Annual Report on Travel, Hospitality and Conference Expenditures
Department of Finance Canada 2016 - 2017
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 Department of Finance Canada for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017.
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:
Created in 1867, the Department of Finance Canada was one of the original departments of the Government of Canada and had as its primary functions bookkeeping, administering the collection and disbursement of public monies, and servicing the national debt. Today, the Department helps the Government of Canada develop and implement strong and sustainable economic, fiscal, tax, social, security, international and financial sector policies and programs. It plays an important central agency role, working with other departments to ensure that the government’s agenda is carried out and that ministers are supported with high-quality analysis and advice.
Department of Finance Canada Travel, Hospitality and Conference Expenditures for Year ending March 31, 2017
Expenditure category |
Expenditures for year ended March 31, 2017 ($ thousands) |
Expenditures for year ended March 31, 2016 ($ thousands) |
Variance ($ thousands) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Travel | |||
Public Servants |
$2,014.00 |
$1,927.00 |
$87.00 |
Non-public Servants |
$565.00 |
$389.00 |
$87.00 |
| A. Total travel | $2,579.00 |
$1,927.00 |
$176.00 |
| B. Hospitality | $166.00 |
$77.00 |
$89.00 |
| C. Conference fees | $32.00 |
$3.00 |
$29.00 |
| Total [A+B+C] | $2,777.00 |
$2,396.00 |
$381.00 |
| International travel by minister and minister's staff (included in travel) | $218.00 |
$102.00 |
$116.00 |
Explanation of significant variances compared with previous fiscal year
Total travel:
Public Servants: 2014 Compared to fiscal year 2015-2016, departmental travel expenditures by public servants increased mainly due to the fact that fiscal year 2016-17 is returning to a more representative year for travel after 2015-16 saw reduced expenditures arising from the October 2015 federal election and the transition to a new government resulting in fewer meetings and engagements with stakeholders. There were more trips outside of North America in 2016-17 to participate in the Green Finance initiative and review of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Funding regime. The increase in travel is also due to attendance at meetings of the Minister of Finance’s Advisory Council of Economic Growth and to Provincial trips to discuss Carbon Pricing and Cannabis initiatives.;
Non-Public Servants: 565 Compared to fiscal year 2015-2016, departmental travel expenditures by non-public servants increased mainly due to the travel related to the Minister of Finance’s Advisory Council on Economic Growth and travel related to the Tax Expenditure Review.
Hospitality:
Compared to fiscal year 2015-16, departmental hospitality expenditures increased because 2015-16 included the October 2015 election which caused many activities in support of the Minister of Finance to be put on hold for the months leading up to the election and for a period shortly thereafter.
Conference fees:
The increase in conference expenditures is explained by conference attendance for training purposes. In 2015-16, similar expenditures were expensed as training. Given the ambiguity on the recording of conference and training expenditures, new guidelines were released in 2017-18 to clarify this issue.Minister and minister’s exempt staff - International travel:
Unlike 2015-16 where departmental international travel expenditures by the Minister and his staff were lower during the federal writ period and subsequent transition period, in 2016-17, business resumed, and therefore, expenditures were incurred during the entire fiscal year.