Analysis of Trends in Spending and Human Resources – 2020–21 Departmental Results Report

Actual Expenditures

Departmental Spending Trend Graph

The following graph presents planned (voted and statutory) spending over time.

*Totals may not add up due to rounding

Budgetary Performance Summary for Core Responsibilities and Internal Services (dollars)

The following table shows actual, forecast and planned spending for each of Election Canada's core responsibilities and to Internal Services for the years relevant to the current planning year.

Budgetary Performance Summary for Core Responsibilities and Internal Services (dollars)
Core Responsibilities and Internal Services	2020–21 Main Estimates	2020–21 Planned spending¹	2021–22 Planned spending¹	2022–23 Planned spending¹	2020–21 Total authorities available for use²	2018–19 Actual spending (authorities used)	2019–20 Actual spending (authorities used)	2020–21 Actual spending (authorities used)
Electoral Administration and Oversight	82,078,356	82,078,356	112,848,442	120,161,578	144,920,112	120,907,167	515,137,124	143,558,420
Electoral Compliance and Enforcement	7,413,185	7,413,185	7,968,296	7,989,549	7,934,332	N/A	N/A	7,770,484
Subtotal	89,491,541	89,491,541	120,816,738	128,151,127	152,854,444	120,907,167	515,137,124	151,328,904
Internal Services	44,188,889	44,188,889	52,049,466	55,596,442	58,228,280	62,841,306	55,759,213	57,501,257
Total	133,680,430	133,680,430	172,866,204	183,747,569	211,082,724	183,748,473	570,896,337	208,830,161

Note 1: Planned spending is the amount the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer planned to spend in a given fiscal year, as set out in the Main Estimates and in the Departmental Plan for that year.

Note 2: Total authorities available for use refer to the authorities available for spending in a given fiscal year, including those granted after Main Estimates and adjustments for statutory spending.

The agency's spending pattern generally reflects the election cycle: spending increases in the fiscal year before a general election, peaks in the fiscal year of an election, and decreases sharply in the fiscal year following an election.

The agency increased its election readiness operations in 2018–19, as it prepared for the 43rd general election. Expenditures peaked in 2019–20, as the general election took place in the fall of 2019. Spending decreased in 2020–21, but did not return to the usual level due to the fact that the 43rd general election resulted in a minority government. The agency initiated earlier than planned the full preparations for the 44th general election in a pandemic context. These factors were not known at the time planned spending was established. During a minority government, the agency does not include the general election delivery in its planned spending due to the unknown timing of the election. Additionally, the decennial electoral boundaries redistribution began in 2020–21 and will conclude in 2023–24. These variations affect only the statutory portion of the funding.

Lastly, further to the adoption of Bill C-76 in December 2018, Elections Canada and the Office of the Commissioner of Canada Elections were administratively reintegrated in April 2019, while continuing to operate independently of each other as per their mandates. This reintegration is reflected in an increase in expenditures and full-time equivalents starting in 2019–20.

Note: The annual proportion of Internal Services expenditures over the agency's total spending varies significantly. This is due to the election cycle. Over the last four fiscal years, this proportion fluctuated between 10% and 34% annually but had an average of 20%.

Actual Human Resources

Human Resources Summary for Core Responsibilities and Internal Services
Core Responsibilities and Internal Services	2018–19 Actual FTEs	2019–20 Actual FTEs	2020–21 Planned FTEs	2020–21 Actual FTEs	2021–22 Planned FTEs	2022–23 Planned FTEs
Electoral Administration and Oversight	502	756	502	651	790	808
Electoral Compliance and Enforcement	N/A	N/A	48	43	44	44
Subtotal	502	756	550	694	834	852
Internal Services	216	239	244	262	281	286
Total	718	995	794	956	1,115	1,138

The fluctuation in full-time equivalents is a result of the election cycle and largely due to the reasons stated in the Budgetary Performance Summary, with the exception that there was significant one-time spending in 2020–21 for non-personnel election preparation activities. Personnel gradually hired in 2020–21 to achieve readiness in a minority government context and planned in 2021–22 and 2022–23 to maintain readiness explains the FTE increase in those two fiscal years.

Expenditures by Vote

For information on the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer's voted and statutory organizational expenditures, consult the Public Accounts of Canada 2020–2021.^{Footnote xxxiii}

Government of Canada Spending and Activities

Information on the alignment of the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer's spending with the Government of Canada's spending and activities is available in GC InfoBase.^{Footnote xxxiv}

Footnotes

Return to source of ^{Footnote xxxiii} Public Accounts of Canada, https://www.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca/recgen/cpc-pac/index-eng.html

Return to source of ^{Footnote xxxiv} GC InfoBase, https://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/ems-sgd/edb-bdd/index-eng.html#start

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