RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:Getting a little tired
Canadian Debt Clock March 2015 . . Canadian Debt Clock . The Current Outstanding Public Debt of Canada is approximately: . $619,674,167,665.25 CDN . Last Updated: June 19th, 2014 . Every man, woman and child in Canada (Canada currently has a population of around 34.48 million people) currently owes $17,970.56 for their share of Canada's public debt . Q. How much does the Canadian government spend each year to service its debt? . A. In 2007-08 (to give you an example), the federal government in Canada spent $33.3 billion dollars to service its debt. This was down from the year before due to "lower debt levels and lower financing rates". . The Canadian government spent 2.2% of the GDP of the nation to service its debt in 2007-08. . The Canadian government spent 13.7% of its budgetary revenues on public debt charges in 2007-08. This sounds like a lot until you consider that this number was 37.6% in 1990-91. . Q. Who does Canada Owe Money To? . A. Here is a breakdown of the largest holders of Canadian debt: . Life insurance companies and pension funds - 24% . Mutual funds, investment dealers, etc - 22% Non-residents - 14% Chartered banks and "near-banks" - 12% . "Other" financial institutions also make up a large % of the public debt holdings for Canada, although I couldn't extract an exact percentage for this group. . Other smaller groups that hold Canadian debt include: the Bank of Canada, different levels of government in Canada (federal, provincial, municipal, social security), persons and unincorporated businesses and non-financial corporations. . Q. Is the number listed above the gross debt number for Canada? . A. No. The gross debt of the country was nearly $700 billion dollars as of March 31st, 2008. The number listed above comes after you subtract financial assets (cash, reserves, outstanding loans) and non-financial assets. . Q. Has the amount of federal debt been decreasing over the past number of years? . A. No. Since the "Great Recession" of 2008, the Canadian government has been steadily adding to its debt load, much like the rest of the world. . Q. What is the difference between debt and deficits? . A. Debt vs deficits. . Q. Why does the United States owe so much more than Canada ($17 trillion dollars vs $600+ billion)? . A. This is an unfair comparison when you consider that the U.S. economy is approximately 10 times larger than the Canadian economy. . It's a much fairer comparison to compare the "per capita" (per person) amount owed. . Each Canadian currently owes approximately $17,970.56 as their share of the Canadian national debt. . Each American currently owes approximately $59,738 as their share of the US national debt. .