Budgeting lies at the foundation of every financial plan. To have a handle on your finances, you need to know where your money is going. Contrary to popular belief, budgeting isn't about restricting what you spend money on. It's about understanding how much money you have, where it goes, and then planning how to best distribute those funds. This also holds true when we talk about budgets for households, businesses, and even our government.

Understanding Budgets examines the process and creation of a government budget, and how we can apply these concepts to understand one of the largest budgets around – Canada’s federal budget.