Canadian fiscal pulse: government-sector balances and strain, quarterly
Quarterly Canadian public-finance intelligence from Statistics Canada's Canadian Government Finance Statistics (table 10-10-0015-01, statement of operations and balance sheet, 1990-Q1 to the latest published quarter): a sector x quarter panel for consolidated, federal, provincial-territorial and local governments plus the CPP/QPP. Method: 85 curated vectors fetched through the keyless Web Data Service; year-over-year growth on revenue, expense and interest; fiscal-balance-to-revenue and interest-burden ratios; and a documented 0-100 fiscal strain score (deficit depth 35% + interest burden 25% + expense-outpacing-revenue gap 20% + net-financial-worth deterioration 20%, min-maxed over the full 1990-present panel) with per-quarter strain ranks, absolute t1-t4 tiers, and surplus / record-deficit / deepening / interest-surge / revenue-decline / record-strain flags. Units: millions of Canadian dollars for levels; percent and percentage points for ratios and growth; 0-100 score. Caveats: CGFS follows IMF GFSM 2014 concepts, so federal net lending/borrowing differs from the budgetary balance in the federal budget; quarters are not seasonally adjusted; StatCan revises recent quarters, so history can shift between snapshots. Statistics Canada Open Licence (commercial reuse allowed); source: Statistics Canada.
- Source
- Statistics Canada
- Rows
- 730
- Columns
- 42
- Source cadence
- Quarterly
- Last refreshed
- Sep 28, 2026
- Theme
- government
| Column | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| quarter | string | Reference quarter as an ISO date (first day of the quarter's first month: January, April, July, October). (unit: ISO date) |
| country | string | Canonical country name (Canada for every row). |
| country_code | string | ISO alpha-3 country code (CAN for every row). (unit: ISO 3166-1 alpha-3) |
| sector_code | string | Government sector: CON consolidated government; FED federal government; PT provincial and territorial government; LOC local government; PEN Canada Pension Plan and Quebec Pension Plan. |
| sector_name | string | Provider-verbatim sector name. |
| revenue_m | float | Total revenue. (unit: million CAD) |
| taxes_m | float | Total taxes. (unit: million CAD) |
| tax_income_m | float | Taxes on income, profits and capital gains. (unit: million CAD) |
| tax_goods_services_m | float | Taxes on goods and services. (unit: million CAD) |
| social_contrib_m | float | Social contributions. (unit: million CAD) |
| expense_m | float | Total expense. (unit: million CAD) |
| compensation_m | float | Compensation of employees. (unit: million CAD) |
| interest_m | float | Interest expense (debt-service cost). (unit: million CAD) |
| grants_exp_m | float | Grants (expense). (unit: million CAD) |
| social_benefits_m | float | Social benefits. (unit: million CAD) |
| gross_op_balance_m | float | Gross operating balance. (unit: million CAD) |
| net_op_balance_m | float | Net operating balance (= revenue - expense). (unit: million CAD) |
| net_lending_borrowing_m | float | Net lending (+) or borrowing (-) (= revenue - total expenditure): the fiscal balance. CGFS/GFSM 2014 concepts; differs from the federal budgetary balance. (unit: million CAD) |
| total_expenditure_m | float | Total expenditure (expense + net acquisition of non-financial assets). (unit: million CAD) |
| net_worth_m | float | Net worth. (unit: million CAD) |
| liabilities_m | float | Total liabilities. (unit: million CAD) |
| net_financial_worth_m | float | Net financial worth (financial assets - liabilities); negative of the net-debt concept. (unit: million CAD) |
| revenue_yoy_pct | float | Year-over-year change of revenue (4-quarter change), percent. Null for the first 4 quarters of each sector. (unit: percent) |
| expense_yoy_pct | float | Year-over-year change of expense (4-quarter change), percent. Null for the first 4 quarters of each sector. (unit: percent) |
| interest_yoy_pct | float | Year-over-year change of interest expense (4-quarter change), percent. Null for the first 4 quarters of each sector. (unit: percent) |
| balance_to_revenue | float | Fiscal balance (net lending/borrowing) as a share of revenue; negative = deficit. (unit: ratio) |
