Actual expenditures
We build our annual budget to respond to Veterans in need of benefits and services. A key part of this process is forecasting, which helps ensure there is enough funding for all eligible Veterans who are likely to need help in a given year. Our annual budget fluctuates each year due to the demand-driven nature of our programs—based on Veterans’ needs and entitlements. In other words, a Veteran who is entitled to a benefit or service receives it, whether 10 or 10,000 come forward.
While forecasting helps ensure enough funding is available, expenditures are only incurred for Veterans who in fact come forward to use the program or service. The design of the Government’s budget process accounts for these fluctuations, which is why there will be changes to both forecasted and actual spending from one year to the next. Fluctuations in spending are normal, given that initial forecasting is typically done many months in advance of the reporting period and adjusted throughout the year based on actual results. In addition, due to timing, new spending announced in Budget 2020 is not included in the planned spending figures.
In the midst of a global pandemic, we maintain our commitment to meeting the needs of all Veterans and providing the benefits and services our clients so rightly deserve. Despite the impact COVID-19 has had on the current environment, we continue to deliver benefits and services to our Veterans and their families.
| 2018–19 Actual |
2019–20 Actual |
2020–21 Actual |
2021–22 Planned |
2022–23 Planned |
2023–24 Planned |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Statutory | 33 | 37 | 85 | 44 | 36 | 35 |
| Voted | 4,657 | 4,796 | 4,752 | 6,247 | 5,311 | 4,444 |
| Total | 4,690 | 4,832 | 4,837 | 6,291 | 5,346 | 4,479 |
Budgetary performance summary for Core Responsibilities and Internal Services (dollars)
| Core Responsibilities and Internal Services | 2020–21 Main Estimates | 2020–21 Planned spending | 2021–22 Planned spending | 2022–23 Planned spending | 2020–21 Total authorities available for use | 2018–19 Actual spending (authorities used) | 2019–20 Actual spending (authorities used) | 2020–21 Actual spending (authorities used) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benefits, Services and Support | 5,106,760,246 | 5,106,760,246 | 6,148,513,828 | 5,218,769,515 | 5,288,431,616 | 4,528,562,537 | 4,625,183,299 | 4,660,494,971 |
| Commemoration | 42,966,357 | 42,966,357 | 44,896,867 | 41,833,215 | 45,713,337 | 45,032,805 | 81,485,684 | 42,205,327 |
| Veterans Ombudsperson | 5,483,671 | 5,483,671 | 5,605,796 | 5,605,779 | 5,686,723 | 3,735,430 | 4,115,574 | 5,193,514 |
| Subtotal | 5,155,210,274 | 5,155,210,274 | 6,199,016,491 | 5,266,208,509 | 5,339,831,676 | 4,577,330,772 | 4,710,784,557 | 4,707,893,812 |
| Internal Services | 82,491,980 | 82,491,980 | 91,955,946 | 80,016,670 | 131,335,908 | 113,132,181 | 121,589,799 | 128,739,691 |
| Total | 5,237,702,254 | 5,237,702,254 | 6,290,972,437 | 5,346,225,179 | 5,471,167,584 | 4,690,462,953 | 4,832,374,356 | 4,836,633,503 |
Variance between 2020–21 Actual Spending and 2020–21 Planned Spending
As shown in the tables, we spent $4.8 billion in 2020–21, over 90% of which came in the form of payments to Veterans, their families, and other program recipients. Our actual spending for fiscal year 2020–21 was $401 million lower than what we had planned to spend, due mainly to the following:
Benefits, Services and Support
- Demand for certain programs was less than forecasted. The pandemic impacted the number of clients applying for certain health services, which require an in-person aspect such as dental, audio (hearing services), health-related travel and special equipment purchases.
- Payments made during the year for the correction of indexation of Disability Pensions were less than anticipated due to fewer estate applications than forecasted.
Commemoration
- Actual clients and average costs were less than expected for the Last Post Fund.
Internal Services
- Increased spending to continue our efforts to increase capacity in order to continue to reduce processing times and improve the delivery of services and programs to Veterans and their families.
- Payments made during the year for compensation adjustments for newly signed collective agreements.
Planned spending 2021–22 to 2023–24
Over the next three years, planned spending will fluctuate due to increased demand for certain programs and services, while temporary funding for certain initiatives concludes.
Budget 2020 brought with it two years of “Service Excellence,” the Government of Canada’s commitment of more than $192 million over two years in additional funding in 2020–21 and 2021–22 to put this plan into action. This initiative allowed us to temporarily increase the workforce by approximately 480 resources (approximately 23%) in Benefits, Services and Support with a goal of improving services by reducing processing times through four lines of effort: Public Service Capacity, Integration, Process Innovation and Digitization.
Planned spending for fiscal year 2021–22 is increasing when compared to actual spending in 2020–21. This increase is attributable to the forecasted increase in demand for benefits and services, specifically those related to the Pension for Life suite of programs and primarily attributable to an increased capacity to work on our backlog, resulting in more spending.
