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Canada Border Services Agency: Quarterly financial report for the third quarter of fiscal year 2025 to 2026

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1. Introduction

This Quarterly Financial Report (QFR) has been prepared as required by section 65.1 of the Financial Administration Act and in the form and manner prescribed by the Treasury Board. This quarterly report should be read in conjunction with the Main Estimates.

Information on the raison d’être, mandate, role and core responsibilities of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) can be found in Part III Departmental Plan and Part II of the Main Estimates.

The QFR has not been subjected to an external audit or review, but has been reviewed internally by the departmental Audit Committee.

1.1 Basis of presentation

This quarterly report has been prepared by management using an expenditure basis of accounting. The accompanying statement of authorities (Table 1) includes the department's spending authorities granted by Parliament, and those used by the department consistent with the Main Estimates for the to and to fiscal years. This quarterly report has been prepared using a special purpose financial reporting framework designed to meet financial information needs with respect to the use of spending authorities.

The authority of Parliament is required before money can be spent by Government departments. Approvals are given in the form of annually approved limits through appropriation acts, or through legislation in the form of statutory spending authority for specific purposes.

When Parliament is dissolved for the purposes of a general election, section 30 of the Financial Administration Act authorizes the Governor General, under certain conditions, to issue a special warrant authorizing the Government to withdraw funds from the consolidated revenue fund. A special warrant is deemed to be an appropriation for the fiscal year in which it is issued.

The department uses the full accrual method of accounting to prepare and present its annual departmental financial statements that are part of the departmental results reporting process. However, the spending authorities voted by Parliament remain on an expenditure basis.

2. Highlights of fiscal quarter and fiscal year-to-date (YTD) results

This section highlights the significant items that contributed to the net increase or decrease in resources available for the year and actual expenditures as of the quarter ended .

Graph 1: Comparison of net budgetary authorities and expenditures as of , and (in thousands $)

graph1
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Comparison of Net Budgetary Authorities and Expenditures as of and (in thousands $)

  2024-2025 2025-2026
Net Budgetary Authorities 3,124,965   3,182,881  
Net Expenditures for the quarter ending December 31   71,996   719,052
Net Expenditures for the quarter ending September 30   835,714   719,775
Net Expenditures for the quarter ending June 30   553,932   621,996
Total Net Expenditures to date   2,104,642   2,060,823

2.1 Significant changes to authorities

For the period ending , the authorities provided to the CBSA are comprised of the Main Estimates and any unused spending authorities carried forward from the previous fiscal year.

The statement of authorities (Table 1) presents a net increase of $57.9 million or 1.9% of the Agency’s total authorities of $3,182.9 million on , compared to $3,125.0 million total authorities on.

This net increase in the authorities available for use is the result of an increase in Vote 1 – Operating Expenditures of $8.3 million, a decrease in Vote 5 – Capital Expenditures of $14.5 million and an increase in budgetary statutory authorities of $64.1 million, as detailed below.

Vote 1: Operating

The Agency’s Vote 1 increased by $8.3 million or 0.3% (excluding the statutory authorities), compared to the same period last fiscal year. The increase is attributed to the net effect of the increase in Main Estimates offset by a decrease in collective agreements and smaller carry forward as compared with previous years combined with the absence of 2025-26 Supplementary Estimate B for the Agency.

Vote 5: Capital

The Agency’s Vote 5 decreased by $14.5 million or 5.4% (excluding the statutory authorities), compared to the same period last fiscal year. The decrease is attributed to the net effect of the following significant items:

  • $32.3 million net decreases in Main Estimates.
    • The main decreases contributing to the changes in capital funding include:
      • $25.2M Planned funding profile change for Gordie Howe International Bridge;
      • $22.9M Planned funding profile change for Guns and Gangs;
    • These decreases are partially offset by a $38.9M increase in funding for the Land Border Crossing Project.
  • $24.0 million decrease reflects a timing difference in accessing capital funding.  Last fiscal year, additional capital funding was received in December, on time for including in the Q3 report.  This current fiscal year, the additional funding will be received later in the fiscal year.
  • $41.8 million increase due to a larger carry forward of unused spending authorities.

Budgetary statutory authorities

The Agency’s Statutory Authority related to the employee benefit plan (EBP) increased by $64.1 million, or 29.5% from the previous year, due to an EBP adjustment set by the Treasury Board.

