During the week before the 45th general election, on March 23, liberal deputies engaged in a Blitz of pre -election expenditure, announcing $ 3.86 billion in funding commitments for 411 different projects across the country, according to a global analysis of news.
Press releases and announcements on these funding commitments were made by 38 different liberal deputies during this last week, who distributed checks in 37 different communities across the country, from Yellowknife to Winnipeg to St. John’s.
The day before the start of the elections, 26 different deputies were busy putting $ 1.8 billion in checks to support 116 different projects across the country.
And yet, this was the model for each of the last four parliaments in which Global News has maintained a database of each expenses committed by a conservative government and three liberal governments. Information on more than 67,000 projects which received federal funds from 2011 to 2025 is extracted from press releases issued by the ministries each time a government deputy announces a federal subsidy or contribution.
During the last week before the 2021 elections, which produced a liberal minority, the deputy for the Liberals pushed $ 3.03 billion into expenditure commitments for 495 projects. But the Conservatives also had their own blitz of pre -electoral expenses before the 2015 elections by putting 430 checks in the last week preceding the election of this year totaling $ 2.7 billion. The 2015 elections led to a liberal majority government.
Throughout the duration of the 44th parliament of four years, liberal deputies announced 22,290 projects which received or had to receive federal funding. The combined federal funding commitment for these projects totaled just over $ 110 billion.
The biggest projects to receive federal funds during the last week of the 44th parliament were two public transport projects in Quebec – the Quebec tramway and the Blue Line Extension in Montreal – which received “recharges” of $ 332.3 million and $ 650 million respectively. These projects were approved by the Liberal MP Nate Erskine-Smith, then as Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, but The press release cites two liberal deputies from Quebec – Jean -Yves Duclos and Jöel Lightbound – and the lieutenant of Prime Minister Mark Carney and MP for Montreal Steven Guilbeault – who were all on the hustings asking for a re -election the day after these announcements.
Also the day before the current elections – March 22 – Guilbeault announced, on behalf of Erskine -Smith, $ 400 million for 11 “green” infrastructure projects Through Quebec.
Liberals would continue their best electoral performance in Quebec for decades, winning 44 seats.
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Liberal deputy Terry Sheehan won the conduct of Sault Ste. Marie in 2015, 2019 and 2021 but faced A great challenge in 2025 due to restarting the country’s conduct limits. Where once Sheehan had only worried voters in the city of SOO, his conduct was now extending over hundreds of kilometers from northern Ontario, from Lake Elliott to the east to Wawa in the North West. And, after having transmitted the votes of 2021 to the new driving limits of Sault Ste. Marie – Algoma, Sheehan, although he was the holder, was the oppressed. More people in his new conduct had voted the curator in 2021 than what had voted for Liberal.
And so, from the summer of 2024, Sheehan began to travel out of his own conduct to distribute federal government checks in the communities that were to be part of the driving he would dispute in 2025. 972 057 $, then to Elliott Lake on October 17, 2024, to distribute four checks worth $ 1.7 million. During the last week before the electoral call, Sheehan visited the River First Nation to announce federal funding of $ 108,000 on March 20 to develop a tourist plan, then went to Wawa on March 21 to hand over two checks worth 1.8 million dollars. Wawa, Elliott Lake and Serpent River FN are all located in what was formerly the new Democrat Carol Hughes, not the old conduct of Sheehan.
Sheehan would win the new conduct of Sault Ste Marie – Algoma – which now included Wawa, Elliott Lake and Serpent River FN – by 1,728 votes, or less than three percentage points.
But to present yourself with a handful of checks before the implementation of a campaign is not always a guarantee of electoral success. The Liberal George Chahal, for example, would lose his seat in the northeast of Calgary even if he announced Financing commitments the day before the campaign began for 13 different projects Throughout Alberta, a combined value of $ 8.3 million, ranging from $ 2 million to “increase and improve” the city’s energy transition center to $ 50,000 for the city of Grande Prairie to do a “fundamental study of hydrogen”. Chahal made these expenditure announcements on behalf of Anita Anand which then acted as minister in charge of economic development of the Canada Prairies.
Likewise, the Liberals spent the four years of the 44th Parliament to relax millions of projects in the conduct of the liberal deputy and former minister Diane Lebouthiller. The name of Lebouthillier appeared on most press releases announcing the $ 242.42 million spent for 267 projects in the conduct of the former conduct of Gaspésie-The Islands-de-la-Madeleine. It was the second largest number of projects funded in one of the country’s 343 constituencies. But it was not in vain. Lost against a BQ challenger in the new Driving of Gaspésie-The Islands-de-la-Madeleine-Listuguj.
Same thing in the west of the long -range Newfoundland conduct where, in the past four years, the Liberal government has financed 209 projects – ninth most of all driving – worth $ 77.12 million but has lost driving with the Conservatives.
The number of expenditure commitments made during the 44th parliament of four years and their overall value – 22,290 worth $ 110 billion – easily overshadowed one of the three previous parliaments.
During the four years of the 41st Parliament, during which Stephen Harper led a majority government, conservative deputies made 7,307 spending announcements praising $ 90 billion combined with funding commitments.
Expenditure announcements are never made by opposition deputies. The only names on press releases taking credit for all expenses are government deputies or cabinet ministers. Opposition deputies never obtain public credit for spending announcements, even if opposition deputies often play a role in helping local organizations and companies access federal financing programs.
During the first parliament of Trudeau, from 2015 to 2019, liberal deputies made 20,672 announcements for $ 80 billion in financing commitments. In the 43rd parliament, the first minority of Trudeau from 2019 to 2021, the ministers and the deputies of the government made 16,761 ads with a combined value of $ 29.5 billion.
Until now, in the 45th Parliament, the Government of Carney has made four expenditure commitments, the largest of which is a 410 million dollars contract to build a federal center for security and transport technology in Ottawa.
Although the information on each project and its corresponding financing commitment are extracted from press releases, Global News also takes a determination, if possible, on the community where funds will be spent and, in so doing, can follow the constituencies which obtain federal financing. There were 500 advertisements of expenditure worth $ 10.7 billion for projects outside the country and 1,129 worth 25.9 billion dollars where world news could not determine where the expenses would occur, or determined that the expenses of a single project would occur in two other districts organized by various parties.
That said, Global News was able to determine the place of conduct for 20,675 projects of a combined value of $ 78.5 billion. Among these, most were projects in the constituencies held by liberal deputies: 9,834 projects with a combined financing commitment of $ 35.8 billion. Ridings held by conservative deputies received funding commitments of $ 23.5 billion for 7,038 projects. NDP Ridings received $ 7.27 billion in 2,456 projects and BQ Ridings received $ 10.7 billion in 1,043 projects.
Correction: An earlier version contained an incorrect figure for the value of projects that received federal funding during the week before the start of the federal elections of 2021. The correct value is $ 3.03 billion and not $ 30.3 billion.