As Alberta hits the skids, Ontario and BC are left holding the bag.
There has been plenty of discussion on how the Oil and Gas industry has been providing significant funding to the Federal goverment. But how much?
Statistics Canada has the answer Table 36-10-0450-01 Revenue, expenditure and budgetary balance - General governments, provincial and territorial economic accounts (x 1,000,000).
Let’s start with how much the Federal government actually brings in. $351 billion and rising! Canada’s annual GDP is roughly $2.3 trillion. The Federal government collects 15% of it.
Every province and territory contributes to the Federal coffers. Three provinces run a surplus on the collected revenue: Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia.
The Federal government does give some of that collected cash back. The Federal surplus is the money left over after “giving back”. That surplus is then used to fund Federal deficits in the other provinces and territories.
Due to the Oil and Gas crash in 2015, there has been a significant shift between the “surplus” provinces. A lot more money is leaving Ontario and British Columbia to support the Federal government these days.
Assuming the Oil and Gas industry continues to decline, the “payer transition” will also continue.