Feds look for $13.2-billion boost to budgetary spending to wrap up 2023-24
The Liberals are seeking approval for $13.2-billion in additional budgetary spending for 2023-24—of which roughly $8.9-billion is subject to House of Commons votes—bringing the total for the year to almost $492.6-billion, roughly 11 per cent higher than total spending requested through the estimates process the year prior.
In 2022-23, budgetary spending requested through the estimates process—the sum of spending asks included in the main estimates, and the Supplementary Estimates A, B, and C for the fiscal year—totalled $443.3-billion.
Overall, $13.2-billion in additional budgetary spending authorizations are being sought through the Supplementary Estimates C for the year, which were tabled in the House by Treasury Board President Anita Anand (Oakville, Ont.) on Feb. 15. The Supp Cs also include almost $2.7-billion in additional non-budgetary spending, which is spending related to loans, investments, and advances. Including both budgetary and non-budgetary spending, the Supp Cs for 2023-24 total $15.8-billion, and bring the estimates total for the year to $495.5-billion.
The House has until the end of the 2023-24 fiscal supply period—which lands on March 26—to approve the corresponding appropriation bill.
Anand tabled the 2024-25 main estimates on Feb. 29, which project $449.2-billion in budgetary spending.
Most of the roughly $4.3-billion in forecast statutory expenditures—spending required by and already authorized through legislation—included in the Supp Cs is tied to increased interest on unmatured debts ($3.2-billion) “due to higher projected interest rates and higher inflation impacts on real return bonds.”
The Department of Finance tops the list of the largest budgetary adjustments through these estimates, but almost all of its $3.8-billion in requested additional expenditures is statutory spending, with only $8.9-million subject to House votes.
The departments of National Defence (DND) and Indigenous Services are next on the list with requests for roughly $2.2-billion and $2-billion in extra budgetary spending, respectively, followed by the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) with almost $1.6-billion, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) with $573.2-million, and the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority with $507.3-million.
These six departments and agencies are the only ones requesting authorities totalling more than $500-million in the supplementary estimates, with the next largest being $297.1-million being sought by the Canada Revenue Agency. In all, 27 departments and agencies are seeking amounts greater than $20-million through the Supp Cs for 2023-24.
DND’s budgetary spending request includes a number of procurement-related items, like $590.9-million for the Canadian Multi-Mission Aircraft project to buy up to 16 Poseidon aircraft. Another $510-million is for DND’s Strategic Tanker Transport Capability Aircraft project to acquire and configure up to nine CC-330 aircraft; $284.7-million is to scale up the Canadian Armed Forces’ activities in Latvia under Operation Reassurance; and $67.8-million is for the Canadian Surface Combatant project to acquire 15 new warships for the Royal Canadian Navy. There’s also $44.8-million toward implementation of the Indo-Pacific Strategy; $33.7-billion toward Operation Impact in the Middle East; $10.5-million for “counter-terrorism and maritime security operations in the Middle East” through Operation Artemis; and $8-million tied to the Heyder and Beattie class actions (related to sexual misconduct in the Armed Forces) final settlement agreement, among other things.
When it comes to the Ukraine specifically, DND’s Supp Cs request includes $250-million for military aid, “including armoured personnel carriers and medical evacuation vehicles”; $132.3-million for donations replenishment, as committed in the 2023 federal budget; and $15.3-million to “reinforce” support through Operation Unifier.
Altogether, that brings the total spending authorizations requested by DND through the 2023-24 estimates process to almost $30.3-billion, up by nearly $2.7-billion from the $27.6-billion in total spending requested through the 2022-23 estimates process. Of the little more than $2.2-billion being sought by DND through the latest Supp Cs, all but almost $59-million is subject to votes.
Indigenous Services’ $2-billion budgetary request through the 2023-24 Supp Cs—all but $3.7-million of which will be subject to House votes—includes roughly $818.1-million in funding to implement reforms to the First Nations Child and Family Services Program, including “improving the availability of safe and adequate housing for children on-reserve,” and $803.9-million to continue implementation of Jordan’s Principle.
The department is also seeking $260-million for the Emergency Management Assistance Program to reimburse “First Nations communities, municipalities, provinces, territories, and non-governmental emergency service providers for costs incurred during response and recovery activities on reserves” for things like natural disasters and health-related crises; $55-million for “on-reserve First Nations elementary and secondary education”; $28.9-million for the Weeneebayko Area Health Authority; $8-million for the Pathways to Safe Indigenous Communities Initiative as committed in the 2023 budget; and $5.4-million for “mental wellness supports and pre-capital planning activities for health infrastructure in James Smith Cree Nation” (also committed to in the 2023 budget), among other things.
Notably, the appropriation act for the 2023-24 Supp Cs includes a proposed increase to the amount of loans the minister of Indigenous Services is authorized to guarantee, from $2.2-billion to $3-billion. Ministerial loan guarantees help First Nations secure loans “for the purpose of construction, acquisition or renovation of on-reserve housing on defined lands,” as explained by the department’s corresponding manual.
