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$491B federal budget invests in clean electricity, health care
OTTAWA — Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s 2023 federal budget promises “transformative investments” in Canada’s green economy and expanded dental care, all while claiming Ottawa can rein in the cost of running the government.
The budget projects program spending will reach nearly $491 billion in the coming fiscal year, with the deficit now set to reach $40 billion.
Over the next five years, the government will increase spending by nearly $60 billion and no longer expects to be able to balance the books by fiscal 2027-28, as projected in the fiscal update last fall.
This is Freeland’s third budget as Canada’s top fiscal manager, but her first where the COVID-19 pandemic is not taking centre stage.