Quarterly Financial Report for the Quarter Ending September 30, 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 relation to 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).
This quarterly report has not been subject to an independent audit or review.
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) 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 September 30, 2025, are $224.8 million, compared to $216.9 million as of September 30, 2024. The following table provides the detailed list of authorities by fiscal year:
| Authority Vote/Statutory | Description | For the quarter ended September 30, 2025 |
For the quarter ended September 30, 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vote 1 | Operating Expenditures | 160,198,219 | 145,604,936 |
| Vote 1 | Revenue credited to the vote | (2,500,000) | (3,500,000) |
| Vote 5 | Capital Expenditures | 51,430,197 | 62,121,749 |
| Statutory | Spending of proceeds from the disposal of surplus Crown assets | 25,443 | 23,015 |
| Statutory | Contributions to employee benefit plans | 15,639,649 | 12,603,208 |
| Total authorities | 224,793,508 | 216,852,908 | |
The net increase of $7.9 million in funding results mainly from the following:
- an increase of $18.7 million in temporary funding for support for the Access to Information function announced in Budget 2022 and Budget 2024
- an increase of $2.8 million in temporary funding for support to continue the proactive review and opening of historical documents
- an increase of $1.9 million for salary adjustments following the ratification of collective agreements
- an increase of $1.4 million for variation in the real property portfolio planned spending
- an increase of $3.3 million for statutory adjustments
The net increase is compensated by a decrease in funding, which is primarily attributable to:
- a decrease of $8.1 million in temporary 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 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 2SLGBTQQIA+ 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
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 $92.0 million as of September 30, 2025, compared to $94.3 million as of September 30, 2024. The decrease of $2.3 million is explained mainly by the following:
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a net decrease of $1.4 million in departmental expenditures, for activities concerning the acquisition, preservation and accessibility of documentary heritage, mainly attributable to:
- a net decrease of $0.7 million in expenditures related to “Professional and special services,” mainly due to the sunsetting of funding for the Federal Framework to Address the Legacy of Residential Schools announced in Budget 2022
- a net decrease of 0.7 million in expenditures, primarily explained by costs being reallocated to current items and insignificant variances in other departmental budgetary expenditures
- a decrease of $1.0 million in expenditures related to “Transfer payments,” mainly from the sunsetting of funding for the Indigenous Languages and Cultures Preservation initiative contribution program
- a net decrease of $0.8 million in personnel expenditures, primarily resulting from:
- the sunsetting of funding for the following initiatives:
- the implementation of 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 2SLGBTQQIA+ 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
- the sunsetting of funding for the following initiatives:
- a net increase of $0.9 million in the following departmental expenditures, mainly related to the real property portfolio as well as the partnership between LAC and Ottawa Public Library for the Ādisōke project, as detailed below:
- a net increase of $2.6 million in expenditures for “other subsidies and payments,” mainly due to the timing of payments in lieu of taxes
- a net decrease of $1.4 million in expenditures related to “acquisition of land, buildings and works”
- a net decrease of $0.3 million in expenditures related to “Utilities, material and supplies”
3. Risks and uncertainties
The following section presents LAC’s key risks:
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Physical infrastructure and collections
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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, LAC’s ability to continue collecting would be at risk, and its current collections could be subject to deterioration or loss due to inadequate preservation conditions.
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Risk
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Relevance and representativeness of LAC’s collections
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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.
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Risk
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Access to collections
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Risk
LAC must improve and maintain the services and digital systems through which it provides access to its collections to meet the changing needs of its current and future users. Updating technologies that are aging and obsolete, increasing access to the collections virtually, developing user-friendly tools, and improving efficiency with regard to Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act requests will be necessary for LAC to continue to fulfill its mandate and obligations.
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Risk
4. Significant changes in relation to 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 2025-26 and nearly $5.4 million starting in 2026-27. 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.
