Finance Minister Siobhan Coady doesn’t believe the province is losing anything by receiving equalization funding for the first time since 2008.
Newfoundland and Labrador will receive a total of $1.1 billion from Ottawa in 2024, $218 million of which comes through equalization.
Coady says the payment comes as the result of some changes made to the equalization formula, but whether the province will continue to receive equalization payments is yet to be determined.
She’s pleased that the province will receive revenue and that the economy continues to perform well. In the meantime, the province has asked the federal government for a number of changes including addressing the fiscal capacity gap and recognizing the province’s geographic area and the cost of delivering services.
“If they make those changes, then we will receive more equalization.”