Analysis of Trends in Spending and Human Resources

Actual expenditures

The following table gives a summary of our department’s total budgetary financial resources for the fiscal year 2016-17. For more details on financial resources, including adjustments, please visit the Transport Canada website^Footnote .

Figure 2: Spending Trend for Transport Canada

The following table presents (in dollars) the:

• Total actual Departmental spending for all Programs for 2016-17, as well has historical spending for the prior two fiscal years; and
• Planned spending for 2017-18 and 2018-19, by Program, in support of each Strategic Outcome.

Human Resources

The following table provides a summary of Transport Canada's total human resources (Full-time equivalents-FTEs) for the fiscal year 2016-17.

Transport Canada’s (TC) FTE count peaked in 2015-16 at 5,263. At that time, we had identified a risk of exceeding our operating budget, so we took a number of measures to ensure that we remained within our delegated appropriations. Through tight controls over hiring and restraint in operating spending, we were able to contain and manage the situation. A Staffing Management Board, implemented in October 2015, oversaw all staffing with a view to ensuring, through managed attrition, by March 31, 2017, that staffing (and salary) levels were sustainable both financially and operationally.

The planned FTE information within our Departmental Results Report (5,434 FTEs in 2017-18) is mostly based on historical information and government decisions that either increase (e.g., new programs) or decrease (change in mandate or priorities) the number of FTEs within TC.

Expenditures by Vote

For information on Transport Canada’s organizational appropriations, consult the Public Accounts of Canada 2017^Footnote .

Alignment of Spending with the Whole-of-Government Framework

Departmental Spending Trend

Figure 2, as noted in the "Actual expenditures" section above, shows Transport Canada’s spending profile from 2014-15 to 2019-20. The profile shows expenditures of:

• $1,605 million in 2014-15;
• $1,569 million in 2015-16; and
• $1,192 million in 2016-17.

We can attribute most of the decrease since 2014-15 to a reduction in expenditures for one of our department’s major initiatives, the Gateways and Border Crossings Fund as well as spending on one-time initiatives such as the purchase of a ferry vessel (2014-15) and the costs related to an out-of-court settlement (2015-16).

Our department’s planned spending:

• Increases to $1,303 million in 2017-18; and then
• Decreases to:
  • $1,004 million in 2018-19; and
  • $865 million in 2019-20.

The increase from 2016-17 to 2017-18 is mostly the result of increased spending plans on initiatives such as the Federal Infrastructure Initiative and the Ports Asset Transfer Program.

Overall, spending plans decline after 2017-18 mostly due to reductions in planned spending for the following initiatives as they reach their maturity dates, including the:

• Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative;
• Gateways and Border Crossings Fund;
• Federal Infrastructure Initiative;
• Next Generation of Clean Transportation^Footnote ; and
• Ports Asset Transfer Program.

Note:  Planned spending in future years is listed as per the 2017-18 Departmental Plan^Footnote and does not include funding received from Budget 2017. Since the publication of the Departmental Plan we have received incremental funding of $195 million in 2018-19 and $289 million in 2019-20 for such initiatives as the Oceans Protection Plan and the Trade and Transportation Corridors Initiative.