The Department of Finance Canada’s 2024-25 Departmental Results Report

In 2024–25, the Department worked to achieve sound fiscal management, focusing on three departmental results:

• Canada's public finances are sound, sustainable and inclusive.
• Canada has a fair and competitive tax system.
• The Government of Canada's borrowing requirements are met at a low and stable cost to support effective management of the federal debt on behalf of Canadians.

Results achieved:

Throughout 2024-25, the Department provided advice consistent with ensuring that Canada's federal debt-to-gross-domestic-product ratio was stable over the medium term and the general government net-debt-to-gross-domestic-product ratio was low compared to G7 countries. Work also progressed on the development of the federal budget, including a clear Gender Statement assessing federal budget measures from a gender perspective. In this context, the Department:

• Supported the government's responsible management of the federal budget and federal debt by providing analysis and advice consistent with preserving Canada's low-debt advantage.
• Supported the implementation of targeted investments to improve the quality of life of Canadians by building a stronger, greener and more resilient and sustainable society.
• Managed the government's debt program in order to maintain well-functioning markets for Government of Canada securities.
• Continued to efficiently manage Canada's currency system and foreign reserves.
• Implemented Canada's updated Green Bond Framework, including issuing a green bond and exploring the development of a sustainable bond framework that could permit the issuance of social or transition bonds.

The Department also supported the government's efforts to enhance tax fairness and provided advice consistent with ensuring Canada had a competitive tax system, under which tax rates on both labour income and new business investment were lower in Canada than the average of the G7 countries. It was in this context that the Department:

• Developed advice on new proposals and modifications aimed at improving the competitiveness of Canada's tax system, including moving forward on the clean economy investment tax credits, consulting on and announcing reforms to the Scientific Research and Experimental Development tax incentive program.
• Worked with international partners to advance the two-pillar tax reform plan to ensure multinational corporations pay a fair and consistent share of tax wherever they do business.

In addition, the Department helped ensure that the government's borrowing requirements were met within the fiscal year and that Canada's sovereign rating was equal to or greater than the median of the G7 countries. To achieve this, the Department:

• Managed the government's debt program in order to raise stable and low-cost funding.
• Adapted the government's debt management strategy to respond to Canada's evolving economic needs and to support Canadians and Canadian businesses in an environment of elevated interest rates and heightened geopolitical uncertainty.

In 2024-25, the Department aimed to achieve the following two results to ensure inclusive and sustainable economic growth:

• Canadians enjoy stronger, more sustainable and inclusive economic growth that contributes to higher standards of living.
• Canada has a sound and efficient financial sector.

Results achieved:

In 2024-25, the Department supported Canada's continued economic resilience achieving broad-based growth across income groups and helping maintain Canada's high standing among OECD countries in both GDP per capita and employment rates for those aged 15 to 64.

Even with these positive outcomes, economic conditions began to shift over the year. Labour market conditions softened, with slower job growth and a modest rise in the unemployment rate, partly reflecting uncertainty around tariffs that weighed on hiring decisions. Wage growth moderated over the year but remained solid and continued to outpace inflation, which eased from 2.9 per cent in March 2024 to 2.3 per cent in March 2025, supporting continued improvements in Canadians' purchasing power

At the same time, in 2024-25, Canadians continued to face economic challenges with key costs of living, such as groceries and housing, remaining high and growing concern that younger Canadians may not achieve the same standard of living as previous generations.

To address these challenges, the Department supported the government in developing the plan laid out in Budget 2024 to build more homes, faster, make life more affordable and grow the economy in a way that helps every generation get ahead. This included enhancing research support with $1.8 billion more in core research grant funding, investing $351.2 million in 2025-26 for the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy to create 90,000 youth job placements and employment support opportunities, and announcing the new Public Lands for Homes Plan to unlock 250,000 new homes by 2031.

In support of this result, the Department:

• Continued to provide evidence-based analysis to inform policies that were effective in building a green, equitable and strong economy.
• Continued work with government departments and other central agencies to advance long-term inclusive economic growth through policies that advanced access to skills training, labour force participation, inclusion of under-represented groups, immigration, internal trade and labour mobility.
• Supported immigration policy development to align with labour market needs and economic growth, including development of the 2025–2027 Immigration Levels Plan.

