ARCHIVED – Report on Annual Expenditures for Travel, Hospitality and Conferences Fiscal Year 2015-2016

As required by the Treasury Board Directive on Travel, Hospitality, Conference and Event Expenditures, this report provides information on the total annual expenditures for each of travel, hospitality and conference fees for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2016. 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 related to activities that support the department’s mandate and the government’s priorities.

IRCC’s Mandate

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) selects and welcomes, as permanent and temporary residents foreign nationals, whose skills contribute to Canadian prosperity, as well as reunites family members.

The Department maintains Canada’s humanitarian tradition by welcoming refugees and other people in need of protection, thereby upholding its international obligations and reputation.

IRCC, in collaboration with its partners, conducts the screening of potential permanent and temporary residents to protect the health, safety and security of Canadians. IRCC is also responsible for the issuance and control of Canadian passports and other documents that facilitate the travel of Canadian citizens and residents.

Lastly, the Department builds a stronger Canada by helping all newcomers settle and integrate into Canadian society and the economy, and by encouraging, granting and providing proof of Canadian citizenship.

Further details about IRCC’s authority, mandate and programs can be found in the department’s Departmental Performance Report (DPR), Report on Plans and Priorities (RPP) and other sources of relevant information located on the IRCC Web site.

Travel, Hospitality and Conference Expenditures

IRCC works in a multi-faceted, rapidly changing policy environment. The Canadian government response to the Syrian refugee’s crisis is a concrete example. Canada is a nation built on immigration, which has always played an important economic role in meeting our labour market needs. International migration is increasingly complex, with the movement of people being closely linked to trade, global health, and security concerns. Even as we strengthen partnerships at home, we must also foster international partnerships to ensure well-managed, safe and secure international migration. Managing our migration programs requires continued vigilance with respect to fraud and security threats.

Managing in a global environment dictates that IRCC must travel in order to ensure program integrity and to provide an oversight and monitoring of its national and international operations.

IRCC’s hospitality expenses are mainly derived from activities related to hosting of citizenship ceremonies, events and meetings with foreign dignitaries as well as with federal, provincial, and territorial stakeholders.

Significant variances compared to the previous fiscal year

This section is used to provide a brief explanation of significant variances from the previous year’s annual expenditures for each category.

Travel:

1. Public Servants: Compared to fiscal year 2014-2015, departmental travel expenditures by public servants increased by $1.9 million. The increase in 2015–2016 is mostly attributable to:

   • IRCC’s role in the Government’s response to the Syrian refugee crisis. As the lead Department for this initiative, IRCC had to redeploy domestic and international resources which resulted in an increase of travel costs allowing the department to identify, select and support the resettlement of Syrian refugees across Canada. The Department had to work with provinces, territories, municipalities, private and non-profit organizations and private sponsors to effectively respond to the situation, working toward the successful resettlement of refugees and their integration into Canadian society.
   • Travel required to support the 2015 Pan American Games and the Parapan American Games held in Toronto in Summer 2015.
   • Travel for the promotion of IRCC’s program in 2015-2016 such as the International Experience Canada.

   From the items above, the following items contributed to offset some of the travel costs increases:

   • Travel for one-time events that happened in 2014-2015 and did not reoccur in 2015-2016 such as the assessment of costs for certain lines of business, the national and regional summits held in 2014 with over 400 participants to gather input on settlement priorities and the bilateral consultations with Provinces and Territories that followed the summits.
   • Continuous efforts of the department to maintain low travel expenditures such as reviewing approach to deliver training or by the use of available technologies such as the video conferencing for connecting with partners and stakeholders.

2. Non-Public Servants: Compared to fiscal year 2014-2015, departmental travel expenditures by non-public servants decreased by $83 thousand and is mostly explained by a reduction of expenses due to election period that started in July 2015 where travels were limited. In addition, machinery in government changes following this election led to the new Cabinet where previous Ministers of State structure and their offices do no longer exist hence saving on non-public servant travel costs.

3. International Travel by Ministers, Parliamentary Secretaries and Ministers’ Staff: Compared to fiscal year 2014-2015, expenditures for international travel by Ministers, Parliamentary Secretaries and Ministers’ staff increased by $11 thousands mainly due to the Government response to the Syrian refugee crisis.

   For further details on international travel, please visit the IRCC Proactive Disclosure web page.

Hospitality:

Compared to fiscal year 2014-2015, departmental hospitality expenditures decreased by $40 thousand mainly as a result of the one-time meeting for the Five Country Conference held in Canada in 2014-2015 resulting in cost savings on hospitality.

Conference fees:

Compared to fiscal year 2014-2015, departmental conference fee expenditures decreased by $5 thousand mainly due to the continuous efforts of the department to maintain low conference expenditures.