Question Period Note: 2022-23 Public Accounts

The Public Accounts of Canada for the year ended March 31, 2023, were tabled in Parliament by the President of the Treasury Board on October 24, 2023.

• Within Canadian Heritage’s Public Accounts, financial information specific to my official language’s portfolio is presented.
• The Department disbursed $602.3 million in transfer payments in 2022-23 under the core responsibility of Official Languages, an increase of $131.6 million compared to the previous fiscal year. This increase is largely explained by an increase of $88.1 million made available among unused authorities from the previous fiscal year and by the increase in funding available as part of the Budget 2021 investment to support the second language learning, high-quality post-secondary education in the minority language and the construction, renovation and expansion of educational and community spaces serving official language minority communities.

Authorities Used and Lapses (Volume II – Details of Expenses and Revenues)
(in millions of $) Authorities available for use Authorities Used Variance
Authorities Used in Previous Year
Operating 22.8 23.4 (0.6) 20.9
Transfer Payments 644.4 602.3 42.1 470.7
Total 667.2 625.7 41.5 491.6
Transfer payments by recipients will be disclosed in the public accounts but here is table that presents transfer payments totals by Official Languages components (Volume III – Details of transfer payments):
(in million of $) Authorities Used Authorities Used in Previous Year Variance
Grants in support of the Development of Official-Language Communities Program 20.5 18.1 2.4
Grants in support of the Enhancement of Official Languages Program 1.8 1.5 0.4
Contributions in support of the Development of Official-Language Communities Program 359.0 315.8 43.2
Contributions in support of the Enhancement of Official Languages Program 220.9 135.4 85.5
Total 602.3 470.7 131.7
• Grants and contributions: The Department spent $602.3 million in 2022-23 under the Official Languages core responsibility compared to $470.7 million in 2021-22, which represents an increase of $131.6 million or 28%. This increase is explained by more funding made available in 2022-23 due to the 88.1 million reprofile from 2021-22 and more funding available from the Budget 2021 investment to support second-language learning, high-quality postsecondary minority language education and to the construction, renovation and expansion of educational and community spaces that serve official language minority communities.
• The lapse under the Official Languages portfolio is $42.1 million and is explained in part by restrictions imposed to contain the spread of COVID-19 which caused significant disruptions and delays in the delivery, and in part by late approval of funding reprofiles in the year resulting in less time for establishing contribution agreements with some provinces and territories.
Unfortunately, the Department will not have access to these funds although the department explored mechanisms to make them available in future years. The Department will not have access to these funds in future years although the department explored mechanisms to make them available in future years. In the current context of fiscal restraint, reprofile requests were denied.
Minister’s Office Expenses (Volume III: Additional Information and Analyses)
• The previous Minister of Official Languages reported expenses totaling $1,081,334 for 2022-23 compared to $298,019 in 2021-22. The $783,315 increase is mainly explained by the Minister office being created on October 26, 2021; therefore 2021-22 spending is only for a partial year. The 2022-23 spending is primarily for salaries as well as $95,021 for transport and communication which primarily contains travel expenses.
• Expenses for your office as Minister of Official Languages will be reported in the 2023-24 Public Accounts.

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