Annual Report on Travel, Hospitality and Conference Expenditures
Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat 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 Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat 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:
Travel, hospitality and conference expenditures incurred by a federal department or agency relate to activities that support the department’s or agency’s mandate and the government’s priorities.
TBS’s travel, hospitality and conference expenditures support the delivery of the following core programs and services to Canadians:
• a challenge and oversight role, which includes supporting Cabinet decision-making, reporting on the government’s management and budgetary performance, and developing government wide management policies and directives
• a community enabling role, which involves helping organizations improve management performance and program results
• a leadership role, which involves driving and modelling excellence in public sector practices
In addition, as the employer for the public service, TBS incurs expenditures for travel and related items for labour management meetings with bargaining agents and other stakeholders, as well as for human resources litigation and hearings.
Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat 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 |
$1,198.00 |
$920.00 |
$278.00 |
Key stakeholders |
$514.00 |
$318.00 |
$196.00 |
Internal governance |
$35.00 |
$29.00 |
$6.00 |
Training |
$403.00 |
$316.00 |
$87.00 |
Other |
$223.00 |
$331.00 |
-$108.00 |
| A. Total travel | $2,373.00 |
$1,914.00 |
$459.00 |
| B. Hospitality | $148.00 |
$173.00 |
-$25.00 |
| C. Conference fees | $38.00 |
$32.00 |
$6.00 |
| Total [A+B+C] | $2,559.00 |
$2,119.00 |
$440.00 |
| International travel by minister and minister's staff (included in travel) | $76.00 |
$63.00 |
$13.00 |
Explanation of significant variances compared with previous fiscal year
Total travel:
Compared to fiscal year 2017–18, departmental travel expenditures increased by $458,000. The increase was mainly due to:
• the Next Generation HR to Pay solution, speaking engagements, and conference attendance for the Office of the Chief Information Officer
• a review and development of a roadmap for improvement as part of the assessment for Phoenix stabilization
• an increased number of hearings scheduled by the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board, as TBS’s Legal Services unit provides litigation services to more than 50 government departments and agencies
• the Online Regulatory Consultation System and the Canadian Free Trade Agreement
• activities in support of the government’s digital agenda and commitment to adopt new ways of serving Canadians, including setting up the Canadian Digital Service (CDS), which is partnering with departments to provide hands-on capacity to improve services to Canadians and to help build government-wide digital capacity (this year, CDS operated for a full year compared to a half year of operations in 2017–18)
• travel costs related to staff training
Hospitality:
Compared to fiscal year 2017–18, hospitality expenditures decreased by $25,000. This decrease was mainly due to:
• the alternation in the hosting of the 29th Annual International Colloquium on Financial Management for National Governments; this event takes place annually, alternating between Canada and the United States (this year was in the US), and provides opportunity to gather information on the perspectives and experiences of senior officials from other countries who have national responsibilities for financial management
• various other small variances
Conference fees:
Compared to fiscal year 2017–18, there is no significant variance in conference fee expenditures.Minister and minister’s exempt staff - International travel:
Compared to fiscal year 2017–18, there is no significant variance in international travel by the Minister and the Minister’s exempt staff.