Statement of Authorities (unaudited)
| Authority | Fiscal year 2025-2026 | Fiscal year 2024-2025 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in dollars) | Total available for use for the year ending March 31, 2026Footnote 1 |
Used during the quarter ended September 30, 2025 |
Year-to-date used at quarter-end | Total available for use for the year ending March 31, 2025Footnote 1 |
Used during the quarter ended September 30, 2024 | Year-to-date used at quarter-end |
| Vote 1 - Operating Expenditures | 157,698,219 | 40,037,707 | 73,687,378 | 142,104,936 | 40,321,039 | 76,134,501 |
| Vote 5 - Capital Expenditures | 51,430,197 | 8,578,336 | 10,457,444 | 62,121,749 | 9,196,211 | 11,819,718 |
| Contributions to the employee benefit plans | 15,639,649 | 3,909,912 | 7,819,825 | 12,603,208 | 3,150,802 | 6,301,604 |
| Spending of proceeds from the disposal of surplus Crown assets | 25,443 | n/a- | n/a- | 23,015 | 3,970 | 3,970 |
| Total budgetary authorities | 224,793,508 | 52,525,955 | 91,964,647 | 216,852,908 | 52,672,022 | 94,259,793 |
| Non-budgetary authorities | n/a- | n/a- | n/a- | n/a- | n/a- | n/a- |
| Total budgetary authorities | 224,793,508 | 52,525,955 | 91,964,647 | 216,852,908 | 52,672,022 | 94,259,793 |
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 September 30, 2025 |
Year-to-date used at quarter-end | Planned expenditures for the year ending March 31, 2025 |
Expended during the quarter ended September 30, 2024 |
Year-to-date used at quarter-end |
| Personnel | 117,859,583 | 30,383,956 | 60,324,996 | 103,930,801 | 31,370,725 | 61,133,454 |
| Transportation and communications | 1,664,496 | 41,983 | 137,221 | 1,876,544 | 124,376 | 271,842 |
| Information | 895,408 | 113,691 | 134,317 | 932,642 | 34,249 | 101,427 |
| Professional and special services | 34,880,690 | 4,097,876 | 5,719,533 | 13,024,647 | 4,016,621 | 6,401,225 |
| Rentals | 3,747,768 | 992,379 | 3,016,917 | 4,048,816 | 730,108 | 3,219,595 |
| Repair and maintenance | 1,218,625 | 107,167 | 138,576 | 6,286,049 | 222,204 | 249,855 |
| Utilities, materials and supplies | 1,953,012 | 518,117 | 731,102 | 5,504,165 | 728,097 | 1,055,389 |
| Acquisition of land, buildings and works | 51,430,197 | 8,400,517 | 10,148,035 | 60,921,611 | 9,052,898 | 11,560,494 |
| Acquisition of machinery and equipment | 3,708,639 | 76,176 | 110,663 | 3,972,106 | 96,842 | 459,575 |
| Transfer payments | 1,425,000 | 62,466 | 1,245,683 | 2,656,000 | 562,494 | 2,226,514 |
| Public debt charges | 6,095,078 | 1,322,203 | 2,207,020 | 6,719,963 | 1,345,949 | 2,246,473 |
| Other subsidies and payments | 2,415,012 | 6,493,092 | 8,159,278 | 10,479,563 | 4,551,685 | 5,538,194 |
| Total gross budgetary expenditures | 227,293,508 | 52,609,623 | 92,073,341 | 220,352,908 | 52,836,248 | 94,464,037 |
| Less Revenues netted against expenditures: | ||||||
| Respendable Revenues | 2,500,000 | 83,668 | 108,694 | 3,500,000 | 164,226 | 204,244 |
| Total Revenues netted against expenditures | 2,500,000 | 83,668 | 108,694 | 3,500,000 | 164,226 | 204,244 |
| Total net budgetary expenditures | 224,793,508 | 52,525,955 | 91,964,647 | 216,852,908 | 52,672,022 | 94,259,793 |