Achi news desk-
While Canada is one of the largest contributors to foreign aid among some of the world’s richest countries, a fifth of the spending never leaves Canada’s borders.
About 19 percent of Canadian aid reported to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development last year benefited refugees and Ukrainians in Canada.
“Most Canadians wouldn’t think that counts, because when we think about foreign aid we think about something that happens in other countries, not costs that we have here,” said Elise Legault , Canada director with the One Campaign, an anti-poverty advocacy group. .
Canada ranks seventh for dollars spent on foreign aid, according to the OECD, a group of mostly rich countries.
Last month, the organization released its analysis of aid spending in 2023.
It shows that Canada spent just over US$8 billion in aid last year, of which $1.5 billion went to support refugees, asylum seekers and Ukrainians who fled the Russian invasion, during their first year in Canada.
The tabulation includes provincial and federal spending in this area, and it folds in Ukrainians who came to Canada on an emergency visa to stay out of the war, but who are not technically refugees.
The expenditure accounts for 19 per cent of Canada’s foreign aid, compared to an average of 13.8 among other OECD countries.
The United States spends 9.7 percent of its aid budget within its own borders, while the United Kingdom spends 28 percent domestically.
Unlike some other countries, Legault says refugee spending does not eat into Canada’s basic foreign aid budget.
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“So far, they haven’t been stealing Peter to pay Paul,” he said.
“Other countries such as the UK and Sweden have been raiding their foreign aid budgets to cover the costs of refugees arriving in the country, and thankfully Canada has avoided that path.”
Many have called for those costs to be reported separately for years, he said, despite the longstanding practice of combining them.
University of Ottawa professor Christina Clark-Kazak argued that combining them makes some sense. She specializes in migration and development policy.
“Whether we’re helping a refugee in a refugee camp or helping them in Canada, it’s money that’s still being spent on people who aren’t Canadians,” he said.
“That’s why it’s held that way.”
The spending reflects troubled times, as a historic number of people around the world have been forced to flee their homes due to armed conflict and natural disasters linked to climate change, he said.
The high proportion of money spent on refugees stems in part from specialized resettlement programs, such as Ottawa’s pledge to bring 40,000 Afghans to Canada, as well as health care and temporary asylum for people who claim asylum in Canada.
Regarding the share that is spent abroad, significant funding goes towards responding to the conflict in Sudan and famine in Haiti, and 21.4 percent went to Ukraine, especially in the form of loans.
The aid sector loudly protested the 15 per cent cut to foreign aid spent outside Canada in the 2023 budget, despite the Liberals’ promise to increase aid funding every year.
The government argued that they had simply returned to the kind of spending that preceded a historic boost in aid dollars during the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Although Canada is the seventh largest donor among OECD countries in terms of the raw number of dollars spent last year, it is well below tenth place when comparing the money to the relative size of the Canadian economy.
Still, it’s the most Canada has spent on foreign aid in proportion to its gross domestic product since 1995, Legault said.
To the government’s credit, Canada has responded to the many crises that have erupted over the past few years, he said.
With governments more prepared to respond to emergencies, they seem to be less keen to invest in proactive development projects that are supposed to make countries more resilient, he said.
Former prime minister Lester Pearson set a target for rich countries to spend 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product on foreign aid. Canada reached just 0.38 percent last year.
Clark-Kazak said it’s important not to think of foreign aid as a “zero-sum game,” where dollars flow overseas instead of helping Canadians.
He argued that funding for refugees in Canada helps prepare them to be productive members of society during labor shortages, pay taxes, and support the economy.
Both aid experts said Ottawa should be more upfront with Canadians about how and where the government spends aid money. As it is, the expenditure is reported in several formats and the terminology is not consistent.
This spring’s budget did not include a consolidated figure for how much Ottawa plans to spend on aid. Development Minister Ahmed Hussen and his department did not provide a specific number as a direct result of the budget either.
It’s difficult for analysts to track whether Canada is actually following through on promises made on the world stage, Legault said.
“Transparency is very important from the government, especially in an issue like foreign aid,” he said.
“Canada has the right to know how much we plan to spend, how much we have spent, and on what.”
