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Statistics -> Government of Canada debt

Government of Canada debt in selected years

Not only did the population of the world reach a record 7 billion people on October 31, 2011, but the Canadian Federal Debt also reached an all-time high. Based on economic forecasts, the Federal Debt (accumulated deficit) reached $568 billion on October 31st.

The Canadian debt is confusing, because several different numbers are reported. As of March 31, 2011, which is the financial year end for the Government of Canada, here are the various numbers, in $billions:

*Total interest-bearing debt*	$801.8
Add accounts payable and accrued liabilities	119.1
*Federal gross debt*	920.9
Less financial assets	-304.0
*Net debt*	616.9
Less non-financial assets	66.6
Federal debt (accumulated deficit) used by the CTF debt clock	$550.3

The total government gross debt is reported in the table below. Most organizations focus on the Federal Debt (accumulated deficit), which is a much lower total than the gross government debt.

When the debt includes all levels of government, Canada's total gross government debt in 2011 is 84% of GDP, or $1.4 trillion. See our article on Debt in Selected Countries for the significance of this number.

Year	Federal Gross Debt $billions	Debt as % of GDP	Population millions	Debt per person $
1967	$28.4	43.8%	20.0	$1,419
1971	38.0	42.2%	21.6	1,764
1976	61.0	35.1%	23.5	2,600
1981	123.6	39.3%	24.8	4,978
1986	319.4	65.8%	26.1	12,236
1991	487.7	71.7%	28.0	17,397
1996	691.3	85.3%	30.0	23,297
2001	713.6	66.3%	31.0	23,004
2006	702.5	51.1%	32.6	21,565
2007	705.8	48.7%	32.9	21,432
2008	824.2	51.4%	33.3	24,456
2009	883.3	57.8%	33.7	25,903
2010	883.3	57.8%	34.1	25,903
2011	920.9	56.7%	34.5	26,692
2012	967.7	56.2%	34.9	27,728

The Federal Gross Debt above is as reported in the Department of Finance Fiscal Reference Tables, Table 15 Gross and Net Debt. These amounts are as at March 31st of each year. See also the Department of Finance report Outstanding Debt at Year-End. The 2012 Fiscal Reference Tables are not yet available in HTML format, as of October 5, 2012.

The % of GDP is based on the GDP at Market Prices (Statistics Canada V498074) for the prior calendar year. For instance, the 2012 % of GDP is based on the 2011 GDP. The amounts for the GDP are obtained from Statistics Canada table for Gross Domestic Product, Income-Based.

The population figures, which are as of July 31 of each year, are obtained from Statistics Canada Population by Year, by Province and Territory.

There is a wealth of information available on the Department of Finance website, including Fiscal Reference Tables where you can see not only Federal information, but also information such as the public accounts (net debt) of the provincial and territorial governments.