2020-21 Departmental Plan

Spending and Human Resources

This section provides an overview of the Department’s planned spending and human resources for the next three consecutive fiscal years, and compares planned spending for the upcoming year with the current and previous years’ actual spending.

Planned Spending

The following graph presents planned (voted and statutory) spending over time.

Departmental Spending 2017–18 to 2022–23

Departmental Vote Netted Revenue Trend Graph

*Differences may arise due to rounding

Text Version: Departmental Spending 2017–18 to 2022–23

This stacked column graph represents departmental spending trends for six fiscal years for the Department of Justice Canada. The graph presents a timeline (in fiscal years) on the horizontal axis and the amount of dollars (in millions of dollars) on the vertical axis. The timeline on the horizontal axis shows six columns; one for each fiscal year from 2017-18 on the left through to 2022-23. The amount of millions of dollars on the vertical axis ranges from 0 on the bottom to 1,000.0 on the top. Each column displays an accumulated total of departmental spending for two categories of funding: statutory and voted. These two categories of funding are also displayed numerically below each column to indicate the precise dollar amount of funding for each of the six fiscal years presented. The first column of the timeline, representing fiscal year 2017-18 (actuals), displays a total of $66,900,000 statutory and $640,100,000 voted for a total of $707,000,000.

The second column of the timeline, representing fiscal year 2018-19 (actuals), displays a total of $77,600,000 statutory and $711,200,000 voted for a total of $788,800,000.

The third column of the timeline, representing fiscal year 2019-20 (forecast), displays a total of $81,900,000 statutory and $713,900,000 voted for a total of $795,700,000.

The fourth column of the timeline, representing fiscal year 2020-21 (planned), displays a total of $76,500,000 statutory and $692,500,000 voted for a total of $769,000,000.

The fifth column of the timeline, representing fiscal year 2021-22 (planned), displays a total of $77,000,000 statutory and $693,400,000 voted for a total of $770,400,000.

The sixth and final column of the timeline, representing fiscal year 2022-23 (planned), displays a total of $77,000,000 statutory and $676,800,000 voted for a total of $753,800,000.

The Department of Justice’s total net planned spending for 2020-21 is $769.0 million:

As the primary provider of legal services to federal government departments and agencies, the Department has a Vote-Netted Revenue Authority to collect and spend revenue received from the provision of such services. For the purpose of departmental reporting, these respendable revenues reduce total departmental authorities and expenditures in Vote 1 (operating expenditures). For comparability purposes, “planned spending” is net of respendable revenues.

Budgetary Planning Summary for Core Responsibilities and Internal Services

The following table shows actual, forecast and planned spending for each of the Department of Justice Canada’s Core Responsibilities and Internal Services.

Core Responsibilities and Internal Services 2017-18 Expenditurestable note i 2018-19 Expenditures 2019-20 Forecast Spendingtable note ii 2020-21 Budgetary Spending (as indicated in Main Estimates) 2020-21 Planned Spendingtable note iii 2021-22 Planned spendingtable note iii 2022-23 planned spendingtable note iii
Legal Services 180,732,263 243,874,771 213,520,623 210,473,297 210,473,297 213,543,076 214,065,266
Justice System Support 430,621,197 448,180,851 467,093,292 478,120,142 478,120,142 477,119,774 459,614,652
Subtotal 611,353,460 692,055,622 680,613,915 688,593,439 688,593,439 690,662,850 673,679,918
Internal Services 95,648,611 96,751,723 115,113,112 80,423,780 80,423,780 79,729,341 80,115,630
Total 707,002,071 788,807,345 795,727,027 769,017,219 769,017,219 770,392,191 753,795,548

The $26.7 million decrease between 2019-20 forecast spending and 2020-21 planned spending is mainly attributable to additional funding the Department received in 2019-20 from Treasury Board Central Votes (such as compensation funding for retroactive payments associated with collective agreements and Operating Budget Carry Forward) that are not included in future years’ planned spending. The planned spending for 2020-21 and future years reflects only funds already approved through the Main Estimates.

The Department’s forecast spending in 2019-20 ($795.7 million) had increased slightly by $6.9 million compared to 2018-19 spending ($788.8 million). This spending increase is primarily explained by the net impact of retroactive compensation payments related to collective agreements signed in 2018-19 and 2019-20. It is also explained by an increase in contribution spending for programs such as criminal legal aid, immigration and refugee legal aid, and the Access to Justice in Both Official Languages Support Fund.

2020-21 Budgetary Planned Gross Spending Summary

The following table reconciles gross planned spending with net planned spending for 2020–21.

