The Current Outstanding Public Debt of Canada is:

Every man, woman and child in Canada currently ownes more than $16,457.88 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 (the most recent data that we have access to), 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 owns Canadian public debt?

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. Yes. Canada has constantly been running in the black (surplus) up until recently, and has been able to pay down a substantial portion of their debt. Canada owed over $560 billion dollars in 1997. This number is particularly staggering when you adjust for inflation.