The federal government posted a surplus of $1.9 billion for the 2014-2015 fiscal year, according to final numbers from Ottawa released Monday.
The Department of Finance said the figure is a reversal of a $5.2-billion deficit posted for the previous fiscal year.
In its recent budget, Ottawa was forecasting a deficit of $2 billion for 2014-2015. The surplus brings an end to a six-year streak of deficits, which began in the fiscal year that ended in April 2009.
The excess financial wiggle room inched Canada's debt-to-gross domestic product ratio down to 31% for the year, from 32.3% the year before.
But that figure doesn't include debts owed by various local, provincial and territorial governments across Canada. Including those figures, Canada's debt-to-GDP ratio rises to 40.4%, which is still the lowest among G7 nations.
According the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the average debt-to-GDP ratio for all G7 countries, when all forms of government debt are included, will be 86.8 per cent for the 2014-2015 fiscal period.
Ottawa's spending increased during the year, coming in at $280.4 billion for the year ended April 1. But that was more than offset by a corresponding increase in revenues, which came in at $282.3 billion, an increase of $10.7 billion or 3.9%.
Program spending was $800 million lower than forecast, while public debt charges were $100 million lower than expected.
