Where do Canadian taxes go?
Canada · 2024–25 · CAD
Total federal expenses
+$25.9Bcompared with 2024
Offsets that reduce spending−$8.7B
These amounts are part of the total but cannot be drawn as positive boxes.
Positive categories $556.0B + offsets −$8.7B = net spending $547.3B. Small differences can result from source rounding.
Categories without positive spending1
About these numbers
FY2025 runs from April 1, 2024 to March 31, 2025. Amounts are nominal Canadian dollars, not adjusted for inflation. Federal expenses is funded by taxes, other receipts, and borrowing.
For this year: receipts $511.0B, spending $547.3B, budgetary deficit $36.3B.
All federal expenses: $547,299 million. Public Accounts of Canada Table 3.6, row 66. Checked 2026-10-07.
Canadian federal expenses in 2024–25
The Government of Canada reported $547.3B in expenses and $511.0B in revenues. Federal transfers, finance & debt was the largest category at $147.1B. These are actual consolidated results, not future spending plans.
About the data and sourcesPublic Accounts of Canada 2025
2024–25 federal expenses by category
This reference table shows the latest financial year. The explorer above updates to the selected year.
| Expense category | Share of total | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Federal transfers, finance & debt | 26.9% | $147.1B |
| Seniors, employment & disability | 23.8% | $130.3B |
| Child benefits, tax credits & revenue | 12.7% | $69.4B |
| Indigenous services & northern affairs | 7.2% | $39.3B |
| National defence | 6.6% | $36.0B |
| Public safety | 3.4% | $18.5B |
| Housing & infrastructure | 2.6% | $14.1B |
| Federal health programs | 2.6% | $14.1B |
| Innovation, science & industry | 2.2% | $11.9B |
| Public service workforce & oversight | 2.1% | $11.7B |
| Foreign affairs & international aid | 1.7% | $9.5B |
| Culture, heritage & equality | 1.3% | $7.4B |
| Immigration & refugees | 1.3% | $7.3B |
| Government property & procurement | 1.3% | $7.0B |
| Energy & natural resources | 1.2% | $6.7B |
| Transport | 1.1% | $6.0B |
| Net actuarial losses | 0.7% | $4.0B |
| Agriculture & food | 0.7% | $4.0B |
| Fisheries, oceans & Coast Guard | 0.7% | $3.7B |
| Environment & climate | 0.6% | $3.1B |
| Justice | 0.5% | $2.8B |
| Parliament | 0.2% | $954M |
| Veterans Affairs | 0.1% | $546M |
| Privy Council | 0.1% | $414M |
| Democratic Institutions | 0.1% | $304M |
| Office of the Governor General's Secretary | 0.0% | $29M |
| Regional economic development | 0.0% | $0M |
| Accounting provisions & adjustments | -1.6% | −$8.7B |
| Total federal expenses | 100% | $547.3B |
How to read this explorer
The hierarchy follows the ministerial portfolio presentation in the Public Accounts of Canada. This surfaces broad responsibilities such as income support, federal transfers, defence, Indigenous services, health, housing, and public safety. Open a portfolio to distinguish benefits and transfers from its operating expenses.
Portfolio expenses and expense types come from Public Accounts of Canada 2025, Table 3.6. Total expenses, revenue, and the official budgetary balance are checked against the Department of Finance Fiscal Reference Tables. Canada's financial year runs from 1 April to 31 March.
It covers the consolidated Government of Canada. Provincial, territorial, and municipal spending is outside its scope, although federal transfers to those governments are included. Portfolio names are normalized across years when government responsibilities were renamed or reorganized.
Amounts are nominal and rounded to the nearest $1 million. Blank source cells are treated as nil. Last checked: 2026-10-07.