Annual Report on Travel, Hospitality and Conference Expenditures
Office of the Privacy Commissioner of 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 Office of the Privacy Commissioner of 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:
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada’s travel, hospitality and conference expenditures support the delivery of the following core programs and services to Canadians: The mandate of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) is overseeing compliance with both the Privacy Act, which covers the personal information-handling practices of federal government institutions, and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), Canada’s federal private sector privacy law, along with some aspects of Canada’s anti-spam law (CASL). The mission of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) is to protect and promote the privacy rights of individuals. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) core responsabilities are: 1. Protection of Privacy Rights: to ensure the protection of privacy rights of Canadians; enforce privacy obligations by federal government institutions and private-sector organizations; provide advice to Parliament on potential privacy implications of proposed legislation and government programs; promote awareness and understanding of rights and obligations under federal privacy legislation. 2. Internal Services: groups of related activities and resources that the federal government considers to be services in support of programs and/or required to meet corporate obligations of an organization. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada incurs travel, hospitality and conference expenditures for activities directly related to its mandate. Since most privacy trends are global in nature, the OPC invests considerable efforts in developing and sustaining partnerships with data-protection authorities around the world, as well as international associations and regulators. OPC officials deliver numerous speeches to transfer knowledge about privacy to audiences in Canada and abroad. The OPC carries out investigations and audit under both legislations the Privacy Act and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act. Investigation and Audit work tends to involve travel because it often necessitates site visits in order to review materials and discuss issues with respondents. OPC also incurs travel costs related to public events and other professional development activities that are critical for staff to remain current with rapid evolutions within the privacy field. For more information on OPC’s programs please consult the Office’s 2020-21 Departmental Plan and the Office’s 2019-20 Departmental Results Report.
Office of the Privacy Commissioner of 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 |
$132.90 |
$156.40 |
-$23.50 |
Key stakeholders |
$178.30 |
$131.40 |
$46.90 |
Internal governance |
$7.20 |
$12.30 |
-$5.10 |
Training |
$88.20 |
$101.90 |
-$13.70 |
Other |
$10.20 |
$25.70 |
-$15.50 |
| A. Total travel | $416.80 |
$427.70 |
-$10.90 |
| B. Hospitality | $18.30 |
$14.80 |
$3.50 |
| C. Conference fees | $35.70 |
$25.70 |
$10.00 |
| Total [A+B+C] | $470.80 |
$468.20 |
$2.60 |
| International travel by minister and minister's staff (included in travel) | $0.00 |
$0.00 |
$0.00 |