Canada Revenue Agency
What Canada Revenue Agency spent in fiscal year 2023-24: its net expenditure by standard object, from the Public Accounts of Canada, Volume II.
Reports through National Revenue; the overview shows it in that ministry.
What Canada Revenue Agency does
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is the federal institution responsible for administering tax laws, enforcing compliance, and delivering key benefit programs to individuals and businesses across Canada. Established in 1999 under the Canada Revenue Agency Act, the CRA collects the taxes that make up most federal revenues, and it administers benefits and credits paid to Canadians, including the Canada Child Benefit and the GST/HST credit.
Spending, 2023-24
Net spending, 2023-24
$16.8B
spent by Canada Revenue Agency, less revenues it kept
Share, 2023-24
3.5%
of the net spending of every federal organization
How did Canada Revenue Agency spend its budget in 2023-24?
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, 2023-24
Transfer payments
Personnel
Professional and special services
Rentals
Transportation and communications
Repair and maintenance
Acquisition of machinery and equipment
Information
Other subsidies and payments
Utilities, materials and supplies
Internal revenues
$10.2B
$5.9B
$647M
$304M
$104M
$56.7M
$46.1M
$27.8M
$19M
$15.9M
-$492M
Total: $16.8B.
Spending by program, 2023-24
The same net spending by program, as GC InfoBase reports program actuals: $16.8B in all. Select a program for its history, plans and results.
$10.5B
$1.72B
$1.49B
$573M
$570M
$540M
$335M
$263M
$219M
$153M
$80.4M
$73.4M
$52.1M
$47.2M
$43.5M
$28.6M
$28.4M
$27.5M
$19.1M
$10.9M
$5.5M
$4.1M
Workforce, 2023-24
Full-time equivalents
55,234
the actual FTEs of its programs, as GC InfoBase reports them
Personnel spending
$5.9B
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, 2023-24
The grants, contributions and other transfers Canada Revenue Agency paid, program by program: $10.2B in all, against $10.2B for the transfer payments object above (the Public Accounts publish the two tables separately).
| Distribution of fuel charges (Canada Carbon Rebate) under section 165 of the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act and section 122.8 of the Income Tax ActPayments | Other transfer | $9,599,733,794 |
| Children's Special Allowance payments (Children's Special Allowance Act)Payments | Other transfer | $390,060,074 |
| Distribution of fuel charges (to farming businesses) under section 165 of the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act and section 127.42 of the Income Tax ActPayments | Other transfer | $131,522,662 |
| Distribution of fuel charges (to provinces and territories) under section 165 of the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing ActPayments | Other transfer | $51,362,365 |
| Community Volunteer Income Tax Program GrantPayments | Grant | $5,284,769 |
| 5 programs | $10,177,963,664 | |
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 | $65,260 | -$452,215 | $0 | $33,815,988 | $33,429,033 |
| 2023 | $513,478 | $74,268,621 | $0 | $51,318,310 | $126,100,409 |
| 2021 | $450,276 | $606,611 | $1,476 | $49,611,894 | $50,670,258 |
| 2020 | $450,276 | $606,611 | $1,476 | $49,611,894 | $50,670,258 |
| 2019 | $651,278 | $809,430 | $0 | $48,839,846 | $50,300,554 |
| 2018 | $889,069 | $414,684 | $0 | $48,022,876 | $49,326,629 |
| 2017 | $1,271,138 | $503,021 | $0 | $39,406,012 | $41,180,172 |
Canada Revenue Agency’s share of federal net spending
Each year is the organization that existed that year:
- Canada Revenue Agency, 2005-06 to 2025-26
- Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, 2002-03 to 2004-05
Sources
- Public Accounts of Canada 2024, 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.
