Large scale expenditure reduction in Canada

Program Review was an initiative in the mid-1990s used to address the fiscal problems facing Canada, particularly the budget deficit which peaked at 9.2% of GDP in 1992. The initiative entailed a 10% reduction in federal government programme spending and a reduction in the size of the public service by over 55,000 FTEs which led to the debt to GDP ratio being cut by more than half over the next ten years.

Panel

• Chaired by Sir Gus O’Donnell, Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Home Civil Service
• Hon Jocelyne Bourgon, former Clerk of the Privy Council of Canada
• Rt Hon Marcel Massé, former Clerk of the Privy Council and President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada