The fall economic update, to be presented Monday in Ottawa, is expected to provide details on key issues, including the size of the federal deficit, $250 checks and security measures at the Canada-U.S. border .
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is scheduled to present her economic statement to the House of Commons on Monday afternoon.
The federal deficit is expected to be above the $40 billion target. Last week, Mme Freeland did not want to move forward on the objective of keeping the deficit below 40 billion in 2023-2024, despite repeated questions from journalists.
The latter has only indicated that it expects to respect the debt/GDP ratio of 42.1% projected in the spring for the 2023-2024 financial year.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer has forecast that the deficit will amount to $46.8 billion for the 2023-2024 fiscal year.
The $250 checks announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last month, however, would not be included in the update, according to media such as National Post et -. The cost of the measure was estimated at $4.68 billion.
The idea of sending $250 checks to 18.7 million Canadians who worked in 2023 and earned less than $150,000 failed to gain support from the opposition parties in the House. The Bloc Québécois and the New Democratic Party (NDP) are demanding that the government expand eligibility to retirees.
Several measures to strengthen border security are also to be detailed in Monday’s statement, indicated the Minister of Supply Jean-Yves Duclos in an interview au Duty. Government intends to acquire new drones and helicopters due to Donald’s threats Trump to impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico.
This is Ottawa’s first spending plan since Donald Trump won the US presidential election in November.
The economic update should also include measures to stimulate business investment in Canada to respond to Donald Trump’s “America first” economic agenda.
The Minister of Finance waited until the very end of the parliamentary session to present her fall economic statement. Ottawa first wanted to wait for the new decision on interest rates from the Bank of Canada, which lowered its key rate by half a percentage point last Wednesday.
The end of parliamentary work in Ottawa is scheduled for Tuesday.
More details will follow.
With The Canadian Press
To watch on video
Belgium
