Video screenshot of Annette Ryan, deputy director at FINTRAC, at a committee meeting in Ottawa, in October, 2025.House of Commons/Supplied
The federal government nominated veteran public servant Annette Ryan as the next permanent Parliamentary Budget Officer Monday, a move that drew praise from former public service colleagues, but concern from opposition parties who say they were happy with the person who has been in the role since September.
Liberal MP Wayne Long, the Secretary of State for the Canada Revenue Agency and Financial Institutions, tabled the nomination in the House of Commons Monday afternoon. The nomination will be referred to the Commons finance committee for a review.
The government cannot move ahead with a formal appointment for a seven-year term until the nomination has been approved by a majority vote in both the House of Commons and the Senate. The most recent selection of an Officer of Parliament – the Official Languages Commissioner – took about a month to move from nomination to appointment earlier this year.
The term of the previous permanent PBO, Yves Giroux, expired in September and the government appointed Jason Jacques, a veteran senior official in the office, as interim PBO for a six-month term that expired March 2.
Ms. Ryan is a deputy director at the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, or FinTRAC, the federal agency that monitors financial transactions for signs of suspicious or criminal activity.
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Prior to joining FinTRAC in 2019, she was an associate deputy minister at Finance Canada and has held finance-related positions at other federal departments.
Kevin Page, who was appointed as Canada’s first PBO in 2008, had an informal role in advising the government on the nomination.
Mr. Page worked with Ms. Ryan at the Privy Council Office and said in an e-mail that she is an excellent choice.
“She is smart, analytical and strategic. She is a good communicator. She is a dedicated and hard working public servant. In addition, Annette Ryan is a wonderful person. She has an East Coast charm that will engage PBO staff, Parliamentarians and Canadians,” said Mr. Page, who is president and chief executive officer of the University of Ottawa’s Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy.
Former senior public servant Allen Sutherland, who is president and CEO of the Institute on Governance, an independent organization that works with governments and civil society organizations, had similar praise for the nomination.
“Annette is smart, competent and grounded,” he said in an e-mail. “She has worked in economic roles at Finance, PCO and Industry so she knows the Town well. She is known for understanding her files including the details which will come in handy as she takes on her new responsibilities. It is a good match for her intelligence, skills and background.”
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Since Mr. Jacques’s term ended, the office has operated without a leader and is unable to formally table its reports in Parliament.
Shortly after his appointment, Mr. Jacques’s choice of words attracted attention as he criticized the government’s fiscal position as “stupefying” and “shocking.”
Some observers criticized Mr. Jacques’s language, which he later toned down in his public appearances.
The Conservative Party, the Bloc Québécois and the NDP praised Mr. Jacques’s work and accused the government Monday of wanting to replace him because of his strong criticism.
“Mark Carney is trying to muzzle the Parliamentary Budget Office,” Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre told reporters Monday. Mr. Poilievre wrote to the Prime Minister last week recommending he select Mr. Jacques as the next permanent PBO.
“We had a highly qualified Parliamentary Budget Officer who was calling out Mr. Carney for doubling the deficit, for breaking his promise to lower the debt-to-GDP ratio, for cooking the books and for breaking his home-building promises, and then all of a sudden, after only months in the job, the Prime Minister throws him out,” he said. “It sends a chilling message when the Prime Minister effectively fires someone for telling the truth about his out-of-control spending.”
Mr. Poilievre said his party will review the new nominee’s record and “vote accordingly.”
The Bloc sent a letter to Mr. Carney on March 6 calling for Mr. Jacques to be nominated as the next permanent PBO.
Bloc House Leader Christine Normandin said the party will ask questions in committee about Ms. Ryan’s nomination, but expressed disappointment that Mr. Jacques was not offered the job.
“He was a good guard dog for public finances and someone who was truly outspoken,” she told reporters on Parliament Hill. “So it’s sad that we’re not having a prolongation of his mandate.”