Annual Report on Travel, Hospitality and Conference Expenditures

Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat 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 Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat 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 mandate of the Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat is to support federal, provincial and territorial governments in the planning and conduct of senior level intergovernmental conferences held across Canada. The primary objective of CICS is to relieve client departments of the numerous technical and administrative tasks associated with the planning and conduct of multilateral conferences, thereby enabling participants to concentrate on substantive intergovernmental policy issues. CICS provides continuous, effective, impartial administrative services to these meetings. - For additional information on CICS services please refer to the various CICS reports and publications on the following web link: http://www.scics.ca/en

Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat Travel, Hospitality and Conference Expenditures for Year ending March 31, 2023

Travel, Hospitality and Conference Expenditures
Expenditure category	Expenditures for year ended March 31, 2023 ($ thousands)	Expenditures for year ended March 31, 2022 ($ thousands)	Variance ($ thousands)
Travel
Operational activities	$438.52	$31.17	$407.35
Key stakeholders	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Internal governance	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Training	$0.00	$0.03	-$0.03
Other	$0.05	$0.03	$0.02
A. Total travel	$438.57	$31.23	$407.34
B. Hospitality	$0.86	$0.04	$0.82
C. Conference fees	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Total [A+B+C]	$439.43	$31.27	$408.16
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:

Almost all travels are in the operational activities as CICS travel expenses are closely tied to facilitating in-person conference support services. During the fiscal year 2022-23, there was a noteworthy total travel expenditure of $439 thousand, in stark contrast to the $31 thousand recorded in FY 2021-22. Notably, CICS provided support for 37 in-person conferences during this period, reflecting a notable increase of 35 conferences compared to the preceding year. In contrast, the demand for conference services was limited in fiscal year 2021-22 due to the persistent impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, with only 2 in-person conferences being served by CICS. The travel expenses incurred in the fiscal year 2022-23 align closely with CICS' travel costs from the pre-pandemic era

Hospitality:

compared with fiscal year 2021–22, departmental hospitality expenditures witnessed a notable increase primarl attribued to the all staff event and recognition expenses incurred in December 2022. Additionally,this rise can be attributed to hospitality costs associated with foood served during the National Public Services Week.

Conference fees:

There were no expenditures relating to conference fees.