Quarterly Financial Report for the quarter ended December 31st, 2024
ISSN 2817-3473 Statement outlining results, risks and significant changes in operations, personnel and program 1. Introduction This quarterly report has been prepared by management as required by section 65.1 of the Financial Administration Act and in the form and manner prescribed by the Treasury Board Directive on Accounting Standards. This report should be read in conjunction with the 2024–25 Main Estimates. The mandate of the Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat (CICS) is to support federal, provincial and territorial governments in the planning and conduct of senior level intergovernmental conferences held across Canada. The primary objective of CICS is to relieve client departments of the numerous technical and logistical tasks associated with the planning and conduct of multilateral conferences, thereby enabling participants to concentrate on substantive intergovernmental policy issues. CICS provides continuous, effective and impartial logistical support to these meetings. The quarterly report has not been subject to an external audit or review. Basis of Presentation This quarterly report has been prepared by management using an expenditure basis of accounting. The accompanying Statement of Authorities includes the department’s spending authorities granted by Parliament and those used by the department consistent with the 2024–25 Main Estimates. This quarterly report has been prepared using a special purpose financial reporting framework designed to meet financial information needs with respect to the use of spending authorities. The authority of Parliament is required before money can be spent by the Government. Approvals are given in the form of annually approved limits through appropriation acts or through legislation in the form of statutory spending authority for specific purposes. As part of the departmental performance reporting process, CICS prepares its annual departmental financial statements on a full accrual basis in accordance with Treasury Board accounting policies, which are based on Canadian Generally Accepted Accounting Principles for the public sector. However, the spending authorities voted by Parliament remain on an expenditure basis. 2. Highlights of fiscal quarter and fiscal year to date (YTD) results Operating expenses from October 1 to December 31, 2024, increased slightly (by $66,000) in this third quarter compared with the same period in 2023-24. These increases are mainly due to the rise in personnel costs and an increase in professional and special services costs related to the program evaluation. To date, CICS has supported 36 in-person conferences and 56 videoconferences, compared with 33 in-person conferences and 38 videoconferences over the same period in 2023-24. 2.1 Statement of Authorities CICS’ total authorities for 2024-25 as of the third quarter are approximately $10,000 lower than last year (an increase of $85,000 in voted authorities and a decrease of $95,000 in statutory authorities), given that the temporary supplementary budget was already included in the initial fiscal year allocation, and that no collective agreements required renewal this year. 2.2 Statement of Department Budgetary Expenditures by Standard Object Year to date operating expenses to December 31, 2024, are $6.0 million, approximately $875,000 higher than for the same period in 2023-24. The observed increase is largely attributable to the following factors: Personnel: […]
by Raphaelle Ghanem
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