Canada

The budget process for Canadian ODA takes place within the fiscal year of the Federal Government, running from April 1^st to March 31^st each year.  The government presents an annual Budget to parliament in either February or March, depending on the government’s legislative timetable.  The date of the Budget is often announced only a week to ten days prior to delivery.  Budget documents are available online as soon as the Minister of Finance begins his address in parliament.

Following the presentation of the Budget to parliament, the government tables Part III Plans and Priorities, usually at the end of March or early April, or at the first opportunity that parliament is sitting following the beginning of the fiscal year.  These are departmental documents that provide programmatic information on the plans for that department for the coming fiscal year, based on the Budget.  The main departments responsible for ODA – CIDA, Foreign Affairs and Finance – each publish Plans and Priorities.  The Plans and Priorities have limited budgetary information, with the level of detail different in each departmental report.

The government has the opportunity three times a year (May/June, October/November, and February/March) to table in parliament Supplementary Estimates.  These Estimates set out additional spending that parliament is asked to authorize for each department, including those responsible for ODA.  While not exclusively so, CIDA’s Supplementary Estimates often relate to unforeseen humanitarian assistance.  Supplementary Estimates are additional to the budgeted IAE in the Budget document for that year.

Principal Development Agency

CIDA is Canada’s dedicated official aid institution, and this agency provides more than 75% of Canadian ODA.  It has its own Minister within Cabinet, but this Minister also reports to the Minister for Foreign Affairs.  CIDA coordinates government compliance with the ODA Accountability Act with all ODA-relevant Departments and it also prepares Canada’s reports to the DAC and the annual Statistical Report on International Assistance.  The Ministry of Finance is responsible for Canada’s relations with the IMF and the World Bank, while CIDA manages the relationships with the Regional Development Banks.  The Department of Foreign Affairs is responsible for Canada’s mandatory commitments to the UN system and provides ODA under its peace and security divisions (depending on the purposes and countries involved with this assistance).

Other departments / ministries

The Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Finance and the International Development Research Center between them account for approximately 20% of the ODA in the Canadian Government’s budget.

Smaller contributions (approximately 1% of ODA each) come from the Department of National Defense, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Provinces/Municipalities.

Some very minor contributions, together totaling approximately 1% of Canadian ODA, come from a number of other departments including Health Canada, Environment Canada, Industry Canada, Parks Canada, and Human Resources Canada

Bilateral debt cancellation is a non-budgetary allocation managed by the Department of Finance, which reports the total amount of cancelled debt as ODA in the year that agreement is reached with that country through the HIPC Initiative.

The Budget has an overview table with budgeted allocations for the government’s major programs, which includes an International Assistance Envelope (IAE).   Based on the figure for the IAE it is possible to calculate an estimate for ODA for the coming year (and sometimes for three forward years, depending on the details in a given Budget).

It is important to note that the IAE includes budgetary allocations not only for ODA, but also other expenditures for international assistance that do not count as ODA (for example Cdn$100 million for Canada’s contribution to the G7 agreement to support decommissioning of former Soviet Union nuclear arms).

Federal Budget: www.fin.gc.ca/access/budinfo-eng.asp

The annual Budget document provides basic information on the International Assistance Envelope and forward estimates of Canadian Gross National Product.  CCIC and other analysts are able to use this basic information to approximate the Canadian ODA/GNI performance ratios for the coming year (and if there is sufficient information for up to three years).  The Budget may also provide basic financial information on key new government initiatives in international assistance.

Part II, Main Estimates: http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/est-pre/index-eng.asp

The Part II Estimates for the next fiscal year are usually tabled in parliament a few weeks prior to the Budget speech.  They provide some specific departmental estimates for spending for the following year, but do not take account of any special announcements in the Budget speech.  There are no references to the International Assistance Envelope in the Part II Estimates.  The financial information for CIDA in these Estimates (and other related Estimates and Performance Reports) is often set out in a way that is not consistent from one year to the next, but rather reflects government priorities.

Part III Estimates, Plans and Priorities: All Departments Plans and Priorities are available on the Treasury Board Web Site at http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/est-pre/index-eng.asp and for CIDA only at CIDA’s Web Site at http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/acdi-cida/ACDI-CIDA.nsf/eng/JUD-12214478-DH6. These documents provide programmatic information on the plans and priorities for each Department.   For the major Departments responsible for ODA, it is possible to get an overview of major priorities for ODA (particularly through CIDA) from these Estimates.  However, there is no accounting for ODA per se, or even for the International Assistance Envelope.  Individual sections of CIDA’s Part IIIs give programmatic examples and highlights of intended spending.  Other departments responsible for ODA (Finance and Foreign Affairs) make no reference to aid, but with some background on what to look for, it is possible to discern ODA aspects of their plans.

