The Canadian government has spent $13.2 billion more than it has taken in so far this year, a slightly larger deficit than the one for the same period in 2012.
The Department of Finance said Monday the federal deficit was $13.2 billion for the fiscal year up to October, ahead of the $11.9 billion during the same period in 2012.
But that data is skewed by two major one-time events that impacted Ottawa's finances: The Alberta floods of last summer, and the government's sale of $700 million worth of GM shares in September.
Excluding the two events, the annual deficit would have been slightly smaller, at $11.1 billion.
For the fiscal year as a whole, Ottawa has taken in $144.9 billion and spent $158.2 billion so far. On a monthly basis, October's deficit was $2.5 billion, the same as the one from the same month last year.
In the current fiscal year, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has said he expects a deficit of $17.9 billion, about $1 billion below the previous year's shortfall.
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