Minister Freeland’s office confirmed the date of the next budget in a succinct midday press release on Friday. Normally, this date is announced by the Minister herself in the House of Commons, following a question from another Liberal colleague.

Some provinces (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba) have already submitted their respective budgets. Quebec Finance Minister Eric Girard will deliver his next budget on March 21.^Me Free country.

Even before the budget date was announced, the minister announced that she would tackle two of the Trudeau government’s priority issues: increasing health transfers to the provinces on the one hand, and strategic investments in the energy transition on the other, in order to respond to the Biden administration’s US announced measures (370 billion US dollars) as part of their Inflation Reduction Act.

“It’s important for me to be frank, to say frankly that we have these two important files that we need to invest in and that we will invest in,” Secretary Freeland said last month after meeting her provincial counterparts in Toronto . “But at the same time, the global economy is slowing down and we will be more constrained as a result.”

She argued that the year 2023 will be crucial for the green energy investments Canada can receive from big companies. The United States set the playing field with the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes colossal fiscal stimulus to attract capital from investors. Canada will have to do the same if it doesn’t want to settle for crumbs, she warned.

“There is a global race going on right now. The starting signal for building the clean economy of the 21st century^e Century. I can’t stress enough how important 2023 is in attracting that capital. Once you get those big investments, they are very long-term projects. Once they’re here, they’re going to be here long-term, and that’s going to give us the jobs, the technology, and the supply chain,” she said.

As for health transfers, the Trudeau administration last month agreed to increase them by $46.2 billion over the next decade, an increase of $4.6 billion a year. The provinces asked for a sizable annual increase, $28 billion.

Minister Freeland will present her budget in a difficult economic environment. Inflation remains high at 5.9% despite the Bank of Canada’s unprecedented rate hike since March 2022. Many economists expect Canada’s economy to stagnate or even enter recession this year as the Bank of Canada struggles to bring inflation back to the 2% target.

In recent weeks, a number of experts have urged the Trudeau government to exercise extreme caution and rein in spending lest it add to inflationary pressures and force the Bank of Canada to further tighten monetary policy.

Passing through Hamilton this week, Mr.^Me Freeland hinted that his next budget would be given the seal of caution because of the uncertainty threatening Canada’s economy. Since coming to power, Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government has never balanced the budget. At the height of the pandemic, Ottawa ran a record $328 billion deficit in 2020-21.