There are two ways to look at deficits. One is just on a nominal basis, so just straight up what is the value of deficits that the government is incurring over the forecast horizon. But, quite frankly, it probably doesn't give you the true picture of the magnitude of the deficit unless you position it against the size of the economy. Then, from nominal switching to a relative term, it's putting that nominal value on top of the value of the economy that gives you the deficit-to-GDP ratio and then over time a debt-to-GDP ratio. This gives rating agencies and other commentators and people who purchase our debt, and frankly, just general Canadians, an understanding of the debt load that we're carrying as a relative size of the total Canadian economy.
