Canada Revenue Agency Quarterly Financial Report
For the quarter ended December 31, 2020

Statement outlining results, risks and significant changes in operations, personnel and program

Introduction

This quarterly financial report has been prepared by management as required by section 65.1 of the Financial Administration Act in the form and manner prescribed by the Treasury Board. This report should be read in conjunction with the Main Estimates.

Further details on the Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) program activities can be found in the Departmental Plan and Main Estimates.

Basis of presentation

This quarterly report has been prepared by management using an expenditure basis of accounting. The accompanying Statement of Authorities includes the CRA's spending authorities granted by Parliament and those used by the CRA consistent with the Main Estimates for the 2020-2021 fiscal year. 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 of statutory spending authority for specific purposes.

The CRA uses the full accrual method of accounting to prepare and present its annual departmental financial statements that are part of the departmental performance reporting process. However, the spending authorities voted by Parliament remain on an expenditure basis.

This quarterly report has not been subject to an external audit or review.

Highlights of fiscal quarter and fiscal year-to-date results

Impact of the pandemic on authorities available for use

Although the duration and full impact of the COVID-19 outbreak is unknown at this time, the CRA continues to be well positioned to respond to this evolving situation. The CRA moved from operating under a critical services mode to a phased transition to full business resumption on June 26, 2020. As of the third quarter, the majority of the CRA’s operations have resumed. The planned focus for future phases, which began in January 2021, includes reactivating the CRA’s collection and compliance programs. Efforts will continue with the payment validation reviews of the emergency benefits for the remainder of the fiscal year, while the CRA continues restarting traditional compliance programs and exploring adjustments to traditional methods.

The CRA’s business resumption is based on the following principles: health and safety; fair treatment of clients; service as a priority; and communication and transparency. Business resumption is being closely monitored, including client service pressures and emerging compliance risks, while ensuring that employees and taxpayers are at the centre of decisions, as part of the CRA’s People First philosophy.

Through new Budgetary Statutory Authorities, implemented further to the Public Health Events of National Concern Payments Act, the CRA has received funding to support COVID-19 economic measures and to ensure access to CRA call centres.

Analysis of authorities

This report reflects the results for the current fiscal year in relation to the Main Estimates for which full supply was released on December 14, 2020, authorities available for use from the prior fiscal year, Supplementary Estimates B, and other technical adjustments.

The CRA’s total Budgetary Authorities available for use have increased by $5,020 million, from $4,812 million in 2019-2020 to $9,832 million in 2020-2021.

The components of the Vote 1 Gross Operating Expenditures Authority, Vote 5 Capital Expenditures Authority, and Budgetary Statutory Authorities are outlined below.

The Vote 1 Gross Operating Expenditures Authority increased by $63 million, from $4,145 million in 2019-2020 to $4,208 million in 2020-2021. This increase in authorities is mainly due to:

In 2020-2021, the CRA expects to spend $391 million to fulfill its administrative responsibilities in support of the CPP and EI programs, compared to $389 million in 2019-2020, an increase of $2 million, as mentioned above. The increase in Vote 1 Gross Operating Expenditure Authority is offset by an equivalent increase in revenues recovered from the CPP and EI Accounts.

The Vote 5 Capital Expenditures Authority increased by $27 million, from $57 million in 2019-2020 to $84 million in 2020-2021. This increase in authorities is mainly due to:

Total Budgetary Statutory Authorities increased by $4,932 million, from $999 million in 2019-2020 to $5,931 million in 2020-2021. The increase in authorities is attributable to:

Aside from the CRA’s regular operations, new Budgetary Statutory Authorities related to the CRA’s response to COVID-19 have been created. The resulting increase in total authorities is as follows:

Analysis of expenditures

A two-year comparison of the CRA's annual net authorities available for use against year-to-date and third quarter net expenditures as at December 31 is presented in Figure 1.

Certain components of the quarterly year-over-year expenditure variances are attributable to timing differences in invoices and payments, which will be resolved by the end of the fiscal year, as well as to the status of major project investments.

