Departmental client and expenditure forecasts are used to support official budgetary requests to adjust annual funding levels and spending authorities for Veteran programs and services as well as to track actual client intake and program usage in terms of both number of clients and dollars expended. Forecasts are updated annually while expenditure tracking is reflected quarterly where possible.
These numbers will not reconcile precisely with other published financial reports as listed below, due to timing of the information, the level of detailed reporting across the various programs and focus on program spending only. Departmental regular operating budget and expenditures are not included under program spending. Forecasts may not correspond to approved departmental budget amounts. In these cases, funding adjustments may be sought through future Estimates cycles to ensure appropriate funding so that all Veterans receive their rightful benefits and services.
More detail on the Department's expenditure plan and actual expenditures can be found as follows:
- The Departmental Plan (DP) (previously known as the Report on Plans and Priorities) describes departmental priorities, strategic outcomes, programs, expected results and associated resource requirements, covering a three-year period beginning with the year indicated in the title of the report.
- The Departmental Results Report (DRR) (previously known as the Departmental Performance Report) is a departmental account of actual performance for the most recently completed fiscal year against the plans, priorities and expected results set out in the respective Departmental Plan. DRRs inform Parliamentarians and Canadians of the results achieved by government organizations for Canadians.
- Quarterly Financial Reports (QFR) for departments and agencies consist of financial tables comparing planned and actual expenditures for both the quarter and year-to-date, as well as comparative information for the preceding fiscal year. Each report includes spending authorities granted through the Main and Supplementary Estimates, as well as any allotment transfers approved by Treasury Board that have become available for use by the institution at the end of the quarter.
- The Public Accounts of Canada is the report of the Government of Canada prepared annually by the Receiver General. The report covers the financial transactions of the Government during the year.