Canadian aid: A primer

Canada is a founding member of the OECD Development Assistance Committee, and over the years, it has solidified its role as a significant player in the development sphere. Its total aid spending has been growing in recent years, and its foreign assistance policy enjoys strong public backing. Canada’s aid policy adopts a feminist approach, making gender equality and empowerment cross-cutting priorities for achieving its development targets. But exactly how much does it spend on aid? What are its priorities? Using the latest data on bilateral and multilateral aid from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development as primary sources, we looked into Canada’s aid spending in 2023 — from its top recipients down to its priority sectors. We also looked into how Global Affairs Canada, or GAC, its lead aid agency, spent through major contracts, and who its top awardees were. All figures from OECD are in 2023 U.S. dollar constant prices. How much does Canada spend on aid? In 2023, Canada spent close to $8 billion, or about 0.38% of its gross national income, on development — ranking it sixth by aid volume and 15th by official development assistance-to-gross national income ratio among DAC countries. This represents a 3.8% increase from the $7.7 billion it spent in 2022. Overall, Canadian aid has grown steadily in the last five reporting years. However, its ODA-to-GNI ratio still lagged behind the U.N. target of 0.7%. Preliminary data for 2024 shows that its aid is currently worth $7.3 billion, or 0.34% of its GNI — around $640 million less than in 2023. The bulk of Canada’s ODA was disbursed bilaterally — an average of 75% in the five-year period. The remaining quarter was spent as core contributions to multilaterals. In 2023, $6.2 billion was spent on bilateral aid and $1.8 billion on multilateral aid. How did Canada disburse its bilateral aid? Of the $6.2 billion Canada spent bilaterally in 2023, around a third, worth $2.1 billion, went to activities with multiple recipient countries from different regions. OECD labels this as “developing country, unspecified.” Another $1.2 billion, or 19.4%, went to regional projects or activities with multiple beneficiaries from the same region. Among single-country programs, Ukraine got the largest sum, worth $840.6 million, or 13.6% of the total bilateral aid. Other top recipients include Ethiopia with $114.3 million, Haiti with $88.2 million, South Sudan with $79.7 million, and Mali with $78.9 million. <div class='tableauPlaceholder' id='viz1751018371889' style='position: relative'><noscript><a href='#'><img alt='Geographical distribution of Canada&#39;s ODA ' src='https:&#47;&#47;public.tableau.com&#47;static&#47;images&#47;Ge&#47;GeographicaldistributionofCanadasODA&#47;GeographicaldistributionofCanadasODA&#47;1_rss.png' style='border: none' /></a></noscript><object class='tableauViz' style='display:none;'><param name='host_url' value='https%3A%2F%2Fpublic.tableau.com%2F' /> <param name='embed_code_version' value='3' /> <param name='site_root' value='' /><param name='name' value='GeographicaldistributionofCanadasODA&#47;GeographicaldistributionofCanadasODA' /><param name='tabs' value='no' /><param name='toolbar' value='yes' /><param name='static_image' value='https:&#47;&#47;public.tableau.com&#47;static&#47;images&#47;Ge&#47;GeographicaldistributionofCanadasODA&#47;GeographicaldistributionofCanadasODA&#47;1.png' /> <param name='animate_transition' value='yes' /><param name='display_static_image' value='yes' /><param name='display_spinner' value='yes' /><param name='display_overlay' value='yes' /><param name='display_count' value='yes' /><param name='language' value='en-US' /><param name='device' value='desktop' /><param name='showShareOptions' value='false' /></object></div> <script type='text/javascript'> var divElement = document.getElementById('viz1751018371889'); var vizElement = divElement.getElementsByTagName('object')[0]; if ( divElement.offsetWidth > 800 ) { vizElement.style.width='600px';vizElement.style.height='477px';} else if ( divElement.offsetWidth > 500 ) { vizElement.style.width='600px';vizElement.style.height='477px';} else { vizElement.style.width='100%';vizElement.style.height='727px';} var scriptElement = document.createElement('script'); scriptElement.src = 'https://public.tableau.com/javascripts/api/viz_v1.js'; vizElement.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, vizElement); </script> <i style=font-style: georgia;”>Geographical distribution of Canada’s ODA in 2023, based on OECD data.