Quebec Cuts Health Taxes While Balancing Budget for Second Year
This article is for subscribers only.
Quebec plans to begin rolling back healthcare taxes while avoiding a deficit for a second year in a row, a rare feat among Canadian provinces struggling with slumping commodity prices and bloated balance sheets.
Canada’s second most-populous province will balance the books in the fiscal year beginning April 1, aided by a jump in exports and household spending, Finance Minister Carlos Leitao said Thursday. Quebec will start phasing out the health “contribution” as soon as 2016 -- a year ahead of schedule -- while boosting spending on education, the forestry industry and other measures to spur business investment, according to budget documents released on Thursday.