The Harper government’s promises to help jobless youth, the disabled, immigrants and illiterate adults fell short last year by almost $100 million.

That’s the amount of so-called “lapsed” funding — money promised but never spent — at Canada’s biggest social services department, Employment and Social Development Canada.

An internal report shows that in 2013-14, the department fell short by $97.1 million of its promised dollars for 16 major programs, the largest such lapse in any of the five years since the 2008 economic meltdown.