Annual Report on Travel, Hospitality and Conference Expenditures
Transportation Safety Board of Canada 2017 - 2018
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 Transportation Safety Board of Canada for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2018.
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:
Expenditures on travel, hospitality and conferences incurred by federal departments and agencies are for the most part directly related to supporting departmental mandates and the government's priorities. The mandate of the TSB is to advance transportation safety. This mandate is fulfilled by conducting independent investigations into selected transportation occurrences to identify the causes and contributing factors of the occurrences and the underlying safety deficiencies, reporting on its findings, making recommendations and advocating to influence safety actions and changes.
Transportation Safety Board of Canada Travel, Hospitality and Conference Expenditures for Year ending March 31, 2018
Expenditure category |
Expenditures for year ended March 31, 2018 ($ thousands) |
Expenditures for year ended March 31, 2017 Note 1 ($ thousands) |
Variance ($ thousands) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Travel | |||
Operational activities |
$361.00 |
- | - |
Key stakeholders |
$172.00 |
- | - |
Internal governance |
$149.00 |
- | - |
Training |
$166.00 |
- | - |
Other |
$19.00 |
- | - |
| A. Total travel | $867.00 |
$1,061.00 |
-$194.00 |
| B. Hospitality | $6.00 |
$11.00 |
-$5.00 |
| C. Conference fees | $8.00 |
$12.00 |
-$4.00 |
| Total [A+B+C] | $881.00 |
$1,084.00 |
-$203.00 |
| 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:
Compared with fiscal year 2016-17, departmental travel expenditures reimbursed to Public Servants and Non-Public Servants are now reported together under the categories identified in the above table.
Travel expenditures by TSB employees decreased by $187K between years, this represents a 22% decrease due to less travel related to occurrence investigations, Outreach activities and departmental branch meetings. During 2017-18, some travel was specifically cancelled or deferred as a short term measure to address the anticipated TSB budget shortfall. Once the TSB resource pressures are fully addressed it is expected that travel expenditures will increase to a level more comparable to 2016-17.
For Non-Public Servants, travel expenditures dropped by $7K compared to 2016-17 due to the one-time travel costs ($3K) for speakers at the TSB Safety Summit, and the travel costs for candidates in Governor-in-Council Selection Process for TSB Board members ($4K).
Hospitality:
Typically, spending on hospitality expenditures is minimal; as a result, a single event can present a significant percentage variance between years. In 2016-17, the TSB hosted a Safety Summit ($10K) which involved about 80 stakeholders from the transportation industry. This one-time event therefore increased hospitality expenditures above the normal level. In 2017-18, the TSB did not host any significant events. Expenditures therefore returned to the normal level.
Conference fees:
Spending in this category relates to conference fees incurred by TSB employees and Board Members who served as official TSB representatives to attend and/or speak at various conferences. When possible, the TSB tries to arrange for its representatives to participate in the conferences on a complimentary basis given their role as speakers on the conference program. However, host organizations are not always agreeable to such arrangements and may charge registration fees for participation in the program. The TSB participated in a lower number of events in 2017-18, which explains the decrease of $4K in conference fees compared to the previous year.Minister and minister’s exempt staff - International travel:
Not Applicable. To instill confidence in the public regarding the transportation accident investigation process, it is essential that an investigating agency be independent and free from any conflicts of interest when investigating accidents, identifying safety deficiencies, and making safety recommendations. The TSB is an independent agency, separate from other government agencies and departments, that reports to Parliament through the President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Intergovernmental and Northern Affairs and Internal Trade.