The forecast shows a decrease in our budget for 2022–23 and 2023–24. This decrease is attributed to the conclusion of temporary funding received in 2021–22 related to addressing the backlog and improving the delivery of services and programs, as we are forecasting less spending for some of our programs and services as operational capacity normalizes. In the future, this budget will be updated through the Estimates process to align with the latest forecast of client demand and expenditures. Programs continue to be monitored in advance of future investments to support the needs of Canada’s Veterans.
Actual human resources
Human resources summary for Core Responsibilities and Internal Services (full-time equivalents)Footnote 18
| Core Responsibilities and Internal Services | 2018–19 Actual | 2019–20 Actual | 2020–21 Planned | 2020–21 Actual | 2021–22 Planned | 2022–23 Planned |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benefits, Services and Support | 2,076.4 | 2,326.4 | 2,070.3 | 2,549.7 | 2,681.7 | 2,032.7 |
| Commemoration | 86.0 | 90.0 | 92.6 | 70.0 | 92.6 | 92.6 |
| Veterans Ombudsperson | 34.3 | 32.5 | 38.0 | 34.2 | 38.0 | 38.0 |
| Subtotal | 2,196.7 | 2,448.9 | 2,200.9 | 2,653.9 | 2,812.3 | 2,163.3 |
| Internal Services | 671.0 | 749.1 | 707.4 | 801.3 | 834.6 | 750.6 |
| Total | 2,867.7 | 3,198.0 | 2,908.3 | 3,455.2 | 3,646.9 | 2,913.9 |
As a result of the Service Excellence Initiative, we retained and hired more term employees dedicated to making decisions and reducing processing times. At the same time, we explored innovative measures to process future applications more efficiently. Internal services also saw an increased number of resources to support this initiative.
In the area of Commemoration, we experienced a temporary decrease in FTEs due to the global pandemic, which impacted the number of interpretive guides at commemorative sites in Europe.
The number of employees within the Veterans Ombud core responsibility was slightly lower than planned for fiscal year 2020–21 due to delays in planned staffing but was on par with FTE levels in prior years.
Financial and human resources information for our Program Inventory is available in GC InfoBase.
Expenditures by vote
For information on our organizational voted and statutory expenditures, consult the Public Accounts of Canada 2020–21.
Government of Canada spending and activities
Information on the alignment of our spending with the Government of Canada’s spending and activities is available in GC InfoBase.
Financial statements and financial statements highlights
Financial statements
Our financial statements (unaudited) for the year ended 31 March 2021, are available on our website.
Financial statements highlights
Condensed statement of operations (unaudited) for the year ended 31 March 2021 (dollars)
| Financial information | 2020–21 Planned results |
2020–21 Actual |
2019–20 Actual |
Difference (2020–21 actual minus 2020–21 Planned results) | Difference (2020–21 actual minus 2019–20 Actual results) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total expenses | 5,257,579,961 | 4,844,917,429 | 4,723,863,087 | (412,662,532) | 121,054,342 |
| Total revenues | – | 32,491 | 20,727 | 32,491 | 11,764 |
| Net cost of operations before government funding and transfers | 5,257,579,961 | 4,844,884,938 | 4,723,842,360 | (412,695,023) | 121,042,578 |
Our total expenses were approximately $412.7 million lower than planned in 2020–21. This is mainly related to lower than expected payments within the Disability Benefits and Health Care Benefits programs. Our annual budget is heavily influenced by the demand forecast for our programs. Our actual expenditures have a high correlation to the actual number of Veterans we serve annually and their personal circumstances and experiences while serving that determine which program entitlements these Veterans will access.
When comparing our overall actual expenditures for 2020–21 against those for the previous year, expenses increased by $121 million. This increase is because of additional capacity to process disability applications, funded through Service Excellence and the increased payments made to Veterans and their families.
Condensed Statement of Financial Position (unaudited) as of 31 March 2021 (dollars)
| Financial information | 2020–21 | 2019–20 | Difference (2020–21 minus 2019–20) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total net liabilities | 235,031,407 | 178,562,746 | 56,468,661 |
| Total net financial assets | 209,914,003 | 183,109,620 | 26,804,383 |
| Departmental net debt | 25,117,404 | (4,546,875) | 29,664,279 |
| Total non-financial assets | 11,573,019 | 12,728,633 | (1,155,614) |
| Departmental net financial position | (13,544,385) | 17,275,508 | (30,819,893) |
There was an increase of $56.5 million in total net liabilities when compared to 2019–20. This variance is due to an increase in the accrued liabilities and payables at year end.
In 2020–21, total net financial assets increased by $26.8 million when compared to 2019–20, due to an increase in accounts receivables with other government departments.
Departmental net debt, which is the difference between net liabilities and net financial assets as shown above, increased by $29.7 million in 2020–21 compared to 2019–20.
Total non-financial assets decreased in 2020–21 by $1.2 million when compared to 2019–20 due to the amortization of tangible capital assets.