The State of Canada's Cities and Communities 2012 - FCM

Chapter 1
Page 11
FIGURE 8: FEDERAL, PROVINCIAL AND MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT REVENUES PER CAPITA,
1989–2009, CONSTANT (1988) DOLLARS
7,000
6,000
5,000
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
0
1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Municipal Government Provincial and Territorial Government Federal Government
SOURCE: STATISTICS CANADA, NATIONAL ECONOMIC ACCOUNTS, CANSIM TABLE 385-001, 002 AND 0024.
revenues are considerably more than municipal
government revenues. Federal and provincial
revenues have increased (in per capita constant
dollar terms) on an annual average basis over
the 20-year period by 0.8% and 1.9% respectively;
the increase in municipal government
revenues has been much more modest, at 1.5%.
The most significant sources of revenue for the
federal government are personal income taxes,
consumption taxes, and corporate income taxes.
Over the 20-year period, revenues from both personal
and corporate income taxes have increased
at the federal level; consumption tax revenues
have fallen, primarily due to the reduction of
2 percentage points of the GST/HST. Overall,
federal government revenues per capita in
constant dollars have increased at an annual
average rate of 0.8%, while expenditures were
falling at an annual average rate of 0.3%.
In terms of provincial/territorial revenues, the
most significant sources are personal income
taxes and consumption taxes, followed by
transfers from the federal government. Another
major source of revenue at the provincial level is
investment income, driven primarily by its importance
in provinces heavily endowed with natural
resources, such as Saskatchewan, Alberta, and
British Columbia. Although provincial property
taxes only account for a small proportion of
provincial revenues, they did increase over the
20-year period by an average rate of 1.2% per
year, largely because most provinces have taken
over the education portion of property taxes.
At the moment, school boards in Manitoba and
Saskatchewan are the only ones with local taxing
power: a significant change from the beginning of
the period, when school boards in almost every
province had taxing authority. New Brunswick
is the only province that has a province-wide
provincial property tax for general purposes,
although most provinces have collected property
taxes for general purposes in unincorporated
territories and districts for some time.
User fees at the provincial level grew by 191%
over the past 20 years, from a 3% share of
overall revenues in 1989, to 8.7% in 2009.
Relative reliance on consumption taxes, on the
other hand, fell by 18%: a reduction from 23%
of overall revenues in 1989, to 18.9% in 2009.
Relative reliance on federal transfers also declined
between 1989 and 2009 by 6%: federal
transfers accounted for 20% of provincial revenues
in 1989, and 18.8% of provincial revenues
in 2009. Overall, the annual average growth
in provincial revenues in constant dollars per
capita over the 20-year period was 1.9%, which
is somewhat greater than the 1.8% rate of growth
in expenditures.