Annual Report on Travel, Hospitality and Conference Expenditures

Library and Archives Canada 2017 - 2018

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 Library and Archives Canada for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2018.

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 Library and Archives of Canada Act came into force in 2004 and created Library and Archives Canada (LAC), whose mandate is : to preserve the documentary heritage of Canada for the benefit of current and future generations; to serve as a source of enduring knowledge accessible to all, contribution to the cultural, social and economic advancement of Canada as a free and democratic society; to facilitate in Canada cooperation among the communities involved in the acquisition, preservation and diffusion of knowledge; and to serve as the continuing memory of the Government of Canada and its institutions.

Library and Archives Canada Travel, Hospitality and Conference Expenditures for Year ending March 31, 2018

Travel, Hospitality and Conference Expenditures
Expenditure category	Expenditures for year ended March 31, 2018 ($ thousands)	Expenditures for year ended March 31, 2017 ^{Note 1} ($ thousands)	Variance ($ thousands)
Travel
Operational activities	$226.00	-	-
Key stakeholders	$257.00	-	-
Internal governance	$96.00	-	-
Training	$227.00	-	-
Other	$7.00	-	-
A. Total travel	$813.00	$728.00	$85.00
B. Hospitality	$62.00	$47.00	$15.00
C. Conference fees	$9.00	$3.00	$6.00
Total [A+B+C]	$884.00	$778.00	$106.00
International travel by minister and minister's staff (included in travel)	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00

Explanation of significant variances compared with previous fiscal year

Total travel:

Compared with fiscal year 2016–2017, departmental travel expenditures increased in 2017-2018; this variance is mainly explained by the following items:

1) As part of Canada 150 activities, Library and Archives Canada invested additional resources in order to provide a more diverse public programming to highlight the treasures in its collections and to increase Canadians’ access to their history; these efforts required more travel.
2) In order to promote exchanges with the communities involved in the new program for the revitalization of Aboriginal languages and cultures, Library and Archives Canada incurred supplementary travel expenses.
3) As part of the project for the construction of the Gatineau 2 Preservation Centre, work to reassess and reduce government archives has been undertaken requiring more frequent travel to regional centres.

Hospitality:

Compared with fiscal year 2016–2017, departmental hospitality expenditures increased mainly due to the following activities:

1) As part of Canada 150, Library and Archives Canada held public events to highlight the treasures of the collections and to increase Canadians’ access to their history. Consequently, a supplementary investment in hospitality expenditures was approved in order to maximize the impact of holding more events, such as exhibitions and conferences.
2) To foster the sharing of expertise in the areas of archival, library and information sciences, and history, hospitality expenses were incurred for courtesy purposes during the forums and meetings, consequently increasing the hospitality expenses in 2017-2018.

Conference fees:

In comparison with 2016-2017, the variance in conference fees for 2017-2018 has increased, following the application of a new interpretation of the classification of conference expenses vs. training expenses.