</i> Sectorally, we found that about 27.4% of Canada’s bilateral aid in 2023, worth $1.7 billion, went to in-donor refugee costs, which was a key driver for Canada’s recent ODA growth alongside increased support to Ukraine, according to OECD. <div class='tableauPlaceholder' id='viz1751018439806' style='position: relative'><noscript><a href='#'><img alt='Sectoral distribution of Canada&#39;s ODA ' src='https:&#47;&#47;public.tableau.com&#47;static&#47;images&#47;Se&#47;SectoraldistributionofCanadasODA&#47;SectoraldistributionofCanadasODA&#47;1_rss.png' style='border: none' /></a></noscript><object class='tableauViz' style='display:none;'><param name='host_url' value='https%3A%2F%2Fpublic.tableau.com%2F' /> <param name='embed_code_version' value='3' /> <param name='site_root' value='' /><param name='name' value='SectoraldistributionofCanadasODA&#47;SectoraldistributionofCanadasODA' /><param name='tabs' value='no' /><param name='toolbar' value='yes' /><param name='static_image' value='https:&#47;&#47;public.tableau.com&#47;static&#47;images&#47;Se&#47;SectoraldistributionofCanadasODA&#47;SectoraldistributionofCanadasODA&#47;1.png' /> <param name='animate_transition' value='yes' /><param name='display_static_image' value='yes' /><param name='display_spinner' value='yes' /><param name='display_overlay' value='yes' /><param name='display_count' value='yes' /><param name='language' value='en-US' /><param name='filter' value='publish=yes' /><param name='device' value='desktop' /><param name='showShareOptions' value='false' /></object></div> <script type='text/javascript'> var divElement = document.getElementById('viz1751018439806'); var vizElement = divElement.getElementsByTagName('object')[0]; if ( divElement.offsetWidth > 800 ) { vizElement.style.width='600px';vizElement.style.height='477px';} else if ( divElement.offsetWidth > 500 ) { vizElement.style.width='600px';vizElement.style.height='477px';} else { vizElement.style.width='100%';vizElement.style.height='727px';} var scriptElement = document.createElement('script'); scriptElement.src = 'https://public.tableau.com/javascripts/api/viz_v1.js'; vizElement.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, vizElement); </script> <i style=font-style: georgia;”>Sectoral distribution of Canada’s ODA in 2023, based on OECD data.</i> Two areas under humanitarian aid ranked next among the priorities: material relief assistance and services, which received $288.6 million; and emergency food assistance, which got $230.1 million. Canada also spent $168.3 million on COVID-19-related activities, which likely refers to post-pandemic social and economic recovery projects. Meanwhile, $1.1 billion went to all other activities with no specified target sectors, while $348.6 million was spent on administrative costs. <div class='tableauPlaceholder' id='viz1751018482062' style='position: relative'><noscript><a href='#'><img alt='Canadian aid by recipients and sectors ' src='https:&#47;&#47;public.tableau.com&#47;static&#47;images&#47;Ca&#47;Canadianaidbyrecipientsandsectors&#47;Canadianaidbyrecipientsandsectors&#47;1_rss.png' style='border: none' /></a></noscript><object class='tableauViz' style='display:none;'><param name='host_url' value='https%3A%2F%2Fpublic.tableau.com%2F' /> <param name='embed_code_version' value='3' /> <param name='site_root' value='' /><param name='name' value='Canadianaidbyrecipientsandsectors&#47;Canadianaidbyrecipientsandsectors' /><param name='tabs' value='no' /><param name='toolbar' value='yes' /><param name='static_image' value='https:&#47;&#47;public.tableau.com&#47;static&#47;images&#47;Ca&#47;Canadianaidbyrecipientsandsectors&#47;Canadianaidbyrecipientsandsectors&#47;1.png' /> <param name='animate_transition' value='yes' /><param name='display_static_image' value='yes' /><param name='display_spinner' value='yes' /><param name='display_overlay' value='yes' /><param name='display_count' value='yes' /><param name='language' value='en-US' /><param name='filter' value='publish=yes' /><param name='device' value='desktop' /><param name='showShareOptions' value='false' /></object></div> <script type='text/javascript'> var divElement = document.getElementById('viz1751018482062'); var vizElement = divElement.getElementsByTagName('object')[0]; if ( divElement.offsetWidth > 800 ) { vizElement.style.width='600px';vizElement.style.height='477px';} else if ( divElement.offsetWidth > 500 ) { vizElement.style.width='600px';vizElement.style.height='477px';} else { vizElement.style.width='100%';vizElement.style.height='727px';} var scriptElement = document.createElement('script'); scriptElement.src = 'https://public.tableau.com/javascripts/api/viz_v1.js'; vizElement.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, vizElement); </script> <i style=font-style: georgia;”>Geographical and sectoral breakdown of Canada’s ODA in 2023, based on OECD.