The federal government posted a $1-billion deficit in 2015-16, a period in which both the Liberals and Conservatives had turns managing the public books.
The shallow shortfall is an improvement on the $5.4-billion deficit projected by the Trudeau government in its March budget.
But the final figure is sure to rankle the Tories, who have long argued they left the federal books on track for a surplus before they were defeated in last fall's election.
The Finance Department says revenues were up $13.1 billion compared with 2014-15, while program expenses increased $17 billion and debt-servicing costs were down $1 billion.
The numbers show the 2015-16 deficit would have been larger had it not been for a $2.1-billion gain from the Tories' sale of Ottawa's remaining General Motors shares and a $9.2-billion increase in personal income tax revenues.
The Conservative government ran a $1.9-billion surplus in 2014-15 and had projected a $1.4-billion surplus for 2015-16.