The federal government in Ottawa will deliver its first budget in more than two years on April 19.
Federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has said that she will table the budget in April so that the federal government can outline its plan for steering Canada through the pandemic economic recovery that is now underway.
The budget follows the largest government spending initiative in Canadian history. In an economic statement released last November, Ottawa forecast a deficit of $381.6 billion – or 17.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) – in the 2020-21 fiscal year after unprecedented income supports for Canadian individuals and businesses.
Finance officials in Ottawa have said that the deficit could swell beyond $400 billion depending on the trajectory of COVID-19 and new lockdown measures to halt its spread. Ottawa projects that the debt-to-GDP ratio will peak in the coming fiscal year at 52.6% before declining over the forecast horizon.
In the economic statement last autumn, the federal government forecast a further budget shortfall of $121.2 billion in fiscal 2021-22 and a deficit of $50.7 billion in 2022-23. Those figures don’t account for a further $70 billion to $100 billion worth of spending over the next three years that Ottawa has earmarked for further stimulus spending.
