Department of Finance Canada
What Department of Finance Canada spent in fiscal year 2019-20: its net expenditure by standard object, from the Public Accounts of Canada, Volume II.
Reports through Finance; the overview shows it in that ministry.
What Department of Finance Canada does
The Department of Finance (Finance Canada) is a central federal department responsible for overseeing the nation's economic and fiscal policies, ensuring financial stability, and managing the government's fiscal framework. Established in 1867 as one of the original departments following Confederation, it advises the Prime Minister and Cabinet on economic matters, develops tax and tariff policies, and prepares the annual federal budget.
Spending, 2019-20
Net spending, 2019-20
$98.8B
spent by Department of Finance Canada, less revenues it kept
Share, 2019-20
32.6%
of the net spending of every federal organization
How did Department of Finance Canada spend its budget in 2019-20?
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, 2019-20
Transfer payments
Public debt charges
Other subsidies and payments
Personnel
Utilities, materials and supplies
Professional and special services
Transportation and communications
Information
Rentals
Acquisition of machinery and equipment
Repair and maintenance
Acquisition of land, buildings and works
$74B
$23.8B
$800M
$101M
$86.6M
$10.6M
$2.7M
$1.4M
$1.3M
$879K
$456K
$2K
Total: $98.8B.
Spending by program, 2019-20
The same net spending by program, as GC InfoBase reports program actuals: $98.8B in all. Select a program for its history, plans and results.
$40.9B
$32.7B
$23.9B
$768M
$504M
$22.4M
$14.5M
$10.7M
$10.4M
$9.3M
$8.9M
$8.4M
$7.8M
$5.9M
$3.4M
$3M
$2.6M
$1.4M
$794K
$530K
$184K
Workforce, 2019-20
Full-time equivalents
844
the actual FTEs of its programs, as GC InfoBase reports them
Personnel spending
$101M
salaries, wages and benefits (the personnel standard object)
Personnel spending per FTE
$119K
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, 2019-20
The grants, contributions and other transfers Department of Finance Canada paid, program by program: $74B in all, against $74B for the transfer payments object above (the Public Accounts publish the two tables separately).
| Canada Health Transfer (Part V.1-Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act)Payments | Other transfer | $40,371,762,839 |
| Fiscal Equalization (Part I-Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act)Payments | Other transfer | $19,837,259,000 |
| Canada Social Transfer (Part V.1-Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act)Payments | Other transfer | $14,585,672,000 |
| Territorial Financing (Part I.1 - Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act)Payments | Other transfer | $3,948,402,899 |
| Payments related to Canada Health TransferPayments | Other transfer | $500,000,000 |
| Payments to International Development AssociationPayments | Other transfer | $441,620,000 |
| Fiscal StabilizationPayments | Other transfer | $271,733,098 |
| Debt payments on behalf of poor countries to International Organizations pursuant to section 18(1) of the Economic Recovery ActPayments | Other transfer | $48,080,000 |
| Statutory Subsidies (Constitution Acts, 1867-1982, and Other Statutory Authorities)Payments | Other transfer | $42,643,709 |
| Additional Fiscal Equalization Offset Payment to Nova Scotia (Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador Additional Fiscal Equalization Offshore Payments Act)Payments | Other transfer | $8,227,000 |
| Remission granted under the Financial Administration Act 24(1)Payments | Other transfer | $3,066,900 |
| Capacity Funding for Tsimshian First NationsPayments | Contribution | $1,100,000 |
| Additional Fiscal Equalization Payment to Nova ScotiaPayments | Other transfer | -$96,002,000 |
| Refund of Prior Year ExpendituresPayments | Other transfer | -$103,000,000 |
| Youth Allowances Recovery (Federal-Provincial Fiscal Revision Act, 1964)Payments | Other transfer | -$1,043,882,172 |
| 16 programs | $74,049,499,273 | |
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 year | Goods | Services | Construction | Acquisition cards | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $22,976 | $182,918 | $0 | $819,517 | $1,025,411 |
| 2024 | $81,769 | $119,621 | $0 | $1,125,980 | $1,327,370 |
| 2023 | $37,435 | $200,241 | $0 | $1,402,370 | $1,640,045 |
| 2022 | $97,970 | $174,351 | $0 | $1,158,374 | $1,430,695 |
| 2021 | $89,967 | $257,535 | $0 | $792,903 | $1,140,404 |
| 2020 | $162,287 | $361,939 | $0 | $783,477 | $1,307,703 |
| 2019 | $138,348 | $317,347 | $0 | $1,179,825 | $1,635,520 |
| 2018 | $161,931 | $432,749 | $0 | $1,407,913 | $2,002,593 |
| 2017 | $226,292 | $385,288 | $0 | $1,196,935 | $1,808,515 |
Department of Finance Canada’s share of federal net spending
Other organizations in Finance
Sources
- Public Accounts of Canada 2020, Volume II: Ministerial expenditures by standard object (Table 3)
- Public Accounts of Canada, Volume II: Transfer payments (multi-year open data)
- GC InfoBase – Federal Programs – Actual and Planned Spending (programs_spending.csv)
- GC InfoBase – Federal Programs – Actual and Planned Employees (programs_ftes.csv)
- Proactive Publication - Contracts: Aggregated Total - Contracts $10K and under
Department figures are net expenditure (Public Accounts, Volume II), which doesn’t add up to the accrual expenses of the overview’s headline. See the methodology.
