Liberals have set April date for spring economic update, Champagne says

The Liberals have set a date to present their spring economic update, Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said Tuesday.

Champagne told the House of Commons during question period that the update will be tabled on April 28.

“I will have the pleasure to present the spring economic update on the 28th of April to this House,” Champagne said.

“This is going to be a plan that is going to help families, it’s going to help our industry, it’s going to help our nation.”

The Liberals last year switched the scheduling for tabling the annual federal budget and the mid-year economic update, which in prior years had been presented in the fall.

That makes this upcoming update the first under the Carney-led Liberal government, which opted to wait until last fall to present a more fulsome federal budget plan.

1:57 Deloitte Canada slashes GDP forecast by 20% amid energy price spike

That budget, which was finally enshrined into law in March, predicted the deficit will rise to $78.3 billion for this fiscal year, with smaller deficits to follow through to 2030.

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Carney adopted a new fiscal framework for the budget that would see Ottawa eventually borrow only for new capital investments while cutting day-to-day program expenses and downsizing the public service.

The spring economic update is expected to factor in new spending and affordability promises made since the budget, including a boost to the GST benefit and a new plan announced earlier Tuesday to waive the federal fuel excise tax until Labour Day.

It will also likely factor in continued boosts to defence spending, which ramped up to $63 billion last year and finally reached the old NATO spending target of two per cent of GDP.

The update will come at a time of growing uncertainty and mixed signals caused by the war in the Middle East and persistent price pressures.

Both Deloitte Canada and the International Monetary Fund have slightly downgraded their growth forecasts for the Canadian economy this year from their estimates in January.

Those reports said their forecasts depended on a quick end to the Iran war, which has roiled energy prices and caused global supply shocks.

Statistics Canada said last month that Canada’s GDP edged up 0.1 per cent in January and estimated 0.2 per cent growth for February, after a mild contraction at the end of last year.

Deloitte slashed its GDP outlook for 2026 by 20 per cent in its forecast this month.

The Bank of Canada, meanwhile, has kept its base interest rate at 2.25 per cent as it seeks to both offset a potential rise in inflation and counter sluggish economic growth.

Earlier Tuesday, after announcing the fuel excise tax suspension, Prime Minister Mark Carney noted the downgraded forecast from the IMF nevertheless still predicts growth for the Canadian economy.

He added his government was “constantly” evaluating its economic policies in order to respond to forces at home and abroad.

“There is an enormous shock in the global economy that is undergoing right now, because of the conflict (in the Middle East), and we have to assess what’s the best approach, given our core plan, and what can we do in the short term,” he told reporters.

He added the government has a “clear plan that’s addressing short-term issues in terms of affordability, which are real, but also staying the course, reinforcing that investment that this economy needs.”

—With files from the Canadian Press