Chair of the Board of the Canada Infrastructure Bank Michael Sabia takes part in a press conference in Ottawa on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Michael Sabia is expected to be announced Monday as the next deputy minister of the federal Finance Department, replacing Paul Rochon, who announced his departure last week.
The move was first reported Sunday evening by Maclean’s. A source with knowledge of the matter confirmed the planned appointment to The Globe and Mail.
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Just eight months ago, the government named Mr. Sabia as the chair of the Canada Infrastructure Bank, a crown corporation with a $35-billion budget that is mandated to attract private capital investment for large domestic infrastructure projects.
In October, Mr. Sabia appeared alongside Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to announce a $10-billion plan for the bank that would see it focus on environmentally-themed projects and contribute to a post-pandemic economic recovery.
Mr. Sabia has long been a voice of influence with the Trudeau government. While he was still the CEO of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, the provincial pension plan, he was part of an economic advisory panel that provided recommendations to Ottawa. That panel recommended the creation of the infrastructure bank as well as significant increases to Canada’s immigration targets, which the government later supported.
Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna told The Globe and Mail earlier this year that since he joined the infrastructure bank, Mr. Sabia has been a trusted source of advice as the cabinet considers options for a post-pandemic stimulus package.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland released a fiscal update last week that said the government is planning a package of stimulus measures that could be worth up to $100-billion over three years.
The update said the size of this year’s projected deficit rose from the $343.2-billion estimated in July to $381.6-billion. The update also said the deficit could be closer to $400-billion if the pandemic worsens over the final months of the fiscal year.
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