Another key area of work involved support for the government's economic and reconciliation policy objectives. To this end, the Department:

• Supported Indigenous economic reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples by working with government departments to increase Indigenous communities' access to affordable capital through programs such as the Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program, which will provide up to $10 billion in loan guarantees to support Indigenous ownership in major projects in the natural resource sector as well as other sectors, with exception of the gaming sector.
• Continued to support the government's commitment to the Trans Mountain Expansion Project (TMEP), which began operations on May 1, 2024. This contributed to narrowing the oil price differential between West Texas Intermediate and Western Canadian Select.
• Supported the government's successful refinancing of Trans Mountain Corporation's third-party debt, saving taxpayers approximately $3.5 billion over the next six years.
• Continued to advance Indigenous groups' opportunities for meaningful economic participation in TMEP, in keeping with the spirit of reconciliation.
• Supported the establishment of a new fiscal relationship with Indigenous Peoples and the negotiation of tax jurisdiction arrangements to support revenue generation opportunities for interested Indigenous governments.

Continuing the focus on economic growth, the 2024 Fall Economic Statement announced significant new investments to attract job-creating projects, strengthen Canada's global competitiveness and advance emissions-reduction targets toward a net-zero economy by 2050. To support these objectives, the Department:

• Collaborated with government departments and other central agencies to advance policies and programs that promote economic development, make life more affordable for Canadians and support workers and businesses affected by trade disruption.
• Continued to develop and support the implementation of policies that enabled fair dealings among businesses and a commercial marketplace that was conducive to competition, investment and growth. This included supporting the government's plan to amend the Competition Act and efforts to rein in hidden or unexpected fees, like international roaming fees, and taking steps to support increased competition in the financial sector as part of the financial sector legislative review.
• Supported climate objectives by collaborating with federal organizations to implement section 23 of the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act. This included cooperating with Environment and Climate Change Canada to publish the inaugural annual report on key measures taken by the federal public administration to manage its financial risks and opportunities related to climate change.
• Supported the implementation of clean economy investment tax credits, including those for clean electricity, clean technology manufacturing and critical minerals.
• Consulted with provinces and territories on the Clean Electricity investment tax credit.
• Contributed to the development of policies to attract private capital and supported innovation including enhancements to the Scientific Research and Experimental Development tax incentive and the launch of the Canadian Sovereign AI Compute Strategy.
• Advanced policies and supported the implementation of measures that increased the supply of market-based, social and affordable housing across the country, including removing barriers that restricted new housing from being built, and accelerated the overall pace of construction.

Throughout 2024-25, the Department provided policy advice aimed at maintaining a stable, resilient financial sector that serves Canadians effectively. Accordingly, the Department:

• Advised on insurance-based strategies for addressing natural disaster protection gaps such as flood and earthquake risks and worked with government departments and financial sector agencies to further engage with provinces, territories, industry and stakeholders.
• Assessed housing market developments and advised on measures to incentivize housing supply and address mortgage hardship, including enhancements to the Canadian Mortgage Charter, as announced in Budget 2024.
• Supported homeownership by providing advice on changes to federal mortgage insurance rules to make mortgages more affordable and help homeowners add additional units to their homes starting in January 2025.
• Strengthened international confidence in Canada's financial system by leading the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Financial Sector Assessment Program review of Canada's financial sector, including federal, provincial and private sector stakeholders.
• Strengthened safeguards around Canada's financial system by developing 47 new legislative and regulatory measures to enhance the supervision, compliance, enforcement and sanctions evasion provisions under Canada's Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Regime.

• Enhanced the security and integrity of Canada's financial system by protecting Canadians and Canadian businesses from threats to personal and financial information, initiating national security screening of payment service providers under the Retail Payment Activities Act.
• Continued to modernize and broaden access to payments systems by enacting legislation to expand membership eligibility in Payments Canada and implementing a new supervisory framework for retail payments.
• Enhanced the sustainability and security of federally regulated private sector pension plans by implementing a revised framework for negotiated contribution plans and advancing key reforms, including solvency reserve accounts, multi-employer plan funding and investment disclosures, through targeted stakeholder consultations.
• Continued work on the digitalization of money in collaboration with federal agencies, provincial and territorial governments and other stakeholders, including targeted stakeholder engagements with financial technology and crypto companies, industry associations, federal and provincial regulators and provincial ministries of finance.
• Advanced the Consumer-Driven Banking Framework including through the development of legislation and ongoing engagement with the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, industry participants, consumer groups, federal and provincial regulators and other government partners.
• Further combatted predatory lending and enhanced consumer protection by lowering the criminal rate of interest of 35 per cent APR (annual percentage rate), capping payday loan costs at $14 per $100 borrowed and implementing measures to enforce compliance.
• Fostered a well-functioning sustainable finance market aligned with Canada's net-zero goals by supporting the development of sustainable investment guidelines.
• Launched the Large Enterprise Tariff Loan facility, delivered by the Canada Enterprise Emergency Funding Corporation, to maintain the efficiency of the financial system in Canada by providing financing support to large Canadian companies affected by actual or potential tariffs and countermeasures.

