The government will be tabling the federal 2022 budget on April 7, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced Tuesday.
The budget — the first since the 2021 federal election — is expected to include increased defence spending as well as funding for commitments, such as dental care, made as part of the new Liberal-NDP confidence-and-supply agreement.
"Our government was reelected on a commitment to grow our economy, make life more affordable, and to continue building a Canada where nobody gets left behind. That is exactly what we are doing, and that is what we're going to continue to do in the budget,” Freeland said during question period in the House of Commons.
The latest economic update, provided by Freeland virtually in December, saw the government commit more than $8 million towards combatting COVID-19, while also predicting a moderate decline in the national deficit.
The document forecast that the deficit in 2021-22 would drop to $144.5 billion, down from $154.7 billion estimated in the spring 2021 budget. In the 2022-23 fiscal year, the deficit was projected to sit at $58.4 billion, down slightly from the earlier predicted $59.7 billion.
Conservative finance critic Ed Fast said he’s expecting the budget to “continue the free spending ways of the Liberals,” but that he thinks it should instead address the “issue of long-term sustainability of our massive debt.”
“We had called in the last budget for the minister to include a defensible fiscal anchor, she didn't. We're asking her to do that now, because the additional revenues that their taxes have brought in actually mask what's a very serious fiscal situation for our country. We've got rising interest rates, Canadians are going to be pinched. We've got rising inflation, which is causing Canadians to fall behind,” Fast said on his way out of West Block on Tuesday.
In concluding their 2022 pre-budget hearings, MPs made more than 200 recommendations for what the budget should include or consider, based on their consultations with stakeholders, economists, and industry groups. Among them, presenting a plan to return to balance as soon as possible with adjustments for changing economic conditions; addressing the inequities exposed and exacerbated by the pandemic; and moving to meaningfully address housing affordability.
The vote on the budget — while typically in minority Parliaments is considered a test of the confidence the House of Commons has in the governing party — is expected to pass given the New Democrats have already committed their support.
With files from CTV News’ Sarah Turnbull
