Reporting Guide – Annual Capital and Repairs Expenditures Survey: Actual for 2025

Integrated Business Statistics Program (IBSP)

Reporting Guide

This guide is designed to assist you as you complete the Annual Capital and Repairs Expenditures Survey: Actual for 2025.

Your answers are confidential.

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from releasing any information it collects which could identify any person, business, or organization, unless consent has been given by the respondent or as permitted by the Statistics Act.

Statistics Canada will use information from this survey for statistical purposes.

Table of contents

Reporting period information

For the purpose of this survey, please report information for your 12 month fiscal period for which the final day occurs on or between April 1, 2025 — March 31, 2026.

Here are twelve common fiscal periods that fall within the targeted dates:

  • May 1, 2024 to April 30, 2025
  • June 1, 2024 to May 31, 2025
  • July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025
  • August 1, 2024 to July 31, 2025
  • September 1, 2024 to August 31, 2025
  • October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025
  • November 1, 2024 to October 31, 2025
  • December 1, 2024 to November 30, 2025
  • January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025
  • February 1, 2025 to January 31, 2026
  • March 1, 2025 to February 28, 2026
  • April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026

Here are other examples of fiscal periods that fall within the required dates:

  • September 18, 2024 to September 15, 2025 (e.g., floating year-end)
  • June 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025 (e.g., a newly opened business)

Dollar amounts

  • All dollar amounts reported should be rounded to thousands of Canadian dollars (e.g., $6,555,444.00 should be rounded to $6,555);
  • include import duties and non-refundable purchase taxes
  • when precise figures are not available, please provide your best estimates
  • enter '0' if there is no capital expenditures to report.

Definitions

What are Capital Expenditures?

Capital Expenditures are the gross expenditures on fixed assets for use in the operations of your organization or for lease or rent to others. Gross expenditures are expenditures before deducting proceeds from disposals, and credits (capital grants, donations, government assistance and investment tax credits).

Fixed assets are also known as capital assets or property, plant and equipment. They are items with a useful life of more than one year and are not purchased for resale but rather for use in the entity's production of goods and services.

Examples are buildings, vehicles, leasehold improvements, furniture and fixtures, machinery, and computer software.

Include:

  • Modifications, acquisitions and major renovations
  • Capital costs such as feasibility studies, architectural, legal, installation and engineering fees
  • Subsidies and grants received and used in additions to fixed assets and construction-in-progress during the period
  • Capitalized interest charges on loans with which capital projects are financed
  • Work done by own labour force
  • Additions to capital work in progress (construction-in-progress) accounts.

Exclude:

  • Transfers from capital work in progress (construction-in-progress) to fixed assets accounts
  • Assets associated with the acquisition of companies
  • Property developed for sale and machinery, or equipment acquired for sale (inventory).

How to Treat Leases

Include:

  • assets acquired as a lessee through either a capital or financial lease;
  • assets acquired for lease to others as an operating lease.

Exclude:

  • operating leases acquired as a lessee and capitalized to right-of-use assets in accordance with IFRS 16 (International Financial Reporting Standards)
  • assets acquired for lease to others, either as a capital or financial lease.

Non-Capital Repair and Maintenance Expenditures

This question represents the repair and maintenance of assets in contrast to the acquisition of assets or the renovation of assets.

Non-capitalized repair and maintenance expenditures are that portion of current or operating expenditures charged against revenue in the year incurred and made for the purpose of keeping the stock of fixed assets in good working condition during the life originally intended.

Repair and maintenance allow such fixed assets to operate at output producing capacity during the asset life without undue amounts of down time (preventive function). A second purpose is the returning of any portion of the stock of fixed assets into a state of good working condition after any malfunctioning or reduced efficiency for whatever reason (curative function) short of replacement of such fixed assets or adding significantly to their life or productive efficiency.

Maintenance expenditures on buildings and other structures may include the routine care of assets such as janitorial services, snow removal and/or salting and sanding by the firm's own employees or persons outside the firm's employ.

Maintenance expenditures on machinery and equipment may include oil change and lubrication of vehicles and machinery.

Include:

  • Gross non-capital repair and maintenance expenditures on non-residential buildings, other structures and on machinery and equipment;
  • Value of repair work done by your own employees as well as payments to persons outside your employ;
  • Building maintenance such as janitorial services, snow removal and sanding;
  • Equipment maintenance such as oil changes and lubrication of vehicles and other machinery.

Industry characteristics

New Assets: Report capital expenditures for acquisitions of new assets including the portion of work in progress for the current year. Include imports of used capital assets since they represent newly acquired assets for the Canadian economy.

