Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland‘s fiscal update released Tuesday showed that the deficit for this year is on track to hit $144.5 billion, below the government’s previous forecast of a $154.7-billion deficit.

Among the measures outlined in the fiscal update are $5 billion to help British Columbia rebuild after devastating flooding and $4.5 billion to respond to the Omicron variant of COVID-19, including measures at the border and benefits for workers subject to a lockdown.

The federal government also plans to put $85 million into plowing through massive backlogs in processing immigration applications starting in fiscal 2022-23.

The cost of resettling Afghan refugees in Canada is expected to be $1.3 billion over six years, starting in the current fiscal year, and $66.6 million in future years.

For more info, please go to https://globalnews.ca/news/8450788/fiscal-update-freeland-covid-omicron-economy/

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