Federal Fiscal statements have been made public, with a preview of the fall budget.
The deficit for 2022/23 came in at $35.3 billion, which is $7.7 billion lower than projected.
The documents also revealed Canada’s debt to GDP ratio at 42.2 percent in 2022/2023, which is down from 45.4 percent in the previous year, and from a pandemic peak of 47.5 percent in 2019/2020.
“Canada maintains both the lowest deficit and net debt to GDP ratio of all G7 countries,” Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland stated.
She adds the upcoming budget will focus on a few key challenges.
“It’s going to be a focus document, and there will be three principal objectives. One is to continue the work we have been doing on housing. You’re going to see a continued emphasis on things we can do on housing, to get more homes built and to ensure that there are more homes that Canadians can live in. The second area of focus is going to be continuing on affordability for Canadians, and then the third will be doing all of that in a fiscally responsible framework,” Freeland added.
She says it is a challenging balance to strike, but the government is committed to doing it.
