Purpose - Based on the approach of Timljonavich and Vogelsang, the purpose of this paper is to present empirical evidence of the role of the federal transfers on the β-convergence process in Canadian provinces. Design/methodology/approach - The paper uses information on annual personal income for the period 1926-1999 to present empirical evidence about the notion of β-convergence for the ten Canadian provinces. Findings - The principal conclusion is that the inter-provincial transfers were not determinant or decisive to the attainment of deterministic convergence in the Canadian provinces. Originality/value - While the issue of convergence has been analyzed especially using cross-sectional data or panel data, this paper uses a time-series methodology with statistics recently proposed by Vogelsang and Bunzel, which are robust to the presence of I(0) or I(1) disturbances. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.