But while Ottawa’s deficit is declining – actually benefitting from inflation – the government is offering little in terms of new spending.
“Lots of people rely on bursaries and scholarships and everything like that in order to even get to secondary,” said fellow U of C student Mason Dyrkach.“This is monumental news and a monumental investment for students across Canada,” said Christian Fotang, chair of the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations.
Canada’s forecasted deficit now sits at $36.4 billion this year, but a possible recession could increase that to $49 billion. Affordability measures for low-income Canadians total slightly more than $6 billion, and clean-energy investments aim to improve affordability and labour shortages.“We would have liked to have seen some sort of relief addressed in terms of higher energy costs or helping them offset higher labour costs because that’s certainly something that small businesses are very concerned about,” said Deborah Yedlin, Calgary Chamber president and CEO.