Chapter 5.0 - Balancing the Budget

Highlights

• The Government is fulfilling its promise to balance the budget in 2015.
• Balanced budgets keep taxes low and ensure that taxpayer dollars are used to support the programs that Canadians depend on rather than paying interest costs.
• The deficit has been reduced from $55.6 billion at the height of the global economic and financial crisis to a projected surplus of $1.4 billion in 2015–16.
• The federal debt-to-GDP (gross domestic product) ratio is expected to fall to 27.9 per cent in 2017–18, below its pre-recession low, putting the Government on track to meeting its target of 25 per cent by 2021.
• Canada’s total government net debt burden is the lowest of any Group of Seven (G-7) country and among the lowest of the advanced G-20 countries.
• The Government will introduce balanced budget legislation to enshrine in law its prudent approach to fiscal planning.
• To support debt reduction, the Government is planning on dedicating the amounts set aside for contingencies, if not required, to reduce the federal debt.
• To ensure that the Government continues to do business with ethical suppliers in Canada and abroad, a new government-wide procurement integrity framework will be introduced.
• The Government is also proposing new measures as part of its ongoing effort to strengthen tax compliance, and improve the fairness and integrity of the tax system, to ensure everyone pays their fair share.