Global InformationCanadian public debt information
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Canadian public debt, or general government debt, is the liabilities of the government sector.[1]: 23 Government gross debt consists of liabilities that are a financial claim that requires payment of interest and/or principal in future.[2]: 207 They consist mainly of Treasury bonds, but also include public service employee pension liabilities.[1]: 23, 26 Changes in debt arise primarily from new borrowing, due to government expenditures exceeding revenues.[1]: 21–23
For 2021 (the fiscal year ending 31 March 2022), the market value of gross debt was $2,942 billion ($76,135 per capita) for the consolidated Canadian general government – federal, plus provincial, territorial and local governments (PTLGs) combined.[3] As a ratio of GDP, gross debt was 117.2% (GDP was $2,510 billion in 2021[4]), down from 130.0% in 2020, the highest level ever recorded, but significantly above the pre-pandemic level (105.6% in 2019).[5]
The sustainability of government debt depends on sound fiscal management by the provincial, territorial and local governments (PTLGs), given that Canada is one of the world's most decentralized federations.[6] Approximately half of Canadian general government gross debt in 2021 was debt of the federal (central) government ($1,570 billion or 62.5% of GDP), and half was debt of the PTLGs.[5] Public debt is sustainable when it "does not grow continuously as a share of the economy".[7] While the federal government's fiscal strategy was assessed as sustainable over the long-term, this was not the case for the subnational sector as a whole, according to a 2022 Parliamentary Budget Officer report.[7]: 25
General government net debt, or gross debt minus financial assets, reached $1,453 billion or 57.9% as a share of GDP in the fiscal year ending 31 March 2022. This is down from 70.7% the year previously.[3] Federal government net debt, at $910 billion, or 36.3% of GDP, was above the pre-pandemic level, but was down from 42.7% of GDP in the previous year.[5]
As of March 2022, Canada's DBRS AAA federal credit rating was maintained.[8]
- ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference
Kerim-Dikeni_Léonard_20210914was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ International Monetary Fund (2014). "Government Finance Statistics Manual 2014" (PDF).
- ^ a b Statistics Canada (22 November 2022). "Canadian general government deficit shrinks, still above pre-pandemic levels".
- ^ Statistics Canada (19 November 2012). "Table 36-10-0222-01 Gross domestic product, expenditure-based provincial and territorial, annual".
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