Figure 1: Annual Authorities against Year-to-Date Expenditures and Third Quarter Expenditures

This graphic provides a two-year comparison of the Agency’s annual authorities available for use as of December 31 against year-to-date and third quarter expenditures for 2020-2021 and 2019-2020. In 2020-2021, the Agency’s annual authorities available for use were $9,832M, while year-to-date and second quarter expenditures were $6,293M and $1,324M. In comparison, 2019-2020 annual authorities available for use were $4,812M, while year-to-date and second quarter expenditures were $3,356M and $1,125M. This graphic also shows the portion of authorities and expenditures related to Climate Action Incentive (CAI) payments. In 2020-21, $4,640M of the annual authorities, and $2,784M of year-to-date expenditures and $128M of third quarter expenditures were related to CAI payments. In comparison, there were no CAI payments in 2019-2020.

Figure 1: Annual authorities against year-to-date and third quarter expenditures.
  2020-2021 1 2019-2020 2
Table 1 Notes
Table 1 Note 1

The majority of the increase in authorities from 2019-2020 to 2020-2021 is attributable to new CAI payments.

Return to table 1 note 1 referrer

Table 1 Note 2

The 2019-2020 authorities and expenditures exclude CAI payments.

Return to table 1 note 2 referrer

Authorities - Excluding CAI 5,192.0 4,812.0
Authorities - Climate Action Incentive Payments (CAI) 4,640.0 -
Year-to-Date Expenditures - Excluding CAI 3,509.0 3,356.0
Year-to-Date Expenditures - Climate Action Incentive Payments (CAI) 2,784.0 -
Third Quarter Expenditures - Excluding CAI 1,196.0 1,125.0
Third Quarter Expenditures - Climate Action Incentive Payments (CAI) 128.0 -

A) Expended in the third quarter by authority

The CRA’s third quarter expenditures have increased by $199 million, or 18%, from $1,125 million in 2019-2020 to $1,324 million in 2020-2021. The components of this year-over-year change are presented below.

Third quarter Net Vote 1 Operating Expenditures have decreased by $133 million, or 15%, from $872 million in 2019-2020 to $739 million in 2020-2021. This decrease in expenditures has occurred as the CRA shifted its spending towards COVID-19 initiatives, which have been largely funded through Budgetary Statutory Authorities, rather than Operating Authorities.

Third quarter Vote 5 Capital Expenditures have increased by $5 million, from $16 million in 2019-2020 to $21 million in 2020-2021, an increase of 31%, due to increased software development expenditures.

Third quarter Total Budgetary Statutory Authorities have increased by $327 million, from $237 million in 2019-2020 to $564 million in 2020-2021. The increase is attributable to:

Outside of the CRA’s regular operations, third quarter Total Budgetary Statutory Authorities related to the CRA’s response to COVID-19 have also increased. The increase in authorities is attributable to:

B) Expended in the third quarter by standard object

The components of the material third quarter changes by standard object are presented below.

Third quarter personnel expenditures have increased by $85 million, or 9%, from $898 million in 2019-2020 to $983 million in 2020-2021. Part of the increase is a result of the settlement of the PIPSC-AFS and Public Service Alliance of Canada-Union of Taxation Employees (PSAC-UTE) collective agreements, which have increased salary expenditures by approximately $15 million and $10 million respectively. Another $12 million of the increase is due to lump sum payments related to a signing bonus for PSAC-UTE. A further $15 million of the increase can be explained by increases to Employee Benefit Plans (EBP) and $3 million can be attributed to increased overtime. The majority of the remaining increase of $30 million results from the implementation and administration of measures announced in previous federal budgets and initiatives tied to COVID-19.

Third quarter transportation and communications expenditures have decreased by $18 million, or 64%, from $28 million in 2019-2020 to $10 million in 2020-2021. This is partially due to a decrease in travel expenditures of $13 million, primarily related to the CRA’s compliance and collection activities, which is a direct result of COVID-19’s impact on the CRA’s operations. The remaining variance of $5 million is due to decreased postage expenditures.

