Question Period Note: Tabling of the Main Estimates for the Department of Employment and Social Development for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2027

What are the financial highlights for the Department of Employment and Social Development’s Main Estimates for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2027?

• For the fiscal year ending March 31, 2027, planned budgetary expenditures for the Department of Employment and Social Development are totalling $110.2 billion.
• Almost 98% of planned budgetary expenditures will benefit Canadians through voted and statutory transfer payment programs.
• This represents a net increase of approximately $4.4 billion — or approximately 4% — over the Main Estimates of $105.7 billion for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026.
• The increase is primarily attributable to:
o a $3.4 billion increase in Old Age Security (OAS) Program statutory forecasts, mainly due to the increasing population of seniors and the indexation of benefits; and
o a $0.9 billion increase in voted grants and contributions, primarily for Early Learning and Child Care payment transfers to provinces and territoires.

Table: Variance planned budgetary expenditures for the year ending March 31, 2027 compared to the year ending March 31, 2026 (in millions of dollars)
Main Estimates by fiscal year Vote 1 Operating Vote 5
Grants and Contributions Vote 10
Debt Write off Statutory Items Total
2026 27 Main Estimates 1,111.8 12,513.1 0.0 96,553.3 110,178.2
2025-26 Main Estimates 1,299.7 11,647.0 197.3 92,589.4 105,733.4
Increase / (Decrease) (187.9) 866.1 (197.3) 3,963.9 4,444.8
Approximately $110,178.2 million in total budgetary funding for the Department of Employment and Social Development is anticipated through the 2026-27 Main Estimates ($13,624.9 million in voted appropriations and $96,553.3 million in planned statutory spending).
Almost 98% of planned budgetary expenditures will benefit Canadians through voted and statutory transfer payment programs, including the Old Age Security (OAS) program, the Canada Student Financial Assistance Program and Canada Apprentice Loans, the Canada Education Savings Program, the Canada Disability Savings Program, the Canada Disability Benefit, the Early Learning and Child Care Program, and Workforce Development Agreements.
Employment Insurance and Canada Pension Plan benefits and related administrative costs are not included in the Estimates but are reflected in the Departmental Plan.
Overall, the Department of Employment and Social Development’s total budgetary authorities for the year ending March 31, 2027 show a net increase of $4,444.8 million, or approximately 4% from the previous year’s total Main Estimates of $105,733.4 million.
This increase is primarily attributable to the following items:
• An increase of $3,356.0 million to the OAS program planned spending, including Guaranteed Income Supplement and Allowance payments, mainly explained by the increasing population of seniors and projected increases to average monthly benefit amounts paid resulting from the indexation of benefits.
• Voted grants and contributions (Vote 5) are expected to reach $12,513.10 million by March 31, 2027, an increase of $866.1 million from the Main Estimates for the year ending March 31, 2026, mainly attributable to investments to Early Learning and Child Care and to the Youth Employment Skills Strategy, including the Canada Summer Jobs program.
• An increase of $350.0 million to the Canada Disability Benefit planned spending. This program started in July 2025 and provides a payment of up to $200 per recipient per month for persons with disabilities that are in the lowest income thresholds.
• An increase of $188.0 million to the Canada Student Financial Assistance Program and Canada Apprentice Loans, mainly due to extending for an additional year the Budget 2024 measure increasing Canada Student Grants by 40% above pre-pandemic levels until July 31, 2026.
• An increase of $122.2 million to Canada Disability Savings Grants and Bond is due to forecast adjustments reflecting actual expenditure trends.
• An increase of $12.9 million for other items.
These increases are offset by the following decreases:
• A decrease of $197.3 million for write-off of unrecoverable Canada Student Loans and Canada Apprentice Loans (Vote 10). This amount was originally intended to be included in the final Estimates of the year ending March 31, 2025 however, due to the prorogation of Parliament at the beginning of 2025, it was exceptionally included in the Main Estimates for the year ending March 31, 2026.
• The Department plans to spend $1,111.8 million in net operating expenditures (Vote 1) in the year ending March 31, 2027, representing a decrease of $187.9 million from previous year’s total Main Estimates of $1,299.7 million. The decrease is mainly attributable to savings achieved through the modernization of government operations, the streamlining of program delivery and the sunsetting of investments to modernize information technology infrastructure supporting benefit delivery related to the onboarding of OAS.
• A decrease of $65.2 million attributable to the sunsetting of statutory pandemic-related benefit administration costs.
Regarding non-budgetary loans, there is a net increase in authorities of $528.2 million from the Main Estimates for the year ending March 31, 2026, mainly to reflect higher disbursements of Canada Student Loans, driven by increases in enrolment of eligible students, as well as the one-year extension of the increase to the weekly Canada Student Loan limit from $210 to $300 until July 31, 2026.

In Part II of Main Estimates for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2027, the Department of Employment and Social Development presents planned budgetary expenditures of $110.2 billion, which is $4.5 billion higher than the planned budgetary expenditures of $105.7 billion for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026.