The federal government in Ottawa will deliver its latest budget in the House of Commons on April 7.
The rare April budget, which will be delivered after the start of the federal government’s fiscal year, is expected to lay out how the government views Canada’s path out of the pandemic, address housing affordability, and a provide a path back to more normalized spending.
In its fall fiscal update delivered last year, the Liberal government forecast a $58.4 billion deficit in fiscal 2022-23, dropping to $13.1 billion by fiscal 2026-27. The federal government’s fiscal year runs from April 1 to March 31.
The budget will also be the first delivered since the announcement of a Liberal-NDP “supply-and-confidence” agreement that is aimed at keeping the minority Liberal government in power until 2025.
The agreement with the socialist NDP includes commitments related to several new federal initiatives, including a national dental care program for low-income Canadians and steps toward the creation of a national pharmacare program.
Ongoing work to achieve Canada's emission reduction targets could also be a major element in the budget. The government recently released an updated plan to slash greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, including $9.1 billion in new spending.
The new budget is also expected to address new economic and geopolitical uncertainties following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. NATO has called for members to spend at least 2% of GDP on defence. Canada currently spends about 1.4% of its GDP on defence, which is among the lowest in NATO.
The federal government announced in last year's budget that the national deficit had grown to $354.2 billion due to expenses related to expanded social programs during the pandemic.