Third quarter professional and special services expenditures have increased by $5 million, or 5%, from $103 million in 2019-2020 to $108 million in 2020-2021. The variance is partially attributable to increased IT services from Shared Services Canada (SSC) of $17 million, offset by a $12 million decrease in legal services expenditures, primarily Department of Justice services. Fluctuations throughout the year are normal for these two items and any timing differences will be resolved by year-end.

Third quarter rentals expenditures have decreased by $13 million, or 20%, from $67 million in 2019-2020 to $54 million in 2020-2021, whereas third quarter purchased repair and maintenance expenditures have increased by $14 million, from $11 million in 2019-2020 to $25 million in 2020-2021. The variances for these two standard objects, are related to the accounting classification of expenditures for accommodation and real property services and any variances will be resolved by year-end.

Third quarter transfer payments have increased by $135 million, from $88 million in 2019-2020 to $223 million in 2020-2021. Almost the entire increase, $128 million, is attributable to the new payment for the CAI. An additional increase of $3 million is due to increased payments under the Children’s Special Allowances Act. The remaining increase of $4 million is a result of the new Distribution of Fuel & Excess Emissions Charges.

Third quarter revenues netted against expenditures have increased by $9 million, or 10%, from $89 million in 2019-2020 to $98 million in 2020-2021, in support of the CPP and EI program.

C) Year-to-date expenditures by authority

Year-to-date expenditures by authority have increased by $2,937 million, or 88%, from $3,356 million in 2019-2020 to $6,293 million in 2020-2021. The components of this year-over-year increase are discussed below.

Year-to-date Net Vote 1 Operating Expenditures have decreased by $153 million, or 6%, from $2,614 million in 2019-2020 to $2,461 million in 2020-2021. As mentioned above, the decrease in Operating Expenditures is offset by an increase in the spending of Budgetary Statutory Authorities.

Year-to-date Vote 5 Capital Expenditures have increased by $9 million, or 23%, from $39 million in 2019-2020 to $48 million in 2020-2021. This increase is tied to expenditures for development work and the acquisition of capital goods to support the COVID-19 Economic Response Plan.

Year-to-date Total Budgetary Statutory Authorities have increased by $3,081 million, from $703 million in 2019-2020 to $3,784 million in 2020-2021. The increase is attributable to:

Aside from the CRA’s regular operations, year-to-date new Budgetary Statutory Authorities related to the CRA’s response to COVID-19 have been created, resulting in an increase in total authorities as follows:

D) Year-to-date expenditures by standard object

The components of the material year-to-date changes by standard object are presented below.

Year-to-date personnel expenditures have increased by $155 million, or 6%, from $2,690 million in 2019-2020 to $2,845 million in 2020-2021. The increase is partially the result of the settlement of the PIPSC-AFS and PSAC-UTE collective agreements, which have increased personnel expenditures by approximately $45 million and $10 million respectively. Another $12 million of the increase is due to lump sum payments related to related to a signing bonus for PSAC-UTE. A further $16 million of the increase can be explained by increases to EBP and $10 million in increased overtime. The majority of the remaining increase results from the implementation and administration of measures announced in previous federal budgets and initiatives tied to COVID-19.

Year-to-date transportation and communications expenditures have decreased by $28 million, or 30%, from $92 million in 2019-2020 to $64 million in 2020-2021. This change can mainly be attributed to a $27 million decrease in travel expenditures, primarily related to the CRA’s compliance and collection activities. There was also a decrease in relocation expenditures of $1 million. These decreases are a direct result of the impact of COVID-19 on the CRA’s operations.

Year-to-date professional and special services expenditures have increased by $13 million, or 5%, from $290 million in 2019-2020 to $303 million in 2020-2021. IT services from SSC have increased by $24 million, legal fees have decreased by $9 million, and lease management fees have decreased by $2 million. Fluctuations throughout the year are normal for these three items and any timing differences will be resolved by year-end.

Year-to-date rentals expenditures have increased by $7 million, or 3%, from $203 million in 2019-2020 to $210 million in 2020-2021, whereas year-to-date purchased repair and maintenance expenditures have decreased by $5 million, or 15%, from $33 million in 2019-2020 to $28 million in 2020-2021. The variances for these two standard objects, are related to the accounting classification of expenditures for accommodation and real property services and any variances will be resolved by year-end.