2.2 Explanations of significant variances in expenditures from previous year

As indicated in the statement of authorities (Table 1), the Agency’s year-to-date expenditures, at quarter end , were $2,060.8 million, compared to $2,104.6 million for year-to-date, quarter ending . The net decrease of $43.8 million or 2.1% in expenditures is mainly due to the following items:

  • Decrease of $102.3 million or 5.4% in Vote 1 Operating Expenditures. The decrease in expenditures is mainly attributed to decrease in salaries due to retroactive payments made during fiscal years -, artificially increasing  annualized salary expenditures in previous year.  When excluding the anomalies created by retroactive payments, spending trends are similar for both fiscal years.
  • Increase of $8.0 million or 12.9% in Vote 5 Capital Expenditures, mainly attributed to the advancement of facilities capital projects, such as the Land Border Crossing Project.
  • Increase of $50.5 million in statutory expenditures related to employee benefits due to slightly higher rate paid in regular salaries in 2025-26 (i.e., excluding retroactive payments paid following new negotiated collective agreements)

As indicated in the departmental budgetary expenditures by standard objects (Table 2), the net decrease by standard object is mainly attributed to:

  • Increase of $21.5 million for Acquisition of land, buildings and works related to the advancement of facilities capital projects, such as the Land Border Crossing Project.
  • Increase of $20.4 million for Professional and special services, which can be mainly attributed to increase in expenses for building protection services.
  • Increase of $10.6 million for Acquisition of machinery and equipment is mainly attributed to computer equipment and parts.
  • Increase of $4.4 million for Rentals, which is related to the rental of computer software.
  • Decrease of $105.8 million for Personnel is mainly attributed to decrease in salaries due to a smaller amount of new negotiated collective agreements.
  • Decrease of $1.9 million for Transportation and communications, which can be mainly attributed to the reductions in public servant travels.

Graph 2: Comparison of vote netted revenue budget and revenue collected as of , and (in thousands $)

graph2
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Comparison of Vote Netted Revenue budget and Revenue collected as of and (in thousands $)

  - -2026
Vote Netted Revenue budget 29,330   29,030  
Revenue collected for the quarter ending December 31   9,797   8,618
Revenue collected for the quarter ending September 30   8,436   7,728
Revenue collected for the quarter ending June 30   7 133   6 822
Total revenue collected to date 29,330 25,366 29,030 23,168

The planned revenue from the sales of services reflects the Agency’s revenue respending authority. The year-to-date revenue from services has decreased by $2.2 million or 8.7%, that is mainly due to lower travel and related NEXUS applications than the previous year.

3. Risks and uncertainties

The CBSA maintains an Enterprise Risk Profile (ERP) which highlights the most important risks that could impact the Agency's objectives. ERP updates are presented quarterly to the CBSA Executive Committee and include mitigation strategies for the Agency's top risks. Risk drivers that could have a financial impact on the CBSA's operations include delivery of major projects and reliance on temporary funding. As such, given the large, nationally-distributed nature of the Agency, there is a risk of misalignment of resource allocation at lower levels of the organization, which can limit the Agency’s ability to reallocate resources to emerging priorities in a timely manner. However, due to mitigations in place, this is a relatively low risk that is being managed effectively.

3.1 Delivery of major projects

The Agency is pursuing large information technology (IT) and physical infrastructure projects, which are multi-year in nature and represent substantial investments, such as:

  • Digital Traveller Experience and Officer Experience, which are key components of the Agency’s Traveller Modernization initiative to facilitate the border experience for low-risk travellers using digital tools and biometric technologies, while improving the ability of CBSA officers to carry out the Agency’s safety and security mandate.
  • E-Commerce Low Value Inspection System (ELVIS), which aims to enhance risk targeting in the courier low-value shipment stream by using automation and analytics to intercept contraband.
  • Land Border Crossing Project (LBCP), which aims to rebuild multiple land ports of entry over several years.

Since the CBSA depends on other government departments and/or external stakeholders for the development and implementation of many of these projects, any delays due to limited labour availability and affordability within and outside the Agency can have an impact on these projects.

The Agency strives to mitigate financial risks by risk-rating its projects, conducting periodic project reviews, and by holding regular budget discussions. Such activities are informed and supported by the Agency's quarterly integrated project reporting processes. The Agency has met key deadlines and deliverables on most of the major projects currently underway, including fully delivering the ports of entry at Bloomfield (New Brunswick) and Sainte-Aurélie (Quebec) under the LBCP, and initiating major construction at the Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle port of entry (Quebec’s busiest land border crossing), while also progressing toward a limited production release of ELVIS in 2025–26. The CBSA is on track for the next set of deliverables.

The CBSA invests in a number of information technology (IT) projects as part of creating a more modernized organization. A list of key IT projects with a budget over $1 million can be consulted.

