Question Period Note: Public Accounts of Canada 2022

Public Accounts of Canada 2022

• The Government of Canada takes the management of all public funds and assets very seriously.
• Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions spent 443.8 million dollars out of a total budget of $549.3 million dollars.
• A net carry-forward request for the balance of 105.5 million dollars from the budget was approved.
• Considering that no balance was returned to the Treasury Board, Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions performed well in 2021-22.

The total amount of 105.5 million dollars unused by CED for fiscal year 2021-22 includes:

• 1.2 million dollars, or 2.4% of the operating budget;
• 104.3 million dollars or 21.1% of the grants and contributions budget.

The unspent sum of 104.3 million dollars resulted from labour shortages and supply chain delays in 2021-22. These have slowed down the various projects of businesses and non-profit organizations.

*Totals may not match due to rounding.

The Public Accounts of Canada 2022, which contain the consolidated financial statements of the Government of Canada (refer to Section 2 of Volume I), were tabled in the House of Commons on October 27, 2022.

How it Works

• Departments are authorized to carry forward eligible funds from one year to the next up to 5% of the operating budget contained in the Main Estimates. Unspent CED funding of $1.2M will be carried forward to fiscal year 2022-23. Additional technical adjustments amounting to an additional $0.4M are added to the $1.2M for a total authorized carry forward of $1.6M. These are costs incurred by the department, such as parental leave allowances and severance benefits.

Grants and Contributions

CED requested carry-overs of unused funds from 2021-22 to 2022-23 as follows:

• $42.5M for the Tourism Relief Fund (TRF)
• $34.3M for the Regional Air Transportation Initiative (RATI)
• $12.8M for the Canada Community Revitalization Fund (CCRF)
• $9.1M for funding for the development of regional economic infrastructure in Quebec (IDI)
• $8.5M for the Aerospace Regional Recovery Initiative (ARRI)
• $1.5M for funding the launch of the National Quantum Strategy
• -$4.4M from certain initiatives that are ahead of schedule

In 2021-22, CED did not write off any files. In 2020-21, CED written off 26 files valued at $2.5M.

The Public Accounts of Canada 2022 contain the consolidated financial statements of the Government of Canada. Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions (CED) demonstrates a very good use of public funds by not returning any funds to the Treasury Board.