Study highlights government spending in Quebec

Recent studies show Quebec spends more money on programs to subsidize its residents than any other province.

The Montreal Gazette reports two researchers made their findings public after looking at public spending between 1981 and 2009.

In 2009, Quebec spent forty seven per cent of the gross domestic product on public programs.

Ontario on the other hand spent only thirty eight per cent of their GDP.

The Canadian average is thirty nine per cent.

Over sixteen thousand dollars are spent per Quebec resident on programs such as parental leave, housing the elderly, and subsidizing daycare.

Eighty per cent of the increase in public spending in the past twenty-nine years was for government programs.

Researchers caution Quebec must increase productivity in order to balance the budget.

STORY WRITTEN BY: AISHA SAMU