</i> What about the multilateral system? OECD does not have information on the grant-equivalent disbursement to the multilateral system, which is the recommended dataset for any granular analysis of development aid. But it still provides data on gross disbursements via the multilateral system. Based on our review, nearly half of Canada’s core contributions, worth $962.1 million, went to the World Bank’s International Development Association. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria ranked next, with $298.8 million. Then the African Development Fund with $109.5 million, the Global Environment Facility with $85 million, and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance with $55.6 million. Who are the key players? Several government agencies take part in Canada’s development cooperation. Chief among them is GAC, which accounted for 46.3% of the country’s total aid disbursements in 2023. The Department of Finance, which heads the partnership with multilateral development banks, managed about 31.5% of the disbursed aid in 2023, followed by Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada, which accounted for another 15%. As Canada’s lead aid agency, GAC partners with implementers via a range of mechanisms. This includes contracting, which is used primarily for the procurement of works, goods, and services. In 2024, GAC awarded almost 4,000 contracts, worth 587.8 million Canadian dollars (Ca$), or $429.1 million in 2024 prices, according to its portal of contracts over Ca$10,000. This mostly went to Canadian contractors, who won a total of Ca$324.3 million, or 55.2% of the total. Another Ca$214 million went to recipients from other high-income countries. The remaining Ca$49.4 million went to contractors from low- and middle-income countries. A joint venture of Framaco International, a U.S.-based construction company, and Bozdemir International, a Turkish construction firm, was the overall top contractor, winning Ca$86.5 million for the redevelopment of Canada’s unused property in Sri Lanka. Manteena Security, an Australian contractor specializing in secure infrastructure projects, ranked next, with Ca$28.1 million, which was also for the redevelopment of a Canadian government property in Australia. Aboriginal-owned and Canadian consulting company Donna Cona also ranked among the top contractors, with Ca$19.4 million for 28 IT-related awards. Meanwhile, Consultores HODI was the top contractor from low- and middle-income countries, winning Ca$16.8 million for three contracts supporting Canada’s development cooperation in Mozambique. Turkish firm Onna Engineering ranked next, with Ca$1.4 million for various construction and engineering services. AcuTech Consulting in India followed, with Ca$872,401 for building maintenance-related services. <div class='tableauPlaceholder' id='viz1751018534062' style='position: relative'><noscript><a href='#'><img alt='Dashboard 1 ' src='https:&#47;&#47;public.tableau.com&#47;static&#47;images&#47;GA&#47;GACcontractsin2024&#47;Dashboard1&#47;1_rss.png' style='border: none' /></a></noscript><object class='tableauViz' style='display:none;'><param name='host_url' value='https%3A%2F%2Fpublic.tableau.com%2F' /> <param name='embed_code_version' value='3' /> <param name='site_root' value='' /><param name='name' value='GACcontractsin2024&#47;Dashboard1' /><param name='tabs' value='no' /><param name='toolbar' value='yes' /><param name='static_image' value='https:&#47;&#47;public.tableau.com&#47;static&#47;images&#47;GA&#47;GACcontractsin2024&#47;Dashboard1&#47;1.png' /> <param name='animate_transition' value='yes' /><param name='display_static_image' value='yes' /><param name='display_spinner' value='yes' /><param name='display_overlay' value='yes' /><param name='display_count' value='yes' /><param name='language' value='en-US' /><param name='filter' value='publish=yes' /><param name='device' value='desktop' /><param name='showShareOptions' value='false' /></object></div> <script type='text/javascript'> var divElement = document.getElementById('viz1751018534062'); var vizElement = divElement.getElementsByTagName('object')[0]; if ( divElement.offsetWidth > 800 ) { vizElement.style.width='600px';vizElement.style.height='477px';} else if ( divElement.offsetWidth > 500 ) { vizElement.style.width='600px';vizElement.style.height='477px';} else { vizElement.style.width='100%';vizElement.style.height='727px';} var scriptElement = document.createElement('script'); scriptElement.src = 'https://public.tableau.com/javascripts/api/viz_v1.js'; vizElement.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, vizElement); </script> <i style=font-style: georgia;”>List of GAC contractors in 2024, based on its data.</i>