Finance committee  For equalization payments the additional equalization that is specific to Nova Scotia. Equalization currently goes to six provinces for 2017-18 Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Manitoba.

Finance committee  We calculate the regular equalization payments once per year for the upcoming fiscal year. So they do not change over the course of the fiscal year. It will not change in the supplementary estimates.

Finance committee  If I understood your question, basically the amount of the regular equalization does not change. It does not get revised for any of the other provinces. Because this particular payment is a comparison between the two equalization formulas, the old formula actually does get revise

Finance committee  Half back. On the efficient equalization for Nova Scotia, basically that is a comparison between two equalization formulas, the formula that's currently existing and the one that existed before 2007. As I basically said, it's a guarantee with Nova Scotia that there would always

Finance committee  Back in 2005, there was an offshore agreement, and it dates back to that.

Finance committee  Yes.

Finance committee  It's based on the federal tax points, so we're transferring the value of that. As the economy grows, the basic federal tax would go up in Quebec and therefore there would be a recovery that would be larger.

Finance committee  So your question is about the alternative payments for standing programs?

Finance committee  In terms of the basic federal tax, all that is, basically, is the amount of tax assessed at the federal level within the province of Quebec. The program is basically because in the 1960s there was an abatement. There was a transfer of tax points from the federal government to the

Finance committee  For equalization in particular, it's a one-estimate system, so we only calculate it once and that's the amount that actually goes. There's no revision to the actual equalization amount except for the equalization payments.

Finance committee  Hello. Galen Countryman, Director General for Fed-Prov Relations in Finance.

Finance committee  Your question is how do the equalization payments work?

Finance committee  The equalization payments are calculated every year. The total amount grows in line with the gross domestic product, it grows in line with the economy. The figures are calculated every December for the upcoming fiscal year. We would have calculated the amounts for the 2018-19 fis

Human Resources committee  I'll start, and Nancy may want to supplement. This agreement-in-principle was reached back in June between finance ministers, and legislation was just recently tabled in the House to implement the plan. The plan enhancement would begin in 2019 and would be phased in over seven

Human Resources committee  I don't have that number with me either, but there was a costing in the budget tables. We can get back to you on that, but you're in the right ballpark.