Some Federal Fiscal Highlights

I have a new report out by the Fraser Institute in celebration of Canada's 150th Anniversary.  It is titled A Federal Fiscal History: Canada, 1867 to 2017 and tracks federal government spending, revenue, deficits, debt and spending and revenue composition from 1867 to 2017.  You can get the executive summary and the full report here.  However, is a quick round-up of some federal fiscal highlights over the years:

Some Federal Government Fiscal Highlights: 1867-2017

Total Federal Spending in Current Dollars

1867                         $14 million

1927                         $380 million

1967                         $12 billion

2017 (est)                 $331 billion

Real Per Capita Federal Spending in 2014 Dollars

1867                        $133

1927                        $660

1967                        $3,651

2017 (est)                $8,004

Federal Government Expenditures as a Share of GDP

1867                        5%

1927                        7%

1967                        17%

2017  (est)               16%

Net Federal Government Debt in Current Dollars

1867                        $76 million

1927                        $2 billion

1967                        $19 billion

2017 (est)                $760 billion

Personal Income Tax Share of Federal Government Revenue

1867                        0%

1927                        5%

1967                        33%

2017 (est)                51%

Longest Consecutive String of Deficits

27 years (1970-1996):     Accumulated deficits: $555 billion

   

Longest Consecutive String of Surpluses

11 years (1997-2007):     Accumulated surpluses: $105 billion

Biggest Deficit

Nominal dollars              2009            -$55.6 billion

As Share of GDP            1943            -22.5%

Biggest Surplus

Nominal dollars              2000            19.9 billion dollars

As Share of GDP            1947            4.8%