IRCC Minister Transition Binder 2025-05

Financial Cycle 101

Government of Canada Budgetary and Estimates Cycle

Chief Financial Officer Sector
May 2025

Overview

• Budget and Estimates at a Glance
• Government Supply Cycle and Reporting
• Spending Authorities
• How Departments Receive Funding and Manage Spending
• IRCC’s Funding Mechanisms
• Fees in the Government of Canada
• Immigration Loans Program
• Useful Links

Budget and Estimates at a Glance 

Advancing New Funding Requests:

• There are three opportunities for ministers to request funding during each fiscal year (April 1 to March 31):
  • The Budget: the primary avenue for major new funding proposals, which is usually tabled between February and April
  • The Fall Economic Statement: provides a second opportunity to consider major proposals at mid-year
  • Off-cycles
• Memoranda to Cabinet seeking authorities for new programs, legislation or policies that require new funding are typically ad ref to a funding decision via one of these processes.

Accessing Funding:

• Although a funding decision is provided through the annual funding cycle, ministers and departments must secure Treasury Board approval and Parliamentary approval (via Estimates) before they start spending the funds:
  • Treasury Board: Treasury Board provides authorization for how funds will be spent. In the context of urgent initiatives, certain flexibilities may be put in place by centrals agencies.
  • Estimates: Government spending plans are laid out in Estimates documents, which consist of three parts:
    • Part I: Government Expenditure Plan (provides an overview of federal spending) (aka the Budget)
    • Part II: Main Estimates (lists the financial resources required by individual departments for the upcoming fiscal year), and
    • Part III: Departmental Expenditure Plans (consist of Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports)

Government Supply Cycle and Reporting

The Estimates

Main Estimates

• Main Estimates include all sources of funds (funding mechanisms: appropriation, re-spending authorities, statutory).
• Main Estimates are usually tabled in March and address the initial budget of the new fiscal year.

Departmental Plans (DP)

• Departmental Plans describe departmental priorities, expected results, and associated resource requirements, covering a three-year period.
• Tabled soon after the Main Estimates.

Supplementary Estimates

• Supplementary Estimates are adjustments throughout the year. Incremental funds for initiatives not sufficiently developed in time for Main Estimates and any additional authorities being sought.
• Federal Budget items will be accessed through the Estimates process (Supplementary Estimates A, B, C and/or ARLU for future years).
• Tabled spring, fall and winter (if required).

Departmental Results Reports (DRR)

• Departmental Results Reports report on the results achieved against the expectations set out in the Departmental Plans for that fiscal year.
• Tabled in fall.

March 31: End of Fiscal Year / April 1: Beginning of Fiscal Year—new spending cycle

January 1 to March 31:

• Tabling of Main Estimates for year ahead
• Tabling of Supplementary Estimates (C)
• Introduction of Supply for Supplementary Estimates (C) and Interim Supply for the Main Estimates
• Federal Budget
• Tabling of Departmental Plan

April 1 to June 30:

• Tabling of Supplementary Estimates (A)
• Introduction of Main Estimates (approval and full supply)
• Introduction of Supply for Supplementary Estimates (A)

July 1 to December 31:

• Tabling of Public Accounts
• Tabling of Supplementary Estimates (B)
• Introduction of Supply for Supplementary Estimates (B)
• Economic and Fiscal Updates
• Tabling of Departmental Results Report
• Tabling of Departmental Fees Report

Note: Tabling is about presenting the planned expenditures for the upcoming fiscal year (Main Estimates) or additional funding needs (Supplementary Estimates) for the current year while Introduction is the formal request for parliamentary approval to authorize and release the funds.

Spending Authorities

Parliamentary Authorities and Oversight:

• Parliament approves the departments’ Estimates and delegates to ministers and deputy ministers (DMs) the authority to spend money.
• Parliament relies on a number of agents to validate its accountability over financial management; some of the key ones are the Auditor General and Parliamentary Budget Officer.
• Parliament exercises its review of public spending (Estimates) and accountability (Public Accounts) through standing committees.

The Financial Administration Act Describes the Authorities that Must be Exercised:

• Expenditure Initiation Authority: authority to incur expenditures;
• Commitment Authority (section 32): authority subject to availability of funds in a manager’s budget;
• Transaction Authority (section 41): authority to enter into contracts;
• Certification Authority (section 34): authority to certify that the expenditure was in accordance with the terms of the contract or agreement; and
• Payment Authority (section 33): authority to requisition payments.

Departmental Delegation of Spending and Financial Authorities Instrument:

• The Department has a delegation chart for Operating Expenditures/Other Authorities and a chart for Grants and Contributions.
• The delegation charts are the official documents whereby the Minister and the DM delegate spending and financial authorities to departmental positions where the responsibility can be exercise most efficiently and effectively to deliver the Department’s mandate.
• A reference level typically refers to a predetermined or baseline amount of funding that a department or agency is allocated to carry out its programs and operations over a specific fiscal period.
• These reference levels are established through the federal budgeting process and are outlined in the department's Main Estimates, which are tabled in Parliament. They provide a foundation for financial planning, enabling departments to align resources with their strategic priorities while ensuring accountability and fiscal discipline.