Year-to-date acquisition of machinery and equipment expenditures increased by $8 million, or 29%, from $28 million in 2019-2020 to $36 million in 2020-2021. Of this increase, $6 million is the result of the purchase of office equipment, including computer equipment and office furniture, as the CRA has expanded remote working capabilities to support the COVID-19 Economic Response Plan. The remaining $2 million increase is due to purchases of other equipment and parts related to transportation and equipment.

Year-to-date transfer payments have increased by $2,812 million, from $263 million in 2019-2020 to $3,075 million in 2020-2021. As discussed earlier, the majority of the increase, $2,784 million, can be attributed to the new payment for the CAI. The remaining variance can be explained by increased payments of $24 million under the Children’s Special Allowances Act and new Distribution of Fuel and Excess Emissions Charges of $4 million.

Risks and uncertainties

Careful analysis and assessment of risks are an integral part of the CRA’s business as a tax and benefit administration. While employees and managers across most of the CRA’s business lines are engaged in managing risks on a daily basis, the CRA also dedicates significant effort to managing risk at the enterprise level. The CRA’s annual Corporate Risk Profile (CRP) is a key part of this process. It outlines the direction and decisions on the potential risks that could affect its ability to meet its strategic priorities and objectives. In light of the current pandemic, the CRA established more frequent dashboard reporting, designed to provide timely information on emerging issues, their potential impacts on existing CRP risks, and mitigation activities. Some of the top tier risks being closely monitored include employee health, well-being, and safety, service experience, public image, cybersecurity, protection of taxpayer information, and business continuity.

COVID-19

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization confirmed COVID-19 as a pandemic. Due to the emergency measures enacted by the Government of Canada, the CRA was unable to operate at full capacity during the first quarter. To mitigate the risks to operations, the CRA prioritized critical services according to its National COVID-19 Business Continuity Plan (BCP), and continues its phased transition to full business resumption as outlined in its National Business Resumption Plan (NBRP).

The BCP provides national direction for coordinated implementation at the local level and outlines the CRA's prioritization of services. Activating the Incident Management Committee and invoking the BCP in the first few days of the pandemic helped ensure that the CRA could carry out priority activities in support of the economic well-being of Canadians, while safeguarding the health, safety and security of its employees. In the case of non-critical services, the CRA ensured there was no negative impact on taxpayers. The BCP is reviewed on a regular basis and incrementally adjusted to reflect an ever changing landscape, including the particular circumstances brought on by COVID-19.

The NBRP details the stages of the resumption of various program and corporate activities and operations that did not resume during the CRA’s critical services phase under the BCP. The NBRP is being reviewed on a regular basis to systematically resume services in a thoughtful and phased approach that takes into consideration both the health and safety of employees and the needs of Canadian taxpayers.

The financial impacts related to the CRA's contributions to the response and supporting the workforce are being monitored closely.

Service experience

As part of the Government of Canada’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of federal relief measures were put into place such as the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) and the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS). The CRA was charged with the responsibility of promptly delivering these benefits to millions of Canadians. The service experience risk is closely being monitored to ensure the CRA continues to successfully deliver benefits, while simultaneously delivering its broader mandate of tax administration.

Cybersecurity

The cybersecurity risk was assessed as the CRA’s top enterprise risk in the 2020-2021 CRP. This risk has shown a consistent upward trend in risk exposure for the past five years. This is due to the increased prevalence and sophistication of cyber threats, as well as the emergence of new threats. The CRA continues to take action to ensure that its cybersecurity posture keeps pace with the changing environment. The CRA will continue to make investments in IT security and evolve the IT security strategy in order to protect CRA data, information assets, and IT infrastructure from increasingly sophisticated cybersecurity threats.

