Our first report card: did Canada's governments spend what they said they would?
Six of 13 senior governments kept spending within 2% of their own budget. Twelve got a clean audit. Seven published their audited results within six months. Our first report card, based on audited public accounts, puts every figure and its page reference in plain view.
Rednwhite
Every year, each government in Canada publishes a budget saying what it plans to spend. Months later, it publishes audited statements saying what it actually spent. Few people ever put the two side by side.
That is what our first report card does. It covers the federal government, 12 of the 13 provinces and territories, and, for the first time, five Ontario municipalities: the Region of Peel, Mississauga, Brampton, Caledon and Toronto.
It asks three plain questions of each government, using its own audited numbers:
- Did it spend what it said it would?
- Did its independent auditor sign off on the books?
- How quickly did it tell the public?
What we found
Spending against budget. Six of the 13 senior governments spent no more than 2% over their own budget, or came in under it. Four went 2% to 5% over. Three went more than 5% over: the Northwest Territories (9.2%), Nova Scotia (6.2%) and Yukon (5.7%).
Going over budget isn’t automatically a failure. An emergency, a new program approved mid-year or higher costs for services people rely on can all be good reasons. That’s why each government’s page shows where the money went over or under, and the context its own documents give. In the Northwest Territories, for example, the legislature approved about $325 million of extra spending during the year.
Audit opinion. Twelve of 13 received a clean (“unmodified”) opinion from their auditor. British Columbia’s auditor general issued a qualified opinion over how the province accounts for certain funding. Unusually, the auditor found it makes the province’s deficit look larger than it is, not smaller. Our British Columbia page explains it in plain language.
Timeliness. Seven governments published audited results within 180 days of their year ending. Saskatchewan was the fastest of the senior governments, at 91 days. Two did not meet our bar: Alberta’s auditor reports that its annual report missed the June 30 deadline set in law, and Nunavut’s latest audited accounts, for 2024-25, came out 340 days after that year ended.
What it means for you
Each government’s page opens with a short, plain-language summary, then shows what the numbers mean per person and where every dollar went. Among the provinces, spending per resident ranged from about $14,500 in Ontario to about $20,800 in Newfoundland and Labrador. In the three territories, where people are spread across vast distances, it was far higher.
Each page also lists questions worth asking your MLA, MP, councillor or candidates, based only on the figures.
Cities, and a closer look at Brampton
Peel Region, Mississauga, Brampton, Caledon and Toronto all received clean audit opinions for 2025. Mississauga’s auditor signed off just 90 days after year end.
For municipalities, we show spending against the budget figure in the audited statements but don’t rate it. Councils approve their budgets on a different accounting basis, so the comparison isn’t like-for-like.
Brampton’s page includes a closer look at its reserves. The City’s audited statements show reserves holding steady, at about $568 million. But the part not yet promised to approved projects is projected to have fallen by about three-quarters between the end of 2022 and the end of 2025. Using the City’s own budget books and reports to Council, the page sets out what the documents say happened, and the questions they leave open.
What this report card is, and isn’t
This report card is based on audited public accounts. We didn’t audit anyone’s books; independent auditors did. We read the statements they audited, extracted the figures, and checked every one against the page it came from.
We grade stewardship, not policy. Whether a government should run a deficit or spend more on health is a political choice, and we don’t grade it. A rating of “not met” isn’t an accusation of wrongdoing.
Prince Edward Island is not rated. We couldn’t obtain its audited 2025-26 accounts, and we’ll add it once we have.
Every figure is downloadable, with its source document and page, as a spreadsheet (CSV). And every government we rate can respond: we confirm each response by phone, then publish it in full, unedited, on that government’s page.
What’s next
This is the first of four report cards a year. Next come Crown corporations and more of Canada’s cities. We accept no government funding, ever, so the pace depends on donors.
Sources
- Rednwhite — Report card, fall 2026: What was actually spent (figures from each government’s audited public accounts or financial statements, with page references)
- Statistics Canada — Table 17-10-0009-01, Population estimates, quarterly (for per-person figures)
