Question Period Note: PUBLIC ACCOUNTS OF CANADA 2025 FOR EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT CANADA

Why
is there a lapse of $132.4 million for Employment and Social Development Canada for
the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025?

The actual expenditures of $98.9 billion were $132.4 million lower than the
total authorities of $99.0 billion. The lapse is relatively small and represents less than 0.2% of the total authorities.
 Part of the $132.4 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, 2025 (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 $1,463.4 $10,240.8 $0 $87,335.8 $99,040.0
Expenditures $1,455.7 $10,117.4 $0 $87,334.5 $98,907.6
Lapse $7.7 $123.4 $0 $1.3 $132.4
For the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025, the actual expenditures of $98,907.6 million were
$132.4 million lower than the total authorities of $99,040.0 million. This is due to the following:
 A lapse of $123.4 million in voted grants and contributions (Vote 5), due to unspent funds for
the following programs:
 Canada Emergency Response Benefit ($42.0 million) lapse is due to overestimated
planned spending for this temporary measure, as the grant authority was established for
the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) in 2021. Although the application
deadline for CERB was September 30, 2020, there remained outstanding claims where
recipients have either requested a review of eligibility, or a review of client identity
credentials to ensure payments were not made erroneously. Integrity-focused work,
performed by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), is scheduled to be completed by the
end of 2025-26.
 Enabling Fund for Official Language Minority Community ($29.9 million) lapse is mostly
due to the rigorous, longer than anticipated engagement and consultation process with
Official Language Minority Community (OLMC) stakeholders and provinces and
territories (PT) to ensure that Employment Assistance Services projects with OLMC
organizations complement PT investments and can be integrated into their broader skills
and employment delivery systems. A request is in process to reprofile $10.0 million of
the lapsed funds into future years.
 Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care Transformation Initiative ($16.6 million) lapse
is explained by an approved reprofile to 2025-26 to ensure that all Indigenous
governments receive their set allocations of 2024-25 funding under the Indigenous Early
Learning and Child Care Transformation Initiative, which respects previous Budget
commitments. In order to implement Indigenous partners direction as to their preferred
funding mechanism, these funds were transferred to the Department of Crown

Indigenous and Northern Affairs and the Department of Indigenous Services for 2025-
26.
 Canadian Apprenticeship Strategy ($15.9 million) lapse is mainly attributable to lower?than-expected uptake of the Apprenticeship Grants
 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.
 Opportunities Fund for Persons with Disabilities ($6.3 million) lapse is primarily
attributable to the capacity issues of recipient organizations for the Opportunities Fund to
scale up quickly to deliver new and enhanced services. These unspent funds from 2024-
2025 will be reprofiled to 2026-2027.
 Other lapses totalling $3.4 million for the Canada Emergency Student Benefit ($2.0 million),
the Skills and Partnership Fund ($0.7 million), the National School Food Program
($0.5 million), Early Learning Child Care Data and Research ($0.1 million) and Student Work
Placement Program ($0.1 million)
 A net operating lapse (Vote 1) of $7.7 million is mainly related to funds that were frozen to
fund reductions or transfers to other organizations.
 A lapse of 1.3 million is due to other statutory items.

In Volume II of the Public Accounts of Canada 2025, Employment and
Social Development reported budgetary expenditures of $98.9 billion,
which is $132.4 million lower than the total authorized votes of $99.0 billion