Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is urging global leaders to rely more on government spending and less on monetary policy to spur growth as he prepares a budget that will push his country into deficit.

In a wide-ranging interview Wednesday in Vancouver, Trudeau highlighted the importance of infrastructure spending and measures to bolster incomes of middle classes he says are critical to driving growth. He also defended his plan to go willingly into the red.

Justin Trudeau

Photographer: Ben Nelms/Bloomberg

"My message to other government leaders is don't fall into the trap that thinking that balancing the books" is an end in itself, he said. "It's a means to an end."

Trudeau's arrival on the global scene and his endorsement of deficits marks a sharp about face from his predecessor, Stephen Harper. Along with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron, Harper championed the budget austerity alliance within the Group of Seven that often clashed with the U.S. on fiscal policy. 

President Barack Obama will hear a new message next week when he hosts a state dinner for Trudeau at the White House. The Canadian leader's debut also coincides with an increasing sense in global circles that monetary policy is reaching its limit, fueled in part by Japan's surprise move to adopt negative interest rates that caused turmoil in currency markets.

"Making sure monetary policy and fiscal policy are aligned and complementary is obviously a benefit to any economy. But at the same time I don't want to be overly preachy," Trudeau said. Other countries should consider balanced budgets when feasible "but don't make it the be-all and end-all because you may be missing out on opportunities to grow your economy -- to help citizens prosper -- that too much rigidity would actually interfere with."

G-20 Consensus

At a Group of 20 meeting in Shanghai last week attended by Trudeau's finance minister, Bill Morneau, officials from the world's top economies committed their governments to doing more to boost growth amid mounting concerns over the potency of monetary policy.