Purchase of Used Canadian Assets: The object of our survey is to measure the acquisitions of new fixed assets separately from used fixed assets in the Canadian economy as a whole. This is because the acquisition of used assets does not increase the total inventory of fixed assets, it only transfers them within the Canadian economy.

Renovation, Retrofit, Refurbishing, Overhauling and Restoration: Report capital expenditures for existing assets being upgraded, renovated, retrofitted, refurbished, overhauled or restored.

Expected Useful Life of Assets: Report the expected life of the asset in years. If you have purchased similar assets with varying expected useful lives, please combine the data and provide a weighted average for the number of years, or the expected useful life of the asset with the largest value.

Land: Capital expenditures for land should include all costs associated with the purchase of the land that are not amortized or depreciated. Improvements of land should be reported in Non-Residential Construction.

Residential Construction: Capital expenditures incurred during the reporting period for residential structures (on a contracted basis and/or by your own employees).

  • Include the housing portion of multi-purpose projects and of townsites.
  • Exclude buildings that have accommodation units without self contained or exclusive use of bathroom and kitchen facilities (e.g., some student and senior citizens residences) and associated expenditures on services.

Non-Residential Construction: Capital expenditures incurred during the reporting period for non-residential building and engineering construction (on a contracted basis and/or by your own employees) whether for your own use or rent to others. Construction structures should be classified to an asset according to its principal use unless it is a multi-purpose structure where we would like you to separate the components. The cost of any machinery and equipment which is an integral or built-in feature of the structure (i.e. elevators, heating equipment, sprinkler systems, environmental controls, intercom systems, etc.) should be reported as part of that structure as well as landscaping, associated parking lots, etc.

Include:

  • Manufacturing plants, warehouses, office buildings, shopping centres, etc.;
  • Roads, bridges, sewers, electric power lines, underground cables, etc.;
  • The cost of demolition of buildings, land servicing and site preparation;
  • Leasehold and land improvements.
  • Additions to work in progress;
  • Townsite facilities such as streets, sewers, stores and schools;
  • Buildings that have accommodation units without self contained or exclusive use of bathroom and kitchen facilities (e.g., some student and senior citizen residences) and associated expenditures on services;
  • All preconstruction planning and design costs such as engineer and consulting fees and any materials supplied to construction contractors for installation, etc.

Machinery and Equipment

Capital expenditures incurred during the reporting period for machinery and equipment, whether for your own use or for lease or rent to others. Machinery and equipment are generally housed in structures and can be removed or replaced without significantly altering the structure.

Include:

  • Automobiles, trucks, professional and scientific equipment, office and store furniture and appliances;
  • Computers (hardware only), broadcasting, telecommunications and other information and communication technologies equipment;
  • Motors, generators, transformers;
  • Any capitalized tooling expenses;
  • Acquisitions to work in progress;
  • Progress payments paid out before delivery in the year in which such payments are made;
  • Any balance owing or holdbacks should be reported in the year the cost is incurred.

Oil and Gas and Mineral Exploration: These expenditures include mineral rights fees and retention costs, geological, geophysical and seismic expenses, exploration drilling, and other costs incurred during the reporting period in order to determine whether mineral, oil or gas reserves exist and can be exploited commercially. Report gross expenditures, before deducting any incentive grants. Exclude the cost of land and business acquisitions.

Work in Progress: Work in progress represents accumulated costs since the start of capital projects which are intended to be capitalized upon completion.

Cost component of expenditures – internal costs

Internal construction or development costs: (such as material and labour) that are capitalized as part of the asset costs (such as own employee installation or erection of fixed assets, systems and software development staff).

Include all materials and supplies provided free to contractors and all architects, engineering and consultants fees and similar services.

Salaries and Wages: Show the total value of salaries and wages paid to your employees. Salaries and wages are gross earnings before deductions such as income tax and include incentive bonuses and vacation pay but exclude fringe benefits.

Materials and Supplies: Report total cost of materials and supplies used by your own employees and those provided free to contractors relating to the expenditures reported.

Other Charges: Examples of other charges are insurance, power, telephone and also architectural, legal, and engineering fees considered to be applicable to the expenditures reported.

Source of Funding Breakdown

Sources of funding of capital expenditures include grants, subsidies, donations, credit and venture capital from external sources, as well as internal funding. 

Government grants are recognized as unconditional transfer payments received from governments for activities that meet the eligibility criteria of the relevant program. Government contributions are recognized as conditional transfer payments provided by governments, under which recipients must satisfy specific conditions. These conditions create a present obligation, as the government retains the right to verify how the funds are used and may require repayment if the conditions are not fulfilled.