| interest_burden | float | Interest expense as a share of revenue: the debt-service burden. (unit: ratio) |
| tax_take | float | Taxes as a share of revenue. (unit: ratio) |
| benefits_share_expense | float | Social benefits as a share of expense. (unit: ratio) |
| comp_share_expense | float | Compensation of employees as a share of expense. (unit: ratio) |
| nfw_yoy_change_m | float | Year-over-year change of net financial worth ($M); negative = balance-sheet deterioration. (unit: million CAD) |
| fiscal_strain_score | float | Documented 0-100 composite: 100 * (0.35*min-max(clamp(-balance_to_revenue, 0, 0.60)) + 0.25*min-max(clamp(interest_burden, 0, 0.30)) + 0.20*min-max(clamp(expense_yoy_pct - revenue_yoy_pct, 0, 25)) + 0.20*min-max(clamp(-(net_financial_worth - lag4) / revenue, 0, 0.50))), min-max over the full 1990-present sector x quarter panel. Higher = more fiscal strain. Null for the first 4 quarters of each sector. (unit: score 0-100) |
| strain_rank | integer | Per-quarter rank of the strain score, 1 = most strained sector that quarter (ties broken by sector order). Null when the score is null. (unit: rank 1-5) |
| strain_tier | string | Absolute tier of the strain score: t4 severe (>= 75), t3 elevated (>= 50), t2 moderate (>= 25), t1 contained (< 25). Null when the score is null. |
| surplus_flag | integer | 1 when net lending/borrowing is positive (surplus). (unit: binary) |
| record_deficit_flag | integer | 1 when net lending/borrowing is negative and at or below its trailing 40-quarter minimum. (unit: binary) |
| deepening_flag | integer | 1 when the fiscal balance is more than $2,000M worse than the same quarter a year earlier. (unit: binary) |
| interest_surge_flag | integer | 1 when interest expense grew more than 10% year-over-year. (unit: binary) |
| revenue_decline_flag | integer | 1 when revenue declined year-over-year. (unit: binary) |
| record_strain_flag | integer | 1 when the strain score is at its trailing 40-quarter maximum. (unit: binary) |
| source_table | string | StatCan product ID behind the row (10100015). |
| row_hash | string | Deterministic 16-hex row hash of sector_code + quarter (idempotency). |
First 10 sample rows — a preview, not the complete dataset.
| quarter | country | country_code | sector_code | sector_name | revenue_m | taxes_m | tax_income_m | tax_goods_services_m | social_contrib_m | expense_m | compensation_m | interest_m | grants_exp_m | social_benefits_m | gross_op_balance_m | net_op_balance_m | net_lending_borrowing_m | total_expenditure_m | net_worth_m | liabilities_m | net_financial_worth_m | revenue_yoy_pct | expense_yoy_pct | interest_yoy_pct | balance_to_revenue | interest_burden | tax_take | benefits_share_expense | comp_share_expense | nfw_yoy_change_m | fiscal_strain_score | strain_rank | strain_tier | surplus_flag | record_deficit_flag | deepening_flag | interest_surge_flag | revenue_decline_flag | record_strain_flag | source_table | row_hash |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990-01-01 | Canada | CAN | CON | Consolidated government | 70,217 | 50,119 | 26,057 | 14,547 | 7,342 | 83,531 | 22,768 | 15,281 | 954 | 16,368 | -8,414 | -13,314 | -14,190 | 84,407 | -139,416 | 705,534 | -406,405 | — | — | — | -0.202 | 0.218 | 0.714 | 0.196 | 0.273 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10100015 | 3dca536ffd292905 |
| 1990-01-01 | Canada | CAN | FED | Federal government | 28,947 | 23,556 | 16,048 | 6,324 | 3,067 | 41,171 | 4,104 | 10,093 | 9,094 | 9,225 | -11,005 | -12,224 | -12,516 | 41,463 | -317,822 | 408,614 | -351,128 | — | — | — | -0.432 | 0.349 | 0.814 | 0.224 | 0.1 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10100015 | 68f5f2ebb32678fa |
| 1990-01-01 | Canada | CAN | PT | Provincial and territorial government | 36,632 | 20,494 | 10,009 | 8,126 | 1,351 | 38,950 | 10,154 | 4,419 | 6,050 | 3,436 | -77 | -2,318 | -2,407 | 39,039 | 63,137 | 245,755 | -80,771 | — | — | — | -0.066 | 0.121 | 0.559 | 0.088 | 0.261 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10100015 | e2e803e3ff788b89 |
