The leaders of our country and our provinces are saddling our children, and their children, and their children’s children with enormous debt. A new Fraser Institute study found that combined federal and provincial debt in Canada has doubled since 2007/08, from $1 trillion to a projected $2 trillion this year.
The combined debt now equals 91.6% of the Canadian economy-up from 65.2% last year.

Among the provinces, Nova Scotia has the highest combined federal-provincial debt-to-GDP ratio at 106 per cent, while Alberta has the lowest at about 66 per cent. Saskatchewan is second lowest at 70 per cent.

The institute says Provinces such as Alberta, Manitoba, and Ontario have not balanced their books in years, while Ottawa has chosen to consistently run deficits since the onset of the global financial crisis more than a decade ago. According to the report, this accumulation of debt has reversed a positive trend towards balanced budgets and lower debt burdens that prevailed from the mid-1990s to the late-2000s.

The federal and provincial net debt per person in Saskatchewan is $44,501. Newfoundland and Labrador has the highest number at $64,224.

The future growth of net debt for the feds and the provinces is expected to pose significant problems for Canadians and our public finances in the future.