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 2018-19 Main Estimates (and as applicable – Supplementary Estimates and previous quarterly reports for the current year).
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 administrative tasks associated with the planning and conduct of multilateral conferences, thereby enabling participants to concentrate on substantive intergovernmental policy issues. CICS provides continuous, effective, impartial administrative services to these meetings.
This quarterly report has not been subject to an external audit or review
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 2018-19 Main Estimates and Supplementary Estimates (as applicable). 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 moneys 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.
CICS’ authorities available for 2018-19 are about the same as last fiscal year. The Secretariat is funded at a level sufficient to finance 100 in person conferences (or 70 events) annually. An event can consist of one or two conferences and it is used to plan the budget for each of the conferences in terms of transportation and communication, rentals, translation and interpretation services.
Year to date operating expenses to December 31, 2018 are some $80 thousand lower than for the same period in 2017-18. This variation is a combination of a $144 thousand decrease in salary charges and a $64 thousand increase in rentals, transportation, professional and special services. This increase is explained by the timing when rental and professional services invoices were received, approved and processed for services rendered year to date was better than for the same period in 2017-18. The primary reason for the salary decrease is due to vacant positions and unplanned employees’ departures. As a proactive measure, the Secretariat has put in place a succession plan and developed a career plan to retain current employees. Innovative recruitment strategies have also been implemented and it is expected that all vacancies will be staffed before the end of Q1 2019-2020.
Our program mandate is to provide administrative services for the planning and conduct of First Ministers, Ministers and Deputy Ministers level federal-provincial-territorial and provincial-territorial conferences. The number of conferences and meetings during the third quarter of 2018-2019 is about the same as for the same period in 2017-18. CICS does not convene intergovernmental meetings. It is called upon to respond to decisions taken by governments to meet on key national or specific issues. Decisions concerning the location of such meetings, their number in a given fiscal year, their timing and duration, are all factors beyond the control of the Secretariat.
Like many other departments and agencies, CICS is facing a critical demographic issue as we enter a phase where a significant number of our personnel are or will be eligible for retirement. Plans are in place to ensure as seamless a transition of knowledge as possible.
In response to the evolving needs of clients, the Conference Services Division, as in the previous fiscal period, continues to identify, pilot and implement innovative solutions. Innovative solutions consist of new technologies and process efficiencies that improve service delivery resulting in positive client feedback and efficiencies in operations, the key areas being video-conferencing and teleconferencing with simultaneous interpretation, online registration and online document retrieval.
Approval by Senior Officials
Original signed by: André M. McArdle |
Original signed by: Brian J. Berry, FCPA, FCMA |
Date: February 6, 2019 | Date: February 6, 2019 |
(in dollars) | Total available for use for the year ending March 31, 2019 | Used during the quarter ended December 31, 2018 | Year to date used at quarter-end |
---|---|---|---|
Vote 1 – Net Operating expenditures | 5,888,971 | 970,318 | 3,185,955 |
Budgetary Statutory authorities | 385,855 | 96,463 | 289,390 |
Total Budgetary authorities | 6,274,826 | 1,066,781 | 3,475,345 |
Total authorities | 6,274,826 | 1,066,781 | 3,475,345 |
(in dollars) | Total available for use for the year ending March 31, 2018 | Used during the quarter ended December 31, 2017 | Year to date used at quarter-end |
---|---|---|---|
Vote 1 – Net Operating expenditures | 5,885,063 | 1,243,239 | 3,295,873 |
Budgetary Statutory authorities | 390,526 | 65,088 | 260,351 |
Total Budgetary authorities | 6,275,589 | 1,308,327 | 3,556,224 |
Total authorities | 6,275,589 | 1,308,327 | 3,556,224 |
(in dollars) | Planned expenditures for the year ending March 31, 2019 | Expended during the quarter ended December 31, 2018 | Year to date used at quarter-end |
---|---|---|---|
Expenditures: | |||
Personnel | 2,951,413 | 652,097 | 1,923,090 |
Transportation and communications | 929,000 | 150,896 | 488,874 |
Information | 45,300 | 780 | 6,016 |
Professional and special services | 1,682,607 | 95,141 | 561,361 |
Rentals | 466,000 | 114,966 | 333,313 |
Repair and maintenance | 29,000 | – | 21,312 |
Utilities, materials and supplies | 31,000 | 1,822 | 10,862 |
Acquisition of machinery and equipment | 140,000 | 4,568 | 20,576 |
Other subsidies and payments | 506 | 46,511 | 109,941 |
Total net budgetary expenditures | 6,247,826 | 1,066,781 | 3,475,345 |
(in dollars) | Planned expenditures for the year ending March 31, 2018 | Expended during the quarter ended December 31, 2017 | Year to date used at quarter-end |
---|---|---|---|
Expenditures: | |||
Personnel | 2,951,526 | 615,440 | 2,067,511 |
Transportation and communications | 929,000 | 237,841 | 506,081 |
Information | 145,300 | 3,700 | 4,672 |
Professional and special services | 1,683,257 | 265,699 | 591,812 |
Rentals | 366,000 | 150,904 | 202,857 |
Repair and maintenance | 29,000 | 1,032 | 7,554 |
Utilities, materials and supplies | 31,000 | 4,742 | 16,219 |
Acquisition of machinery and equipment | 140,000 | 9,947 | 12,204 |
Other subsidies and payments | 506 | 19,022 | 147,314 |
Total net budgetary expenditures | 6,275,589 | 1,308,327 | 3,556,224 |