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Health Canada

What Health Canada spent in fiscal year 2017-18: its net expenditure by standard object, from the Public Accounts of Canada, Volume II.

What Health Canada does

Health Canada is the federal department responsible for protecting and improving the health of Canadians. It develops health policy, regulates pharmaceuticals and medical devices, enforces food safety standards, and funds public health programs, working with provinces and territories to support the health-care system. Through the Public Health Agency of Canada it monitors health risks and manages disease outbreaks, and it funds medical research through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Spending, 2017-18

Net spending, 2017-18

$3.49B

spent by Health Canada, less revenues it kept

Share, 2017-18

1.3%

of the net spending of every federal organization

How did Health Canada spend its budget in 2017-18?

By standard object. Revenues it kept are negative and netted against its spending. Transfer payments are broken into their largest named programs.

Spending by standard object, 2017-18

Transfer payments

Personnel

Utilities, materials and supplies

Professional and special services

Transportation and communications

Acquisition of machinery and equipment

Other subsidies and payments

Repair and maintenance

Rentals

Information

Acquisition of land, buildings and works

Internal revenues

External revenues

$1.73B

$921M

$371M

$364M

$171M

$55.5M

$28.3M

$21.3M

$18.1M

$17.5M

$4.3M

-$17.2M

-$188M

Total: $3.49B.

Workforce, 2017-18

Full-time equivalents

8,218

the actual FTEs of its programs, as GC InfoBase reports them

Personnel spending

$921M

salaries, wages and benefits (the personnel standard object)

Personnel spending per FTE

$112K

personnel spending divided by full-time equivalents

A full-time equivalent is a measure of employment, not a headcount: two half-time employees are one FTE. Personnel spending includes benefits and pension contributions, so per FTE it is not an average salary.

Transfer payment programs, 2017-18

The grants, contributions and other transfers Health Canada paid, program by program: $1.73B in all, against $1.73B for the transfer payments object above (the Public Accounts publish the two tables separately).

Contributions for First Nations and Inuit Primary Health CarePaymentsContribution$607,762,078
Contributions for First Nations and Inuit Health Infrastructure SupportPaymentsContribution$571,624,276
Contributions for First Nations and Inuit Supplementary Health BenefitsPaymentsContribution$142,170,853
Contribution to the Canadian Institute for Health InformationPaymentsContribution$81,748,979
Contribution to Canada Health InfowayPaymentsContribution$47,000,000
Contribution to the Canadian Partnership Against CancerPaymentsContribution$39,854,241
Official Languages Health Contribution ProgramPaymentsContribution$33,800,001
Grant to Ontario to enhance the capacity of the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical AlliancePaymentsGrant$30,000,000
Territorial Health Investment FundPaymentsGrant$27,000,000
Grant to Canada Health Infoway Inc. to accelerate the development of electronic health records, common information technology standards across the country, and the further applications of tele-health applicationsPaymentsGrant$25,847,647
Canada Brain Research Fund ProgramPaymentsContribution$20,000,000
Contribution to the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in HealthPaymentsContribution$18,058,769
Contribution to the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare ImprovementPaymentsContribution$17,000,000
Mental Health Commission of Canada Contribution ProgramPaymentsContribution$14,250,000
Substance Use and Addictions ProgramPaymentsContribution$12,969,040
20 programs$1,725,221,412
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Contracts of $10,000 and under

Contracts this small are not published one by one: Treasury Board publishes each organization's totals, by calendar year, for contracts of $10,000 and under (their original value and their amendments) and for acquisition card purchases. They are the value of contracts entered into, not what was paid in a fiscal year, so they are not part of the net expenditure above, and the years are calendar years.

Calendar yearGoodsServicesConstructionAcquisition cardsTotal
2025$1,586,257$20,449,048$125,858$18,984,141$41,145,303
2024$1,719,703$18,592,277$140,086$22,588,626$43,040,692
2023$1,997,536$20,493,984$93,693$22,063,894$44,649,107
2022$2,898,595$22,712,290$220,940$18,278,759$44,110,583
2021$2,863,373$22,640,125$178,266$19,331,865$45,013,628
2020$2,692,383$17,778,158$180,636$15,939,582$36,590,760
2019$3,177,607$18,384,951$284,518$21,476,980$43,324,056
2018$4,031,471$15,656,293$146,617$20,496,340$40,330,721
2017$7,443,507$16,874,799$180,043$26,977,714$51,476,062

Health Canada’s share of federal net spending