Quebec’s financial situation has improved, according to Eric Girard

The Quebec government’s financial statements have been revised upward for the 2024-2025 fiscal year, while the budget balance forecast for next year remains unchanged.

Finance Minister Eric Girard released the government’s public accounts for the fiscal year ending March 31 on Friday.

The report indicates that the financial statements for 2024-2025 show an accounting deficit of $5.2 billion, which corresponds to 0.8 per cent of GDP.

This is an improvement over the previous accounting deficit, which stood at $6 billion, or 1 per cent of GDP, in 2023-2024.

The budget deficit, after taking into account payments from revenues allocated to the Generations Fund, amounts to $7.6 billion, or 1.2 per cent of GDP.

It was $8 billion, or 1.4 per cent of GDP, in 2023-2024 after the contribution to the Generations Fund.

“The results posted in the public accounts confirm that the financial situation for 2024-2025 has been revised upward by $2.9 billion thanks to an increase in revenues of nearly $1 billion and a decrease in spending growth from 7.7 per cent to 6.4 per cent,” Minister Girard said in a press release.

He also confirmed that the Legault government’s goal remains to return to a balanced budget by 2029-2030.

The Ministry of Finance projects an accounting deficit for 2025-2026 unchanged from the March 2025 budget forecast.

It therefore remains at $11.4 billion, or 1.8 per cent of GDP.

Taking into account payments to the Generations Fund, the budget deficit remains at $13.6 billion, or 2.2 per cent of GDP.

Girard confident but cautious

Speaking at a press briefing on the sidelines of the Coalition Avenir Québec caucus in Gatineau, Minister Girard described the data as “very good news for Quebec,” while remaining cautious about the coming months.

“The 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 deficits are less than 1 per cent of GDP, which is reasonable, and when we look at all the provinces, we are in a good position. This is very good news for Quebec. We had forecast a $11 billion deficit, but we ended up with $7.6 billion.”

For the current fiscal year of 2025-2026, in the context of a trade dispute with the United States, “we are not changing our estimate for the moment. We are currently assessing the situation. Most provinces have seen a deterioration; in our case, the financial framework is holding up well. (…) Revenues and expenditures are on track.”

According to Minister Girard, everything will depend for Canada and Quebec on the upcoming renegotiation of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).

“Currently, we have an exemption, which is linked to the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, on 85 per cent of goods. So the economy is weak, but the fact that we have an exemption (…) means that the economy is holding steady. We had a good first quarter, but a difficult second quarter.

“We know that there will be a review of the agreement (…) and it is certain that we need the agreement to hold. It would be very difficult for the Canadian economy, for the Quebec economy, if the agreement were not maintained.”

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews