2025-2026 Departmental Plan

Message from the Minister

The Honourable Maninder Sidhu 

Minister of International Trade

As Minister of International Trade, I am responsible for a portfolio of organizations that showcase Canada as a strong trade partner and an ideal investment destination. These organizations work to empower Canadian businesses and entrepreneurs to thrive in the global market, and to attract global businesses into Canada, driving economic growth and generating jobs for Canadians across the country.  

As Canada continues to navigate the ongoing impacts of global economic challenges, fostering resilience and adaptability is more crucial than ever. In response to evolving market conditions and supply chain disruptions, global investors are seeking stable and innovative opportunities. Invest in Canada and its partners are committed to supporting a more resilient economy by attracting foreign direct investment, creating new business prospects, and strengthening key sectors. This, in turn, contributes to building a stronger, more sustainable economy that can weather future uncertainties. 

Canada has built a strong foundation for the future of trade. By prioritizing diversification and market access through trade agreements, we are well-prepared to navigate uncertainty ahead. Our tools and mechanisms, like Invest in Canada’s efforts to enhance Canada’s investment brand and advance the Government’s trade diversification strategy through attracting foreign direct investment, are essential for stimulating economic growth. Invest in Canada, in collaboration with the Trade Commissioner Service, are delivering best in class services to accelerate both new and reinvestment opportunities nationwide. As partners in the trade portfolio, Invest in Canada and the Trade Commissioner Service carry out complimentary services, collaborating and supporting investors and provincial, territorial, and municipal partners, to promote Canada as a leading investment destination. 

I am committed to advancing Invest in Canada’s efforts to achieve its critical mandate and am pleased to share Invest in Canada’s 2025-26 Departmental Plan.

Message from Chair of the Board of Directors

Karl Tabbakh 

Chair of Board

As we look forward to 2025-26 and an evolving global economic landscape, Invest in Canada is poised to demonstrate its agility as Canada’s trusted resource to global investors and partner organizations with its ability to adapt swiftly to changing conditions while providing valuable support and insights. Invest in Canada’s dedication to coordinating the efforts of government and private sector stakeholders over the years has strengthened important relationships within Canada’s investment ecosystem. The organization is focused on being a good business partner in attracting high-quality impactful investments, aligned with priority sectors and on responding to changing needs in the market and on guiding investors through a changing environment. 

The Board is responsible for guiding the delivery of the Invest in Canada mandate and offering our insights to support its strategic initiatives. The diverse and dynamic experience of our Board members enhances organizational governance and accountability, ensuring robust oversight and strategic guidance.

My colleagues and I on the Board of Directors firmly believe that Canada offers many opportunities for foreign investors. We are confident that Invest in Canada, together with its partners in the Canadian foreign direct investment ecosystem, will meet the challenges ahead, respond to changing environments to continue attracting investments across Canada.

Message from Chief Executive Officer

Laurel Broten

Chief Executive Officer

It is with great pleasure that I present the Invest in Canada 2025-26 Departmental Plan. 

This Departmental Plan has been developed with a focus on Invest in Canada’s commitment to promote Canada as a leading global investment destination and to support partners and provide services to investors to attract and facilitate foreign direct investment into the country. In 2024, Canada secured the second highest ranking in the 2024 Kearney FDI Confidence Index which is a strong indication of investor confidence in Canada as an investment destination.  The organization remains uniquely positioned to amplify Canada’s attractiveness for investment across all regions of the country.

Canada continues to be at the forefront of foreign direct investments anchored on global innovation, energy production, life sciences, bio-manufacturing, and value-added agriculture. Our 2025-26 Departmental Plan is designed to support positioning Canada as a leading destination for global investment across multiple priority sectors.  Our plans to achieve results are driven by our commitment toward continuous improvement. We aim to deepen our relationships and expertise, refine our approaches based on industry leader input, and leverage data-driven insights and evidence to maximize our impact. Invest in Canada takes pride in our role in bringing together and coordinating with partners to streamline the investor experience nationwide.   

Lastly, with the deep experience and dedication of our talented team, combined with the broad industry and global perspectives of the Board of Directors, I am excited to deliver on the 2025-26 Departmental Plan and carry out initiatives to make a meaningful impact.

Plans to deliver on core responsibilities and internal services

Core responsibilities and internal services:

• Foreign Direct Investment Attraction

• Internal services

Core responsibility: Foreign Direct Investment Attraction

In this section

• Description

• Quality of life impacts

• Indicators, results and targets

• Plans to achieve results

• Key risks

• Planned resources to achieve results

• Related government priorities

• Program inventory

• Summary of changes to reporting framework since last year

Description

Invest in Canada’s mandate is to attract, facilitate and coordinate foreign direct investment (FDI) across government entities, the private sector, and other stakeholders. Invest in Canada’s core responsibility is to lead the Government of Canada’s FDI attraction efforts by making Canada top-of mind for foreign investors and providing services in support of investor decisions to expand into Canada. In doing so, Invest in Canada’s efforts will support economic prosperity and stimulate sustainable innovation in Canada.   

Quality of Life Impacts

Invest in Canada’s core responsibility of leading the Government of Canada’s foreign direct investment attraction efforts contributes to the Quality of Life Framework for Canada domains Prosperity and Environment and, more specifically, the indicators related to firm growth and employment and greenhouse gas emissions, through the activities carried out under this core responsibility.

Indicators, results and targets

This section presents details on the department’s indicators, the actual results from the three most recently reported fiscal years, the targets and target dates approved in 2025-26 for Foreign Direct Investment Attraction. Details are presented by departmental result.

Table 1: Result 1 - Canada is promoted as a foreign direct investment destination 

Table 1 provides a summary of the target and actual results for each indicator associated with the results Foreign Direct Investment Attraction

Plans to achieve results

The following section describes the planned results for Foreign Direct Investment Attraction in 2025-26. 

Result 1: Canada is promoted as a foreign direct investment destination. 

Promoting Canada as a leading foreign direct investment destination is a key priority within the mandate of Invest in Canada. Over the 2024-25 fiscal year, Invest in Canada continued to raise global investor awareness of Canada as a top destination for global investments through strategic and focused promotion and marketing efforts. In 2025-26, Invest in Canada will build on the successes of its holistic promotional strategy that maximizes the combined value of marketing, advertising, and events, ensuring key messages reflect the current environment and focus on Canada’s value proposition.
Furthermore, Invest in Canada will work with other federal departments to continue executing of Canada’s FDI Attraction Strategy and ensure consistent, targeted messaging on Canada’s value proposition, with greater emphasis on Canada’s strategic sectors of focus. These include advanced manufacturing, energy solutions, life sciences and bio-manufacturing, and value-added agriculture.  Results we plan to achieve: 

• Deploy customized advertising and marketing campaigns in target markets with enhanced messaging that highlights Canada’s world-class value proposition to raise the awareness and consideration of Canada as a top investment destination.
• Leverage and execute events in Canada and abroad that raise the profile of Canada to global investors and advance investment opportunities.
• Collaborate with network of partners, including the Trade Commissioner Service and regional partners, in target markets to promote strategic opportunities for investment and attract new sources of investment.

Result 2: Investors are investing or expanding in Canada through the support of Invest in Canada services

Invest in Canada plays a pivotal role in Canada’s federal FDI ecosystem, supporting global investors in their consideration of Canada as a prime destination for new or expansion investment opportunities. The organization has worked closely with federal partners such as the Trade Commissioner Service, alongside provincial, territorial, and municipal collaborators, to offer investors tailored business advisory services. These efforts have facilitated the exploration of new, high-impact investment opportunities across the country, helping to position Canada as a leader in innovation and business growth. 

Recognizing the current complex and challenging global environment, in addition to pursuing new opportunities, Invest in Canada will emphasize direct business relationships, sustained investor engagement and aftercare services to ensure that existing projects succeed in Canada. This focus may lead the organization to explore more unique opportunities, conduct more research and adopt more creative solutions in its collaboration with partners to secure the long-term success of investments.

Results we plan to achieve:

• Facilitate and accelerate global investments in sectors that support long-term economic growth into all regions across Canada.
• Support global companies to advance their investment expansion and reinvestments by connecting firms with the right people in the right places across economic sectors.
• Support high-impact and transformational foreign investments that have landed in Canada to ensure their successful launch.

Result 3: Partners have access to services and tools to support their investment attraction efforts 

Successful collaboration with its partners will remain critical in the delivery of the Invest in Canada mandate and the implementation of the Foreign Direct Investment Attraction Strategy (FDIAS). It is important to Invest in Canada that partners including federal, provincial, and municipal stakeholders have access to advanced services and modern tools that empower them to effectively attract and secure high-value investments. 

By providing data-driven insights and tailored support, Invest in Canada’s partners will be better equipped to present compelling business cases to global investors, highlighting Canada’s competitive advantages. This approach also streamlines coordination among different government levels and creates a unified, consistent strategy that strengthens Canada's position as a top destination for global investments.

Providing partners with these enhanced services and tools will ensure they can swiftly respond to investor inquiries, proactively engage potential investors, and offer more personalized, sector-specific guidance.

Results we plan to achieve:

• Build out a suite of knowledge products to promote the competitive value of Canada and potential of targeted and strategic sectors, including sector and region-specific insights.
• Provide partners with sector and region-specific intelligence materials, including emerging sectors of focus, to support their foreign direct investment attraction efforts.
• Enhance relationships with all Invest in Canada partnerships across all levels of Government, regions, provinces and the private sector.

Key Risks

Invest in Canada monitors its operational risks regularly and updates its enterprise risk profile annually to reflect the unique pressures that face the organization. To better support the advancement of its priorities in 2025-26, Invest in Canada will continue to implement its Enterprise Risk Management Strategy to manage risk at all levels, and by fostering a strong risk culture across the organization. Invest in Canada has established systems and controls to annually identify and assess risks within its Enterprise Risk Profile, ensuring effective mitigation or resolution. As the organization matures, risks to the organization change and Invest in Canada reviews and adapts strategies to ensure that risks are managed. The Board of Directors plays an important role in the oversight of risks. 

For 2025-26, Invest in Canada will continue to monitor top risk areas that are being tracked and addressed in 2024-25, including: reputation and brand; protection of information; service delivery; change management; and cybersecurity. The organization will monitor global and domestic political developments and their potential impact on foreign direct investment, as well as changes in domestic policies and priorities. 

Planned resources to achieve results

Table 4: Planned resources to achieve results for Foreign Direct Investment Attraction 

Table 4 provides a summary of the planned spending and full-time equivalents required to achieve results. 

Complete financial and human resources information  for the Invest in Canada’s program inventory is available on GC InfoBase.

Related government priorities

Gender-based analysis plus

Invest in Canada is committed to incorporating gender-based analysis plus (GBA Plus) into its policies to promote inclusive outcomes for Canadians. As an employer, Invest in Canada evaluates jobs fairly based on their value to address the undervaluation of women’s work and help close the gender pay gap. The organization carried out a pay equity review comparing female and male dominated job classes which determined that Invest in Canada has no pay equity discrepancies, achieving equal compensation for the work of the equal value. The organization’s pay equity plan was published on September 3, 2024 as outlined in the Pay Equity Act. The organization will conduct this exercise every three years. Additionally, Invest in Canada will continue to support GBA+ through the implementation of our Diversity Equity and Inclusion Strategy and Action Plan.

An important part of Canada’s value proposition includes its diversity advantage. Many investors with whom Invest in Canada works understand the value of a diverse workforce. Through Invest in Canada’s integrated advertising campaigns and content marketing, Invest in Canada highlights Canada’s value proposition as a highly educated and diverse workforce.

United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Invest in Canada takes into account the Government of Canada’s commitment to the Federal Implementation Plan for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and achieving commitments to the UN Sustainable Development Goals as it plans the strategic initiatives and activities for the fiscal year. To illustrate, Invest in Canada works on attracting and facilitating investments in key sectors of the economy that support the Government’s efforts on SDG 13: Climate Action. This includes promoting Canada’s capacity in the energy transition sector.

More information on Invest in Canada’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. 

Innovation

Invest in Canada’s core responsibility and expected results are aligned with the mandate of the organization. As a principal philosophy, Invest in Canada will monitor and learn from its results to better refine, evolve and innovate on the organization’s approach to serving clients. Invest in Canada will continue to assess the need for innovative approaches in 2025-26 while focusing on executing the mandate as set out in its enabling legislation. Innovative approaches to promoting Canada as an investment destination and supporting partners and clients include digital and market-specific advertising campaigns and the coordination of industry and government discussions focused on priority and emerging sectors. 

Program inventory

Foreign Direct Investment Attraction is supported by the following programs: 

• Marketing
• Investor Services
• Data Partnerships and Pan-Canadian Collaboration

Additional information related to the program inventory for Foreign Direct Investment Attraction is available on the Results page on  GC Infobase.

Summary of changes to reporting framework since last year

There have been no changes to the approved departmental results framework associated with foreign direct investment attraction since last year. 

Internal services

In this section

• Description

• Plans to achieve results

• Planned resources to achieve results

• Planning for contracts awarded to Indigenous businesses

Description

Internal services are the services that are provided within a department so that it can meet its corporate obligations and deliver its programs. There are 10 categories of internal services: 

• management and oversight services
• communications services
• legal services
• human resources management services
• financial management services
• information management services
• information technology services
• real property management services
• materiel management services
• acquisition management services

Plans to achieve results

Invest in Canada’s internal services support the organization’s delivery of support to partners through the maintenance of its bespoke information sharing portal, InfoZone. The implementation of a technology-based avenue to share intelligence and data is critical to the organization’s pan-Canadian efforts.

In support of human resources, in 2025-26, Invest in Canada will be focused on initiatives such as a HR policy and recruitment audit, allyship training and developing the organization’s second Accessibility Plan. Invest in Canada will continue its collaboration with its diverse workforce through its DEI Committee, to learn from the lived experience of members to identify and remove barriers to opportunity, ensure systemic equity, and create a culture of belonging.

The organization will also continuously reflect on and evaluate the services the organization provides and gather intelligence to better understand, refine and evolve our work with a view to ensuring that Invest in Canada is always achieving operational excellence and making an impact on FDI in Canada.

Planned resources to achieve results 

Table 5: Planned resources to achieve results for internal services this year

Table 5 provides a summary of the planned spending and full-time equivalents required to achieve results. 

Complete financial and human resources information  for the Invest in Canada’s program inventory is available on GC InfoBase.

Planning for contracts awarded to Indigenous businesses 

Government of Canada departments are to meet a target of awarding at least 5% of the total value of contracts to Indigenous businesses each year. This commitment is to be fully implemented by the end of 2024-25.

In 2024, Invest in Canada developed a procurement plan for the Mandatory Minimum Five Percent Indigenous Procurement Target. The plan identifies the potential areas under each program where there are opportunities for Indigenous businesses to contribute to and support Invest in Canada’s services over the upcoming years such as separate contracts for certain creative work services and implementing conditional set-asides for Indigenous business capacity to fulfill the requirements.

Invest in Canada has also ensured the alignment of internal policies and processes to support its achievement of the Mandatory Procedures for Contracts Awarded to Indigenous Businesses and will continue to monitor this alignment going forward. The importance of this commitment will continuously be communicated to employees to encourage fund centre managers allocate procurement budgets toward Indigenous businesses. 

Invest in Canada will continue to build on information training sessions led by Indigenous Services Canada and the Canada School of Public Service to ensure that its procurement professionals have access to appropriate training, including the mandatory course, Indigenous Considerations in Procurement (COR409), from the Canada School of Public Service. 

Table 6: Percentage of contracts planned and awarded to Indigenous businesses

Table 6 presents the current, actual results with forecasted and planned results for the total percentage of contracts the department awarded to Indigenous businesses. 

5% reporting field	2023-24 Actual Result	2024-25 Forecasted Result	2025-26 Planned Result
Total percentage of contracts with Indigenous businesses	N/A	12.4%	8.77%

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Planned spending and human resources

This section provides an overview of Invest in Canada’s planned spending and human resources for the next three fiscal years and compares planned spending for 2025-26 with actual spending from previous years.

In this section

• Spending

• Funding

• Future-oriented condensed statement of operations

• Human resources

Spending

This section presents an overview of the department's planned expenditures from 2022-23 to 2027-28. 

Budgetary performance summary

Table 7: Three-year spending summary for core responsibilities and internal services (dollars)

Table 7 presents how much money Invest in Canada spent over the past three years to carry out its core responsibilities and for internal services. Amounts for the current fiscal year are forecasted based on spending to date. 

Core responsibilities and internal services	2022-2023 Actual Expenditures	2023-24 Actual Expenditures	2024-2025 Forecast Spending
Foreign Direct Investment Attraction	$26,736,671	$28,116,015	$26,474,845
Subtotal(s)	$26,736,671	$28,116,015	$26,474,845
Internal services	$6,287,452	$6,155,728	$6,600,311
Total(s)	$33,024,123	$34,271,743	$33,075,156

Analysis of the past three years of spending 

Invest in Canada was formally established on March 12, 2018. Spending from 2022-24 reflects funding for Invest in Canada at a steady state, including the government's actions to refocus spending. 

More financial information from previous years is available on the Finances section of GC Infobase.

Table 8: Planned three-year spending on core responsibilities and internal services (dollars)

Table 8 presents how much money Invest in Canada’s plans to spend over the next three years to carry out its core responsibilities and for internal services. 

Core responsibilities and internal services	2025-26 Planned Spending	2026-27 Planned Spending	2027-28 Planned Spending
Foreign Direct Investment Attraction	$26,218,845	$25,868,445	$25,883,174
Subtotal	$26,218,845	$25,868,445	$25,883,174
Internal services	$6,536,311	$6,448,711	$6,452,382
Total	$32,755,156	$32,317,156	$32,335,556

Analysis of the next three years of spending

After six years of operation, Invest in Canada has established internal planning and budgeting processes that ensure that actual spending and initiatives in support of the core responsibility are executed in line with the planned spending and budgetary spending indicated in the Main Estimates. 

More detailed financial information on planned spending is available on the Finances section of GC Infobase. 

Table 9: Budgetary gross and net planned spending summary (dollars)

Table 9 reconciles gross planned spending with net spending for 2025-26. 

Core responsibilities and Internal services	2025-26 Gross planned spending (dollars)	2025-26 Planned revenues netted against spending (dollars)	2025-26 Planned net spending (authorities used)
Foreign Direct Investment Attraction	$26,218,845	NIL	NIL
Subtotal	$26,218,845	NIL	NIL
Internal services	$6,536,311	NIL	NIL
Total	$32,755,156	NIL	NIL

Analysis of budgetary gross and net planned spending summary 

Invest in Canada has established internal planning and budgeting processes that ensure that actual spending and initiatives in support of the core responsibility are executed in line with the planned spending and budgetary spending indicated in the Main Estimates. 

Information on the alignment of Invest in Canada’s spending with Government of Canada’s spending and activities is available on GC InfoBase.

Funding 

This section provides an overview of the department's voted and statutory funding for its core responsibilities and for internal services. For further information on funding authorities, consult the Government of Canada budgets and expenditures. 

Graph 1: Approved funding (statutory and voted) over a six-year period

Graph 1 summarizes the department's approved voted and statutory funding from 2022-23 to 2027-28. 

Text description of Graph 1

Fiscal year	Total	Voted	Statutory
2022-23	$33,611,556	$33,611,556	$0
2023-24	$33,986,146	$33,986,146	$0
2024-25	$33,075,156	$33,075,156	$0
2025-26	$32,755,156	$32,755,156	$0
2026-27	$32,317,156	$32,317,156	$0
2027-28	$32,335,556	$32,335,556	$0

Analysis of statutory and voted funding over a six-year period

Invest in Canada’s funding profile has matched the maturation of the organization. Invest in Canada is responsible for all employee benefits and pension contributions annually.

For further information on Invest in Canada’s departmental appropriations, consult the 2025-26 Main Estimates.

Future-oriented condensed statement of operations

The future-oriented condensed statement of operations provides an overview of Invest in Canada’s operations for 2024-25 to 2025-26. 

Table 10: Future-oriented condensed statement of operations for the year ended March 31, 2026 (dollars)

Table 10 summarizes the expenses and revenues which net to the cost of operations before government funding and transfers for 2024-25 to 2025-26. The forecast and planned amounts in this statement of operations were prepared on an accrual basis. The forecast and planned amounts presented in other sections of the Departmental Plan were prepared on an expenditure basis. Amounts may therefore differ. 

Financial information	2024-25 Forecast results	2025-26 Planned results	Difference (planned results minus forecasted)
Total expenses	$34,716,000	$33,933,000	($783,000)
Total revenues	$0	$0	$0
Net cost of operations before government funding and transfers	$34,716,000	$33,933,000	($783,000)

Analysis of forecasted and planned results

The variance between the 2024-25 forecasted results and the 2025-26 planned results is directly linked to reductions in spending related to the refocusing government spending initiative. 

A more detailed Future-Oriented Statement of Operations and associated Notes for 2025-26, including a reconciliation of the net cost of operations with the requested authorities, is available on Invest in Canada’s website.

Human resources 

This section presents an overview of the department’s actual and planned human resources from 2022-23 to 2027-28. 

Table 11: Actual human resources for core responsibilities and internal servicess

Table 11 shows a summary of human resources, in full-time equivalents, for Invest in Canada’s core responsibilities and for its internal services for the previous three fiscal years. Human resources for the current fiscal year are forecasted based on year to date.

Core responsibilities and internal services	2022-23 Actual full-time equivalents	2023-24 Actual full-time equivalents	2024-25 Forecasted full-time equivalents
Foreign Direct Investment Attraction	57	57	57
Internal services	10	10	10
Total	67	67	67

Analysis of human resources over the last three years

Invest in Canada’s human resources has matched the growth and maturation of the organization. Over the last two years, Invest in Canada has developed proven strategies to support the achievement of departmental results, and the number of full-time equivalents reflects the organization’s capacity needs to deliver its services, while remaining within its approved budget.  

Table 12: Human resources planning summary for core responsibilities and internal services 

Table 12 shows information on human resources, in full-time equivalents, for each of Invest in Canada’s core responsibilities and for its internal services planned for the next three years. 

Core responsibilities and internal services	2025-26 Planned full-time equivalents	2026-27 Planned full-time equivalents	2027-28 Planned  full-time equivalents
Foreign Direct Investment Attraction	57	57	57
Internal services	10	10	10
Total	67	67	67

Analysis of human resources over the last three years

Invest in Canada’s human resources has matched the growth and maturation of the organization. The planned number of full-time equivalents reflects the organization’s capacity needs at a steady state and within the current mandate and scope to deliver its services, while remaining within its approved budget.

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Corporate information

Departmental profile

Appropriate minister(s): The Honourable Maninder Sidhu , P.C., M.P. 

Institutional head: Laurel Broten 

Ministerial portfolio: International Trade 

Enabling instrument(s): Invest in Canada Act

Year of incorporation / commencement: 2018

Other: Invest in Canada is headquartered in Ottawa and is a departmental corporation, overseen by a board of directors (the board) accountable to the Minister of International Trade. The board is composed of up to eleven (11) part-time directors, including a Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, and an ex-officio director, the Deputy Minister of the designated Minister. Apart from the Deputy Minister, all positions are appointed by Order-in-Council to hold office for terms not exceeding three years and are eligible for reappointment in the same or another capacity. A complete list of current board appointees is available on Invest in Canada’s website.

The board supervises and manages Invest in Canada’s business and affairs and advises the Minister and the Chief Executive Officer on matters relating to the organization’s mandate. The Chief Executive Officer is responsible for Invest in Canada’s day-to-day operation. 

Invest in Canada’s enabling legislation provides the framework and powers of the organization. It also provides Invest in Canada authority over matters relating to human resources management, contracting, communications, travel and hospitality and other general administrative functions.

Invest in Canada works globally, in partnership with Global Affairs Canada and its Trade Commissioner Service, other federal departments, and provincial and municipal investment attraction offices, to promote Canada as a destination for foreign direct investment. 

Departmental contact information

Mailing address

155 Queen Street, suite 1400

Ottawa ON 

K1P 6L1

Email: CorporateServices@invcanada.ca  

Website(s): www.investcanada.ca

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Supplementary information tables

The following supplementary information tables are available on Invest in Canada’s website:

• Gender-based analysis plus

Information on Invest in Canada’s departmental sustainable development strategy can be found on Invest in Canada’s website.

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Federal tax expenditures

Invest in Canada’s Departmental Plan does not include information on tax expenditures.

The tax system can be used to achieve public policy objectives through the application of special measures such as low tax rates, exemptions, deductions, deferrals and credits. The Department of Finance Canada publishes cost estimates and projections for these measures each year in the Report on Federal Tax Expenditures.

This report also provides detailed background information on tax expenditures, including descriptions, objectives, historical information and references to related federal spending programs as well as evaluations and GBA Plus of tax expenditures.

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Definitions

appropriation (crédit)

Any authority of Parliament to pay money out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

budgetary expenditures (dépenses budgétaires)

Operating and capital expenditures; transfer payments to other levels of government, departments or individuals; and payments to Crown corporations.

core responsibility (responsabilité essentielle)

An enduring function or role performed by a department. The intentions of the department with respect to a core responsibility are reflected in one or more related departmental results that the department seeks to contribute to or influence.

Departmental Plan (plan ministériel)

A report on the plans and expected performance of an appropriated department over a 3year period. Departmental Plans are usually tabled in Parliament each spring.

departmental result (résultat ministériel)

A consequence or outcome that a department seeks to achieve. A departmental result is often outside departments’ immediate control, but it should be influenced by program-level outcomes.

departmental result indicator (indicateur de résultat ministériel)

A quantitative measure of progress on a departmental result.

departmental results framework (cadre ministériel des résultats)

A framework that connects the department’s core responsibilities to its departmental results and departmental result indicators.

