News Analysis
Inflation will make the upcoming federal budget a tough balancing act of offering Canadians relief for cost-of-living increases without increasing deficits or triggering an election.
The federal budget will be tabled March 28 and is expected to offer affordability measures, provide investments to help transition to a net-zero carbon economy, and designate already-promised higher health transfers to the provinces.
In June 2022, the consumer price index (CPI) in Canada rose to its highest mark in four decades at 8.1 percent year-over-year. Although the most recently released CPI, from January, was a more moderate 5.9 percent, cost-of-living pressures remain top of mind for many Canadians….