Chart of the Day (CotD) Canada Equalization Program a Wealth Transfer Scheme

April 17, 2024

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This is a presentation of the Government of Canada Equalization Program (see link : https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/programs/federal-transfers/equalization.html ).  As per the Department of Finance Canada website : Equalization is the Government of Canada's transfer program for addressing fiscal disparities among provinces. Equalization payments are unconditional – receiving provinces are free to spend the funds according to their own priorities. Equalization supports provinces that have a lower than average fiscal capacity.  Provincial spending decisions and overall fiscal results do not affect Equalization.  Equalization payments are calculated on a per capita basis, then adjusted for provincial population.

Panel 1   This graph presents the government of Canada Annual Equalization Entitlements (Payments) since 1980.  To date, the five Provinces shown in the graph (Quebec, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick) have received the vast majority of these Payments.

Panel 2   This is the Annual Portion of Equalization Payments based on the data presented in Panel 1.  The five Provinces account for 98.2 percent of these Equalization Payments in 2023. 

Panel 3  This table presents the year 2022 GDP statistics (as per Wikipedia) relative to the Equalization Payments. 

Panel 4  This graph presents the cumulative Equalization Payment since 1980.   Based on the historical data, it appears the Equalization Program is a massive wealth transfer scheme from the western Provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia) to the five so-called have-not Provinces. 

“The last official act of any government is to loot the treasury”  George Washington