Estimates provide up-to amount authority. With this vote, we have the ability to allocate up to $7 billion, if departments come forward with their submissions.
At this time, we are approaching halfway in terms of allocations of that vote, and we will continue to update parliamentarians and Canadians monthly on our progress. Anything that is not allocated means that the department did not come forward with a TB submission. It could be because they are involved in contract negotiations or developing the parameters of a program with their partners.
If it is not accessed through the estimates this year—and this was a commitment we made back in the spring—it reverts to the fiscal framework. The Department of Finance will then re-profile that money into a future year, and it will be drawn down in subsequent estimates exercises. Anything that is not accessed this year, and that we know won't be accessed, will be highlighted to Parliament in our final supplementaries of the year.
Those amounts will be frozen. They won't be available for allocation. They'll be drawn down in future years, and we will tag those in future estimates documents as a budget 2018 commitment.