Annual Report on Travel, Hospitality and Conference Expenditures
Transportation Safety Board of Canada 2018 - 2019
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, 2019.
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, 2019
Expenditure category |
Expenditures for year ended March 31, 2019 ($ thousands) |
Expenditures for year ended March 31, 2018 ($ thousands) |
Variance ($ thousands) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Travel | |||
Operational activities |
$394.00 |
$361.00 |
$33.00 |
Key stakeholders |
$167.00 |
$172.00 |
-$5.00 |
Internal governance |
$190.00 |
$149.00 |
$41.00 |
Training |
$287.00 |
$166.00 |
$121.00 |
Other |
$20.00 |
$19.00 |
$1.00 |
| A. Total travel | $1,058.00 |
$867.00 |
$191.00 |
| B. Hospitality | $2.00 |
$6.00 |
-$4.00 |
| C. Conference fees | $9.00 |
$8.00 |
$1.00 |
| Total [A+B+C] | $1,069.00 |
$881.00 |
$188.00 |
| 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:
Departmental travel expenditures reimbursed to Public Servants and Non-Public Servants are reported together under the categories identified in the above table.
Travel expenditures by TSB employees increased by $186K between years. This represents an 18% increase due to travel related to occurrence investigations, training and departmental branch meetings. During 2017-18, some travel, including related to training, was specifically cancelled or deferred as a short term measure to address the anticipated TSB budget pressures. Now that the TSB resource pressures and program integrity have been addressed, travel expenditures have stabilized to a level more comparable to 2016-17.
For Non-Public Servants, travel expenditures increased by $5K compared to 2017-18 due to the one-time travel costs ($3K) related to the employee relocation program, travel costs for consultants ($1K), and the travel costs for candidates in Governor-in-Council Selection Process for TSB Board members ($1K).
Hospitality:
Typically, spending on hospitality expenditures is minimal; as a result, a single event can present a significant percentage variance between years. In 2017-18, the TSB hosted the Accident Investigators – Materials (AI-M) meeting, an international forum for materials specialists from accident investigations agencies from various countries. This one-time event in 2017-18 increased hospitality expenditures.
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. In 2018-19, the level of TSB participation in public events was similar to that of previous years.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.