OTTAWA — One-third of Canada’s debt will be refinanced this year at elevated interest rates, a significant cost to taxpayers that Conservatives argue could have been avoided if the government had issued more of the country’s debt in the form of long-term bonds when rates were lower.

Canada has just over $1.4 trillion in debt — more than double the $619 billion owed in the Liberal government’s first year — borrowed using bonds ranging between two and 30 years. But critics point out that the government’s heaviest borrowing, during the COVID pandemic, was done via shorter-term bonds.