| 1990-01-01 | Canada | CAN | LOC | Local government | 14,925 | 6,069 | 0 | 97 | 0 | 14,270 | 8,510 | 769 | 30 | 408 | 2,095 | 655 | 160 | 14,765 | 62,068 | 51,165 | -27,707 | — | — | — | 0.011 | 0.052 | 0.407 | 0.029 | 0.596 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10100015 | e110341a3fe2a5c0 |
| 1990-01-01 | Canada | CAN | PEN | Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Quebec Pension Plan (QPP) | 3,933 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,924 | 3,360 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3,299 | 573 | 573 | 573 | 3,360 | 53,201 | 0 | 53,201 | — | — | — | 0.146 | 0 | 0 | 0.982 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10100015 | 8d01af1aa6579536 |
| 1990-04-01 | Canada | CAN | CON | Consolidated government | 77,081 | 55,499 | 31,552 | 14,505 | 8,041 | 78,317 | 24,191 | 16,374 | 743 | 15,859 | 3,698 | -1,236 | -2,603 | 79,684 | -147,905 | 715,921 | -418,438 | — | — | — | -0.034 | 0.212 | 0.72 | 0.202 | 0.309 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10100015 | 0f31e83862bc5598 |
| 1990-04-01 | Canada | CAN | FED | Federal government | 32,632 | 26,599 | 19,366 | 6,193 | 3,414 | 35,797 | 4,558 | 10,460 | 7,898 | 8,435 | -1,934 | -3,165 | -3,425 | 36,057 | -325,565 | 413,398 | -358,858 | — | — | — | -0.105 | 0.321 | 0.815 | 0.236 | 0.127 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10100015 | c051e88b4487ed61 |
| 1990-04-01 | Canada | CAN | PT | Provincial and territorial government | 37,352 | 22,678 | 12,186 | 8,214 | 1,493 | 38,782 | 10,700 | 4,865 | 7,836 | 3,631 | 825 | -1,430 | -1,784 | 39,136 | 60,288 | 250,497 | -85,950 | — | — | — | -0.048 | 0.13 | 0.607 | 0.094 | 0.276 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10100015 | db95e023e56c47c6 |
| 1990-04-01 | Canada | CAN | LOC | Local government | 17,245 | 6,222 | 0 | 98 | 0 | 15,386 | 8,933 | 1,049 | 36 | 464 | 3,307 | 1,859 | 1,106 | 16,139 | 63,219 | 52,026 | -27,783 | — | — | — | 0.064 | 0.061 | 0.361 | 0.03 | 0.581 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10100015 | 4df4373f9d9bc074 |
| 1990-04-01 | Canada | CAN | PEN | Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Quebec Pension Plan (QPP) | 4,879 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3,134 | 3,379 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3,329 | 1,500 | 1,500 | 1,500 | 3,379 | 54,153 | 0 | 54,153 | — | — | — | 0.307 | 0 | 0 | 0.985 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10100015 | 82992d203e756efd |
- Current
20260928T001908Z-f6fb34795d2a · sha256 f6fb34795d2a…
730 rows · first snapshot
Point any LLM at the metadata endpoint — the documentation above is machine-readable too (JSON-LD + Croissant).
curl "https://datazimuts.com/v1/datasets/statcan_cgfs_intel/canadian_fiscal_pulse_quarterly" | jq '{title, rows, columns_count, license}'import requests
ds = requests.get("https://datazimuts.com/v1/datasets/statcan_cgfs_intel/canadian_fiscal_pulse_quarterly").json()
print(ds["title"], ds["rows"], "rows")
# Sample rows for an LLM context window
for row in ds.get("sample_rows", [])[:5]:
print(row)API endpoint: https://datazimuts.com/v1/datasets/statcan_cgfs_intel/canadian_fiscal_pulse_quarterly
Tip: fetch /llms.txt for the full machine-readable catalog.
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Cite this snapshot
Pinned to snapshot 20260928T001908Z-f6fb34795d2a and its content hash, so readers get exactly the data you used.
Statistics Canada. (2026). Canadian fiscal pulse: government-sector balances and strain, quarterly [Data set, snapshot 20260928T001908Z-f6fb34795d2a, sha256 f6fb34795d2a]. Datazimuts. Retrieved 2026-09-28, from https://datazimuts.com/en/datasets/statcan_cgfs_intel/canadian_fiscal_pulse_quarterly?snapshot=20260928T001908Z-f6fb34795d2a
@misc{dz_statcan_cgfs_intel_canadian_fiscal_pulse_f6fb3479,
title = {{Canadian fiscal pulse: government-sector balances and strain, quarterly}},
author = {{Statistics Canada}},
year = {2026},
publisher = {Datazimuts},
howpublished = {\url{https://datazimuts.com/en/datasets/statcan_cgfs_intel/canadian_fiscal_pulse_quarterly?snapshot=20260928T001908Z-f6fb34795d2a}},
note = {Snapshot 20260928T001908Z-f6fb34795d2a, sha256 f6fb34795d2a2887e6fffd1bb7766083bc0153744eb8d6cfb108c376050c656d; accessed 2026-09-28}
}Embed a table or a chart
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