Supplementary Estimates: http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/est-pre/index-eng.asp

The government tables Supplementary Estimates three times each fiscal year – in May/June, in October/November and in February/March.  These documents set out additional spending for each Department that parliament is requested to authorize.  Supplementary Estimates can increase ODA expenditures in any given fiscal year.

Statistical Report on International Assistance:Statistical Reports are available on CIDA’s web site at http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/acdi-cida/acdi-cida.nsf/eng/JUD-4128122-G4W The annual Statistical Report,prepared annually by CIDA,is the definitive accounting for Canadian international assistance and ODA.  It is published 12 months after the close of the relevant fiscal year.  This Report is essential for any accurate and detailed analysis of Canadian ODA, based on Canada’s fiscal year and in Canadian dollars.  It has various tables organized by sector (using DAC sector codes), countries, departments and delivery channel etc. and allows for comparisons with prior years.  While the Report captures all international assistance, the tables distinguish between ODA, non-ODA and ODA covered by the ODA Accountability Act.  Since 2007/08, CIDA no longer publishes an ODA/GNI ratio based on Canada’s fiscal year and relies exclusively on the DAC calendar year ratio.

Report to Parliament on Canada’s Official Development Assistance:This Report to Parliament can be found on CIDA’s web site at http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/acdi-cida/ACDI-CIDA.nsf/eng/JUD-12214478-DH6.  The ODA Accountability Act requires an annual Report on the implementation of the ODA Accountability Act to be tabled in parliament no later than six months after the close of the relevant fiscal year.  While so far the Reports are very descriptive and provide little rationale against the three tests of the Act, they do provide some early and incomplete indicators of aid spending in the previous year.  However this financial information for the most part has not followed a standard format, making year-over-year comparison difficult for each Department involved on Canadian ODA disbursements.

Departmental Performance Report: The Departmental Performance Reports are available on the Treasury Board web site at http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/est-pre/index-eng.asp.   CIDA’s Performance Report is also accessible on CIDA’s site at http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/acdi-cida/ACDI-CIDA.nsf/eng/JUD-12214478-DH6. The Performance Reports are usually tabled before parliament in October/November.  These are Departmental Reports and do not provide comprehensive information on ODA per se.  But the CIDA Reports on “results” clearly covers a substantial portion of Canadian ODA.  Most of the Report is narrative description, highlighting examples from government priorities, with some, but incomplete financial information (with a format that often differs from year to year).

Canadian ODA Accountability Act: http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/O.html

The 2008 ODA Accountability Act for the first time establishes a legislated purpose for Canadian ODA.  It directs the relevant minister of government, in considering a disbursement for Official Development Assistance, to be “of the opinion” that this disbursement meets three tests set out in Section 4[1]: 1)  “contributes to poverty reduction; 2) takes into account the perspectives of the poor; and 3) is consistent with international human rights standards.”  The government is obliged to report each year on its implementation of this Act and the annual Statistical Report identifies ODA according to the Act.  Since the Act is Federal and some aspects of ODA reported to the DAC are provincial responsibilities, there are small differences between what is reported to the DAC and the Statistical Report.

Canada at the IMF and World Bank, Department of Finance Report to Parliament: http://www.fin.gc.ca/purl/bretwd-eng.asp.  The Department of Finance manages Canadian ODA that is channeled through the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.  The Department is required to prepare an annual report to Parliament on Canada’s policies and activities at the IMF and the World Bank.  This report provides a good overview of Canada’s voting record at the Bank and the Fund, important issues for Canada in its engagement at the Bank and the Fund, and Canada’s financial contributions, including to World Bank Trust Funds (not all of which is ODA).  The largest contribution is of the International Development Association (IDA) window.

CIDA Project Browser: http://les.acdi-cida.gc.ca/project-browser CIDA maintains a database on individual projects, which can  be searched by country, region, sector, project number, and status (ongoing or closed).  Information for each project included total budget allocated, time period for implementing the project, the executing agency or partner, sector coding (DAC sector codes), and a brief description.  However, the Browser does not provide disbursement information by fiscal year and cannot be manipulated to allow the user to automatically create sub-totals for countries, regions and/or sectors.