Quebec Finance Minister Eric Girard on March 12 tabled his sixth budget, with big spending increases for health and education. Here are some highlights.
- Deficit of $11 billion, which includes a $1.5-billion contingency reserve and a $2.2 billion payment into a fund dedicated to reducing debt.
- Revenues of $150.3 billion, an increase of 2.4 percent; expenditures of $157.6 billion, an increase of 4.4 percent.
- Economic growth—real GDP, adjusted for inflation—is expected to rise by 0.6 percent in 2024 and by 1.6 percent in 2025.
- Balanced budget no later than 2029-30 fiscal year, but no precise timeline for getting there until next year’s budget.
- Two largest expenditures are health care at $61.9 billion, up 4.2 percent, and education at $22.4 billion, up 9.3 percent.
- Plan to find $2.9 billion in savings over five years by abolishing or reforming certain business tax credits; by asking provincially owned companies—including the hydro utility and the liquor board—to reduce expenses; and by investing in programs to increase tax collection and fight economic crime.
- Phasing out rebates for the purchase of electric and hybrid vehicles beginning next year, with complete elimination as of January 2027.
- A tax increase on tobacco products of two dollars per carton of 200 cigarettes, effective Mar. 13, with another identical increase on Jan. 6, 2025.
- Federal transfers will be $29.4 billion, down 6 percent, largely due to last fiscal year’s one-time health transfer, and by changes to the federal equalization formula.
- Net debt will be $221.1 billion on March 31, 2024, or 39 percent of GDP, the second-largest as a percentage of GDP among provinces, behind only Newfoundland and Labrador.
- Interest payments on debt will be $9.8 billion, an increase of 1.2 percent.
