Global Affairs Canada’s 2023-24 Departmental Results Report: At a glance

A departmental results report provides an account of actual accomplishments against plans, priorities and expected results set out in the associated departmental plan.

• Vision, mission, raison d’être and operating context
• Minister’s mandate letters

Key priorities

Global Affairs Canada (GAC)’s top priorities for 2023-24 were as follows:

• Shaping the rules-based international system and promoting democracy and human rights
• Advancing Canadian interests through deepened global engagement
• Supporting rules-based trade and Canadian exporters
• Eradicating poverty

Phase 1 of Refocusing Government Spending (RGS) was announced in Budget 2023 and set the government-wide goal of refocusing more than $15 billion over 5 years. The announcement included specific reductions in professional services and travel expenses for fiscal year 2023-24 for all departments and agencies. GAC successfully complied with its expected reduction; the total amount of GAC reductions attributable to RGS for fiscal year 2023-24 was $27,602,000.

GAC was well positioned to comply with the extension and expansion of the RGS efforts announced in the 2023 Fall Economic Statement. Further decisions were made on resource allocation, which were reflected in the 2024-25 Departmental Plan, to support the department in delivering on its vast mandate and key priorities.

Highlights

In 2023-24, total actual spending, including internal services, for GAC was $8,458,079,299 and total full-time equivalent staff, including internal services, was 13,149. For complete information on GAC’s total spending and human resources, read the Spending and human resources section of the full report.

The following provides a summary of the department’s achievements in 2023-24 according to its approved Departmental Results Framework. A Departmental Results Framework consists of a department’s core responsibilities, the results it plans to achieve and the performance indicators that measure progress toward these results.

Core responsibility 1: International Advocacy and Diplomacy

Actual spending: 1,006,668,770

Actual human resources: 2,465

Departmental results achieved

• GAC launched a multi-year organizational transformation initiative to ensure that it is well equipped to serve Canadians in meeting today’s global challenges and those of the future. Guided by a 3-year evergreen action plan, the department will transform itself to better deliver its mandate, supporting Canadian security and prosperity.
• Canada engaged in the defense of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, countering Russia’s war of aggression across multiple multilateral and regional organizations. Demonstrating unwavering support for Ukraine, the Prime Minister of Canada signed a security cooperation agreement with Ukraine which outlines key, long-term security commitments for Canada to continue supporting Ukraine as it defends its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
• GAC took concrete steps to implement Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, including appointing Canada’s first Special Envoy for the Indo-Pacific and its first Indo-Pacific Trade Representative. These two representatives will help ensure a coherent, whole-of-Canada approach to engagement in the region and support beneficial economic, environmental and security outcomes for Canada and its partners.
• Canada responded to the multidimensional situation of high insecurity, gang violence, political stalemate, and economic, humanitarian and health crises in Haiti by using the Special Economic Measures Act to impose sanctions against 9 members of the Haitian elite and gang leaders fomenting violence and instability in Haiti, as well as working with international partners to strengthen the Haitian National Police's capacity to combat violence.

More information about International Advocacy and Diplomacy can be found in the “Results – what we achieved” section of the full departmental results report.

Core responsibility 2: Trade and Investment

Actual spending: 380,255,841

Actual human resources: 2,149

Departmental results achieved

• The Trade Commissioner Service (TCS) abroad and in Canada delivered over 57,000 services to approximately 11,000 Canadian clients and facilitated over 1,200 new business deals for Canadian exporters, with a reported value of $5.7 billion.
• Canada took a leadership role as the 2024 Chair of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, engaged in bilateral and regional free trade agreement negotiations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, India, Indonesia and the United Kingdom, and strengthened economic ties with Taiwan, finalizing a foreign promotion and protection agreement with Taiwan and endorsing a collaborative framework on supply chains resilience.
• The TCS also facilitated approximately $150 million in new capital investment for Canadian companies, including through strengthened science, technology, and innovation linkages with international partners and through the Canadian Technology Accelerators program.
• Inclusion and diversity of Canadian exporters in international trade was at the forefront of trade efforts as GAC supported and delivered more than 50 initiatives for businesses owned by Canadians from traditionally underrepresented groups, such as women, Indigenous peoples, Black and other racialized entrepreneurs, members of the 2SLGBTQI+ community, and youth, to grow their businesses through trade.

More information about International Trade and Investment can be found in the “Results – what we achieved” section of the full departmental results report.

