portal here.
You can also take the budget questionnaire, which you can access here. Don’t forget that you can choose the “Other” option for several questions and write in your priorities instead of choosing the pre-populated answers. There are big areas of concern regarding income security that are completely missing from the questionnaire, like improving Employment Insurance; improving access to and adequacy of federal income supports for people with disabilities; introducing windfall taxes for corporations in order to fund benefit programs, and others!
The deadline to fill out the questionnaire AND to submit your thoughts by uploading a written document is September 8, 11:59 p.m. in your time zone.
Looking for some stats and info to help support your budget submission?
ISAC regularly publishes commentary on the federal budget as well as ongoing federal issues related to income security. You can read our last federal budget submission to the Standing Committee on Finance here, and review our Updates section to find out more about recent federal issues and concerns.