Proactive Disclosure
Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat
Report on Annual Expenditures for Travel, Hospitality and Conferences
As required by the Treasury Board Directive for the Management of Expenditures on Travel, Hospitality and Conferences, this report provides information on the total annual expenditures for each of travel, hospitality and conferences for the Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat (CICS) for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2012. It also provides the variance explanations from the previous fiscal year in each of these areas.
This information is updated annually and does not contain information withheld under the Access to Information Act or the Privacy Act.
Expenditures on travel, hospitality and conferences incurred by federal departments and agencies are for the most part directly related to supporting departmental mandate(s) and the government’s priorities.
In particular, for CICS, this includes the delivery of the following core program:
- The mandate of CICS is to serve federal, provincial and territorial governments and Canadians in the planning, conduct, and the serving of senior level intergovernmental conferences. Its primary objective is to relieve client departments in virtually every major sector of governmental activity of the numerous technical and administrative tasks associated with the planning and conducting of such conferences, thereby enabling them to concentrate on the substantive policy issues. CICS provides continuous, effective, impartial administrative services to these meetings on key intergovernmental issues encompassing numerous sectors of intergovernmental activity.
- For additional information on CICS services please refer to the various CICS reports and publications on the following web link : http://www.scics.gc.ca/english/view.asp?x=198
Total annual expenditures for Travel, Hospitality and Conferences of the Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat are summarized below:
(in dollars)| Expenditure Category | Expenditures for the year ending March 31, 2012 | Expenditures for the previous year ending March 31, 2011 | Variance |
|---|
| (a) | (b) | (a – b) |
|---|
| Travel – Public Servants | 249,935 | 263,856 | (13,921) |
| Travel – Non-Public Servants | 172,265 | 80,730 | 91,535 |
| International Travel by Minister and Minister’s Staff | - | - | - |
| Total Travel | 422,200 | 344,586 | 77,614 |
| Hospitality | - | 822 | (822) |
| Conference Fees | 745 | 2,200 | (1,455) |
| TOTAL | 422,945 | 347,608 | 75,337 |
Significant variances compared to the previous fiscal year.
TRAVEL:
- Public Servants:Compared to fiscal year 2010-11, the CICS’s travel expenditures by public servants decreased mainly due to:
- Over a ten-year period, CICS has averaged over 100 conferences annually. The economic environment and political situation in 2011-12 has contributed to a decline in intergovernmental activity. While fiscal restraint continued to be a priority, eight governments also held elections. In that context, CICS organized and served 60 senior-level meetings. These meetings are grouped as events by location and sector for internal budgeting purposes. In 2011-12, 45 events were served compared to 48 the previous year.
- Non-Public Servants:Compared to fiscal year 2010-11, the CICS’s travel expenditures by non-public servants increased mainly due to:
- Seven relocations of provincial and territorial employees in 2011-12 compared to only two relocations in the previous year.
HOSPITALITY: Compared to fiscal year 2010-11, the CICS’ hospitality expenditures increased/decreased mainly due to:
- A management decision of not providing any coffee and muffins for the monthly staff meetings.
CONFERENCE FEES: Compared to fiscal year 2010-11, the CICS’ conference fees expenditures have not decreased significantly.