Quarterly Financial Report for the Quarter Ending December 31, 2025

Statement outlining results, risks and significant changes in operations, personnel and programs

On this page

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Highlights of fiscal quarter and fiscal year-to-date results
• 3. Risks and uncertainties
• 4. Significant changes in operations, personnel and programs

1. Introduction

This quarterly report has been prepared by Library and Archives Canada (LAC) as required by section 65.1 of the Financial Administration Act and in the form and manner prescribed by Treasury Board. This quarterly report should be read in conjunction with the 2025–2026 Main Estimates and Supplementary Estimates (A) and (B).

1.1 Library and Archives Canada’s mandate

Under the Library and Archives of Canada Act, the mandate of LAC is as follows:

• preserve the documentary heritage of Canada for the benefit of present and future generations
• serve as a source of enduring knowledge accessible to all, contributing to the cultural, social and economic advancement of Canada as a free and democratic society
• facilitate in Canada co-operation among the communities involved in the acquisition, preservation and diffusion of knowledge
• serve as the continuing memory of the Government of Canada and its institutions

The Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture and Minister responsible for Official Languages is responsible for LAC

1.2 Basis of presentation

This quarterly report has been prepared by LAC using an expenditure basis of accounting. The accompanying Statement of Authorities includes the spending authorities granted by Parliament and used by LAC, consistent with the Main Estimates and Supplementary Estimates (A) and (B) for the 2025–2026 fiscal year. This quarterly report has also been prepared using a special-purpose financial reporting framework designed to meet financial information needs with respect to the use of spending authorities.

The authority of Parliament is required before money can be spent by the Government. Approvals are given in the form of annually approved limits through appropriation acts or through legislation in the form of statutory spending authority for specific purposes.

When Parliament is dissolved for the purposes of a general election, section 30 of the Financial Administration Act authorizes the Governor General, under certain conditions, to issue a special warrant authorizing the Government to withdraw funds from the Consolidated Revenue Fund. A special warrant is deemed to be an appropriation for the fiscal year in which it is issued.

LAC uses the full accrual method of accounting to prepare and present its annual departmental financial statements, which are part of the departmental results reporting process. However, the spending authorities voted by Parliament remain prepared on an expenditure basis.

2. Highlights of fiscal quarter and fiscal year-to-date results

2.1 Statement of Authorities

As reflected in the Statement of Authorities below, total authorities available for use as of December 31, 2025, were $224.9 million, compared to $235.5 million as of December 31, 2024. The following table provides the detailed list of authorities by fiscal year:

Authority Vote/Statutory	Description	For the quarter ended December 31, 2025	For the quarter ended December 31, 2024
Vote 1	Operating Expenditures	161,823,951	161,327,912
Vote 1	Revenue credited to the vote	(4,000,000)	(3,500,000)
Vote 5	Capital Expenditures	51,430,197	62,121,749
Statutory	Spending of proceeds from the disposal of surplus Crown assets	27,283	23,168
Statutory	Contributions to employee benefit plans	15,639,650	15,524,824
Total authorities		224,921,081	235,497,653

The net decrease of $10.6 million in funding results mainly from the following:

• a decrease of $8.1 million for the sunsetting of funding for the implementation of the Federal Framework to Address the Legacy of Residential Schools, announced in Budget 2022
• a decrease of $6.3 million for the partnership between LAC and the Ottawa Public Library for the Ādisōke project
• a decrease of $3.7 million for the sunsetting of funding for the Federal Pathway to Address Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQI+ People, announced in Budget 2021
• a decrease of $1.3 million for the Refocusing Government Spending initiative, announced in Budget 2023
• a decrease of $0.4 million related to the carry-forward of the operating and capital budgets
• a decrease of $0.4 million for transfers to Shared Services Canada, mainly related to Microsoft 365 E5 Enterprise Standard for the Government of Canada and the Enterprise Service Model

The net decrease is compensated by an increase in funding, which is primarily attributable to:

• an increase of $3.3 million for statutory adjustments
• an increase of $2.8 million in temporary funding for support to continue the proactive review and opening of historical documents
• an increase of $1.4 million for variation in planned spending for the real property portfolio
• an increase of $1.3 million in temporary funding for support for the access to information function, announced in Budget 2022 and Budget 2024
• an increase of $0.8 million for salary adjustments following the ratification of collective agreements

2.2 Statement of Departmental Budgetary Expenditures by Standard Object

As presented in the Statement of Departmental Budgetary Expenditures by Standard Object, the year-to-date expenditures totalled $136.2 million as of December 31, 2025, compared to $140.5 million as of December 31, 2024. The decrease of $4.3 million is explained mainly by the following:

• a net decrease of $2.3 million in personnel expenditures
  • primarily resulting from the sunsetting of funding for the following initiatives:
    • the Federal Framework to Address the Legacy of Residential Schools, announced in Budget 2022
    • the Federal Pathway to Address Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQI+ People, announced in Budget 2021
    • the LGBT Purge Class Action Settlement
  • offset by an increase in expenditures primarily attributable to salary adjustments following the ratification of collective agreements
• a decrease of $1.2 million in expenditures related to “transfer payments,” mainly from the sunsetting of funding for the Indigenous Languages and Cultures Preservation contribution program
• a net decrease of $0.9 million in the following departmental expenditures, mainly attributable to the real property portfolio, the LAC and Ottawa Public Library partnership for the Ādisōke project, and activities related to the acquisition, preservation and accessibility of documentary heritage as outlined below:
  • a decrease of $2.4 million in expenditures related to “acquisition of land, buildings and works”
  • a decrease of $0.8 million in expenditures related to “acquisition of machinery and equipment”
  • an increase of $2.3 million in expenditures for “other subsidies and payments,” mainly due to the timing of payments in lieu of taxes
• a net increase of $0.1 million in insignificant variances in other departmental budgetary expenditures