Protection of taxpayer information

A significant proportion of organizations around the world, in almost all sectors of activity, are exposed to the inherent risk of both internal and external fraud. However, the inherent risk of fraudulent activities from external malicious actors is increasing in both volume and sophistication and, despite organizations’ best efforts, the global threat landscape continues to increase. The protection of taxpayer information risk was assessed as a top-tier risk in the 2020-2021 CRP. These results reflect on the CRA's vast information holdings and associated linkages to cybersecurity, as well as the increasing number of external incidents occurring in the private sector, and to some extent, the public sector, of which some have led to identity theft to access COVID-19 emergency relief measures. Going forward in 2021-2022, the CRP has strengthened the focus of external fraud through this particular risk, in addition to monitoring it through the cybersecurity risk lens. Over the past few years, the CRA has invested in stronger governance, several programs and initiatives, and new tools to protect data under its responsibility, including taxpayer information, in order to manage this risk appropriately.

The CRA currently has a rigorous security program in place to guard against both external and internal threats and has recently implemented an additional funding envelope for smaller IT security sustainability initiatives. A Privacy Management Framework, which articulates the CRA’s vision, objective, and commitment to privacy, including how the CRA handles and protects personal information, has been recently developed and implemented.

Additionally, continued participation in international forums such as the International Public Sector Fraud Forum allows the CRA to learn about Five Eyes best practices and share potential mitigation strategies.

Significant changes in relation to operations, personnel, and programs

The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting emergency measures to combat the spread of the virus have had significant impacts on the CRA's operations. The CRA continues to contribute to the broader Government of Canada response, especially as it relates to assisting individuals and businesses in coping with the economic impacts of the pandemic.

Critical services were prioritized according to the BCP, leading to some non-critical programs and services being temporarily impacted. A large number of employees were reassigned to administer and respond to public enquiries related to the Government of Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan. As of the third quarter, the CRA has processed 23 million CERB applications on behalf of ESDC. The CRA has also processed 2 million CEWS, 6 million Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB), 2 million Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB) and half a million Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB) applications, providing support to millions of Canadians.

The CRA received funding to cover many of the COVID-19 measures including the CERB, the Canada Emergency Student Benefit, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Credit top-up administration, the Canada Child Benefit top-up administration, filing and payment due date deferral administration, and call centres. In order to continue to deliver on other emergency measures, the CRA is seeking funding for the CEWS, CRB, CRCB, CRSB, the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS), the 10% Temporary Wage Subsidy for Employers, and the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA).

To ensure CRA programs and services continue to be delivered to Canadians, while keeping employees safe, the CRA has expanded remote working capabilities significantly. The CRA continues to work on setting the right conditions to resume full operational capacity in a timely and appropriate manner, while ensuring the health and safety of personnel. The CRA’s priorities over the next months include continued work on COVID-19 measures and the 2021 tax season.

Approval by Senior Officials

Approved by:

[original signed by]

________________________

Bob Hamilton, Commissioner 

[original signed by]

_____________________________

Janique Caron, Chief Financial Officer

Ottawa, Canada

Date : February 26, 2021

Statement of Authorities (unaudited) - Fiscal year 2020-2021
(in thousands of dollars)
  Total available for use for the year ending March 31, 2021table 2 note 1 Used during the quarter ended
December 31, 2020
Year to date used at quarter-end
Table 2 Notes
Table 2 Note 1

Includes only authorities available for use and granted by Parliament at quarter-end.

