Change to Official Development Assistance Definition

Summary#

This is an order that sets April 1, 2022 as the day certain parts of the Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 2 come into force. Those parts remove the old legal definition of "official development assistance" and let the government define it by regulation instead.

What it does#

• Fixes the effective date: April 1, 2022.
• Brings into force provisions in the Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 2 that remove the existing definition of "official development assistance" from the Official Development Assistance Accountability Act.
• Allows a new definition of "official development assistance" to be set and updated by regulation (the Regulations Defining “official development assistance” were made at the same time).
• Explains the change is mainly to align Canada’s reporting with the international definition used by the OECD Development Assistance Committee (notably how loans are counted).

Who's affected#

• Global Affairs Canada, which handles Canada’s development reporting and will use the new regulation.
• Parliament, because the change affects how official development assistance is reported to MPs and Senators.
• International partners and bodies such as the OECD (through reporting alignment).
• Civil society groups and NGOs that track or rely on official development assistance statistics.
• It is unclear whether this change has direct effects on specific recipients of aid; the order deals with definitions and reporting, not new spending rules.

Why it matters#

• It helps ensure Canada’s domestic reporting on development aid matches the international standard used by the OECD, reducing discrepancies between what Canada reports to Parliament and what it reports internationally.
• Making the definition a regulation means the government can update the definition more easily in future without reopening the law.
• The government says any costs from this change are administrative and will be handled within existing budgets.