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Canada announces massive spending amid predication of sluggish economy

Xinhua, November 2, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Canadian government on Tuesday pledged massive spending plans of nearly 61 billion U.S. dollars in face of the country's gloomy economic forecast.

Just days before Justin Trudeau marks his first anniversary in office as Canada's 23rd prime minister, his Liberal government released a gloomy economic update that predicted a larger national deficit for 2016-17.

According to the update, Canada's deficit is expected to hit 25.1 billion Canadian dollars (18.7 billion U.S. dollars), lower than the 29.4-billion-dollar (21.9 billion U.S. dollars) federal deficit Finance Minister Bill Morneau projected in his spring budget.

In March, Morneau said that Canada's books would be balanced by 2021-2022. Now, he predicted that the deficit will be 14.6 billion Canadian dollars (10.9 billion U.S. dollars) by then.

"Our economy is growing," Morneau told the House of Commons while unveiling his Fall Economic Statement. "Just not as fast as we would like."

Trudeau's government has committed to spending more on infrastructure projects. From 2017 to 2028, 81.2 billion Canadian dollars (60.6 billion U.S. dollars) will be allocated to such projects as public transit improvement, trade and transportation so as to facilitate exports.

The government also planned to establish a Canada Investment Bank next year that will provide at least 35 billion Canadian dollars (26.1 billion U.S. dollars) for large infrastructure projects with the hope of attracting four or five times that amount in private capital.

To attract foreign investment from "strategic markets," Canada allocated 218 million Canadian dollars (162.7 million U.S. dollars) over the next five years to employ more trade commissioners.

An Invest in Canada Hub will also be created before the end of next year. The hub will work with federal departments to promote Canada in overseas markets, forge global partnerships with foreign companies and invite them to expand their businesses in Canada, according to the statement.

Under Canada's proposed Global Skills Strategy, the federal government will make it easier for international companies to hire employees by setting a two-week turnaround to process visas and work permits for "low-risk, high-skill talent" doing business in Canada. Ottawa will also introduce a work-permit exemption for employment terms of less than 30 days in a year or brief academic stays.

From 2017, the threshold of foreign investors that wish to acquire Canadian companies will be increased from 600 million Canadian dollars (447.9 million U.S. dollars) to 1 billion dollars (746.4 million U.S. dollars).

Before the end of this year, the Canadian government will publish guidelines that stipulate which investments violate national security provisions. Endi