Canada - Outstanding Public Debt





Canada: Outstanding Public Debt

Mnemonic GDBT.ICAN
Unit Mil. CAD, NSA
Adjustments Not Seasonally Adjusted
Quarterly 1.78 %
Data 2023 Q4 1,662,310
2023 Q3 1,633,287

Series Information

Source Statistics Canada
Release National Balance Sheet Accounts (CANSIM)
Frequency Quarterly
Start Date 3/31/1990
End Date 12/31/2023

Canada: Government

Reference Last Previous Units Frequency
Government Budget Balance 2023 Q4 -31,536 -28,168 Mil. CAD, SAAR Quarterly
Government Expenditures 2023 Q4 1,246,912 1,227,400 Mil. CAD, SAAR Quarterly
Government Revenues 2023 Q4 1,225,876 1,215,792 Mil. CAD, SAAR Quarterly
Outstanding Public Debt 2023 Q4 1,662,310 1,633,287 Mil. CAD, NSA Quarterly

Release Information

The National Balance Sheet Accounts (NBSA) are statements of the non-financial assets owned/used in the sectors of the economy and of the financial claims outstanding among the economic units in the sectors in the economy. They consist of the National Balance Sheet for the nation as a whole, as well as the underlying sector balance sheets.

At the core of the NBSA are assets and liabilities and the concepts of wealth and net worth. In nominal terms, wealth accumulates as the result of: economic and financial activity in the Income and Expenditure Accounts and Financial Flow Accounts, respectively; and, changes in the prices of assets and liabilities.

Target population

The Canadian economy (persons and unincorporated business, corporations, governments and non-residents).

Instrument design

This methodology type does not apply to this survey.

Sampling

No sampling is done.

Data sources

Data are extracted from administrative files and derived from other Statistics Canada surveys and/or other sources.

A large amount of information from various survey divisions within the bureau, along with other data, are compiled, integrated and analysed as part of the process of producing balance sheet estimates for the Canadian economy.

Major suppliers of data within Statistics Canada include Income and Expenditure Accounts Division, Balance of Payments Division, Industrial Organization and Finance Division, Public Sector Statistics Division, Income Statistics Division, Agriculture Division, Investment and Capital Stock Division and Census Operations Division. There are also a number of external and administrative sources of data used.

Error detection

This methodology type does not apply to this survey.

Imputation

This methodology type does not apply to this survey.

Estimation

Assets and liabilities, by detailed categories, are compiled for the major sectors of the economy. Data are received from survey divisions in aggregate forms and, in some instances, on a company or enterprise basis. Such data come either in the form of balance sheet levels or as estimates of capital stocks of non-financial assets. Data are categorized, checked, compiled, analyzed and compared with other sources of economic information. Estimates are reconciled with data in the Income and Expenditure Accounts and Financial Flow Accounts.

Quality evaluation

Data are analysed for time series consistency, links to current economic events, issues arising from the source data, and finally with respect to coherence.

It is not possible to produce an equivalent to National Wealth or National Net worth; nor is it possible to construct a balance sheet for the household sector, except periodically from household surveys. However, certain sub-sectors of the NBSA are largely comparable to estimates produced by source data divisions (e.g., pension funds, levels of government).

Disclosure control

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from releasing any data which would divulge information obtained under the Statistics Act that relates to any identifiable person, business or organization without the prior knowledge or the consent in writing of that person, business or organization. Various confidentiality rules are applied to all data that are released or published to prevent the publication or disclosure of any information deemed confidential. If necessary, data are suppressed to prevent direct or residual disclosure of identifiable data.

Revisions and seasonal adjustment

Revisions - Statistical revisions are carried out in order to incorporate the most recent information from quarterly and annual surveys, taxation statistics, public accounts, censuses, etc.

Estimates for each quarter are revised when those for subsequent quarters of the same year are published and when those for the first quarter of each of the next four years are published. They are not normally revised again except when historical revisions are carried out, usually once per decade. However, the conversion of the NBSA to quarterly frequency (2003) and incorporation of market value estimates (2004) have resulted in the accounts being open back to 1990 at the time of the first quarter in June of 2003 and 2004.

Seasonal adjustment - Quarterly NBSA data series are largely unadjusted for seasonal variation. However, selected quarterly aggregate data series are available on a seasonally-adjusted basis.

The information above was obtained from the following webpage from Statistics Canada: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/cgi-bin/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getSurvey&lang=en&db=imdb&adm=8&dis=2&SDDS=1806