Question Period Note: PUBLIC ACCOUNTS OF CANADA 2024 FOR EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT CANADA

Why is there a lapse of $421.5 million for Employment and Social Development Canada for
the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024?

The actual expenditures of $94.5 billion were $421.5 million lower than the
total authorities of $94.9 billion. The lapse is small as it represents less
than 0.5 percent of the total authorities.
 Part of the $421.5 million lapse will be carried forward into future years to
ensure the department is able to meet its commitments.

Table: Final authorities, Expenditures and Lapse by authority type for the fiscal year ending
March 31, 2024 (in millions of dollars)
Final Authorities,
Expenditures and
Lapse (in millions
of dollars)
Vote 1
Operating
Vote 5
Grants and
Contributions
Vote 10
Debt Write?off
Statutory Items Total
Final authorities $1,685.8 $10,121.9 $215.5 $82,841.7 $94,864.9
Expenditures $1,566.7 $9,823.6 $212.5 $82,840.6 $94,443.4
Lapse $119.1 $298.3 $3.0 $1.1 $421.5
For the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024, the actual expenditures of $94,443.4 million were
$421.5 million lower than the total authorities of $94,864.9 million. This is due to the following:
 A lapse of $298.3 million in voted grants and contributions (Vote 5), due to unspent funds for
the following programs:
 Canadian Apprenticeship Strategy ($149.5 million) lapse is mainly attributable to lower?than-expected uptake of Apprenticeship Service and Apprenticeship Grants financial
incentives, as well as delays in implementing a number of new projects; resulting in
recipients not being able to spend the funds in 2023-24.

 Canada Emergency Response Benefit ($39.3 million) lapse is due to overestimated
planned spending for this measure, as the grant authority was established for the
Canada Emergency Response Benefit after December 31, 2020;
 Community Workforce Development Program ($24.3 million) lapse is due to delays in
implementation of projects and the 2022 Fall Economic Statement (FES) funding. From
this lapse, $19.0 million of the FES investments is being sought for reprofile to future
years;
 Canada Service Corps ($23.5 million) lapse is due to new projects starting later than
anticipated, leaving less time for activities to take place, resulting in lower spending than
planned;
 Skills for Success (including Women’s Employment Readiness Pilot Program)
($18.7 million) lapse is attributable to the unsuccessful negotiations for a Skills for
Success contribution agreement with the province of Quebec.
 Opportunities Fund for Persons with Disabilities ($12.1 million) lapse is mostly
attributable to a sharp budget increase from $72.5 million in 2022-2023 to $98.6 million
in 2023-2024, and a lower than anticipated capacity of third-party organizations to
quickly scale up the delivery of projects that are funded by the Opportunities Fund.
Lapsed funds are being sought for reprofile from 2023-2024 to 2025-2026 and 2026-
2027.
 Canadian Benefit for Parents of Young Victims of Crime ($9.3 million) lapse is due to
fewer applications being received than forecasted at the grant's initiation. Changes to the
program were made in the Fall 2018 and Spring 2023 to enhance the grant by
expanding eligibility criteria, increasing flexibility, and enhancing financial support for
eligible working parents by raising the grant amount. It is expected that, over time, these
changes will have a modest but important impact on uptake of the grant;
 Enabling Fund for Official Language Minority Community ($6.0 million) lapse is mostly
related to an increase in new funding to put in place an Employment Assistance
Services Stream. Extensive engagement was done with official language minority
community (OLMC) stakeholders and Provinces and Territories prior to launching an
intake process. In order to meet commitments made in the Action Plan for Official
Languages 2023-2028, the Department is seeking opportunities to reprofile lapsed funds
into future years when OLMC organizations are expected to absorb them in their
projects;
 Youth Employment and Skills Strategy ($5.2 million) lapse is due to delays in program
implementation due to compressed timelines required to develop investment strategies,
seek approvals and negotiate and set-up contribution agreements; and
 Early Learning and Child Care – Innovation and Data and Research ($4.8 million) lapse
is mainly attributable to inconclusive negotiations with the Government of Quebec for
Innovation.
 Other lapses totalling $5.6 million for the Canada Emergency Student Benefit ($1.9 million),
the Foreign Credential Recognition Program ($1.9 million), the Indigenous Skills and
Employment Training program ($0.8 million), the Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care
Transformation Initiative ($0.6 million) and the Temporary Foreign Worker Program – Migrant
Worker Support Program ($0.4 million).
 A net operating lapse (Vote 1) of $119.1 million is mostly related to lapsed investments to
modernize information technology infrastructure supporting benefit delivery, which will be
carried forward to the next exercise.
 A lapse of $3.0 million in Vote 10 related to Canada Student Loans and Canada Apprentice
Loans write-offs, which is related to changes in the status of the account between when it was
recommended for write-off and when it was actually approved. As such, the final write-off
amount is always expected to be lower than the recommended amount.
 A lapse of 1.1 million due to other statutory items.

In Volume II of the Public Accounts of Canada 2024, Employment and
Social Development reported budgetary expenditures of $94.5 billion,
which is $421.5 million lower than the total authorized votes of $94.9 billion.