News Releases

News Release - Manitoba

October 22, 2018

Pre-budget Consultations Underway, Province Launches Interactive Citizen Budget



An interactive citizen budget feature will allow Manitobans to build their own provincial budget as part of Manitoba’s pre-budget consultations, said Finance Minister Scott Fielding.   

“Building a provincial budget is similar to preparing your family’s budget, just on a much larger scale.  You have to consider how much money is coming in and how much is going out,” said Fielding.  “This interactive feature will allow Manitobans to create their own provincial budget based on their priorities and share those priorities with us.”  

The Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy (IFSD) – a Canadian organization that undertakes applied research and student engagement in public finance and its intersection with public administration, politics and public policy – has developed the bilingual citizen budget tool that allows citizens to provide their views on how governments collect and spend taxpayer funds.  

Participants are able to adjust the budget for items such as income tax, the retail sales tax and other revenues, as well as adjust spending on health, education, public safety and other key areas of government.  The interactive feature then uses the responses to build a budget based on the participant’s priorities.

“The citizen budget makes it easier for Manitobans to understand the budget numbers and provide their input into the Budget 2019 process,” said Fielding.  “It will also help Manitobans better understand the choices that have to be made to bring the budget back into balance.”

The data collected is stored in Canada, kept confidential and no identifying information is shared with government.

Manitobans are invited to share their views for Budget 2019 in different ways, including public consultation meetings.  To encourage broad engagement, Manitobans unable to attend a public meeting can fill out an online survey to share their input.  The survey seeks feedback from Manitobans on several topics including balancing the budget, sustaining health care and funding education.  

In addition, written submissions on all subjects can be sent directly to the minister of finance.   

For more information on the pre-budget consultation meetings, to access the survey and the citizen budget feature, visit www.manitobansmakingchoices.ca

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