$102B rainy-day fund for ‘disruptive stress’

OTTAWA — The federal government committed hundreds of millions of dollars in its recent budget to help reinforce Canada’s cyber defenses — but if the effort fails to prevent a major attack, Ottawa can always turn to its little-known $102-billion emergency stash.

The rainy-day fund of highly liquid assets is available to keep the government running for at least a month should the country ever find itself confronted by a severe crisis, such as a cyberattack that impairs access to financial markets.

The assets are held in what the government calls its “prudential liquidity plan,” part of which can be compared to a chequing account that offers Ottawa quick access to the funds, if necessary. A recently released briefing note for Finance Minister Bill Morneau explained details about the unheralded plan.

“Canada holds liquidity reserves as a hedge against highly unlikely, but potentially disruptive stress events,” said the August 2017 memo, obtained by the Canadian Press via the Access to Information Act. “The framework ensures the government holds sufficient high quality liquid assets to cover a ‘survival horizon’ of at least one month.”