Environmental protection and resource management expenditures

These questions cover the capital and repair expenditures made by this organization in order to prevent, reduce or eliminate pollution and other forms of degradation of the environment while performing your production activity, i.e., within your organization.

Include:

  • expenditures that this specific operation incurred for pollution prevention, abatement and control; solid waste management; wastewater management; protection and remediation of soil, groundwater and surface water; protection and restoration of biodiversity and habitat; etc.
  • expenditures that this specific operation incurred for pollution prevention and abatement and control.
  • expenditures made for resource management activities which result in the more efficient use of natural resources, thus safeguarding against their depletion or the use of goods that have been adapted to be significantly less energy or resource intensive than the industry standard. 

Exclude:

  • expenditures made to improve employee health, workplace safety, and site beautification.
  • expenses incurred to produce pollution prevention or abatement and control equipment for sale since they are collected elsewhere in Statistics Canada.
  • expenditures for environment-related research and development since they are collected elsewhere in Statistics Canada.

Drivers and obstacles: Drivers or obstacles to the adoption of new or significantly improved clean technologies, systems or equipment for the establishment.

Disposal and sales of fixed assets

Selling price

The total value, or the sales of fixed assets which were disposed of or sold, even if traded in for credit in the acquisition or purchase of new fixed assets. When land and buildings are sold together, please report the selling price of the land separately, along with other land sales.

Gross book value

This value should represent total capital expenditures for an asset, at and since the time of original construction or purchase, including all subsequent capital expenditures for the purpose of modernization, expansion, etc. Any subsidies received should not be subtracted.

Age

Report the age of the fixed asset at the time of disposal.

If you have disposed of or sold similar fixed assets with different working ages, report these separately or combine the data and provide a weighted average age of these assets.

Assets Categories

The asset items and categories listed below are groupings of fixed assets generally having a  similar function which can apply to various industries.

Non-Residential Construction

Construction structures should be classified to an asset according to its principal use unless it is a multi-purpose structure where we would like you to separate the components. The cost of any machinery and equipment which is an integral or built-in feature of the structure (i.e. elevators, heating equipment, sprinkler systems, environmental controls, intercom systems, etc.) should be reported as part of that structure as well as landscaping, associated parking lots, etc.

Asset Asset Code
Industrial Building
Manufacturing plants 6221121
Industrial depots and service buildings 6221130
Farm buildings and structures 6221111
Other industrial sites and buildings 6221150
Commercial Building
Industrial laboratories and research and development centres 6222311
Warehouses 6221230
Service stations 6221292
Office buildings 6221210
Hotels and motels 6221250
Restaurants 6221240
Shopping centres, plazas, malls and stores 6221220
Theatres and halls 6221270
Indoor recreational facilities 6221273
Other collective dwellings 6221280
Student residences 6222371
Airports and other passenger terminals 6221260
Communications buildings 6222391
Sports facilities with spectator capacity 6221272
Other commercial buildings, not elsewhere classified 6221294
Institutional Building
Schools, colleges, universities and other educational buildings 6221310
Religious centres and memorial sites 6221370
Hospitals 6221350
Nursing homes and senior citizen homes 6221332
Other health care buildings, not elsewhere classified 6221339
Daycare centres 6221380
Libraries 6221344
Historical sites 6221390
Museums 6221349
Public safety facilities 6221360
Other institutional buildings, not elsewhere classified 6221399
Marine Engineering Infrastructure
Seaports and harbours 6231311
Canals and waterways 6231331
Marinas 6231321
Other marine infrastructure 6231341
Transportation Engineering Infrastructure
Parking lots and garages 6231210
Highways, roads and streets 6231111
Runways (include lighting) 6231231
Railway tracks 6231221
Bridges 6231121
Tunnels 6231131
Other land transportation infrastructure, not elsewhere classified 6231241
Waterworks Engineering Infrastructure
Water filtration and treatment plants 6235112
Water supply infrastructure 6235121
Sewage Engineering Infrastructure
Sewage and wastewater treatment plants 6235211
Sewage collection and disposal infrastructure 6235221
Electric Power Engineering Infrastructure
Natural gas, coal and oil power plants 6233111
Nuclear power plants 6233112
Hydro-electric power plants 6233113
Other power generating plants (wind, solar, biomass) 6233114
Power transmission networks 6233121
Power distribution networks 6233131
Communications networks
Telecommunications transmission cables and lines (except optical fibre) 6234111
Telecommunications transmission optical fibre cables 6234112
Telecommunications transmission support structures 6234113
Other communications networks 6234114
Oil and Gas Engineering Construction
Oil refineries 6232121
Natural gas processing plants 6232122
Pipelines (except water supply conduits) 6232211
Development drilling for oil and gas 6711111
Production facilities in oil and gas extraction 6232111
Enhanced recovery techniques for oil and gas 6711113
Site development services for oil and gas fields 6711112
Gas distribution systems (mains and services) and other oil and gas infrastructure 6232311
Mining Engineering Construction
Mine surface buildings (except for beneficiation) 6236112
Mine buildings for ore beneficiation 6236111
Mine structures (except buildings) 6236113
Tailings disposal systems and settling ponds 6236114
Site development for mining 6711211
Other Engineering Construction
Pollution abatement and control infrastructure 6236261
Outdoor recreational facilities 6236251
Waste disposal facilities 6236231
Irrigation networks 6236241
Site remediation 7823131
Reclaimed land 6236211
Flood protection infrastructures 6236221
Other engineering construction, not elsewhere classified 6236262

