Annual Report on Travel, Hospitality and Conference Expenditures
National Defence 2013 - 2014
As required by the Treasury Board Directive on Travel, Hospitality, Conference and Event Expenditures, this report provides information on travel, hospitality and conference expenditures for National Defence for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014.
Travel, hospitality and conference expenditures incurred by a federal department or agency relate to activities that support the department or agency’s mandate and the government’s priorities.
Mandate:
The National Defence Act establishes DND and the Canadian Armed Forces as separate entities, operating with an integrated National Defence Headquarters, as they pursue their primary responsibility of providing defence for Canada and Canadians. On behalf of the people of Canada, Defence stands ready to perform three key roles: defend Canada - by delivering excellence at home; defend North America - by being a strong and reliable partner with the United States in the defence of the continent; and contribute to international peace and security - by projecting leadership abroad.
The Defence mandate is carried out with the support of a group of related organizations and agencies within the portfolio of the Minister of National Defence. For further details on selected Defence Portfolio organizations, please refer to National Defence and Canadian Armed Forces website: Defence Portfolio. For further information on the legislative framework within which Defence operates, please see the DND Report on Plans and Priorities.
National Defence Travel, Hospitality and Conference Expenditures for Year ending March 31, 2014
Expenditure category |
Expenditures for year ended March 31, 2014 ($ thousands) |
Expenditures for year ended March 31, 2013 ($ thousands) |
Variance ($ thousands) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Travel | |||
Public Servants |
$274,222.00 |
$355,515.00 |
-$81,293.00 |
Non-public Servants |
$8,064.00 |
$9,519.00 |
-$81,293.00 |
| A. Total travel | $282,286.00 |
$355,515.00 |
-$1,455.00 |
| B. Hospitality | $1,414.00 |
$2,070.00 |
-$656.00 |
| C. Conference fees | $1,140.00 |
$1,966.00 |
-$826.00 |
| Total [A+B+C] | $284,840.00 |
$369,070.00 |
-$84,230.00 |
| International travel by minister and minister's staff (included in travel) | $74.00 |
$119.00 |
-$45.00 |
Explanation of significant variances compared with previous fiscal year
Total travel:
Compared to fiscal year 2012-13, departmental travel expenditures by non-public servants decreased by $1.456M, mainly due to ongoing efforts within the department to find economies wherever possible; such as utilizing alternate methods to face to face meetings (e.g. virtual presence), sending minimal delegations and reducing the number of meetings requiring travel.
Compared to fiscal year 2012-2013, departmental travel expenditures by public servants decreased by $81.293M, mainly due to ongoing efforts within the department to find economies wherever possible; such as utilizing alternate methods to face to face meetings (e.g. virtual presence), sending minimal delegations and reducing the number of meetings requiring travel.
Hospitality:
Compared to fiscal year 2012-13, departmental hospitality expenditures decreased by $655K, mainly due to an ongoing effort to reduce hospitality costs across the board. Many traditional hospitality events were cancelled, combined or lessened in scope.
Conference fees:
Compared to fiscal year 2012-13, departmental conference expenditures decreased by $826K, mainly due to an ongoing effort to reduce conference costs across the board, and explore alternate means of communicating and sharing knowledge within the various knowledge communities. For example, there has been greater use of electronic media and teleconferencing.Minister and minister’s exempt staff - International travel:
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