Annual Report on Travel, Hospitality and Conference Expenditures
Employment and Social Development Canada 2019 - 2020
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 Employment and Social Development Canada for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020.
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:
As required by the Treasury Board Secretariat Directive on Travel, Hospitality, Conference and Event Expenditures, this report provides information on travel, hospitality and conference expenditures for Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020, except for information withheld under the Access to Information Act or the Privacy Act.
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.
ESDC’s mission is to build a stronger and more competitive Canada, to support Canadians in making choices that help them live productive and rewarding lives and to improve Canadians' quality of life. The Department delivers a range of programs and services that affect Canadians throughout their lives through five business lines:
• Employment and Social Development;
• Labour Program;
• Service Canada;
• Seniors;
• Accessibility.
ESDC’s travel, hospitality and conference expenditures support the delivery of core programs and services to Canadians, such as: Old Age Security; Canada Pension Plan; Employment Insurance; Canada Student Loans and Grants; the Canada Education Savings Program; Temporary Foreign Workers Program; Wage Earner Protection Program; and Passport Services.
The Labour Program is responsible for overseeing federal labour regulatory responsibilities, including facilitating compliance with occupational health and safety, labour standards and employment equity legislation, as well as assisting trade unions and employers in the negotiation of collective agreements and their renewal in federally regulated workplaces. The Labour Program also represents Canada in international labour organizations and negotiates and implements labour provisions in the context of trade liberalization initiatives.
Through Service Canada, the Department helps Canadians access departmental programs as well as other Government of Canada programs and services.
ESDC also has the mandate to adopt the Accessible Canada Act, which fulfills the mandate of creating communities, workplaces and services that enable everyone to participate fully in society without barriers. In addition, with the growth of the seniors’ population in Canada, the Seniors program provides funding as well as services and initiatives that help make a difference in the lives of senior Canadians.
For more information, please refer to the 2019-2020 ESDC Department Plan.
Employment and Social Development Canada Travel, Hospitality and Conference Expenditures for Year ending March 31, 2020
Expenditure category |
Expenditures for year ended March 31, 2020 ($ thousands) |
Expenditures for year ended March 31, 2019 ($ thousands) |
Variance ($ thousands) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Travel | |||
Operational activities |
$16,688.00 |
$12,930.00 |
$3,758.00 |
Key stakeholders |
$2,130.00 |
$2,564.00 |
-$434.00 |
Internal governance |
$514.00 |
$674.00 |
-$160.00 |
Training |
$7,319.00 |
$5,881.00 |
$1,438.00 |
Other |
$2,899.00 |
$3,511.00 |
-$612.00 |
| A. Total travel | $29,550.00 |
$25,560.00 |
$3,990.00 |
| B. Hospitality | $380.00 |
$378.00 |
$2.00 |
| C. Conference fees | $201.00 |
$144.00 |
$57.00 |
| Total [A+B+C] | $30,131.00 |
$26,082.00 |
$4,049.00 |
| International travel by minister and minister's staff (included in travel) | $37.00 |
$70.00 |
-$33.00 |
Explanation of significant variances compared with previous fiscal year
Total travel:
Compared to fiscal year 2018-2019, departmental travel expenditures have increased by 15.61% mainly due to an increase in the Department’s capacity to undertake major investigations and increase program compliance reviews as well as having consultations on the regulations under the Accessible Canada Act. Outreach promotions activities were undertaken in order to engage stakeholders to support the launch of new requirements of the ‘’Reaching Home’’ program and the Office for Disability Issues organized a National Disability Summit.
Hospitality:
Compared to fiscal year 2018-2019, departmental hospitality expenditures have increased by 0.5 %.
Conference fees:
Compared to fiscal year 2018-2019, departmental conference fees have increased by 39.6% mainly due to the attendance at the Occupation Health and Safety (OHS) Representatives conference and at the 4th Annual Government of Canada Data Conference. Also, the increase is related to stakeholder engagement opportunities to support the ‘’Youth and Future Skills’’ program mandates as well as the implementation of the ‘’Indigenous Skills & Employment Training Program’’ (ISETP) and ‘’Reaching Home’’ (RH) program.Minister and minister’s exempt staff - International travel:
Compared to fiscal year 2018-2019, the departmental international travel by Ministers and Ministers’ staff fees have decreased by 47.1% due to the federal election campaign. Therefore, Deputy Ministers attended some events and conferences on behalf of the Ministers and their staff.