Canada's budget watchdog says the cost of running the country's prisons will nearly double over the next five years as a result of newly introduced tough-on-crime legislation.

In a new report, Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page says the government's recent legislation to restrict pre-sentence jail credit will extend the average prisoner's sentence by about 159 days. It will also add 4,000 more inmates to the federal prison system, according to the report.

More prisoners, longer stays and the resulting increase in operations and maintenance costs will add $1 billion a year to the total expenditures on correction in Canada, the report says.

In the 2009-2010 fiscal year, the budget across federal, provincial and territorial jurisdictions is $4.4 billion. By fiscal year 2015-2016, that total will rise to $9.5 billion.

"Taxpayers will pay, and the question is has it been accounted for in the fiscal framework?" Page said on CTV's Power Play Tuesday evening. "And then the other question is what will be the impact on the provinces and territories, because you have one taxpayer at the end of the day, and we are changing the criminal code."

As the so-called Truth in Sentencing Act comes into effect, Page predicts there will be some 17,058 inmates in the federal system at any given time. That's a major increase over the estimated 13,304 prisoners at present. The influx of new prisoners will also leave Canada with a need for thousands more jail cells than it currently has.

According to the estimates put together by Page's office, Canada will need to build 4,189 federal jail cells at a cost of $1.8 billion over the next five years -- and that doesn't include the needs at the provincial level.

"If you look at average head counts, they are twice as big in the provincial system -- 26,000 every year versus 13,000 at the federal level," Page told reporters earlier Tuesday.

"The provinces and the territories carry the weight of the correctional services system in Canada so the impact is going to be enormous on the provinces and territories."

Page tabled his most recent report in response to a request from Liberal MP Mark Holland, who serves as the public safety critic for his party.

"This figure for one (crime) bill is enormous, and we have to remember this is one bill," Holland said. "When you start thinking about all of the other (crime) bills -- 13 -- this can crush Canada's budget, it can destroy and cannibalize the other departments.

"How are we going to afford our health care? How are we going to afford education? How are we going to afford our military if we have these failed Republican policies eating away at all the other departments?"

Public Safety Minister Vic Toews brushed off Page's figures, saying government estimates peg the implementation of the new legislation at $2 billion over five years.

"I've gone over these numbers many times with Corrections Service Canada. They indicate to me the cost is going to be $2 billion," Toews told Power Play. "If Kevin Page wants to sit down with Corrections Canada, I would encourage him to do that."

According to Page, he tried to schedule meetings with Corrections Canada officials on numerous occasions, but was unsuccessful. He said he was forced to assemble a peer review panel of experts to write his report and cautioned that as a result, the figures are conservative estimates.

Toews said he has spoken to officials at Corrections Canada, who he said are "willing to meet with him."

With files from The Canadian Press