Quebec Finance Minister to present economic update Nov. 21

Quebec Finance Minister Eric Girard is set to present an economic update on Nov. 21.

He stated in a press briefing on Wednesday that the goal was to “give an overview of public finances and the economy,” in addition to “responding to priority issues.”

In November 2023, the minister announced additional investments, particularly for housing, food banks, transport companies, the fight against homelessness and climate change.

However, four months later, he announced a record deficit of $11 billion and said he wanted to table a plan to return to a balanced budget when the next budget is released for 2025-2026. 

To eliminate the structural deficit, the government plans to grow their revenue by 1.1 percentage points higher than their spending by 2028-29.

Girad said that “in general, 2024 is going better than expected,” and promised to take stock on Nov. 21 on the reassessment of tax measures – an exercise that’s supposed to generate savings of $1 billion over five years.

Quebec will present its economic statement following Donald Trump’s promises to implement several protectionist measures that could harm Quebec’s economy. 

Minister Girard could also tackle the problems within the Youth Protection Department (DPJ), which have been widely reported in the media in recent weeks.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews