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Global Affairs Canada

What Global Affairs Canada spent in fiscal year 2018-19: its net expenditure by standard object, from the Public Accounts of Canada, Volume II.

What Global Affairs Canada does

Global Affairs Canada (GAC) is the federal department responsible for managing Canada's diplomatic relations, international trade, and development assistance. Established in 1909 as the Department of External Affairs, it oversees Canada's engagement in global affairs, negotiates international agreements, administers trade policy, and provides humanitarian aid. It also supports Canadian businesses expanding abroad, maintains ties through multilateral organizations such as the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, and NATO, and assists Canadian citizens overseas during emergencies.

Spending, 2018-19

Net spending, 2018-19

$7.06B

spent by Global Affairs Canada, less revenues it kept

Share, 2018-19

2.5%

of the net spending of every federal organization

How did Global Affairs Canada spend its budget in 2018-19?

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, 2018-19

Transfer payments

Personnel

Professional and special services

Rentals

Transportation and communications

Other subsidies and payments

Acquisition of machinery and equipment

Acquisition of land, buildings and works

Utilities, materials and supplies

Repair and maintenance

Information

Internal revenues

External revenues

$4.83B

$1.25B

$299M

$214M

$149M

$104M

$91.9M

$48.1M

$46.8M

$32.3M

$25.2M

-$1.6M

-$36.3M

Total: $7.06B.

Spending by program, 2018-19

The same net spending by program, as GC InfoBase reports program actuals: $7.06B in all. Select a program for its history, plans and results.

$1.46B

$838M

$641M

$464M

$340M

$318M

$301M

$260M

$240M

$209M

$179M

$172M

$109M

$90.1M

$88.7M

$87.9M

$81.4M

$79.8M

$78.9M

$75.1M

$74.3M

$71.8M

$64.4M

$62.6M

$62.5M

$51.1M

$43.8M

$42.2M

$40.5M

$35.4M

$33.5M

$31.4M

$29.4M

$28.1M

$27.2M

$25.1M

$24.7M

$24.4M

$21.5M

$20.6M

$16.4M

$15.5M

$14.1M

$13.6M

$13.5M

$11.1M

$8.9M

$8.5M

$8.4M

$6M

$3.6M

$2.8M

$2.4M

$2.1M

$2M

$1.6M

$1.6M

$3K

Workforce, 2018-19

Full-time equivalents

11,679

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

Personnel spending

$1.25B

salaries, wages and benefits (the personnel standard object)

Personnel spending per FTE

$107K

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, 2018-19

The grants, contributions and other transfers Global Affairs Canada paid, program by program: $4.83B in all, against $4.83B for the transfer payments object above (the Public Accounts publish the two tables separately).

Grants from the International Development Assistance for Multilateral ProgrammingPaymentsGrant$2,237,986,712
Contributions from the International Development Assistance for Bilateral Programming to support regional or country specificPaymentsContribution$817,303,687
Payments of Assessed Contributions to International OrganizationsPaymentsContribution$576,589,287
Contributions from the International Development Assistance for Partnerships with Canadians ProgrammingPaymentsContribution$303,465,573
Payments to International Financial Institutions - Direct paymentsPaymentsOther transfer$250,380,451
Contributions from the International Development Assistance for Multilateral ProgrammingPaymentsContribution$243,830,755
Grants in support of the Peace and Stabilization Operations ProgramPaymentsGrant$96,343,133
Contributions in support of the Peace and Stabilization Operations ProgramPaymentsContribution$65,284,986
Contribution for Counter-Terrorism Capacity Building ProgramPaymentsContribution$48,272,336
Contributions under the Weapons Threat Reduction ProgramPaymentsContribution$37,465,310
Grants under the Weapons Threat Reduction ProgramPaymentsGrant$30,548,365
Grants from the International Development Assistance for Partnerships with Canadians ProgrammingPaymentsGrant$21,633,242
Global Commerce Support ProgramPaymentsContribution$16,649,134
Canada Fund for Local InitiativesPaymentsContribution$14,482,091
Grants in lieu of taxes on diplomatic, consular and international organizations' property in Canada in accordance with terms and conditions approved by the Governor in CouncilPaymentsGrant$13,803,642
30 programs$4,831,995,434
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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$5,990,578$6,473,063$1,200,567$32,076,684$45,740,893
2024$6,854,705$7,945,694$1,453,973$22,447,636$38,702,007
2023$6,692,122$9,324,320$1,587,381$8,959,645$26,563,468
2022$6,701,869$10,601,870$1,870,797$8,500,154$27,674,691
2021$7,721,639$11,185,260$2,074,518$7,651,156$28,632,573
2020$8,847,239$11,977,142$1,925,744$11,838,839$34,588,965
2019$11,157,972$20,021,867$3,744,666$11,917,607$46,842,113
2018$12,287,067$20,020,943$3,757,775$11,286,233$47,352,018
2017$10,080,650$16,883,822$3,143,055$7,876,395$37,983,923

Global Affairs Canada’s share of federal net spending