2 ▁years ▁it ▁grew ▁on ▁average ▁over ▁ 2 0 % ▁per ▁year . ▁ ▁It ▁sur pass ed ▁$ 1 0 0 ▁billion ▁in ▁ 1 9 8 1 , ▁$ 2 0 0 ▁billion ▁in ▁ 1 9 8 5 , ▁$ 3 0 0 ▁billion ▁in ▁ 1 9 8 8 , ▁$ 4 0 0 ▁billion ▁in ▁ 1 9 9 2 , ▁and ▁$ 5 0 0 ▁billion ▁in ▁ 1 9 9 4 . ▁It ▁pe aked ▁at ▁$ 5 6 3 ▁billion ▁in ▁ 1 9 9 7 , ▁before ▁then ▁decl ining ▁to ▁$ 4 5 8 ▁billion ▁by ▁ 2 0 0 8 . ▁ ▁With ▁a ▁re cess ion , ▁and ▁an ▁increase ▁in ▁federal ▁sp ending ▁from ▁ 2 0 0 8 , ▁the ▁federal ▁deb t ▁grew ▁by ▁$ 5 . 8 ▁billion ▁in ▁ 2 0 0 8 – 0 9 . ▁Lar ge ▁annual ▁def ic its ▁from ▁ 2 0 0 8 ▁to ▁ 2 0 1 3 ▁has ▁Canadian ▁deb t ▁sur pass ing ▁the ▁$ 6 0 0 ▁billion ▁mark ▁by ▁November ▁ 2 0 1 2 , ▁making ▁it ▁larger ▁than ▁the ▁ 1 9 9 7 ▁peak ▁in ▁absolute ▁dollars ▁( although ▁far ▁smaller ▁in ▁comparison ▁to ▁G DP ). ▁ ▁Foreign ▁ownership ▁In ▁ 1 9 6 0 , ▁ 4 % ▁of ▁the ▁Canadian ▁government ▁deb t ▁was ▁held ▁by ▁foreign ▁invest ors . ▁ ▁From ▁ 2 0 0 9 –