VANCOUVER—The federal government is potentially wasting more than $22 billion of $81.6 billion in COVID recession spending because the assistance is not being adequately targeted to those in need, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.
“Our research shows that billions are being borrowed to finance transfers to people whose need is at least questionable, and this at a time when Ottawa is running historic deficits,” said Jason Clemens, Executive Vice President at the Fraser Institute and co-author of Federal Government Wasting Billions on Poorly Targeted Assistance.