Finance Minister Jim Flaherty speaks to reporters Monday outside a meeting with his provincial and territorial counterparts in Chelsea, Que. (Blair Gable/Reuters)

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Monday that weak tax revenue and higher government expenses will mean Canada will run a larger deficit than was predicted in his January budget.

At that time, Flaherty said he expected a deficit of $33.7 billion for the 2009-10 fiscal year.

Speaking to reporters following a finance ministers' meeting at Meech Lake, Que., Flaherty said the deficit will be "substantially more" than was originally forecast. He said he will provide more details when he briefs the House of Commons in June.

Flaherty also said it would be fair to assume that he would be revising his economic growth forecasts.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has made similar warnings about the looming size of the deficit. Earlier in May, he told a meeting of Quebec mayors that the deficit, which is expected to be $85 billion over the next five years, could grow as the government deals with the recession.

At Meech Lake, Flaherty said the economic downturn has meant lower government revenues, and higher payouts, such as Employment Insurance benefits.

Flaherty also said the finance ministers agreed to establish a research working group to examine retirement income adequacy and report back to the ministers before the end of the year.

"This issue is going to take on greater and greater significance in the coming weeks and months and years," said Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan.

Duncan told CBC News that Flaherty's revised forecast doesn't mean a bigger deficit for Ontario.

"We were working off of more current data that I think took into greater account the bigger falls in December and January and February," he said. "So certainly, at this point in time, we are on target for the deficit we had projected."