Budget earmarks almost $3 billion in loans, grants for Ukraine

The new federal budget sets aside $2.72 billion in loans and donations for Ukraine in the current fiscal year, most of which is aimed at helping President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's government keep the embattled country's finances afloat.

And a lot of that money is already out the door.

The Canadian government delivered $2 billion in loan assistance for Ukraine to the International Monetary Fund in late March.

The 2024 federal budget also sets aside $320 million this year for «the provision of lethal and non-lethal military aid» to Ukraine — part of the bilateral security assistance package signed by Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Kyiv in February.

«This multi-year commitment will provide predictability to Ukraine as well as to Canada's defence industry,» the budget document says.

Overall, the federal government is earmarking $1.6 billion for military aid to Ukraine over the next five years. That's a drop in the bucket compared with Ukraine's biggest backer, the United States, which is still struggling to pass a $60 billion aid package.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland recently said Washington appears «unable to step up» on aid to the eastern European country, which has been holding back a full-scale Russian invasion for over two years.

The federal budget also commits to setting aside $216 million over five years, starting next year, for contributions to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) rebuilding program.

Turning Russian assets into Ukrainian aid

The federal government is also committing to working with allies to find a legal mechanism to turn seized Russian assets over to Ukraine.

More than $280 billion US in Russian assets has been seized by allied nations since the full-scale invasion