Annual Report on Travel, Hospitality and Conference Expenditures
Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages 2023 - 2024
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 Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024.
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 mandate of the Commissioner of Official Languages is to oversee the full implementation of the Official Languages Act, protect the language rights of Canadians, and promote linguistic duality and bilingualism in Canada.
To achieve its mandate, OCOL is required to travel across Canada, hold hospitality events and participate in conferences in order to promote linguistic duality in official language communities and investigate complaints filed by citizens who believe their language rights have not been respected.
Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages Travel, Hospitality and Conference Expenditures for Year ending March 31, 2024
Expenditure category |
Expenditures for year ended March 31, 2024 ($ thousands) |
Expenditures for year ended March 31, 2023 ($ thousands) |
Variance ($ thousands) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Travel | |||
Operational activities |
$55.37 |
$66.48 |
-$11.11 |
Key stakeholders |
$12.82 |
$22.26 |
-$9.43 |
Internal governance |
$59.31 |
$6.48 |
$52.82 |
Training |
$6.54 |
$3.21 |
$3.33 |
Other |
$0.77 |
$2.91 |
-$2.14 |
| A. Total travel | $134.81 |
$101.35 |
$33.46 |
| B. Hospitality | $11.99 |
$2.13 |
$9.86 |
| C. Conference fees | $5.09 |
$4.83 |
$0.27 |
| Total [A+B+C] | $151.89 |
$108.30 |
$43.59 |
| 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:
Travel: Compared with fiscal year 2022-2023, OCOL's total travel expenses increased by $33,461 mainly due the return of in-person meetings related to the implementation of the modernization of the Official Languages Act.
There was a noticeable decrease in operational activities and key stakeholder engagement in 2023-2024 compared to the previous year because in 2022-2023, in addition to travel for regular activities, OCOL participated in the 2022 Canada Summer Games and 2023 Canada Winter Games.
Hospitality:
Hospitality: Compared with fiscal year 2022-2023, OCOL’s hospitality expenses have increased due to the annual general meeting being held in person.
Conference fees:
Conference fees: Compared with fiscal year 2022-2023, conference expenses have remained stable.Minister and minister’s exempt staff - International travel:
N.A.