By Canadian Press

$491B federal budget invests in clean electricity, health care

Mar 28, 2023 | 2:15 PM

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.

Instead, budget promises massive new investment tax credits for clean technology including electricity and critical minerals as a way for Canada to keep pace with global growth in low-carbon industries.

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Some key highlights include:

• $40.1 billion; Projected federal deficit for the coming fiscal year.
• $59.5 billion; New spending over the next five years, with $8.3 billion to be spent over the coming fiscal year.
• $83 billion; The expected cost of tax credits for clean energy and electricity through to the 2034-35 fiscal year. The credits are part of Ottawa’s stated goal to rapidly develop Canada’s green economy.
• $13 billion; Expected cost of the Canada dental benefit over the next five years, or $7.3 billion more than the government initially projected.
• $49.4 billion; The amount of health-care cash flowing to provinces and territories in the 2023-24 year.
• $4.5 billion; Expected cost of a clean technology manufacturing investment tax credit over five years.
• $2.5 billion; The cost of another one-time doubling of GST rebates this financial year to help low-income Canadians who are struggling with high prices and inflation. The government has dubbed this measure a “grocery rebate,” a nod to high food prices.
• $4 billion; How much the federal government says it plans to spend over seven years on an urban, rural and northern Indigenous housing strategy, beginning in 2024-25. But only $1.9 billion is expected to be spent in the next five years.

To help pay for it all, Freeland is promising to find $15 billion in savings over five years by scaling back government travel, its use of outside consultants and a review of departmental spending.

Freeland used positive language to describe Canada’s current economic situation, but the budget makes clear the upheaval created by the pandemic means the country is still at risk of seeing its finances take a turn for the worse by the end of this year.

More budget coverage below:

Feds outline $83B in clean economy tax credits in bid to compete with U.S. incentive

Budget 2023: Feds commit consultation money for Indigenous resource sharing

Budget 2023: Projected cost of federal dental program set to more than double

Budget 2023: Liberals follow through on big promises in deal with NDP

Budget 2023: Liberals add foreign interference office, new money-laundering rules

Budget 2023 belt-tightening: Liberals order federal spending review, cuts

Budget 2023: What you missed, from phone chargers and concert fees to air travel