Annual Report on Travel, Hospitality and Conference Expenditures
Canada Energy Regulator 2022 - 2023
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 Canada Energy Regulator for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023.
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 Canada Energy Regulator’s travel, hospitality and conference expenditures support the delivery of the following core programs and services to Canadians:
• Strengthened safety and environmental protection. The CER continues to enforce conditions, inspect facilities and conduct other oversight activities to protect people and the environment.
• Greater Indigenous participation. The CER Act ensures greater Indigenous participation through recognition of Indigenous rights and confirmation of the Government’s duty to consult, including a requirement to assess impacts on these rights and consider Indigenous knowledge in decision making.
• More inclusive public participation. Public Participation in CER processes will be inclusive and any member of the public will have an opportunity to express their views during a hearing.
Canada Energy Regulator Travel, Hospitality and Conference Expenditures for Year ending March 31, 2023
Expenditure category |
Expenditures for year ended March 31, 2023 ($ thousands) |
Expenditures for year ended March 31, 2022 ($ thousands) |
Variance ($ thousands) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Travel | |||
Operational activities |
$1,060.00 |
$379.00 |
$681.00 |
Key stakeholders |
$229.00 |
-$2.00 |
$231.00 |
Internal governance |
$67.00 |
-$2.00 |
$69.00 |
Training |
$186.00 |
$9.00 |
$177.00 |
Other |
$236.00 |
$10.00 |
$226.00 |
| A. Total travel | $1,778.00 |
$394.00 |
$1,384.00 |
| B. Hospitality | $63.00 |
$1.00 |
$62.00 |
| C. Conference fees | $142.00 |
$52.00 |
$90.00 |
| Total [A+B+C] | $1,983.00 |
$447.00 |
$1,536.00 |
| 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:
The department’s travel expenditures increased expectedly owing to the lifting of COVID-induced travel restrictions and resumption of normalized business activities. Departmental travel expenditures increased in fiscal year 2022-23 by $1.38 million compared to the fiscal year 2021-22, but remains well below pre-pandemic levels ($709 thousand decrease in comparison to fiscal year 2019-20). The current fiscal year increase was principally driven by 80% increase in operational activities including the net effect of increased activities related to key stakeholder engagement, such as: ensuring greater Indigenous participation; increase in inspections; emergency preparedness; safety & damage prevention; and pipeline integrity.
Hospitality:
Departmental hospitality expenditures increased in fiscal year 2022-23 by $62 thousand compared to the fiscal year 2021-22, but remained well in line with pre-pandemic expenditure levels ($4 thousand increase compared to fiscal year 2019-20). The current year increase is mainly due to normalized business activities and in-person stakeholder engagement activities.
Conference fees:
Departmental conference expenditures increased in fiscal year 2022-23 by $90 thousand, compared to the fiscal year 2021-22, and an increase of $44 thousand compared to pre-pandemic expenditure levels (fiscal year 2019-20). The current year and pre-pandemic increase is mainly attributed to operational activities, such as safety and environmental protection, effective Indigenous participation, and more inclusive public participation during the year to support CER's values and mandate.Minister and minister’s exempt staff - International travel:
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