Democratic Institutions
How Democratic Institutions spent its budget in fiscal year 2024-25, shown as net expenditures by standard object from Public Accounts Volume II.
The Democratic Institutions portfolio supports the administration of federal elections, the oversight of parliamentary security and intelligence review, and initiatives related to the integrity of Canada's electoral and democratic processes. It includes bodies responsible for organizing general elections and by-elections, reviewing national security matters on behalf of Parliament, and administering televised leaders' debates during federal election campaigns.
Democratic Institutions spent $317M in the 2024–25 fiscal year, representing 0.1% of total federal spending.
Spending in this portfolio is concentrated in the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, with much smaller amounts administered by the Secretariat of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians and the Leaders' Debates Commission. Its transfer payments relate directly to the conduct of elections, including subsidies to electoral district associations' auditors and reimbursement of election expenses to candidates and their auditors, spanning both general elections and by-elections.
Department Spending
In FY 2024-25,
$317M
was spent by Democratic Institutions
In FY 2024-25,
0.1%
of federal spending was by Democratic Institutions
How did Democratic Institutions spend its budget in 2024-25?
Spending by entity, FY 2024-25
Office of the Chief Electoral Officer
Secretariat of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians
Leaders' Debates Commission
$313.3M
$3.1M
$669K
Democratic Institutions’s share of federal spending
Percentage of federal spending, 2019–2025
Line items
Every transfer-payment (grant and contribution) program, in dollars. These are the named programs behind the transfer-payments object in the chart above. Search, sort, and download the full table.
| Category | Description | Amount ▼ |
|---|---|---|
| Other transfer payments | Subsidies to electoral district associations' auditors | $1,218,784 |
| Other transfer payments | Reimbursement of election expenses to candidates and payments of subsidies to candidates' auditors for the current year by-elections | $625,611 |
| Other transfer payments | Reimbursement of election expenses to candidates for the 44th general election, paid to assigned recipient | $116,315 |
| Other transfer payments | Reimbursement of election expenses to candidates, and payments of subsidies to candidates' auditors for other general elections and by-elections | $94,776 |
| Other transfer payments | Payment of subsidies to candidates' auditors for the 44th general election | $8,704 |
Explore other federal departments
Democratic Institutions figures are net expenditures by standard object from Public Accounts Volume II, and will not match the Volume I consolidated headline totals. See the methodology for details.
