Annual Report on Travel, Hospitality and Conference Expenditures
Employment and Social Development Canada 2018 - 2019
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 Employment and Social Development Canada for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2019.
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:
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 Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2019, except for information withheld under the Access to Information Act or the Privacy Act.
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.
ESDC’s mission is to build a stronger and more competitive Canada, to support Canadians in making choices that help them live productive and rewarding lives and to improve Canadians' quality of life. The Department delivers a range of programs and services that affect Canadians throughout their lives through three business lines:
• Employment and Social Development;
• Labour Program;
• Service Canada.
ESDC’s travel, hospitality and conference expenditures support the delivery of core programs and services to Canadians, such as: Old Age Security; Canada Pension Plan; Employment Insurance; Canada Student Loans and Grants; the Canada Education Savings Program; Temporary Foreign Workers Program; Wage Earner Protection Program; and Passport Services.
The Labour Program is responsible for overseeing federal labour regulatory responsibilities, including facilitating compliance with occupational health and safety, labour standards and employment equity legislation, as well as assisting trade unions and employers in the negotiation of collective agreements and their renewal in federally regulated workplaces. The Labour Program also represents Canada in international labour organizations and negotiates and implements labour provisions in the context of trade liberalization initiatives.
Through Service Canada, the Department helps Canadians access departmental programs as well as other Government of Canada programs and services.
Finally, through grants and contributions, the Department provides funding to other levels of government and organizations within the voluntary and private sectors, educators and community organizations to support projects that meet the labour market and social development needs of Canadians.
For more information, please refer to the 2018-2019 ESDC Department Plan.
Employment and Social Development Canada Travel, Hospitality and Conference Expenditures for Year ending March 31, 2019
Expenditure category |
Expenditures for year ended March 31, 2019 ($ thousands) |
Expenditures for year ended March 31, 2018 ($ thousands) |
Variance ($ thousands) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Travel | |||
Operational activities |
$12,930.00 |
$13,427.00 |
-$497.00 |
Key stakeholders |
$2,564.00 |
$2,113.00 |
$451.00 |
Internal governance |
$674.00 |
$843.00 |
-$169.00 |
Training |
$5,881.00 |
$6,871.00 |
-$990.00 |
Other |
$3,511.00 |
$3,909.00 |
-$398.00 |
| A. Total travel | $25,560.00 |
$27,163.00 |
-$1,603.00 |
| B. Hospitality | $378.00 |
$361.00 |
$17.00 |
| C. Conference fees | $144.00 |
$117.00 |
$27.00 |
| Total [A+B+C] | $26,082.00 |
$27,641.00 |
-$1,559.00 |
| International travel by minister and minister's staff (included in travel) | $70.00 |
$129.00 |
-$59.00 |
Explanation of significant variances compared with previous fiscal year
Total travel:
Compared to fiscal year 2017-2018, departmental travel expenditures have decreased by 5,9% .
Hospitality:
Compared to fiscal year 2017-2018, departmental hospitality expenditures have increased by 4.2% mainly due to an increase in high profile departmental, governmental and international events to support departmental priorities such as the G7 summit as well as the renewal of economic agreements between Canada, Mexico and the United States
Conference fees:
Compared to fiscal year 2017-2018, departmental conference fees have increased by 23% mainly due to the creation of the Youth and Skills Innovation directorate as well as conferences held by the Canada School of public service for computer systems training.Minister and minister’s exempt staff - International travel:
Compared to fiscal year 2017-2018, the departmental international travel by minister and minister’s staff fees have decreased by 45.7% due to the federal election campaign. Therefore, Deputy Minister’s attended events and conferences on behalf of the Ministers and their staff.