Core responsibility 3: Development, Peace and Security Programming

Actual spending: 5,368,772,391

Actual human resources: 1,243

Departmental results achieved

• Canada’s continued its international leadership in support of advancing gender equality, women’s empowerment and the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and girls as the foundation of sustainable development and global prosperity. For example, GAC’s support to the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme to Eliminate Female Genital Mutilation provided prevention and protection services to more than 900,000 girls and women; accompanied more than 50,000 religious and community leaders to publicly denounce female genital mutilation practices; and established community-level surveillance systems that saved more than 162,000 girls from undergoing this harmful practice.
• In partnership with UN agencies and international and local civil society organizations, GAC supported the delivery of critical, life-saving supplies and services such as emergency food, water, health and protection services to help address the dire humanitarian situation stemming from the crisis in the Gaza strip (where the entire population of 2.2 million people required humanitarian assistance), the West Bank, Israel and neighbouring countries. The department also reached an estimated 150 million people in 120 countries and territories with food, cash, and commodity vouchers via its support to the UN World Food Programme.
• GAC helped counteract the growing impact of climate change on the global food crisis through sustainable pathways to climate resistant agriculture, with a focus on women and youth. For example, GAC’s support to the World University Service of Canada provided training and technical assistance in climate-smart crop production resulting in a 20% increase in income by participating women and youth farmers.
• GAC’s assisted foreign states to build the resources and expertise required to prevent and respond to terrorism and transnational crime. For example, the department helped equip border and immigration authorities in Kenya and Somalia to better manage cross-border threats and terrorist activity, including by deploying mentors to train 170 frontline officials on countering contraband and counterfeit, trafficking in persons and responses to violent extremism.

More information about Development, Peace and Security Programming can be found in the “Results – what we achieved” section of the full departmental results report.

Core responsibility 4: Help for Canadians Abroad

Actual spending: 85,977,299

Actual human resources: 547

Departmental results achieved

• GAC delivered 240,000 consular services and managed 6,900 cases concerning Canadians who required urgent consular assistance while travelling or residing abroad, including playing a leading role in Canada’s assisted departures operations of nearly 4,000 Canadian citizens, permanent residents and their immediate family members during international crises in the Middle East, Sudan and Haiti.
• GAC’s support for the safety of Canadians abroad was strengthened this year through its Consular Advocacy Initiative Fund, which helped missions undertake local advocacy activities to address emerging trends affecting vulnerable clients and promote the fair treatment of individuals arrested and detained abroad, as well as by appointing a Senior Official for Hostage Affairs to support victims, survivors and their families and facilitate engagement with international partners.
• GAC made more than 4,000 updates to the department’s destination-specific travel advice and advisories on travel.gc.ca and added new online content for travellers who are dual citizens, 2SLGBTQI+, Indigenous, and women, along with specific resources on international adoption, health insurance, and incidents of hostage taking and kidnappings.
• GAC improved its consular services to Canadians by adopting new and emerging technologies to modernize its services and provide greater transparency, including the introduction of a new crisis web form to expedite support to Canadians during emergency situations and making official document authentication and consular financial assistance systems more automated.

More information about Help for Canadians Abroad can be found in the “Results – what we achieved” section of the full departmental results report.

Core responsibility 5: Support for Canada's Presence Abroad

Actual spending: 1,229,035,508

Actual human resources: 4,771

Departmental results achieved

• GAC implemented several initiatives to strengthen its cybersecurity capabilities to ensure the department’s assets, data and people are protected, including by implementing a more rigorous security protocol system across missions, enhancing incident management procedures, and increasing security awareness and training for information technology professionals.
• GAC continued to modernize its international IT infrastructure to improve the connectivity, resiliency and reliability of its network abroad and enable those working in missions to focus on achieving results for Canadians, including by implementing the Virtual Mission Model solution in 32 new sites and transitioning to more cloud-based applications.
• GAC continued to make progress on greening its operations and contributing to climate goals, including by completing 3 green building certifications contributing to climate-resilient new construction and major retrofits, and low carbon operations. GAC also launched a biodiversity action plan that details how mission real property and operations can better support local biodiversity; an assessment for clean energy procurement; and an embodied carbon action plan to explore how GAC calculates and reduces embodied carbon from structural materials.
• In line with its 10-year Duty of Care Initiative, GAC ensured its personnel and assets abroad were safe and secure. The department completed several security-driven real property upgrades, 38 Vulnerability Assessment Visits and 44 Vulnerability Assessment Reports across its mission network, providing important security recommendations and risk mitigation measures.

More information about Support for Canada's Presence Abroad can be found in the “Results – what we achieved” section of the full departmental results report.