In all, budgetary spending authorizations sought by Indigenous Services through the 2023-24 estimates process total $47.5-billion, up almost $2.7-billion from the $44.8-billion sought in 2022-23.
The majority of TBS’s almost $1.6-billion Supp C top-up request is tied to funds to “compensate departments and agencies for negotiated salary adjustments” ($1.2-billion), and all but $678.9-million of its overall ask will be voted on by Parliament. Other items in the estimates for TBS include $179.3-million for public service insurance plans and programs; $4.3-million for the “Action Plan for Black Employees in the Public Service,” as committed to in the 2023 budget; and $872,060 toward the mental health fund for Black federal public servants. In all, the Treasury Board’s budgetary spending requests through the 2023-24 estimates process total almost $13-billion, up $3.6-billion from the year prior.
For the Immigration Deparment, roughly $566.5-million of the total budgetary spending requested in the 2023-24 Supp Cs will be subject to votes—another almost $3.3-million of the overall $573.2-million in funding set out in the estimates document is statutory budgetary spending, and close to $3.4-million is from transfers (including $561,713 from Shared Services Canada for the Asylum Interoperability Project).
The largest budgetary spending item in the Supp Cs for the department is $362.4-million for the Interim Housing Assistance Program that helps provinces and municipalities in supporting asylum claimants. Among other things, also included is $103.5-million to “continue providing temporary accommodations and supports services to asylum claimants”; $25-million to “stabilize” the federal passport program; $48.3-million for the Canada-Quebec Accord; and $10.2-million toward the International Student Program, visa centres, and the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada as part of the government’s Indo-Pacific Strategy.
Overall, the Supp Cs bring total budgetary spending requested for CIC through the estimates process to $6.3-billion for the fiscal year, up roughly $442.7-million from 2022-23.
All of the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority’s $507.3-million request in this year’s Supp Cs—except for a $27,600 transfer to Canada’s School of Public Service—is funding for the Gordie Howe International Bridge that’s currently under construction and is subject to a vote.
Comparing the total estimates to date for budgetary spending between 2022-23 and 2023-24—which, again, is the total sum of spending requested through the main and three supplementary estimates—the Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs has the most notable increase in total spending authorization requests, with the $26.5-billion sought in 2023-24 almost twice what was requested through the estimates the year prior ($13.8-billion in 2022-23).
That $26.5-billion for 2023-24 includes the roughly $23.9-million the department is seeking authority for through the Supp Cs—all but $437,778 of which will be subject to a vote. Almost $8.2-million of voted spending for the department relates to transfers, including, for example, $5.3-million from Employment and Social Development Canada for Indigenous early learning and childcare. Excluding transfers, $9-million of the amount that will be voted on is funding to help Indigenous organizations in the Northwest Territories affected by wildfires; $1.8-million is to “create a secretariat within the department to advance measures” from the UN Declaration Act action plan covering 2023-28 (as announced in the 2023 budget); and $1.1-million toward implementation of the National Action Plan to address Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people (also announced in the 2023 budget), among other things.
The Hill Times
Total estimates (budgetary and non-budgetary) for 2023-24
| Main Estimates | Supp A | Supp B | Supp C | Total | |
| Budgetary | $432,941,644,807 | $21,863,599,391 | $24,591,360,546 | $13,189,431,066 | $492,586,035,810 |
| Non-budgetary | $269,383,784 | – | – | $2,650,264,726 | $2,919,648,510 |
| Total | $433,211,028,591 | $21,863,599,391 | $24,591,360,546 | $15,839,695,792 | $495,505,684,320 |
Budgetary spending, year-over-year estimate totals
| Year | Main Estimates | Supp A | Supp B | Supp C | Total Estimates |
| 2019-20 | $299,642,646,696 | $4,943,251,982 | $13,415,701,626 | – | $318,001,600,304 |
| 2020-21 | $304,577,541,941 | $89,960,524,739 | $79,186,142,064 | $7,963,619,290 | $481,687,828,034 |
| 2021-22 | $342,186,642,016 | $41,177,731,200 | $13,415,701,626 | $17,066,150,215 | $413,846,225,057 |
