Yukon government receives second highest grade in the country in latest C.D. Howe Institute report card on fiscal transparency

The Government of Yukon received the second highest grade of all provinces and territories in the latest C.D. Howe Institute’s assessment on fiscal transparency of budget materials and financial statements.

Each year the research institute publishes a report card titled Good, Bad and Incomplete: Grading the Fiscal Transparency of Canada’s Senior Governments. This report card assigns letter grades to provincial and territorial governments on the usefulness of governments’ budgets, estimates and financial statements. Grades reflect how readily a non-expert user can find, understand and act on the government’s financial information.

In this year’s report card – which covers year-end financial statements for fiscal year 2020–21, and budgets and estimates for 2021–22 – the Yukon had the second highest ranking in Canada, with a grade of A-. In 2021, the C.D. Howe Institute graded the Yukon a C+. Presenting budgets consistent with financial statements contributed largely to the Yukon climbing from a modest score to a top score in Canada.

The report points to the Government of Yukon’s display of relevant numbers early in its financial documents as well as the use of consistent accounting and aggregation methods across all of its statements. C.D. Howe also highlights the Government of Yukon’s production of timely budget numbers before the start of the fiscal year.