The Department aims to achieve the following departmental result:

• The Government of Canada effectively supports provinces, territories and Indigenous governments.

Results achieved:

Throughout the year, the Department continued to play a central role in advancing the government's social policy agenda, including continued support for the rollout of programs such as the Canada-wide $10-a-day child care system, the Canadian Dental Care Plan and the first phase of national universal pharmacare.

The Department also supported social policy priorities announced in Budget 2024, such as funding for a new Canada Disability Benefit to improve the quality of life for low-income working-age Canadians with disabilities. As part of the Disability Inclusion Action Plan, Budget 2024 provided $6.1 billion over six years, beginning in 2024–25 and $1.4 billion annually on an ongoing basis, including delivery costs, to implement the benefit

Budget 2024 also built on the federal government's ongoing work to support pathways to self- determination and greater well-being for Indigenous communities, including $275 million over two years, starting in 2024-25, to support Indigenous Governance and Capacity programs and capacity development.

In addition, the Department supported intergovernmental collaboration and the delivery of timely and accurate statutory transfer payments to provinces and territories, representing approximately 16 per cent of their total revenues. Payment issues with tax agreements with provinces, territories and Indigenous governments were also addressed and provincial tax policy decisions under those agreements, such as Nova Scotia's Harmonized Sales Tax rate reduction, were implemented.

More specifically, to support this result, the Department:

• Continued to strengthen intergovernmental collaboration by convening meetings with provincial and territorial governments, including Federal-Provincial-Territorial Finance Ministers' meetings, to discuss shared priorities such as economic growth, the Canada-U.S. relationship and Canada's response to U.S. tariffs.
• Supported the government's efforts to improve housing affordability and supply by providing policy advice on initiatives such as the Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund, the extension of the Goods and Services Tax rebate to student residences and the launch of the Canada Rental Protection Fund, as part of the implementation of Solving the Housing Crisis: Canada's Housing Plan announced ahead of Budget 2024.
• Supported the government's two-month Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized Sales Tax holiday on specified items, including prepared foods, restaurant meals, drinks, snacks, children's clothing and gifts, resulting in an estimated $1.6 billion in federal tax relief for Canadians in 2024-25.
• Collaborated with provinces and territories to conclude the 2022-2024 Triennial Review of the Canada Pension Plan and supported the implementation of the resulting changes announced in Budget 2024, including enhanced death benefits and support for part-time students, effective January 1, 2025
• Supported the government's continued commitment to making Equalization and Territorial Formula Financing payments to ensure that provincial and territorial governments have sufficient revenues to provide reasonably comparable levels of public services at reasonably comparable levels of taxation, along with long-term predictable funding for health care and social services through the Canada Health Transfer and Canada Social Transfer.
• Continued to work with government departments and other central agencies to advance health and social priorities, including in public safety and justice, culture, immigration, diversity and inclusion. This included supporting Canada's $1.3 billion Border Plan in December 2024 and the government's commitment to improving the financial well-being of low-income persons with disabilities through the launch of the new Canada Disability Benefit in July 2025.
• Worked with government departments and other central agencies to support reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples. This included the implementation of the United Nations Declaration Act Action Plan, the establishment of a new fiscal relationship with Indigenous Peoples and the delivery of government priorities in areas such as Indigenous social and economic policy. This work also involved applying a distinctions-based lens in funding approaches for Indigenous Peoples.
• Fostered Indigenous economic development and self-determination by supporting the launch of the Canada Indigenous Loan Guarantee Corporation and the opening of its loan guarantee application portal to accept applications from interested Indigenous applicants. The corporation will provide up to $10 billion in loan guarantees to unlock access to capital for Indigenous communities.

The Department aims to achieve the following departmental result:

• Canada maintains its leadership and engagement globally and deepens its trading relationships.

Results achieved:

In 2024-25, the Department bolstered Canada's international economic leadership and engagement, supporting the government's efforts to strengthen global partnerships, promote inclusive and sustainable growth and defend Canada's economic interests in an increasingly uncertain geopolitical environment. This included leading the implementation of Canada's response to U.S. tariffs in a way that balanced the needs of importing businesses with Canada's broader interest in supporting trade facilitation and liberalization.

The Department also played a central role in preparations for and leadership during Canada's 2025 G7 Presidency, contributing to the development of a coordinated international response to global macroeconomic risks, including those stemming from Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine and broader geopolitical tensions. As the conflict continued, the Department supported Canada's leadership in coordinating international financial assistance, advancing G7 efforts to hold Russia accountable and aiding Ukraine's recovery through the G7 Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration Loans mechanism, which leverages immobilized Russian sovereign assets to provide financial support.

