Questions and responses 45th Parliament, 1st session May 26, 2025, to present

With regard to government payments by paper cheque, broken down by department or agency and by year of cheque issue, since 2022: (a) how many total cheques have been issued; (b) how many cheques have been issued, but remain uncashed; (c) what is the value of the cheques in (b); (d) what percentage of payments were issued by paper cheques versus by other means (direct deposit); (e) for the cheques in (a), (i) what was the administrative cost per cheque, (ii) what, if any, other means were considered for issuance of the payment (prepaid products, direct deposit); and (f) what is the breakdown of (a) through (d) by program under which the cheque was issued?

With regard to the government's announcement of a loan and supports for Algoma Steel: are there any conditions or restrictions on executive compensation or management bonus payments contained in any of the agreements with the company, and, if so, under what agreements do these restrictions exist?

With regard to phone lines paid for by the government, and broken down by cellular lines versus traditional landlines: (a) how many phone lines was the government paying for as of December 1, 2025; (b) how many of the phone lines in (a) are dormant; (c) how many of the phone lines in (a) are active, but have not been used or have not had any activity in the last year; (d) how many of the phone lines in (a) are considered redundant; and (e) what was the total amount spent on phone lines during the (i) 2024 calendar year, (ii) 2024-25 fiscal year, broken down by service provider?

With regard to the requirement for prime contractors of defence procurements to undertake business activity in Canada equal to 100% of the value of the contracts that they are awarded by the government under the Industrial and Regional Benefits Policy and the Industrial and Technological Benefits Policy: (a) what are the details of each contract signed since January 1, 2016, that was subject to the policy, including the (i) date, (ii) vendor, (iii) contract value, (iv) description of the goods or services provided, (v) value of the business activity undertaken in Canada to date related to the requirement for prime contractors, (vi) detailed breakdown, including the locations, of the business activity in (v); (b) of the contracts in (a), which ones have been audited to ensure compliance with requirements to undertake business activity in Canada, and, for each audit, what are the details, including the date and findings; and (c) have any penalties been issued since January 1, 2016, to prime contractors for not living up to the requirements under the Industrial and Regional Benefits Policy or the Industrial and Technological Benefits Policy, and, if so, what are the details of each, including the (i) vendor, (ii) penalty that was issued, (iii) date, (iv) reason for the penalty?

With regard to debt owed by corporations to the federal government, including both tax debts and all other forms of debt, for each of the last five fiscal years: (a) what were the total amounts (i) waived, (ii) written off, (iii) forgiven, by the government, broken down by fiscal year and by type of debt (tax or non-tax); and (b) for each case in (a), what are the details, including the (i) name of the corporation, (ii) type of debt (tax or other), (iii) dollar amount waived, written off, or forgiven, (iv) date of the decision, (v) rationale provided?

With regard to the Canada Border Services Agency's Assessment and Revenue Management system: (a) what are the amounts assessed and collected since the launch of the system; (b) how many cases had accounts in arrears for (i) 30 to 60 days, (ii) 60 to 90 days, (iii) 90 to 150 days, (iv) more than 150 days; and (c) what are the dollar values associated with the accounts in arrears, in total and broken down by each time period in (b)?

With regard to write-offs, loan forgiveness and waivers, under the Financial Administration Act, the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, the Excise Tax Act and the Income Tax Act, broken down by fiscal year since 2023-24, including the current fiscal year to date: (a) what was the total value of write-offs for corporations; (b) how many cases involved a write-off; and (c) how many corporations had write-offs (i) under $1 million, (ii) between $1 million and $2 million, (iii) between $2 million and $5 million, (iv) between $5 million and $10 million, (v) in excess of $10 million?

With regard to the National Research Council of Canada's Industrial Research Assistance Program funding, since January 1, 2016: (a) how many firms in the program's database have left Canada; (b) how many different firms received financial support, broken down by year; (c) of the recipients in (b), how many have since either left Canada or been acquired by foreign owners; and (d) for each National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program recipient firm that has left Canada or been acquired by foreign owners, what are the details, including (i) the recipient, (ii) the amount of original funding, (iii) the project description or purpose of the funding, (iv) how much of their contribution agreement funding has been paid back to date (total dollars and percentage of total obligations)?

With regard to the Canada Student Financial Assistance Program: (a) what is the total amount of outstanding student loans; and (b) what is the breakdown of (a) by academic discipline and level (undergraduate, doctoral, etc.)?

With regard to the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, since 2016 and broken down by year: (a) how many awards were provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada to individuals and organizations located outside of Canada and what was their total value; (b) what is the breakdown of (a) by country; and (c) what are the details of each award in (a), including, for each, the (i) recipient, (ii) amount, (iii) location, (iv) project description?

With regard to the education of government officials: how many government officials, broken down by department, have post-secondary education from an institution other than a university, such as a college or technical school?