Question Period Note: Q-675: UNPAID BALANCES ON GOVERNMENT-ISSUED CREDIT CARDS

Why does the CRA have unpaid balances on CRA government-issued credit cards, as noted in its response to Order Paper Question Q-675

• Travel credit cards are a recognized means of paying for authorized government business travel expenses.
• It is the responsibility of the employees holding these cards to pay the balance of their monthly statement in full upon receipt as per their agreement signed with the credit card issuer.
• The Agency conducts regular follow-ups and has rigorous controls in place for all the expenses associated with travel credit cards.
• The Agency confirmed that there is no past due account as of April 28, 2021.

Supplementary Response
• Of the two cards where amounts were not paid by the respective cardholder 90 days after the due date, the Agency made the payment and recovered the total from the employee’s wages.

QUESTION:

Q-6752 — April 28, 2021 — Mr. Dreeshen (Red Deer—Mountain View) — With regard to government-issued credit cards, broken down by department, agency, or ministerial office, where applicable: (a) how many credit cards have payments that are past due as of April 28, 2021; (b) what is the total value of the past due balances; (c) what is the number of credit cards and value of the past due balances in (a) and (b) that were assigned to ministers, parliamentary secretaries, or ministerial exempt staff; (d) how many instances have occurred since January 1, 2017, where government-issued credit cards were defaulted on; (e) what is the total value of the balances defaulted on in (d); (f) what is the total number of instances in (d), and amounts in (e), where the government ended up using taxpayer funds to pay off the balances; and (g) what are the number of instances, and amounts in (d), (e) and (f), where the government ended up using taxpayer funds to pay off the balances for credit cards that were assigned to ministers, parliamentary secretaries, or ministerial exempt staff?

BACKGROUND:
Each travel cardholder signs a card agreement not only with BMO MasterCard but also with the Government of Canada. This agreement stipulates that all charges are due and payable by the cardholder, in full, upon receipt of the monthly statement. It also stipulates that the card is to be used only for the purchase of authorized business travel and hospitality related expenses.

The amount reported under part e) of $207,352.50 represents 478 instances, over a period of more than four years (52 months) where the card’s balance was not paid by the cardholder (employee) by the due date. This represents a monthly average of 9 accounts with an unpaid balance of less than $4,000. There is an average of 1,700 active accounts during this period (from 2,110 in January 2017 to 1,333 in April 2021). The default accounts therefore represent 0.5% (9 accounts on a total of 1,700) of total active individual designated travel cards accounts.

Finance and Administration Branch monitors all unpaid accounts, and follows up with the respective employees to ensure the balances are paid in time. The reasons for delays in payment are unknown. The follow-ups focus on the actions taken to pay the outstanding balance, rather than the explanations behind the late payment.

In addition, the agreement between the Government of Canada and the BMO makes the Agency responsible to remit to BMO MasterCard the outstanding amount on an employee’s Individual Designated Travel Card when it becomes delinquent over 90 days from the due date. In these rare cases, the Agency makes the payment to BMO MasterCard and immediately initiates procedures to recover the amount from the cardholder (employee).

Out of the 478 instances reported under part d), only 2 cards were not paid by the respective cardholder 90 days after the due date. The Agency made the payment to BMO MasterCard and immediately recovered the total from the employee’s wages.

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