Department of Finance Canada
What Department of Finance Canada spent in fiscal year 2025-26: 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, 2025-26
Net spending, 2025-26
$148B
spent by Department of Finance Canada, less revenues it kept
Share, 2025-26
30.9%
of the net spending of every federal organization
How did Department of Finance Canada spend its budget in 2025-26?
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, 2025-26
Transfer payments
Public debt charges
Other subsidies and payments
Personnel
Utilities, materials and supplies
Professional and special services
Transportation and communications
Rentals
Information
Acquisition of land, buildings and works
Acquisition of machinery and equipment
Repair and maintenance
$96.9B
$48.1B
$2.43B
$143M
$81.2M
$15.3M
$2.4M
$2.1M
$2M
$1.4M
$720K
$261K
Total: $148B.
Workforce, 2025-26
Personnel spending
$143M
salaries, wages and benefits (the personnel standard object)
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, 2025-26
The grants, contributions and other transfers Department of Finance Canada paid, program by program: $96.9B in all, against $96.9B 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 | $54,662,144,590 |
| Fiscal Equalization (Part I-Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act)Payments | Other transfer | $26,169,704,000 |
| Canada Social Transfer (Part V.1-Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act)Payments | Other transfer | $17,416,055,000 |
| Territorial Financing (Part I.1 - Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act)Payments | Other transfer | $5,488,889,341 |
| Payments to International Development Association (Bretton Woods and Related Agreements Act)Payments | Other transfer | $486,916,000 |
| Nonrecurring conditional transfer of Hibernia Net Profits Interest and Incidental Net Profits Interest to Newfoundland and LabradorPayments | Other transfer | $360,373,901 |
| Payment to Newfoundland and Labrador related to the Hibernia Dividend Backed Annuity Agreement (Section 200 - Budget Implementation Act, 2021, No. 1)Payments | Other transfer | $220,045,846 |
| Debt payments on behalf of poor countries to International Organizations pursuant to section 18(1) of the Economic Recovery ActPayments | Other transfer | $83,630,639 |
| Statutory Subsidies (Constitution Acts, 1867 to 1982, and other statutory authorities)Payments | Other transfer | $44,926,620 |
| Payments to the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Development Association for the G7 initiative on Crisis-Resilient Financing and Debt Transparency (Bretton Woods and Related Agreements Act, subsection 8(1))Payments | Other transfer | $5,000,000 |
| Payments to Provinces for Assistance with Sales Tax Harmonization (Part III.1 - Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act)Payments | Other transfer | $4,993,904 |
| Contribution for made-in-Canada sustainable investment guidelinesPayments | Contribution | $631,609 |
| Payments of any amount that is required for the purpose of providing financial assistance, pursuant to section 8.3 of the Bretton Woods and Related Agreements ActPayments | Other transfer | $27,991 |
| Contribution - Indigenous Participant Funding ProgramPayments | Contribution | $25,000 |
| Youth Allowances Recovery (Federal-Provincial Fiscal Revision Act, 1964)Payments | Other transfer | -$1,450,352,400 |
| 16 programs | $96,923,479,041 | |
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 2026, Volume II: Ministerial expenditures by standard object (Table 3)
- Public Accounts of Canada, Volume II: Transfer payments (multi-year open data)
- 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.
