PLANNING, PROGRAMMING, AND BUDGETING IN CANADA.

The objective of this article is to describe the efforts which have been made to institutionalize planning, programming and budgeting in government in Canada, ranging from the planning process in the broadest sense through to financial planning in the narrowest sense, and from general expenditure budgeting or allocative systems through to the evaluation of the effectiveness and efficiency of particular programs. Planning as the process of preparing wiser decisions has always been present in government, to a greater or lesser degree. But planning in the broader sense, that of seeking to identify values of the community and goals which flow from them. It is an easier matter, of course, to rationalize the process of deciding upon the resource requirements and limitations of a particular year, and of determining the financial plan, or the fiscal framework, which will prevail for that year. In fact governments have no alternative but to follow some financial plan involving revenue and expenditure expectations and borrowing requirements. In preparing the budget, departments are asked to provide for projected increases in wages and prices, to anticipate increases in the volume of services required because of increases in the clientele being served by their programs, and to incorporate reasonable provision for productivity increases in the administration of programs.