Quarterly Financial Report: Quarter ended December 31, 2021

1.1 Authority, Mandate and Departmental Results

Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC) continues to renew the nation-to-nation, Inuit-Crown, government-to-government relationship between Canada and First Nations, Inuit and Métis; modernize Government of Canada structures to enable Indigenous Peoples to build capacity and support their vision of self-determination; and lead the Government of Canada's work in the North.

The responsibility for CIRNAC is shared between the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and the Minister of Northern Affairs.

Further details on CIRNAC's authority, mandate and departmental results can be found in Part II of the Main Estimates and the Departmental Plan.

1.2 Basis of Presentation

This quarterly report has been prepared by management using an expenditure basis of accounting. The accompanying Statement of Authorities (Table 1) includes the Department's spending authorities granted by Parliament, and those used by the Department consistent with the Main Estimates and Supplementary Estimates for the 2021–22 fiscal year. This quarterly report has been prepared using a special purpose financial reporting framework designed to meet financial information needs with respect to the use of spending authorities.

The authority of Parliament is required before money can be spent by the government. Approvals are given in the form of annually approved limits through appropriation acts, or through legislation in the form of statutory spending authority for specific purposes.

The Department uses the full accrual accounting method to prepare and present its annual departmental financial statements that are part of the departmental results reporting process. However, the spending authorities voted by Parliament remain on an expenditure basis.

1.3 General Descriptions

The following descriptions are referred to throughout the report:

• Authority: Approvals from Parliament to spend up to a specific amount.
• Operating (Vote 1 and Statutory):
  • Vote 1: Amount approved for the fiscal year for the Department to spend on operating expenditures.
  • Statutory: Amount approved through an existing Act of Parliament.
• Capital (Vote 5): Amount approved for the fiscal year for the Department to spend on capital purchases or for the construction of assets.
• Grants and Contributions (G&C's) (Vote 10 and Statutory):
  • Vote 10: Amount approved for the fiscal year for the Department as grants and contributions transfer payments to recipients.
  • Statutory: Amount approved through an existing Act of Parliament.
• Debt Forgiveness (Vote 25): The forgiveness, as referred to in section 24.1 of the Financial Administration Act, of a debt due to Her Majesty in right of Canada.
• Government Contingencies (TB Vote 5): Temporary advances for urgent or unforeseen items that require funding in advance of the next Supplementary Estimates and related Supply bill.
• Operating and Capital Carry Forward: Eligible funds lapsed in the previous fiscal year brought forward to the following year.
• Standard Object (SO): Classification or coding of transactions to permit the reporting of information about the nature of transactions in the Estimates and Public Accounts.

2.1 Authorities available for use

This section highlights the financial results for the quarter and fiscal year-to-date ended December 31, 2021, and provides an explanation of variances in authorities available for use compared with the same period last year.

CIRNAC's current total budgetary authorities available for use at the end of the third quarter in 2021-22 is $6,756.3 million which is comprised of the Department's 2021-22 Main Estimates of $4,696.6 million, Supplementary Estimates (A) of $996.9 million, Supplementary Estimates (B) of $1,034.8 million and $28.0 million in allotment adjustments, which includes items such as the Operating and Capital Budget Carry Forwards. The most significant adjustment that was made to CIRNAC's authority during the third quarter was the Supplementary Estimates (B), which funded key initiatives, including:

• $412.2 million for the Specific Claims Settlement Fund that was brought forward from the previous fiscal year to fiscal year 2021-22;
• $231.4 million for Infrastructure investments in Indigenous communities to support shovel-ready infrastructure projects for Indigenous communities on and off-reserve;
• $212.2 million of funding for the partial settlement of Gottfriedson (Indian Residential Day Scholars) litigation ;
• $33.4 million for the First Nations Finance Authority to support First Nation borrowers during the lingering impact of COVID-19;
• $32.7 million to support Canada's commitments to responding to the recommendations of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls; and
• $25.0 million of funding for the Yukon's Climate Change Priorities.

2.2 Authorities used and actual expenditures

CIRNAC's year to date expenditures for the quarter ended December 31, 2021, was $3,164.5 million as compared to $2,974.9 million last year for the same period, representing an increase of $189.6 million (6.4%). The variance in spending can be mainly attributed to the following items:

• An increase in settlement payments related to the McLean class action for Federal Indian Day Schools (+$645.0 million);
• Partially offset by a decrease in specific claims settlement payments (-$435.0 million).

See Table 1: Statement of Authorities and Table 2: Departmental Budgetary Expenditures by Standard Object for additional details.