Question Period Note: TBS’ Departmental Plan 2026-27

What kind of performance targets are in the Treasury Board Secretariat’s 2026-27 Departmental Plan?

• TBS’ 2026–27 Departmental Plan lays out concrete actions TBS is taking to modernize government, reduce red tape, and improve services for Canadians.
• We are advancing key priorities, like cutting regulatory burden, strengthening internal trade, deepening regulatory cooperation, implementing the Buy Canadian Policy, and accelerating responsible AI across government.
• My department will meet its Comprehensive Expenditure Review target. This means reducing spending by $57.8 million by 2028-29 by winding down temporary initiatives and streamlining operations.
• These actions support the government’s commitment to spend less on operations so Canadians and businesses can drive economic growth.

TBS’s 2026-27 Departmental Plan outlines how TBS will deliver on its mandate to support effective government, foster innovation, and uphold public service values. In particular, it provides details on TBS’s priorities, plans, and associated costs for the upcoming three fiscal years.
The Plan highlights how TBS will help advance key government initiatives announced over the past year by the President of the Treasury Board and those announced in Budget 2025. For example, it notes that TBS will be:
• advancing cross jurisdictional cooperation to reduce trade barriers within Canada
• deepening Canada’s regulatory alignment with the European Union through the new Canada EU Strategic Partnership
• using horizontal reviews to identify ways to reduce regulatory burden and streamline processes, as well as getting products to market faster
• reviewing key regulatory policy instruments and related legislation to remove red tape in the federal regulatory system
• supporting the government in adopting a more regular and predictable review schedule to ensure government resources are continuously optimized
• accelerating responsible AI adoption within the federal public service
• supporting implementation of the new Buy Canadian Policy
This year’s Plan includes a new central vote (vote 50) has been added to TBS’s budget. The new vote allows TBS to transfer funds from the vote to the Department of National Defence to cover unforeseen expenditures related to national defence or national security. As with the other six central votes managed by TBS, any funds in vote 50 that are not allocated during the year will lapse at the end of the fiscal year.
The Plan also notes that to meet the savings requirements of the Comprehensive Expenditure Review, TBS will be reducing its spending by $57.8M by 2028-29. It will achieve these savings by winding down temporary programs and initiatives, streamlining work, and focusing on priorities that strengthen the public service.

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