Throughout the year, the Department deepened Canada's influence in key forums such as the G7, G20 and IMF, advancing initiatives to promote stability, sustainable growth and sound governance. To advance this leadership, the Department:

• Helped foster strong, sustainable, inclusive and balanced global economic growth by monitoring and assessing global economic developments and providing policy advice to the government on their impacts and risks. This included providing advice on the impacts of tensions in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, the impacts of inflation, interest rate normalization and geopolitical instability.
• Strengthened Canada's global leadership and engagement by providing strategic policy advice, analysis and support to the Minister of Finance and National Revenue in preparation for and during Canada's 2025 G7 Presidency, including leadership of the G7 Finance Track, contributions to the Leaders' Track and advancing shared economic priorities.
• Collaborated with G7 and G20 members to address short- and long-run global economic challenges and provided advice to the government on macroeconomic coordination through the G7 and G20.
• Worked with international partners to ensure multilateral development banks use resources efficiently, including through developing innovative instruments, mobilizing private capital and implementing key reforms.
• Advanced debt sustainability and transparency by supporting G20 and Paris Club initiatives to address debt vulnerabilities of countries in need, while advocating for coordinated, timely and transparent debt treatments.
• Exercised leadership at the IMF by advancing Canada's priorities in support of global financial stability and sustainable growth. This included contributions to policy advice and surveillance, financial assistance to member countries and capacity development aimed at strengthening economic resilience and governance.

The Department also supported Canada's trade and economic security priorities, negotiating new agreements, protecting domestic industries and reinforcing fair and open trade frameworks. To achieve these outcomes, the Department:

• Supported Canada's trade interests by leading the implementation of Canada's response to U.S. tariffs and providing strategic analysis and advice to support negotiations with the U.S. and protect Canadian industries.
• Expanded preferential trade through the exploration, negotiation and implementation of free trade agreements, including finalizing the Canada-Indonesia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.
• Helped protect Canadian industries and jobs from unfair competition by advancing the government's international trade and economic security priorities. This was achieved through targeted measures to counter China's non-market distortion practices in electric vehicles, steel and aluminum.
• Strengthened Canada's import policy framework by renewing unilateral tariff preference programs for developing countries and enhancing trade remedy policies to better protect Canadian industries from unfair trade practices.
• Strengthened Canada's international trade position by leading negotiations on multilateral export credit disciplines that promoted a level playing field for Canadian exporters and supported access to global markets.

Finally, the Department supported Canada's role in promoting climate action by advancing bilateral cooperation on clean energy and supply chain resilience by negotiating and coordinating key outcomes under the Canada-U.S. Energy Transformation Task Force, thereby supporting sustainable economic growth.

Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus) is an analytical approach used to examine how government decisions affect people differently based on identity factors such as gender, age, income, Indigeneity, disability and immigration status. It also considers how these identity factors intersect to shape experiences and access to programs and services. By applying GBA Plus, the federal government can design policies in ways that are more inclusive, equitable and responsive to the diverse realities of people in Canada.

In 2024-25, the Department of Finance Canada continued to strengthen its leadership role in advancing GBA Plus through institutional coordination, interdepartmental collaboration and improved access to disaggregated data. This included supporting internal governance through the GBA Plus Advisory Committee, collaborating with Women and Gender Equality Canada to strengthen GBA Plus in budget proposals and working with Statistics Canada to promote transparency through the public release of interactive data dashboards aligned to the Gender Results Framework (GRF). These efforts complemented ongoing work to integrate Canada's Quality of Life Framework into budget analysis and reinforced the expectation that GBA Plus be meaningfully embedded throughout the development of all budgetary and off-cycle proposals.

The Department also remained at the forefront of gender budgeting, as set out in the Canadian Gender Budgeting Act. As in previous years, Budget 2024 included gender and diversity impact summaries for all new measures, showing how intersecting factors such as gender, income and age shaped expected outcomes. These summaries helped highlight contributions to the GRF and ensured proposals aligned with broader equality goals. The Department also fulfilled its legislative obligation to publish an annual GBA Plus study of federal tax expenditures. The 2025 report introduced new dimensions of analysis, including immigration history, Indigenous identity and racialized identity, thanks to data linkages between the 2021 Census of Population and T1 tax return data.

More detailed information about the Department's GBA Plus activities, including data collection strategies, can be found in the GBA Plus Supplementary Information Table.

In 2024-25, the Department remained focused on ensuring Canada's economy grew in a sustainable and inclusive manner, providing all Canadians with opportunities to contribute to and benefit from this growth. The Department's sustainable development vision is set out in its Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy 2023-2027, which is supported by annual reports on progress.

More information on the Department's contributions to Canada's Federal Implementation Plan on the 2030 Agenda and the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy can be found in our Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy.