Canada, total government gross debt as a share of GDP (all levels of government)
SeriesActualEstimateForecast
Latest: 103.5% (2031)
- Period
- 2015 to 2031
- Unit
- Ratio, shown as a percentage
Canada, total government gross debt as a share of GDP (all levels of government), by period| Period | Value | Status |
|---|
| 2015 | 92.3% | Actual |
|---|
| 2016 | 92.5% | Actual |
|---|
| 2017 | 91.0% | Actual |
|---|
| 2018 | 90.8% | Actual |
|---|
| 2019 | 90.1% | Actual |
|---|
| 2020 | 118.1% | Actual |
|---|
| 2021 | 112.6% | Actual |
|---|
| 2022 | 103.5% | Actual |
|---|
| 2023 | 105.1% | Actual |
|---|
| 2024 | 110.0% | Actual |
|---|
| 2025 | 113.5% | Estimate |
|---|
| 2026 | 110.7% | Forecast |
|---|
| 2027 | 109.5% | Forecast |
|---|
| 2028 | 108.1% | Forecast |
|---|
| 2029 | 106.7% | Forecast |
|---|
| 2030 | 105.2% | Forecast |
|---|
| 2031 | 103.5% | Forecast |
|---|
General government covers the federal, provincial-territorial and local governments and the Canada and Quebec Pension Plans; gross debt includes government employee pension liabilities. 2015 to 2024 are historical data, 2025 is an IMF staff estimate and 2026 to 2031 are IMF projections.
drained.ca stress scenario: total government gross debt as a share of GDP
Seriesdrained.ca scenario
Latest: 150.0% (2035)
- Period
- 2027 to 2035
- Unit
- Ratio, shown as a percentage
drained.ca stress scenario: total government gross debt as a share of GDP, by period| Period | Value |
|---|
| 2027 | 122.0% |
|---|
| 2030 | 133.0% |
|---|
| 2033 | 143.0% |
|---|
| 2035 | 150.0% |
|---|
Our own stress projection, not an official forecast. It starts from the IMF's 2025 estimate and assumes government deficits grow 15% to 20% a year while nominal GDP grows only 2% to 3% a year, a recession or trade-war case. The IMF projects a decline over the same years.
drained.ca stress scenario: annual growth in government deficits, low end
drained.ca scenario
15.0%
- Period
- 2026 to 2035
- Unit
- Ratio, shown as a percentage
- Stored value
- 0.15
An assumption of our stress scenario, chosen as a deliberately adverse case. It is not a forecast.
drained.ca stress scenario: annual growth in government deficits, high end
drained.ca scenario
20.0%
- Period
- 2026 to 2035
- Unit
- Ratio, shown as a percentage
- Stored value
- 0.2
An assumption of our stress scenario, chosen as a deliberately adverse case. It is not a forecast.
drained.ca stress scenario: annual nominal GDP growth, low end
drained.ca scenario
2.0%
- Period
- 2026 to 2035
- Unit
- Ratio, shown as a percentage
- Stored value
- 0.02
An assumption of our stress scenario, chosen as a deliberately adverse case. It is not a forecast.
drained.ca stress scenario: annual nominal GDP growth, high end
drained.ca scenario
3.0%
- Period
- 2026 to 2035
- Unit
- Ratio, shown as a percentage
- Stored value
- 0.03
An assumption of our stress scenario, chosen as a deliberately adverse case. It is not a forecast.
