Budget 2024 tries to sell youth a more affordable life with billions in spending

The Liberal government delivered a federal budget on Tuesday geared towards young Canadians, proposing a spending plan that promises to do everything from make it easier to buy a first home to crack down on costly concert ticket fees.

“We are acting today to ensure fairness for every generation,” Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said in the House of Commons Tuesday as she tabled the Liberals’ 2024 budget.

“We are moving with purpose to help build more homes, faster. We are making life cost less. We are driving the kind of economic growth that will ensure every generation of Canadians can reach their full potential.”

But the $57 billion in spending announced in the Liberals’ latest fiscal plan comes amid a stronger-than-expected economy and new taxes targeting the wealthiest Canadians. Net new spending included in the budget is pegged at $39.2 billion, thanks to these higher revenue offsets.

Kevin Page, Canada’s former parliamentary budget officer, tells Global News that the 2024 Liberals’ new spending plan is “a relatively large budget,” the size typically reserved for federal election years.

The budget speaks to a belief in “big government” to solve the problems facing Canadians, he says.

“This is more spending, more taxation … it’s a belief that the government can really help its citizens.”

Much of the new spending had been teed up well in advance of Tuesday, as Liberal MPs, cabinet ministers and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau toured across Canada to tout pre-budget announcements.

A bulk of these measures were geared to the housing market, both in terms of building more homes to shore up Canada’s supply gap and making buying a home more accessible for Canadians.

The 2024 budget promises to build 3.87