Machinery and equipment

Equipment and tools are usually located within a building but can be removed or replaced without significantly altering the building’s structure.

Asset Asset Code
Medium and Heavy Trucks, Buses and Other Motor Vehicles
Medium and heavy-duty trucks 4121100
Buses 4121211
Freight and utility trailers 4121300
Special-purpose vehicles 4121221
Materials handling trucks and tractors 3454211
Other motor vehicles 4123100
Passenger Cars and Light Trucks
Passenger cars, light-duty trucks, vans and SUVs 4110000
Other Transportation Equipment
Locomotives, railway rolling stock, and rapid transit equipment 4411200
Civilian aircraft 4211112
Non-military ships, barges and platforms 4411112
Boats and personal watercraft 4421100
Other transportation equipment 4421259
Processing Equipment
Water treatment equipment 3453311
Filters and strainers for fluids and fluid power systems 3454342
Packing, packaging, and bottling machinery 3454331
Mineral crushing, screening, processing and beneficiation machinery and equipment 3321151
Metalworking machinery 3411100
Industrial moulds, special dies, and patterns 3455110
Other industry-specific manufacturing machinery, not elsewhere classified 3431100
Computers and Office Equipment
Computers and computer peripheral equipment 3611100
Optical and projection equipment, photocopiers, and office machines (except computers and peripherals) 3421110
Office furniture 3911400
Telecommunications, Cable and Broadcasting Equipment
Broadcast, studio, alarm, and signalling equipment 3621200
Navigational and guidance instruments 3621300
Telephone and data communications equipment 3621100
Televisions and other audio and video equipment 3622100
Other communication equipment 3621419
Commercial and Service Industry Machinery and Equipment
Commercial cooking and food-warming equipment 3421121
Commercial and service industry machinery and equipment, not elsewhere classified 3421130
Other industrial machinery and equipment
Heavy-gauge metal containers (including intermodal) 3454100
Hand tools and power hand tools (except welding and soldering equipment) 3454320
Logging machinery and equipment 3321111
Rock drilling machinery and equipment 3321141
Other mining and quarrying machinery and equipment, not elsewhere classified 3321142
Oil and gas field production machinery and equipment 3321160
Construction machinery and equipment 3321170
Nuclear reactor steam supply systems 3453113
Welding and soldering equipment 3454311
Industrial furnaces and ovens, and electric industrial heating equipment 3454341
Other materials handling equipment, conveyors, and elevators 3454249
Medical, Scientific and Technical Instruments and equipment
Medical and laboratory equipment (except scientific instruments) 3631300
Scientific and technical instruments (except electromedical and irradiation equipment) 3631260
Other measuring, control, and scientific instruments (except electromedical and irradiation equipment) 3631269
Medical, dental and personal safety supplies 4751100
Other Machinery and Equipment
Institutional and other furniture, not elsewhere classified (including furniture frames) 3911600
Engines (except gasoline and diesel engines for motor vehicles, and aircraft engines) and mechanical power
transmission equipment
3451000
Pumps and compressors 3453200
Heating and cooling equipment (except household refrigerators and freezers) 3441100
Power and distribution transformers 3812211
Other transformers 3812220
Military aircraft 4211111
Military ships 4411111
Military armoured vehicles 4421231
Billboards 4751211
Non-residential mobile buildings 4711321
Electric motors and generators 3631100
Switchgear, switchboards, relays, and industrial control apparatus 3812300
Turbines, turbine generators, and turbine generator sets 3452111
Boilers, metal tanks, industrial valves and seals 3453159
Agricultural, lawn and garden machinery and equipment 3311100
Instruments for measuring electricity 3631230
Industrial and commercial fans, blowers and air purification equipment 3441200
Appliances 3820000
Unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) 4211113
Partitions, shelving, lockers and other fixtures 3911500
Batteries 4752300
Sporting and athletic goods 4753100
Other machinery and equipment 9999999