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C-23

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45th Parliament · Session 1

Bill C-23: An Act for granting to His Majesty certain sums of money for the federal public administration for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026

Appropriation Act No. 4, 2025-26

Introduced

March 24, 2026

Current Stage

RoyalAssentGiven

Last Updated

March 26, 2026

Sponsor

Shafqat Ali

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Bill C-23

Thu Mar 26 2026

An Act for granting to His Majesty certain sums of money for the federal public administration for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026

Impact Rating

1/5

Short Summary

A routine funding bill that allows the federal government to spend $5.4 billion to cover general operating costs and public administration for the 2025-2026 fiscal year.

Government Spending
Federal Budget
Public Administration
Economy

This bill is a routine financial measure known as an Appropriation Act. It officially authorizes the federal government to withdraw approximately $5.4 billion from the Consolidated Revenue Fund, which is the government's main bank account. This money is used to pay for the general operating costs and expenses of federal public administration for the 2025-2026 fiscal year that were not covered in the main budget. It does not introduce new policies or laws, but simply allows the government to pay its bills.

Why does this bill exist?

Origin (Routine Update)

This bill is a mandatory, routine legislative step required to legally release funds from the public treasury to pay for ongoing government operations.

  • Authorizes the withdrawal of exactly $5,408,955,628 from the federal treasury.

  • Funds the daily operations and administrative expenses of various federal government departments.

  • Applies to the 2025-2026 fiscal year, which ends on March 31, 2026.

  • Represents Supplementary Estimates (C), which are essentially additional funding requests beyond the government's initial main budget.

  • Strictly an accounting and housekeeping measure required by law to keep government services running.

Everyday citizens

(Neutral)

Will see no direct changes to their daily lives, though this ensures federal services they rely on remain funded.

Public servants

(Neutral)

Ensures their respective departments have the operational budgets required to function for the fiscal year.

Taxpayers

(More Expensive)

Indirectly funds this $5.4 billion expenditure through general tax revenues.

Provincial Impact

Provincial Impact

None (Purely Federal) Interaction

This bill strictly funds federal government departments and federal public administration. It does not dictate provincial spending or require provincial action.

Benefits & Pros

Ensures that federal departments have the necessary funding to continue operating and delivering services to Canadians.

Maintains democratic oversight, as the government cannot spend public money without formal parliamentary approval.

Beneficiaries

Federal government departments
Public servants

Risks & Cons

Adds an additional $5.4 billion to total federal spending for the year.

The bill text itself does not list the specific projects being funded, requiring citizens to read separate financial documents to see where the money is going.

Affected Groups

Federal treasury

Before & After

Currently, federal departments need official parliamentary approval to access this specific batch of $5.4 billion for their administrative costs. Under this bill, the funds are legally released so the departments can pay their bills.

Real World Scenario

Currently: A federal department has unexpected operational costs but has not received official clearance to access the money to pay for them. Under this Bill: The government officially unlocks the $5.4 billion required to cover these internal costs for the rest of the fiscal year.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sponsor

Shafqat Ali

Member of Parliament

House of Commons

First reading

Completed on March 24, 2026

Second reading

Completed on March 24, 2026

Consideration in committee

Completed on March 24, 2026

Report stage

Completed on March 24, 2026

Third reading

Completed on March 24, 2026

Senate

First reading

Completed on March 24, 2026

Second reading

Completed on March 25, 2026

Third reading

Completed on March 26, 2026

Royal Assent

Royal assent

Completed on March 26, 2026

Abuse Potential

Because this is a standard Appropriation Act, the abuse potential is very low. It is a highly regulated, routine piece of legislation. However, a common criticism of supply bills like this is transparency; the bill itself authorizes a massive $5.4 billion lump sum without detailing the specific departmental line items in the text. Citizens must cross-reference a separate government document called 'Supplementary Estimates (C)' to see exactly how the money is distributed.

Implementation Risk

None. This is a standard internal financial transfer within the federal government's own accounting system.

Broad Economic Impact

Indirect. Represents standard government spending that circulates in the economy through public sector operations.

Everyday Life

Minimal impact. This is routine administrative maintenance.

Admin Burden

Automatic. Citizens do not need to take any action.

Timeline

Immediate upon Royal Assent.