Core Responsibilities and Internal Services 2020-21 Planned Gross Spending 2020-21 Planned Revenues Netted Against Expenditures 2020-21 Planned Net Spending
Legal Services 486,922,297 276,449,000 210,473,297
Justice System Support 478,120,142 0 478,120,142
Subtotal 965,042,439 276,449,000 688,593,439
Internal Services 130,974,780 50,551,000 80,423,780
Total 1,096,017,219 327,000,000 769,017,219

The Department’s Vote-Netted Revenue Authority (VNR) amounts to $327 million, with a corresponding offset to the Operating Budget. The VNR is notionally distributed between the Legal Services and Internal Services programs. The actual revenues distributed between programs could vary depending on numerous factors, such as legal service rates approved periodically by Treasury Board, fluctuation in client departments’ demand for legal services, and the actual amount of revenues collected over or below the authority. As shown in the graph below, the forecast amount of respendable revenues as of October 31, 2019, for the Department is expected to reach $343.0 million in 2019-20.

Departmental Vote Netted Revenue Trend Graph (in millions of dollars)

Departmental Vote Netted Revenue Trend Graph

Text version: Departmental Vote Netted Revenue Trend Graph (in millions of dollars)

This column graph represents departmental vote-netted revenue for six fiscal years for the Department of Justice Canada. The graph presents a timeline (in fiscal years) on the horizontal axis and the amount of dollars (in millions of dollars) on the vertical axis. The timeline on the vertical axis shows six columns, with one for each fiscal year from 2017-18 on the left through to 2022-23. The amount of millions of dollars on the vertical axis ranges from 310 million on the bottom to 350 million on the top. Each column displays the amount of vote-netted revenue per fiscal year. This information is also displayed numerically below each column to indicate the precise dollar amount for each of the six fiscal years presented.

The first column of the timeline, representing fiscal year 2017-18 (actuals), displays a total of $316,300,000 in vote-netted revenue.

The second column of the timeline, representing fiscal year 2018-19 (actuals), displays a total of $330,100,000 in vote-netted revenue.

The third column of the timeline, representing fiscal year 2019-20 (forecast), displays a total of $343,000,000 in vote-netted revenue.

The fourth column of the timeline, representing fiscal year 2020-21 (planned), displays a total of $327,000,000 in vote-netted revenue.

The fifth column of the timeline, representing fiscal year 2021-22 (planned), displays a total of $327,000,000 in vote-netted revenue.

The sixth and final column of the timeline, representing fiscal year 2022-23 (planned), displays a total of $327,000,000 in vote-netted revenue.

Planned Human Resources

The following table shows actual, forecast and planned full-time equivalents (FTEs) for each Core Responsibility in the Department of Justice Canada’s Departmental Results Framework and Internal Services for the years relevant to the current planning year.

Human Resources Planning Summary for Core Responsibilities and Internal Services
Core Responsibilities and Internal Services 2017-18 Actual Full Time Equivalentstable note i 2018-19 Actual Full Time Equivalents 2019-20 Forecast Full Time Equivalentstable note ii 2020-21 Planned Full Time Equivalents 2021-22 Planned Full Time Equivalents 2022-23 Planned Full Time Equivalents
Legal Services 3,044 3,122 3,275 3,275 3,276 3,278
Justice System Support 296 291 293 293 293 293
Subtotal 3,340 3,413 3,568 3,568 3,569 3,571
Internal Services 971 973 1,070 1,070 1,070 1,070
Total 4,311 4,386 4,638 4,638 4,639 4,641

Estimates by Vote

Information on the Department of Justice Canada’s organizational appropriations is available in the 2020–21 Main Estimates.

Future-Oriented Condensed Statement of Operations

The condensed Future Oriented Statement of Operations provides an overview of the Department of Justice Canada’s operations for 2019-20 and 2020-21.

The amounts for forecast and planned results in this statement of operations were prepared on an accrual basis. The amounts for forecast and planned spending presented in other sections of the Departmental Plan were prepared on an expenditure basis. Amounts may therefore differ.

A more detailed Future Oriented Statement of Operations and associated notes, including a reconciliation of the net cost of operations to the requested authorities, are available on the Department of Justice Canada’s website.

Future Oriented Condensed Statement of Operations for the Year Ending March 31, 2021 (in thousands of dollars)
Financial Information 2019-20 Forecast Results 2020-21 Planned Results Difference (2020-21 Planned Results Minus 2019-20 Forecast Results)
Total expenses 1,230,339 1,178,091 (52,248)
Total revenues 343,026 327,000 (16,026)
Net cost of operations before government funding and transfers 887,313 851,091 (36,222)