Freeland tables her fourth federal budget — this time with a tight focus on housing

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will table her fourth federal budget today, laying out the government's plan to spend billions of dollars on housing to improve supply — a plan the Liberals also hope will boost their prospects with a crucial group of voters.

Unlike past budgets, which mostly saved their announcements for budget day itself, this one has been publicized piecemeal. Freeland, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Housing Minister Sean Fraser and other cabinet ministers have been touring the country for weeks, releasing details of key budget measures.

It's part of a plan to pitch voters on key new programs that otherwise might have been buried in today's news coverage of a budget document that's expected to be physically bigger than in years' past.

Freeland will table the budget around 4 p.m. ET. CBCNews.ca will carry her remarks in the House of Commons live.

Ottawa has announced roughly $38 billion in new financial commitments — including $17 billion in loan-based programs — before the budget's release.

How the federal government intends to pay for all that new spending isn't clear yet. Sources have told Radio-Canada that the budget will impose a tax increase on the richest taxpayers — one that senior Liberal sources say will affect less than 1 per cent of Canadians.

Some of the planned new spending is earmarked for future fiscal years — a manoeuvre that will give Ottawa some fiscal breathing room.

The economy is also marginally stronger than Ottawa initially projected, which could mean higher revenue to offset some of the planned new spending.

Polls continue to suggest the government is polling underwater with house-hunting voters — particularly those in the millennial and Generation Z cohorts.

In response, Freeland has