| 2022-23 | $397,575,534,221 | $9,655,026,823 | $25,782,320,295 | $10,272,382,070 | $443,285,263,409 |
| 2023-24 | $432,941,644,807 | $21,863,599,391 | $24,591,360,546 | $13,189,431,066 | $492,586,035,810 |
Top 2023-24 estimates requests, by department
| Department | Main Estimates | Supp A | Supp B | Supp C | Total Estimates to Date 2023-24 | Total Estimates for 2022-23 | Difference |
| Finance | $128,937,079,682 | $1,106,586,538 | $2,160,792,025 | $3,823,959,200 | $136,028,417,445 | $118,160,064,625 | +$17,868,352,820 |
| National Defence | $26,489,124,243 | – | $1,548,075,557 | $2,228,961,432 | $30,266,161,232 | $27,580,610,515 | +$2,685,550,717 |
| Indigenous Services | $39,607,476,486 | $4,875,791,516 | $962,343,210 | $2,045,741,975 | $47,491,353,187 | $44,799,119,017 | +$2,692,234,170 |
| Treasury Board Secretariat | $8,930,862,997 | – | $2,502,291,781 | $1,564,241,709 | $12,997,396,487 | $9,377,699,874 | +$3,619,696,613 |
| Citizenship and Immigration | $4,488,692,672 | $590,880,038 | $671,328,663 | $573,171,033 | $6,324,072,406 | $5,881,400,989 | +$442,671,417 |
| Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority | $885,179,373 | – | $335,362,310 | $507,302,126 | $1,727,843,809 | $1,106,494,000 | +$621,349,809 |
| Canada Revenue Agency | $14,874,529,632 | – | $601,622,886 | $297,118,385 | $15,773,270,903 | $12,649,488,553 | +$3,123,782,350 |
| RCMP | $4,166,619,561 | $481,552,012 | $188,148,741 | $276,309,839 | $5,112,630,153 | $4,795,647,766 | +$316,982,387 |
| Public Works and Government Services | $4,335,605,691 | $468,200,132 | $228,593,995 | $263,351,512 | $5,295,751,330 | $4,843,318,156 | +$452,433,174 |
| Employment and Social Development | $94,152,310,938 | -$699,457,587 | $409,747,197 | $247,030,049 | $94,109,630,597 | $89,067,954,494 | +$5,041,676,103 |
| Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness | $2,646,842,235 | – | $104,744,693 | $222,508,228 | $2,974,095,156 | $3,452,111,427 | -$478,016,271 |
| Foreign Affairs | $7,576,637,073 | – | $816,685,471 | $185,427,992 | $8,578,750,536 | $9,363,648,460 | -$784,897,924 |
| Agriculture and Agri-Food | $1,827,072,539 | $1,609,476,627 | $355,209,046 | $170,479,523 | $3,962,237,735 | $3,570,941,925 | +$391,295,810 |
| Fisheries and Oceans | $4,111,350,346 | – | $356,372,995 | $102,303,099 | $4,570,026,440 | $4,544,384,481 | +$25,641,959 |
| Industry | $5,851,775,190 | $1 | $75,542,499 | $94,970,980 | $6,022,288,670 | $5,869,594,580 | +$152,694,090 |
| Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation | $5,105,138,048 | $1,003,722,430 | $394,419,238 | $90,593,247 | $6,593,872,963 | $5,406,597,674 | +$1,187,275,289 |
| Canada Border Services Agency | $2,717,868,397 | – | $34,577,928 | $57,377,889 | $2,809,824,214 | $2,637,385,771 | +$172,438,443 |
| Shared Services Canada | $2,591,969,423 | – | $53,198,277 | $52,548,248 | $2,697,715,948 | $2,698,270,614 | -$554,666 |
| Natural Resources | $5,096,780,229 | $165,458,894 | $225,696,682 | $43,624,991 | $5,531,560,796 | $3,942,548,267 | +$1,589,012,529 |
| Parks Canada | $1,294,013,131 | – | $20,575,324 | $37,978,525 | $1,352,566,980 | $1,107,173,445 | +$245,393,535 |
| Correctional Service of Canada | $3,053,055,968 | – | $303,531,599 | $35,311,017 | $3,391,898,584 | $3,164,665,598 | +$227,232,986 |
| Environment | $2,446,077,674 | – | $306,903,434 | $30,558,025 | $2,783,539,133 | $2,173,728,859 | +$609,810,274 |
| Justice | $987,552,756 | $18,050,108 | $43,500,000 | $29,615,185 | $1,078,718,049 | $974,536,252 | +$104,181,797 |
| Transport | $3,612,937,010 | – | $477,771,399 | $24,383,395 | $4,115,091,804 | $3,417,426,596 | +$697,665,208 |
| House of Commons | $597,133,733 | – | $19,762,766 | $24,328,488 | $641,224,987 | $581,381,455 | +$59,843,532 |
| Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs | $9,133,113,298 | $8,223,221,880 | $9,078,952,644 | $23,909,865 | $26,459,197,687 | $13,761,666,183 | +$12,697,531,504 |
| Canadian Space Agency | $537,402,237 | – | $3,029,519 | $20,456,638 | $560,888,394 | $584,880,167 | -$23,991,773 |
* This list includes every federal department/agency that is seeking > $20-million through the 2023-24 Supp Cs. The “Total Estimates to Date” for 2023-24 is the sum of spending authorizations for each department/agency included in the Main Estimates and Supplementary Estimates A, B, and C for the fiscal year. This differs from the total “Proposed Authorities” for each department/agency listed in the 2023-24 Supp Cs, as those totals include carryforward spending authorizations from previous years, as well as other adjustments. A negative value in the estimates columns indicates authorized spending transferred out of the respective department.
LICENSING
PODCAST
ALERTS