How do Departments Receive Funding and Manage Spending?

• Whenever departments identify a funding requirement for existing programs or wish to fund new initiatives, a Memorandum to Cabinet (MC) and/or a Budget Letter must be prepared by the respective unit in charge of the program delivery.
• The MC and/or a Budget Letter is submitted to central agencies for policy approval by Cabinet and funding approval by the Minister of Finance and Prime Minister via the Federal Budget, Fall Economic Statement or off-cycle.
• Following approval of the MC and receipt of a funding decision, a Treasury Board (TB) submission is prepared and submitted to TB for consideration and approval. The TB submission:
  • Seeks relevant authorities and approvals;
  • Provides the detailed plans to implement an initiative, to plan and execute a project, and impact assessments (gender-based/other indicators);
  • Provides details on the nature of resources required, for which programs (according to the Departmental Results Framework) and in which fiscal year, along with expected results and risks.
• Approved funding from TB is sought through the Main and Supplementary Estimates process to secure the spending authority from Parliament.
  • The Department may initiate spending as per approved TB submission before spending authority is granted by Parliament.
  • In exceptional circumstances for highly critical initiatives, the Department may risk-manage certain initiatives by initiating spending plans before TB approval. The Deputy Minister will make this determination based on advice from the Chief Financial Officer and central agencies. These decisions will be based on the nature and urgency of the initiative, authorities required, the overall financial and cash situation of the Department

IRCC’s Funding Mechanisms

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is currently funded through three mechanisms:

• Appropriation: An appropriation is an authority to pay money out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF), which specifies the amount that can be lawfully spent and its purpose.
  • Most appropriations are “Voted” and require Parliament’s approval each year through the estimates process (i.e., Vote 1—Operating, Vote 5—Capital, Vote 10—Grants & Contributions).
  • A portion of the Vote 1 is a special purpose allotment (SPA). An SPA is used to set aside a portion of an organization’s voted appropriation for a specific program or initiative, thereby prohibiting its use for another program.
  • Some appropriations are “Statutory,” which means they have been approved under other statutes and do not require annual approval (i.e., Employee Benefit Plans).
• Vote-netted revenue: Vote-netted revenue is a special mechanism where a government department is allowed to use the money it earns from certain activities to help cover the costs of those activities. However, this arrangement needs approval from Parliament each year through an Appropriation Act.
  • The International Experience Canada (IEC) Program, run by IRCC, promotes cultural exchanges between Canada and other countries through travel, life, and work experiences of youth. To help pay for the program's costs, participants are charged a fee of $172 CAD. This fee goes directly toward the expenses of running the program. However, Parliament still needs to give permission each year to operate this way.
• Revolving fund: The Passport Revolving Fund is a revenue spending authority operating on a
  10-year cycle. It is a continuous authorization by Parliament to make payments out of the CRF. It can generate either surpluses or deficits within a fiscal year and is required to be revenue neutral only at the end of the business cycle.
• The Passport business cycle started in April 2023 and will end on March 31, 2033.

Fees in the Government of Canada

• The Government of Canada charges fees as a means to minimize taxpayer subsidization of delivery of service. There are three types in use in the Government of Canada: fees set by contract; fees set by market rate or auction and fees set by Act. Within IRCC, our fees fall in the fees set by Act and are comprised of service and regulatory fees. The management and use of fees are governed by various acts and policies, primary among them being the Service Fees Act.
• In most cases, fee revenues collected by departments on behalf of the Government of Canada go into the CRF—the centralized account for all Government of Canada monies.
• At IRCC, there are more than 70 user fees charged for immigration applications (both temporary and permanent), biometrics, citizenship, and passport services. Only revenues collected from Passport and International Experience Canada fees (a line of business in our temporary resident program) are re-spendable.

Immigration Loans Program

• The Immigration Loans Program (ILP), established in 1951, provides eligible immigrants, who are mainly refugees selected for resettlement to Canada, with access to funding that would otherwise not be available to them. Loans are used to cover a number of expenses, including travel to Canada and other costs associated with resettlement.
• The ILP is funded through a statutory authority of $400 million, which is drawn from the CRF and is replenished through repayments by previous recipients.
• The loans terms were amended in 2018 as a result of a 2015 program evaluation, which eased the financial burden on recipients. These amendments extended the loan repayment periods by two years, eliminated interest charges, and delayed the beginning of the repayment period to one year after arrival in Canda. Repayment periods vary between three years (for loans up to $1,200) and eight years (for loans over $4,800).

Useful links