Prime Ministers and Government Spending, Updated 2021 Edition is a new study that analyzes program spending by prime minister since Confederation, and finds that in 2020/21, federal program spending is expected to reach a minimum of $13,032 (inflation adjusted), which is 34.8 per cent higher than in 2019, pre-COVID, and 42.4 per cent higher than the level of spending recorded during 2009, a pronounced global recession.