[MarchHare]

I do get a little bored with all the griping about the payments from the west though, it's not nearly the issue they make it out to be, and on a percentage basis, Quebec isn't always even the biggest benefactor, though you'd never know it in Calgary.

Measured per capita, Quebec has never been the largest recipient of Equalization dollars. In most years, they actually receive the least or second-least per capita. Since the program's inception, Newfoundland (until the past few years), Nova Scotia, PEI, New Brunswick, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan (also until recently) all regularly received more per capita than Quebec. BC has been up and down, receiving more in some years and less in others.

Of the six provinces receiving equalization in 2012-13, Quebec does receive the most in terms of total equalization payment, $7.9-bn. However, on a per capita basis, Quebec actually receives the second least amount of equalization. Quebec, like all recipient provinces, receives equalization based on two factors: its population, and because its fiscal capacity is below the average fiscal capacity of all provinces – known as the “10 province standard”. However, while Quebec’s fiscal capacity is below the 10 province standard, it is not that as far below the standard as some of the other recipient provinces since it has a fairly diversified and large economy, as well as being quite populous. On a per capita basis, Quebec gets only $926 per citizen from equalization. Ontario gets $243 per citizen. Ontario’s fiscal capacity is better than Quebec’s, and so it receives less equalization overall ($3.2-bn) and it has a much larger population – 13,373,000. Prince Edward Island is actually the province which benefits the most from equalization. It receives the smallest overall amount, $337-mn, but with a population of only 146,000, that works out to $2,308 per Islander.

Source: http://thoughtundermined.com/2012/04...isconceptions/