Canada, nominal GDP (current dollars)
SeriesActualPreliminary
Latest: $3,245,257,000,000 ($3.2T) (2025)
- Period
- 1999 to 2025
- Unit
- Canadian dollars
Canada, nominal GDP (current dollars), by period| Period | Value | Status | Source | Note |
|---|
| 1999 | $1.0T | Actual | Series source | |
|---|
| 2000 | $1.1T | Actual | Series source | |
|---|
| 2001 | $1.1T | Actual | Series source | |
|---|
| 2002 | $1.2T | Actual | Series source | |
|---|
| 2003 | $1.3T | Actual | Series source | |
|---|
| 2004 | $1.3T | Actual | Series source | |
|---|
| 2005 | $1.4T | Actual | Series source | |
|---|
| 2006 | $1.5T | Actual | Series source | |
|---|
| 2007 | $1.6T | Actual | Series source | |
|---|
| 2008 | $1.7T | Actual | Series source | |
|---|
| 2009 | $1.6T | Actual | Series source | |
|---|
| 2010 | $1.7T | Actual | Series source | |
|---|
| 2011 | $1.8T | Actual | Series source | |
|---|
| 2012 | $1.8T | Actual | Series source | |
|---|
| 2013 | $1.9T | Actual | Series source | |
|---|
| 2014 | $2.0T | Actual | Series source | |
|---|
| 2015 | $2.0T | Actual | Series source | |
|---|
| 2016 | $2.0T | Actual | Series source | |
|---|
| 2017 | $2.1T | Actual | Series source | |
|---|
| 2018 | $2.2T | Actual | Series source | |
|---|
| 2019 | $2.3T | Actual | Series source | |
|---|
| 2020 | $2.2T | Actual | Series source | |
|---|
| 2021 | $2.5T | Actual | Series source | |
|---|
| 2022 | $2.9T | Actual | Series source | |
|---|
| 2023 | $3.0T | Actual | Series source | |
|---|
| 2024 | $3.1T | Actual | Series source | |
|---|
| 2025 | $3.2T | Preliminary | Statistics Canada, Table 36-10-0104-01, Gross domestic product, expenditure-based, Canada, quarterly, Vector v62305783, GDP at market prices, current prices, seasonally adjusted at annual rates; 2025 = average of the four quarters (release of 2026-08-28) | The annual table (36-10-0222-01) adds 2025 in November 2026. |
|---|
- Statistics Canada, Table 36-10-0222-01, Gross domestic product, expenditure-based, provincial and territorial, annual (opens in a new tab)Canada, vector v62787312, GDP at market prices, current prices (release of 2025-11-06)Published November 6, 2025. Accessed September 28, 2026.
- Statistics Canada, Table 36-10-0104-01, Gross domestic product, expenditure-based, Canada, quarterly (opens in a new tab)Vector v62305783, GDP at market prices, current prices, seasonally adjusted at annual rates; 2025 = average of the four quarters (release of 2026-08-28)Published August 28, 2026. Accessed September 28, 2026.
Federal debt (accumulated deficit) as a share of GDP
SeriesActual
Latest: 41.2% (FY2024-25)
- Period
- FY2014-15 to FY2024-25
- Unit
- Ratio, shown as a percentage
Federal debt (accumulated deficit) as a share of GDP, by period| Period | Value |
|---|
| FY2014-15 | 31.5% |
|---|
| FY2015-16 | 31.9% |
|---|
| FY2016-17 | 32.2% |
|---|
| FY2017-18 | 31.4% |
|---|
| FY2018-19 | 30.7% |
|---|
| FY2019-20 | 31.2% |
|---|
| FY2020-21 | 47.2% |
|---|
| FY2021-22 | 45.0% |
|---|
| FY2022-23 | 41.1% |
|---|
| FY2023-24 | 42.1% |
|---|
| FY2024-25 | 41.2% |
|---|
The Spring Economic Update 2026 restates 2024-25 at 40.7% after Statistics Canada revised GDP.
What Ottawa owes (total liabilities) as a share of GDP
SeriesActual
Latest: 71.0% (FY2024-25)
- Period
- FY2014-15 to FY2024-25
- Unit
- Ratio, shown as a percentage
What Ottawa owes (total liabilities) as a share of GDP, by period| Period | Value |
|---|
| FY2014-15 | 53.0% |
|---|
| FY2015-16 | 55.5% |
|---|
| FY2016-17 | 56.4% |
|---|
| FY2017-18 | 55.3% |
|---|
| FY2018-19 | 54.4% |
|---|
| FY2019-20 | 55.3% |
|---|
| FY2020-21 | 75.6% |
|---|
| FY2021-22 | 74.7% |
|---|
| FY2022-23 | 67.4% |
|---|
| FY2023-24 | 70.1% |
|---|
| FY2024-25 | 71.0% |
|---|
Finance Canada publishes no fiscal-year GDP in these tables, so it is recovered from its own pair: the accumulated deficit divided by its ratio to GDP. The ratio is then total liabilities over that GDP, which is the published ratio times total liabilities divided by the accumulated deficit. Finance rounds its ratio to a tenth of a point, so each point carries about 0.1 point of rounding; read it to the whole percent. The series is on the GDP of the November 2025 Fiscal Reference Tables, the vintage of Ottawa's 41.2% for 2024-25; the Spring Economic Update 2026 restates that year on revised GDP. Every point is recomputed from the three registered series by a test.
- Department of Finance Canada, Fiscal Reference Tables 2025, Parts 1 and 3 (opens in a new tab)Derived: Part 1 Table 2 ratio of the accumulated deficit to GDP, times Part 3 Table 15 total liabilities divided by the accumulated deficit (millions of dollars), both at the fiscal year endPublished November 7, 2025. Accessed October 14, 2026.
Federal budgetary balance (negative = deficit)
SeriesActual
Latest: -$36,348,000,000 (-$36.3B) (FY2024-25)
- Period
- FY2014-15 to FY2024-25
- Unit
- Canadian dollars
Federal budgetary balance (negative = deficit), by period| Period | Value |
|---|
| FY2014-15 | -$550.0M |
|---|
| FY2015-16 | -$2.9B |
|---|
| FY2016-17 | -$19.0B |
|---|
| FY2017-18 | -$19.0B |
|---|
| FY2018-19 | -$14.0B |
|---|
| FY2019-20 | -$39.4B |
|---|
| FY2020-21 | -$327.7B |
|---|
| FY2021-22 | -$90.3B |
|---|
| FY2022-23 | -$35.3B |
|---|
| FY2023-24 | -$61.9B |
|---|
| FY2024-25 | -$36.3B |
|---|
Restated series: later accounting changes are applied to earlier years, so early values differ from those first published.
Federal financial requirement: the cash Ottawa had to borrow in the year (negative = borrowing)
SeriesActual
Latest: -$130,015,000,000 (-$130.0B) (FY2024-25)
- Period
- FY2014-15 to FY2024-25
- Unit
- Canadian dollars
Federal financial requirement: the cash Ottawa had to borrow in the year (negative = borrowing), by period| Period | Value |
|---|
| FY2014-15 | $1.8B |
|---|
| FY2015-16 | -$17.5B |
|---|
| FY2016-17 | -$28.0B |
|---|
| FY2017-18 | -$9.5B |
|---|
| FY2018-19 | -$13.4B |
|---|
| FY2019-20 | -$43.9B |
|---|
| FY2020-21 | -$325.0B |
|---|
| FY2021-22 | -$84.4B |
|---|
| FY2022-23 | -$66.2B |
|---|
| FY2023-24 | -$85.7B |
|---|
| FY2024-25 | -$130.0B |
|---|
The budgetary balance plus non-budgetary transactions: loans, investments and advances, capital spending on non-financial assets, pensions and other accounts, and accruals. A negative value is the amount Ottawa had to raise by borrowing; a positive value is a source of funds. Restated series, like the budgetary balance.
Canada, nominal GDP growth, compound annual average, 2000 to 2024
DerivedActual
4.6%
- Period
- 2000 to 2024
- Unit
- Ratio, shown as a percentage
- Stored value
- 0.0460806209944955
Formula: (nominal GDP 2024 ÷ nominal GDP 1999) ^ (1/25) − 1
Inputs
- Canada, nominal GDP (current dollars) (1999): $1,007,927,000,000
- Canada, nominal GDP (current dollars) (2024): $3,108,551,000,000
- Statistics Canada, Table 36-10-0222-01, Gross domestic product, expenditure-based, provincial and territorial, annual (opens in a new tab)Canada, vector v62787312, GDP at market prices, current prices (release of 2025-11-06)Published November 6, 2025. Accessed September 28, 2026.
Federal debt (accumulated deficit) per person, March 31, 2015
DerivedActual
$17,663
- Period
- 2015-03-31
- Unit
- Canadian dollars
- Stored value
- 17662.6702128873
Formula: federal debt (accumulated deficit) at March 31 ÷ population on April 1
Inputs
Change in federal debt per person, March 2015 to March 2025, before inflation
DerivedEstimate
72.8%
- Period
- 2015 to 2025
- Unit
- Ratio, shown as a percentage
- Stored value
- 0.727997290361512
Formula: debt per person, March 2025 ÷ debt per person, March 2015 − 1 (current dollars)
Inputs
- Department of Finance Canada, Fiscal Reference Tables 2025, Part 1 (opens in a new tab)Table 1 Fiscal transactions, "Accumulated deficit" column, 2014-15 to 2024-25 rows (millions of dollars)Accessed September 28, 2026.
- Statistics Canada, Table 17-10-0009-01 Population estimates, quarterly (opens in a new tab)Canada; vector v1Published September 23, 2026. Accessed September 28, 2026.
- Department of Finance Canada, Annual Financial Report of the Government of Canada, Fiscal Year 2024-2025 (opens in a new tab)Table 6 Federal Debt (Accumulated Deficit), "Federal debt at end of year", 2024-25 (millions of dollars); also Tables 2 and 7Published November 7, 2025. Accessed September 28, 2026.
- Statistics Canada, Table 17-10-0009-01 Population estimates, quarterly (opens in a new tab)Canada (vector v1), April 1, 2025Published September 23, 2026. Accessed September 28, 2026.
