In just a few hours, the new federal budget will be presented for the first time in two years.
According to Reuters, multi-billion-dollar spending is planned to fight Covid-19, $ 2 billion is planned for childcare, and new taxes are to be introduced on luxury goods.
According to Toronto Star, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will provide $ 12 billion in the budget to extend the payout support program and wage and rent subsidy.
The Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is due to unveil the budget today at around 4pm.
According to Canadian Broadcasting Corp. this budget spans $ 2 billion for a national childcare program to start with and is expected to include a total deficit of $ 400 billion.
In November, the government forecasted a $ 381.6 billion deficit, which would be the highest deficit since the end of World War II.
Further, according to Reuter’s sources in government, the budget is expected to include a luxury goods tax that will come into effect from 2022 and will cover new cars and private planes worth over $ 100,000, as well as boats worth over $ 250,000.
Starting from July this year, a tax on online sales will be introduced on online stores and platforms, and from 2022, a tax on digital services for such giants as Google and Facebook will be introduced.
In November last year, Freeland on behalf of the government promised $ 100 billion as a stimulus package to stimulate the economic recovery, which is expected to coincide with the election year. We will see in a few hours what this package will contain.
Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson told the CBC that the budget will be ambitious, and the government will invest in it in jobs and economic recovery.
Ontario, the most populous province on Friday, announced a series of drastic restrictions on Friday in response to the spike in Covid-19 infections, among others closing provincial borders to unnecessary domestic travel.
Canada has stepped up its vaccination campaign, but still has a lower percentage of the vaccinated population than in dozens of other countries, including the US, UK and Poland.