FY22/23: Getting the “House” in Order

Faced with a myriad of ambitious plans but also beset by the fastest inflation in more than three decades, the 2022 Federal Budget attempts to strike a middle ground. It opts to add a moderate increase in spending, while relying on stronger underlying economic activity and some tax measures to slightly improve the deficit track. The initial to-do list for this Budget was formidable with earlier commitments on child-care funding, emissions reductions, and housing, but was recently extended to include dental care and defence spending. To accommodate this raft of priorities (and there was indeed a full raft in this budget), spending has been spread out over a number of years on some files, a variety of tax measures have been enacted—with some details to be determined—and the higher revenue base has been tapped.

FULL REPORT