3. Risks and uncertainties

The following section presents LAC’s key risks:

• Physical infrastructure and collections
  • Risk
    

    If LAC cannot find additional storage space solutions and does not have the resources to undertake the work necessary to maintain its aging facilities, its ability to continue collecting would be at risk, and its current collections could be subject to deterioration or loss due to inadequate preservation conditions.

• Relevance and representativeness of LAC’s collections
  • Risk
    

    Limitations in resources and capacity may affect LAC’s ability to acquire and process both analog and digital documentary heritage that is relevant and representative of Canada’s diverse voices.

• Access to collections
  • Risk
    

    To meet the changing needs of its current and future users, LAC must improve and maintain the services and digital systems through which it provides access to its collections. To continue to fulfill its mandate and obligations, LAC must update technologies that are aging and obsolete, increase access to the collections virtually, develop user-friendly tools, and improve efficiency with regard to access to information and privacy requests.

4. Significant changes in operations, personnel and programs

Budget 2023 affirmed a commitment to refocus government spending, resulting in reductions of LAC’s operating budget of $3.6 million in 2025–2026 and nearly $5.4 million starting in 2026–2027. In light of these budget reductions, the end of certain temporary funding, and an important decrease in staff turnover, LAC undertook various measures, including a workforce adjustment exercise announced in August 2025, to achieve savings and ensure its long-term financial sustainability.

Approval by senior officials

Original signed by:

Statement of Authorities (unaudited)

Authority	Fiscal year 2025-2026			Fiscal year 2024-2025
(in dollars)	Total available for user for the year ending March 31, 2026Footnote 1	Used during the quarter ended December 31, 2025	Year-to-date used at quarter-end	Total available for user for the year ending March 31, 2025Footnote 1	Used during the quarter ended December 31, 2024	Year-to-date used at quarter-end
Vote 1 - Operating Expenditures	157,823,951	33,994,721	107,682,099	157,827,912	35,606,451	111,740,952
Vote 5 - Capital Expenditures	51,430,197	6,288,859	16,746,303	62,121,749	7,471,431	19,291,149
Contributions to the employee benefit plans	15,639,650	3,909,913	11,729,738	15,524,824	3,150,802	9,452,406
Spending of proceeds from the disposal of surplus Crown assets	27,283	n/a -	n/a -	23,168	n/a -	3,970
Total budgetary authorities	224,921,081	44,193,493	136,158,140	235,497,653	46,228,684	140,488,477
Non-budgetary authorities	n/a-	n/a-	n/a-	n/a-	n/a-	n/a-
Total budgetary authorities	224,921,081	44,193,493	136,158,140	235,497,653	46,228,684	140,488,477

Departmental budgetary expenditures by Standard Object (unaudited)

Expenditures	Fiscal year 2025-2026			Fiscal year 2024-2025
(in dollars)	Planned expenditures for the year ending March 31, 2026	Expended during the quarter ended December 31, 2025	Year-to-date used at quarter-end	Planned expenditures for the year ending March 31, 2025	Expended during the quarter ended December 31, 2024	Year-to-date used at quarter-end
Personnel	118,010,368	30,517,527	90,842,523	118,911,917	32,047,919	93,181,373
Transportation and communications	1,664,496	76,223	213,444	1,987,544	147,755	419,597
Information	895,408	51,610	185,927	957,642	13,744	115,171
Professional and special services	34,855,637	5,122,412	10,841,945	14,802,762	4,052,414	10,453,639
Rentals	3,748,690	675,127	3,692,044	4,198,893	943,474	4,163,069
Repair and maintenance	1,218,625	289,260	427,836	6,461,944	175,235	425,090
Utilities, materials and supplies	1,953,931	949,992	1,681,094	15,284,229	839,972	1,895,361
Acquisition of land, buildings and works	51,430,197	6,167,260	16,315,295	51,382,459	7,156,340	18,716,834
Acquisition of machinery and equipment	3,708,639	90,626	201,289	5,154,737	560,934	1,020,509
Transfer payments	1,425,000	147,491	1,393,174	2,656,000	353,044	2,579,558
Public debt charges	6,095,078	1,316,125	3,523,145	6,719,963	1,340,096	3,586,569
Other subsidies and payments	2,415,012	-1,095,976	7,063,302	10,479,563	-810,735	4,727,459
Total gross budgetary expenditures	227,421,081	44,307,677	136,381,018	238,997,653	46,820,192	141,284,229
Less Revenues netted against expenditures:
Respendable Revenues	2,500,000	114,184	222,878	3,500,000	591,508	795,752
Total Revenues netted against expenditures	2,500,000	114,184	222,878	3,500,000	591,508	795,752
Total net budgetary expenditures	224,921,081	44,193,493	136,158,140	235,497,653	46,228,684	140,488,477