Departmental Results Report (rapport sur les résultats ministériels)

A report on a department’s actual accomplishments against the plans, priorities and expected results set out in the corresponding Departmental Plan.

full‑time equivalent (équivalent temps plein)

A measure of the extent to which an employee represents a full person-year charge against a departmental budget. For a particular position, the full-time equivalent figure is the ratio of number of hours the person actually works divided by the standard number of hours set out in the person’s collective agreement.

gender-based analysis plus (GBA Plus) (analyse comparative entre les sexes plus [ACS Plus])

Is an analytical tool used to support the development of responsive and inclusive policies, programs, and other initiatives. GBA Plus is a process for understanding who is impacted by the issue or opportunity being addressed by the initiative; identifying how the initiative could be tailored to meet diverse needs of the people most impacted; and anticipating and mitigating any barriers to accessing or benefitting from the initiative. GBA Plus is an intersectional analysis that goes beyond biological (sex) and socio-cultural (gender) differences to consider other factors, such as age, disability, education, ethnicity, economic status, geography (including rurality), language, race, religion, and sexual orientation. 

Using GBA Plus involves taking a gender- and diversity-sensitive approach to our work. Considering all intersecting identity factors as part of GBA Plus, not only sex and gender, is a Government of Canada commitment.

government priorities (priorités gouvernementales)

For the purpose of the 2025-26 Departmental Plan, government priorities are the high-level themes outlining the government’s agenda in the most recent Speech from the Throne.

horizontal initiative (initiative horizontale)

An initiative in which two or more federal organizations are given funding to pursue a shared outcome, often linked to a government priority.

Indigenous business (entreprise autochtones)

For the purpose of the Directive on the Management of Procurement Appendix E: Mandatory Procedures for Contracts Awarded to Indigenous Businesses and the Government of Canada’s commitment that a mandatory minimum target of 5% of the total value of contracts is awarded to Indigenous businesses, a department that meets the definition and requirements as defined by the Indigenous Business Directory. 

non‑budgetary expenditures (dépenses non budgétaires)

Non-budgetary authorities that comprise assets and liabilities transactions for loans, investments and advances, or specified purpose accounts, that have been established under specific statutes or under non-statutory authorities in the Estimates and elsewhere. Non-budgetary transactions are those expenditures and receipts related to the government's financial claims on, and obligations to, outside parties. These consist of transactions in loans, investments and advances; in cash and accounts receivable; in public money received or collected for specified purposes; and in all other assets and liabilities. Other assets and liabilities, not specifically defined in G to P authority codes are to be recorded to an R authority code, which is the residual authority code for all other assets and liabilities.

performance (rendement)

What a department did with its resources to achieve its results, how well those results compare to what the department intended to achieve, and how well lessons learned have been identified. 

performance indicator (indicateur de rendement)

A qualitative or quantitative means of measuring an output or outcome, with the intention of gauging the performance of an department, program, policy or initiative respecting expected results.

plan (plan)

The articulation of strategic choices, which provides information on how an organization intends to achieve its priorities and associated results. Generally, a plan will explain the logic behind the strategies chosen and tend to focus on actions that lead up to the expected result.

planned spending (dépenses prévues)

For Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports, planned spending refers to those amounts presented in Main Estimates.

A department is expected to be aware of the authorities that it has sought and received. The determination of planned spending is a departmental responsibility, and departments must be able to defend the expenditure and accrual numbers presented in their Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports.

program (programme)

Individual or groups of services, activities or combinations thereof that are managed together within the department and focus on a specific set of outputs, outcomes or service levels.

program inventory (répertoire des programmes)

Identifies all the department’s programs and describes how resources are organized to contribute to the department’s core responsibilities and results.

result (résultat)

A consequence attributed, in part, to a department, policy, program or initiative. Results are not within the control of a single department, policy, program or initiative; instead they are within the area of the department’s influence. 

statutory expenditures (dépenses législatives) 
Expenditures that Parliament has approved through legislation other than appropriation acts. The legislation sets out the purpose of the expenditures and the terms and conditions under which they may be made.

target (cible)
A measurable performance or success level that a department, program or initiative plans to achieve within a specified time period. Targets can be either quantitative or qualitative.

voted expenditures (dépenses votées)
Expenditures that Parliament approves annually through an appropriation act. The vote wording becomes the governing conditions under which these expenditures may be made.