3.2 Reliance on time-limited funding

The Agency has a mix of permanent and project funding. To deliver on core commitments, attract the best resources and ensure a stable workforce, most of the CBSA's employees are indeterminate. To mitigate the gap between the funding horizon and the permanent obligations related to salaries, the Agency develops flexible plans through its annual Integrated Business Planning (IBP) process and three-year financial plan. This increased oversight is critical to ensure the multi-year affordability of the organization.

4. Significant changes in relation to operations, personnel and programs

4.1 Key senior personnel

There has been no changes in key senior personnel in the third quarter of 2025-26 at the Agency.

5. Approval by senior officials

Approved by:

Erin O'Gorman
President
Ottawa, Canada
Date:

Ryan Pilgrim
Chief Financial Officer
Ottawa, Canada
Date:

6. Table 1: Statement of authorities (unaudited)

Fiscal year to
(in thousands of dollars) Total available for use for the year ending Footnote 1 Used during the quarter ended Year-to-date used at quarter end
Vote 1: Operating Expenditures 2,648,592 617,912 1,779,226
Vote 5: Capital Expenditures 253,072 30,523 69,768
Statutory authority — Contributions to employee benefit plans 281,217 70,305 210,913
Statutory authority — Refunds of amounts credited to revenues in previous years 0 2 3
Statutory authority — Spending of proceeds from the disposal of surplus Crown assets 0 310 913
Total budgetary authorities 3,182,881 719,052 2,060,823
Non-budgetary authorities 0 0 0
Total authoritiesFootnote 2 3,182,881 719,052 2,060,823
Fiscal year to
(in thousands of dollars) Total available for use for the year ending Footnote 1 Used during the quarter ended Year-to-date used at quarter end
Vote 1: Operating expenditures 2,640,254 631,600 1,881,508
Vote 5: Capital expenditures 267,592 29,605 61,803
Statutory authority — Contributions to employee benefit plans 217,119 53,757 161,272
Statutory authority — Refunds of amounts credited to revenues in previous years 0 0 18
Statutory authority — Spending of proceeds from the disposal of surplus Crown assets 0 34 41
Total budgetary authorities 3,124,965 714,996 2,104,642
Non-budgetary authorities 0 0 0
Total authoritiesFootnote 2 3,124,965 714,996 2,104,642

7. Table 2: Departmental budgetary expenditures by standard objects (unaudited)

Fiscal year to
(in thousands of dollars) Planned expenditures for the year ending March 31, 2026Footnote 1 Expended during the quarter ended Year-to-date used at quarter end
Expenditures
Personnel 2,146,977 545,840 1,630,466
Transportation and communications 87,218 15,722 37,980
Information 3,717 2,420 3,583
Professional and special services 573,513 102,630 276,580
Rentals 14,814 3,109 10,421
Repair and maintenance 66,152 20,856 32,431
Utilities, materials and supplies 64,011 4,055 11,664
Acquisition of land, buildings and works 126,233 21,326 41,969
Acquisition of machinery and equipment 102,426 18,373 28,846
Transfer payments 0 0 0
Other subsidies and payments 26,852 -6,661 10,051
Total gross budgetary expenditures 3,211,912 727,670 2,083,991
Less revenues netted against expenditures
Sales of services 29,030 8,620 23,171
Other revenue 0 -2 -3
Total revenues netted against expenditures 29,030 8,618 23,168
Total net budgetary expendituresFootnote 2 3,182,882 719,052 2,060,823
Fiscal year to
(in thousands of dollars) Planned expenditures for the year ending Footnote 1 Expended during the quarter ended Year-to-date used at quarter end
Expenditures
Personnel 2,079,570 551,871 1,736,312
Transportation and communications 89,278 14,336 39,862
Information 4,131 860 2,621
Professional and special services 593,054 112,760 256,166
Rentals 19,327 2,487 6,020
Repair and maintenance 63,996 19,483 30,418
Utilities, materials and supplies 38,174 4,826 12,083
Acquisition of land, buildings and works 103,753 10,196 20,455
Acquisition of machinery and equipment 124,205 5,397 18,259
Transfer payments 0 0 0
Other subsidies and payments 38,807 2,577 7,812
Total gross budgetary expenditures 3,154,295 724,793 2,130,008
Less revenues netted against expenditures
Sales of services 29,330 9,797 25,384
Other revenue 0 0 -18
Total revenues netted against expenditures 29,330 9,797 25,366
Total net budgetary expendituresFootnote 2 3,124,965 714,996 2,104,642

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