Veterans Affairs Canada
What Veterans Affairs Canada spent in fiscal year 2024-25: its net expenditure by standard object, from the Public Accounts of Canada, Volume II.
Reports through Veterans Affairs; the overview shows it in that ministry.
What Veterans Affairs Canada does
Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) is the federal department responsible for supporting Canadian veterans, still-serving members of the Canadian Armed Forces, and their families. It delivers financial benefits, health care and rehabilitation services, and recognition programs, and it leads the national remembrance initiatives that preserve Canada's military history.
Spending, 2024-25
Net spending, 2024-25
$7.63B
spent by Veterans Affairs Canada, less revenues it kept
Share, 2024-25
1.6%
of the net spending of every federal organization
How did Veterans Affairs Canada spend its budget in 2024-25?
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, 2024-25
Transfer payments
Professional and special services
Other subsidies and payments
Utilities, materials and supplies
Personnel
Transportation and communications
Rentals
Information
Repair and maintenance
Acquisition of land, buildings and works
Acquisition of machinery and equipment
$5.58B
$707M
$447M
$414M
$400M
$41.6M
$26.5M
$5.9M
$4M
$2.9M
$1.7M
Total: $7.63B.
Spending by program, 2024-25
The same net spending by program, as GC InfoBase reports program actuals: $7.63B in all. Select a program for its history, plans and results.
$4.19B
$1.45B
$909M
$405M
$234M
$172M
$51.8M
$47.5M
$30.5M
$26.4M
$22.9M
$19.8M
$17M
$14.2M
$9.7M
$6M
$5.3M
$4.6M
$3.4M
$2.6M
$2.5M
$1.8M
$1.2M
Workforce, 2024-25
Full-time equivalents
3,771
the actual FTEs of its programs, as GC InfoBase reports them
Personnel spending
$400M
salaries, wages and benefits (the personnel standard object)
Personnel spending per FTE
$106K
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, 2024-25
The grants, contributions and other transfers Veterans Affairs Canada paid, program by program: $5.58B in all, against $5.58B for the transfer payments object above (the Public Accounts publish the two tables separately).
| Pain and Suffering CompensationPayments | Grant | $2,305,747,176 |
| Income Replacement BenefitPayments | Grant | $1,433,906,543 |
| Pensions for disability and death, including pensions granted under the authority of the Civilian Government Employees (War) Compensation Order, P.C. 45/8848 of November 22, 1944, which shall be subject to the Pension Act; for former prisoners of war under the Pension Act, and Newfoundland special awardsPayments | Grant | $992,936,662 |
| Additional Pain and Suffering CompensationPayments | Grant | $327,196,477 |
| Housekeeping and Grounds MaintenancePayments | Grant | $318,962,874 |
| Contributions to Veterans, under the Veterans Independence Program, to assist in defraying costs of extended health care not covered by provincial health programsPayments | Contribution | $71,707,616 |
| Education and Training BenefitPayments | Grant | $28,940,536 |
| Caregiver Recognition BenefitPayments | Grant | $27,767,018 |
| Commonwealth War Graves CommissionPayments | Grant | $12,858,930 |
| Contributions under the Commemorative Partnerships Program, to organizations, institutions and other levels of government, in support of projects related to the health and well-being of the veteran population, and commemoration activities and eventsPayments | Contribution | $12,213,527 |
| Centre of Excellence on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and other related mental health conditionsPayments | Contribution | $9,134,525 |
| Contribution for Research Funding ProgramPayments | Contribution | $7,141,355 |
| Last Post FundPayments | Grant | $5,927,212 |
| Grant for Research Funding ProgramPayments | Grant | $4,290,714 |
| Earnings Loss and Supplementary Retirement BenefitPayments | Grant | $4,119,779 |
| 31 programs | $5,579,881,064 | |
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 | $408,458 | $372,501 | $25,062 | $873,598 | $1,679,619 |
| 2024 | $477,982 | $702,259 | $0 | $1,051,841 | $2,232,082 |
| 2023 | $660,210 | $644,073 | $8,080 | $982,713 | $2,295,076 |
| 2022 | $599,083 | $695,297 | $0 | $765,002 | $2,059,381 |
| 2021 | $724,579 | $773,986 | $0 | $1,310,718 | $2,809,283 |
| 2020 | $649,254 | $508,252 | $0 | $925,649 | $2,083,155 |
| 2019 | $878,517 | $900,420 | $0 | $1,192,737 | $2,971,674 |
| 2018 | $756,797 | $593,648 | $0 | $1,059,781 | $2,410,226 |
| 2017 | $627,243 | $550,931 | $0 | $850,980 | $2,029,155 |
Veterans Affairs Canada’s share of federal net spending
Other organizations in Veterans Affairs
Sources
- Public Accounts of Canada 2025, 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.
