Funding Process - Approval and Reporting Dates

The fiscal year of the Government of Canada runs from April 1 to March 31. Each fiscal year is divided into three parliamentary supply periods. Supply is the process by which the government asks Parliament to appropriate funds in support of approved programs and services. Supply periods are designated as follows:

First period: April 1 to June 23

• Tabling of Supplementary Estimates (A)
• Introduction of Full Supply for Main Estimates and Supply for Supplementary Estimates (A)

Second period: June 24 to December 10

• Tabling of Public Accounts
• Tabling of Supplementary Estimates (B)
• Departmental Performance Reports
• Economic and Fiscal Update
• Introduction of Supply for Supplementary Estimates (B)

Third period: December 11 to March 26

• Tabling of Supplementary Estimates (C)
• Budget Presentation
• Tabling of Main Estimates
• Departmental Reports on Plans and Priorities
• Introduction of Supply for Supplementary Estimate’s (C) and Interim Supply for Main Estimates

• Government can only spend money for purposes authorized by Parliament.
• Events and documents in the reporting cycle provide Parliamentarians with the opportunity to review and make decisions on the use of public funds by the government.

Notes

• A two year pilot was undertaken in 2018-19 and 2019-20 to align the budget with the main estimates.
• There is a lack of alignment as the main estimates are usually prepared before the budget is announced and therefore, would not contain any new spending measures/items.
• The two year pilot saw the deadline for the tabling of the main estimates pushed back from March 1 to April 16 to be aligned with the budget announcement.
• It also saw the introduction of a tabled Interim Estimates document to support Parliament’s scrutiny of interim supply given the delay in tabling of the Main Estimates.
• Pushing back this budget saw the previous supplementary estimates cycle, with supplementary estimates A being pushed to the fall, and supplementary estimates B pushed to winter. This essentially removed the need for supplementary estimates C.
• That said, as of 2020-2021, the pilot is over and the estimates process is will revert back to the previous process until further notice.
• For more information : https://hillnotes.ca/2018/02/27/aligning-the-budget-and-the-main-estimates-recent-changes-to-the-parliamentary-financial-cycle/
• https://www.canada.ca/en/treasury-board-secretariat/services/planned-government-spending/expenditure-management-system/reporting-cycle.html