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

Why are
expenditures of $94.4 billion for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024 $6.2 billion higher than
expenditures of $88.2 billion for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2023?

This increase is mainly due to higher Old Age Security pension and Guaranteed
Income Supplement payments, partly offset by a decrease to the Canada Student
Financial Assistance Program.

Key Fact: Variance in Expenditures for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024 versus Expenditures
for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2023 (in millions of dollars)
Actual
Expenditures
Vote 1
Operating
Vote 5
Grants and
Contributions
Vote 10
Debt Write-off
Statutory
Items
Total
2023-24 $1,566.7 $9,823.6 $212.5 $82,840.6 $94,443.4
2022-23 $1,362.4 $10,079.9 $220.6 $76,489.3 $88,152.2
Variance $204.3 -$256.3 -$8.1 $6,351.3 $6,291.2
The 2023–24 actual expenditures of $94,443.4 million were $6,291.2 million higher than the 2022–23
actual expenditures of $88,152.2 million, mainly due to:
Statutory Items
 An increase of $6,351.3 million in statutory items related to:
 An increase of $6,671.4 million to the Old Age Security (OAS) program which includes
OAS pension, Guaranteed Income Supplement and Allowance payments, mainly due to a rise
in the average monthly benefit amount as a result of quarterly indexation and a net increase in
the number of beneficiaries.
 An increase of $257.5 million for the Benefit enhancement measures, which is explained by a
downward adjustment in 2023-24 of the funding from the Government of Canada to the
Employment Insurance (EI) Operating Account. As per the EI Act, the EI Operating Account
shall not bear any costs related to the EI-Emergency Response Benefit (ERB) program, which
provided a taxable benefit of $500 per week to eligible workers who lost their income due to
COVID-19 and ended on October 3, 2020. The majority of the funding from the Government of
Canada was received in 2020–21, and the credit is adjusted yearly to account for ongoing
activities such as integrity and collection activities and allowance calculations. The increase is
mainly attributed to an increase in the allowance for doubtful accounts which is offset by an
increase in the EI-ERB overpayments established in 2023-24 as result of post-payment
verification to identify payments made to ineligible recipients.
 An increase of $74.0 million to contributions to Employee Benefit Plans, which is explained by
an increase to personnel expenditures mainly related to compensation adjustments for new
collective agreements.
 An increase of $50.3 million for Service Delivery under the Department of Employment and
Social Development Act (DESDA) as each year, ESDC/Service Canada undertakes new
service delivery partnerships (SDP) on behalf of other government departments along with
winding down SDP that were put in place for a specific time frame. The increase is an
amalgamation of undertaking the new Canadian Dental Care Plan, as per a 2-year agreement
with Health Canada starting in 2023-24, as well as winding down pandemic-related
partnerships and the transfer of the Reaching Home program to the Office of Infrastructure of
Canada.
 An increase of $41.2 million for the Wager Earner Protection Program (WEPP), which is mainly
explained by the number of bankruptcies and the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act
(CCAA) proceedings. The number of WEPP payments has doubled from 2022-23 to 2023-24,
which can be explained by a 50% rise in the number of bankruptcies and receiverships. The
number of applications received and paid has returned to pre-pandemic levels. Finally,
payments to trustees and receivers also substantially rose in 2023-24, likely due to the
payment scheme introduced as part of the most recent regulatory amendments package.
 An increase of $39.1 million for Canada Disability Savings Grants and Bonds is mainly
attributable to a $31.0 million (7%) rise in Canada Disability Savings Grant payments, driven by
an increase in the number of Registered Disability Savings Plans (RDSPs). Additionally,
Canada Disability Savings Bond payments increased by $8.1 million (5%). These increases
reflect the opening of approximately 22,000 new RDSPs in the 2023 calendar year compared
to the previous year.
 An increase of $25.0 million for Canada Education Savings Grants which is mainly attributable
to an increase in contributions made by families in Registered Education Savings Plans
(RESPs).
 An increase of $19.4 million for the Canada Learning Bond mostly explained by the number of
new and existing Canada Learning Bond beneficiaries gradually returning to pre-pandemic
levels.
 These increases are offset by decreases to the following programs:
 A decrease of $513.5 million for Canada Student Financial Assistance Program and Canada
Apprentice Loans which is mainly due to the end of the temporary measure of doubling the
Canada Student grants (July 31, 2023); partially offset by the temporary 40% increase to the
grant amounts compared to pre-pandemic levels.
 A decrease of $299.2 million attributable to the sunsetting of four pandemic support measures
benefits: the Canada Recovery Benefit, the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit, the Canada
Recovery Caregiving Benefit and the Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit, which is mainly
attributable to the winding-down of the benefits payments following the end of the support
measures put in place in response to COVID-19 and to adjustments related to ongoing
activities such as integrity and collection activities.
 A net decrease of $10.1 million for the Federal Workers’ Compensation which is mostly
explained by the unpredictability of employees injured or ill in the course of their employment. It
is difficult to foresee the volume and cost of Government Employees Compensation Act
(GECA) claims from one fiscal year to the next. The decrease is attributable to the Federal
Workers Compensation Service (FWCS) commitment to financial stewardship and to the
ongoing work to process unmatched claims, even in an environment of reduced capacity within
FWCS;
 A decrease of $3.8 million for other items.
Vote 1 – Operating Expenditures
A net increase of $204.3 million in operating expenditures (Vote 1) is primarily due to compensation
adjustments, including retroactive pay, for new collective agreements and increased investments to
modernize information technology infrastructure supporting benefit delivery.
Vote 5 – Grants and Contributions
Voted grants and contributions expenditures (Vote 5) are $256.3 million lower than actual
expenditures for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2023. The decrease in spending is mainly
attributable to the One-Time Payment for Guaranteed Income Supplement Recipients who received
pandemic benefits which was mostly issued in 2022-23, and the sunsetting of temporary funding for
programs such as the Community Services Recovery Fund, the Black-Led Philanthropic Endowment
Fund and Youth Employment and Skills Strategy. These decreases are partially offset by increases to
payments to provinces and territories to support Early Learning and Child Care and to the Sectoral
Workforce Solutions Program.
Vote 10 – Debt Write-Off
A decrease of $8.1 million related to Canada Student Loans and Canada Apprenticeship Loans write?offs. The decrease in 2023–24 is due to two factors: 1) the Government of Canada implemented a
temporary freeze on the accrual of student loan interest which became permanent on April 1, 2023. As
a result, no new interest accrued on loans during this period and accounts sent for write-off therefore
had a lower value than if interest had accrued on them and 2) an increase in collection efforts and the
reinstatement of the set offs resulted in increased recovery of debts in collections.

In Volume II of the Public Accounts of Canada 2024, Employment and Social
Development reports budgetary expenditures of $94.4 billion, which is
$6.2 billion higher than budgetary expenditures of $88.2 billion for the fiscal year
ending March 31, 2023.