Ahead of next week’s budget, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is promising to deliver a ‘responsible fiscal plan’ with significant new spending in healthcare and green incentives.

“What Canadians want right now is for inflation to come down and for interest rates to fall and that is one of our primary goals in this year’s budget, not to pour fuel on the fire of inflation so in our budget, we will exercise fiscal restraint,” said Freeland.

Speaking in Oshawa, Freeland says the global economy has slowed down meaning government revenues are lower and the ability to spend is not infinite.

Freeland said the budget will include targeted inflation relief to help Canadians who are suffering the most from rising prices.