Finance Department Says Preliminary Deficit of $314 Billion for Last Fiscal Year

The Peace Tower is framed through a gate on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on January 21, 2016. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

OTTAWA—The federal government says its preliminary deficit for the last fiscal year was $314 billion, an unprecedented figure caused by an equally unprecedented economic shock.

The early deficit figure for the 12-month period between April 2020 to March 2021 compares to a deficit of $21.8 billion over the preceding fiscal year.