The UK government should learn from Canada if it wants to make progress cutting the £156bn deficit, the former British high commissioner to Canada has said.

Sir Nicholas Bayne, one of the speakers at Property Week and PublicPropertyUK.com’s public sector property conference and exhibition the Public Property Summit in November, said Canada had useful lessons for the UK after successfully cutting its budget deficit in the 1990s.

The UK government is due to set out its own programme of cuts at the comprehensive spending review on 20 October.

“There are some important lessons that Canada’s experience has for Britain today. In the mid-1990s Canada confronted a deep budget deficit, where one third of tax revenue went on debt service, and turned it into a sustained surplus over six years,” he said.

Key principles in the Canadian cuts programme included getting public support, not excluding any department from cuts, and favour tax cuts over tax rises. It also favoured quick cuts, a policy that the coalition government has been keen to support.

However, the Treasury is understood to be considering spreading the pain of cuts over the duration of this parliamentary session.

Bayne will explain more about the successful approach used in Canada at the Public Property Summit. The exhibition and conference will take place on 1–2 November with a line-up of big hitters  including John McCready, Justine Greening MP, Baroness Hanham, Francis Salway, Chris Grigg, Sir Howard Bernstein and Jon Rouse.

To find out more and to register for the event visit publicpropertysummit.com

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