Canada unveils its biggest economic relief package since World War II

Canada unveiled a $77 billion economic relief package on Monday, with Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland saying it is the country's largest "since the Second World War."

The package provides help to industries hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, like travel and tourism, and assistance to long-term care homes, BBC News reports. Lower- and middle-income families will also receive stimulus checks for each child under age 6.

Freeland said Canada will have its largest budget shortfall in decades, but the package is necessary. "As we have learned from previous recessions, the risk of providing too little support now outweighs that of providing too much," she said. "We will not repeat the mistakes of the years following the Great Recession of 2008." Freeland also said that once the "virus is under control and our economy is ready for new growth, we will employ an ambitious stimulus package" to be spent over the next three years.

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Canada is now experiencing its second wave of coronavirus infections, with the number of active cases more than doubling in November. At least 12,000 Canadians have died of the virus.