According to the Canadian Treasury Department on Friday (27 October), Canada ' s budget deficit five months before 2023/24 was $4.29 billion, as government spending grew faster than revenue.
In contrast, Canada recorded a surplus of $3.88 billion between April and August 2022.
In a statement, the Ministry of Finance indicated that income had increased by 1.4 per cent since the beginning of the year, mainly reflecting an increase in interest income and other non-tax income.
According to the Ministry of Finance, project expenditure increased by 4.8 per cent, in part because of increased transfers to other levels of government, while public debt costs increased by $4.1 billion, or 27.7 per cent, mainly due to higher interest rates.
On a monthly basis, Canada had a deficit of $3.05 billion in August and a deficit of $2.45 billion in August 2022.
It was also reported that in the past two fiscal years, the price paid by Canadians to protect the Prime Minister and his family had skyrocketed to the highest level in 20 years. Over the past 20 years, the protection costs of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to the Prime Minister of Canada have been rising, and experts expect to become more expensive in the future. Over the past two fiscal years, more than $30 million per year has been spent on protecting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family. In 2003/04, only $10.4 million was spent to protect Prime Minister Jean Cretien and his successor, Paul Martin (according to the Canadian Bank's inflation calculator, $10.4 million in 2003 is now equivalent to $15.9 million).
According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, many factors affect the costs of protecting the Prime Minister and his family, “security costs may vary according to many different factors”. “These factors include the risk of domestic and global threats, the number of travellers, the level of activity, the number of places of participation, the type and number of political obligations, as well as technological advances, and factors determined by economic factors such as travel costs, accommodation and fuel.”