Frequently asked questions

How much does the Canadian federal government spend?

This site tracks $970.0 billion in published grants, contributions, and contracts since 2006 — roughly $141,862 every minute, around the clock. That covers proactively disclosed spending, not the entire federal budget.

Where does this data come from?

Every number comes from official Government of Canada open data: the proactive-disclosure datasets for grants & contributions and contracts on open.canada.ca, Global Affairs Canada's IATI publications, the Public Accounts, and Statistics Canada. Every record links back to its official source, and imports run weekly.

What is a sole-source (non-competitive) contract?

A contract awarded without an open competition — solicitation codes TN (traditional non-competitive) and AC (Advance Contract Award Notice) in the official data. Non-competitive awards are legal and sometimes required; this site reports each organization's rate as context, not as a judgment.

Is this site run by the government?

No. OttawaSpends is an independent, free public-interest site built and run by Braunson Yager, a Canadian software developer. It republishes official open data without editorializing; the government's own record pages remain the authoritative source.

How current is the data?

Grants, contributions, contracts, and international-assistance data import weekly; Statistics Canada series weekly; Public Accounts datasets monthly. Each record stores the date it was imported, and departments themselves publish on a lag — usually quarterly.

Are the plain-language summaries written by a person?

No — they are AI-generated from the record's published description, in English and French, and always labelled as such. Low-confidence categorizations are queued for human review, and the linked official record always takes precedence.

Why does a record show more money than was originally announced?

Agreements get amended. Contract records carry both the original and the cumulative value, and this site flags records whose value grew or shrank more than 5% through amendments.

Can I use these figures in an article or report?

Yes — quote freely with attribution. The underlying data is published under the Open Government Licence – Canada. Cite the linked official record alongside this site, and use the CSV export or feeds for bulk needs.