Change in federal debt per person, March 2015 to March 2025, after inflation
DerivedEstimate
33.2%
- Period
- 2015 to 2025
- Unit
- Ratio, shown as a percentage
- Stored value
- 0.332304853591763
Formula: (debt per person, March 2025 ÷ CPI 2025) ÷ (debt per person, March 2015 ÷ CPI 2015) − 1
Inputs
- Federal debt (accumulated deficit) per person, March 31, 2015 (2015-03-31): $17,663
- Federal accumulated deficit per Canadian, March 31, 2025 (2025-03-31): $30,521
- Consumer Price Index, all-items, Canada, annual average (2002 = 100) (2015): 126.6
- Consumer Price Index, all-items, Canada, annual average (2002 = 100) (2025): 164.2
- Department of Finance Canada, Fiscal Reference Tables 2025, Part 1 (opens in a new tab)Table 1 Fiscal transactions, "Accumulated deficit" column, 2014-15 to 2024-25 rows (millions of dollars)Accessed September 28, 2026.
- Statistics Canada, Table 17-10-0009-01 Population estimates, quarterly (opens in a new tab)Canada; vector v1Published September 23, 2026. Accessed September 28, 2026.
- Department of Finance Canada, Annual Financial Report of the Government of Canada, Fiscal Year 2024-2025 (opens in a new tab)Table 6 Federal Debt (Accumulated Deficit), "Federal debt at end of year", 2024-25 (millions of dollars); also Tables 2 and 7Published November 7, 2025. Accessed September 28, 2026.
- Statistics Canada, Table 17-10-0009-01 Population estimates, quarterly (opens in a new tab)Canada (vector v1), April 1, 2025Published September 23, 2026. Accessed September 28, 2026.
- Statistics Canada, Table 18-10-0005-01 Consumer Price Index, annual average, not seasonally adjusted (opens in a new tab)Canada; All-items; vector v41693271Accessed September 28, 2026.
Federal balanced or surplus budgets, 2015-16 to 2024-25
DerivedActual
0
- Period
- FY2015-16 to FY2024-25
- Unit
- Count
- Stored value
- 0
Formula: number of fiscal years from 2015-16 to 2024-25 with a budgetary balance of zero or more
Inputs
- Federal budgetary balance (negative = deficit) (FY2015-16): -$2,861,000,000
- Federal budgetary balance (negative = deficit) (FY2016-17): -$18,957,000,000
- Federal budgetary balance (negative = deficit) (FY2017-18): -$18,961,000,000
- Federal budgetary balance (negative = deficit) (FY2018-19): -$13,964,000,000
- Federal budgetary balance (negative = deficit) (FY2019-20): -$39,392,000,000
- Federal budgetary balance (negative = deficit) (FY2020-21): -$327,729,000,000
- Federal budgetary balance (negative = deficit) (FY2021-22): -$90,315,000,000
- Federal budgetary balance (negative = deficit) (FY2022-23): -$35,322,000,000
- Federal budgetary balance (negative = deficit) (FY2023-24): -$61,876,000,000
- Federal budgetary balance (negative = deficit) (FY2024-25): -$36,348,000,000
Years from 2015-16 to 2024-25 in which Ottawa did not need to borrow, counted in full
DerivedActual
0
- Period
- FY2015-16 to FY2024-25
- Unit
- Count
- Stored value
- 0
Formula: number of fiscal years from 2015-16 to 2024-25 with a financial requirement of zero or more (no borrowing needed)
Inputs
- Federal financial requirement: the cash Ottawa had to borrow in the year (negative = borrowing) (FY2015-16): -$17,484,000,000
- Federal financial requirement: the cash Ottawa had to borrow in the year (negative = borrowing) (FY2016-17): -$27,969,000,000
- Federal financial requirement: the cash Ottawa had to borrow in the year (negative = borrowing) (FY2017-18): -$9,464,000,000
- Federal financial requirement: the cash Ottawa had to borrow in the year (negative = borrowing) (FY2018-19): -$13,363,000,000
- Federal financial requirement: the cash Ottawa had to borrow in the year (negative = borrowing) (FY2019-20): -$43,907,000,000
- Federal financial requirement: the cash Ottawa had to borrow in the year (negative = borrowing) (FY2020-21): -$325,043,000,000
- Federal financial requirement: the cash Ottawa had to borrow in the year (negative = borrowing) (FY2021-22): -$84,428,000,000
- Federal financial requirement: the cash Ottawa had to borrow in the year (negative = borrowing) (FY2022-23): -$66,150,000,000
- Federal financial requirement: the cash Ottawa had to borrow in the year (negative = borrowing) (FY2023-24): -$85,729,000,000
- Federal financial requirement: the cash Ottawa had to borrow in the year (negative = borrowing) (FY2024-25): -$130,015,000,000