The federal government in Ottawa has released the first official tally of its budget deficit for the last fiscal year, and it has come in at a record $314 billion.
The deficit for the 12-month period between April 2020 and March 2021 rose 1,340% from a deficit of $21.8 billion in the previous fiscal year.
The government said that the record deficit reflects the unexpected shift in economic activity and emergency spending that was needed to respond to the global pandemic.
Ottawa estimated in its April budget this year that the deficit in the last fiscal year would total $354.2 billion, a far cry from the $28.1 billion the Liberals foresaw in late 2019 months before the first wave of COVID-19 hit Canada.
The government will report its final deficit figure for the 2020-2021 fiscal year this autumn, which will include end-of-year adjustments for things such as assessed taxes.
The Finance Department says other adjustments may include over $7 billion in measures announced in the budget that are currently making their way through the legislative process in the House of Commons.