Return to table 2 note 1 referrer

Vote 1 - Operating expenditures      
Gross Operating expenditures 4,207,984 836,690 2,753,835
Revenues netted against expenditures (390,957) (97,739) (293,218)
Net Vote 1 - Operating expenditures 3,817,027 738,951 2,460,617
Vote 5 - Capital expenditures 83,900 20,900 48,106
Budgetary Statutory Authorities      
Contributions to employee benefit plans 452,736 112,984 338,952
Children's Special Allowance payments (Children's Special Allowances Act) 361,000 90,359 286,927
Climate Action Incentive payments 4,640,000 127,925 2,783,925
Distribution of Fuel and Excess Emissions Charges 20,000 4,370 4,370
Public Health Events of National Concern and Income Support - CRA call centres 87,390 82,819 82,819
Public Health Events of National Concern and Income Support - COVID-19 economic measures 60,200 34,323 34,323
Spending of revenues received through the conduct of its operations pursuant to section 60 of the Canada Revenue Agency Act 309,960 108,814 250,044
Minister's salary and motor car allowance 89 22 67
Court awards - Supreme Court - - 3
Court awards - Tax Court of Canada - 2,502 2,910
Spending proceeds from the disposal of surplus Crown Assets - 51 72
Energy Cost Benefit - 2 1
Refunds of previous years revenue - - -
Total Budgetary Statutory Authorities 5,931,375 564,171 3,784,413
Total Budgetary Authorities 9,832,302 1,324,022 6,293,136
Statement of Authorities (unaudited) - Fiscal year 2019-2020
(in thousands of dollars)
  Total available for use for the year ending March 31, 2020table 3 note 1 Used during the quarter ended
December 31, 2019
Year to date used at quarter-end
Table 3 Notes
Table 3 Note 1

Includes only authorities available for use and granted by Parliament at quarter-end.

Return to table 3 note 1 referrer

Vote 1 - Operating expenditures      
Gross Operating expenditures 4,145,083 961,001 2,880,999
Revenues netted against expenditures (389,494) (89,034) (267,101)
Net Vote 1 - Operating expenditures 3,755,589 871,967 2,613,898
Vote 5 - Capital expenditures 57,047 16,148 38,848
Budgetary Statutory Authorities      
Contributions to employee benefit plans 483,311 112,848 338,544
Children's Special Allowance payments (Children's Special Allowances Act) 337,000 87,837 263,111
Climate Action Incentive payments - - -
Distribution of Fuel and Excess Emissions Charges - - -
Public Health Events of National Concern and Income Support - CRA call centres - - -
Public Health Events of National Concern and Income Support - COVID-19 economic measures - - -
Spending of revenues received through the conduct of its operations pursuant to section 60 of the Canada Revenue Agency Act 178,954 36,064 99,932
Minister's salary and motor car allowance 88 22 66
Court awards - Supreme Court - 3 3
Court awards - Tax Court of Canada - 300 1,209
Spending proceeds from the disposal of surplus Crown Assets - 13 75
Energy Cost Benefit - - 0
Refunds of previous years revenue - 15 42
Total Budgetary Statutory Authorities 999,353 237,102 702,982
Total Budgetary Authorities 4,811,989 1,125,217 3,335,728
Departmental Budgetary Expenditures by Standard Object (unaudited)
Fiscal year 2020-2021
(in thousands of dollars)
  Planned expenditures for the year ending March 31, 2021 Expended during the quarter ended December 31, 2020 Year to date used at quarter-end
Expenditures:      
Personnel 3,860,026 982,827 2,844,989
Transportation and communications 248,529 10,148 64,083
Information 14,888 5,419 10,355
Professional and special services 627,165 107,599 303,333
Rentals 282,833 53,675 210,444
Purchased repair and maintenance 69,509 25,254 28,144
Utilities, materials and supplies 37,455 2,438 7,641
Acquisition of machinery and equipment 61,562 9,006 35,760
Transfer payments 5,021,000 222,656 3,075,223
Other subsidies and payments 292 2,739 6,382
Total Gross Budgetary Expenditures 10,223,259 1,421,761 6,586,354
Less: Revenues netted against expenditures 390,957 97,739 293,218
Total Net Budgetary Expenditures 9,832,302 1,324,022 6,293,136
Departmental Budgetary Expenditures by Standard Object (unaudited)
Fiscal year 2019-2020
(in thousands of dollars)
  Planned expenditures for the year ending March 31, 2020 Expended during the quarter ended December 31, 2019 Year to date used at quarter-end
Expenditures:      
Personnel 3,700,801 898,209 2,689,693
Transportation and communications 195,472 28,311 91,835
Information 5,087 4,234 10,790
Professional and special services 520,078 103,011 289,654
Rentals 283,145 66,761 203,445
Purchased repair and maintenance 73,926 11,203 32,726
Utilities, materials and supplies 30,488 2,904 9,420
Acquisition of machinery and equipment 43,004 12,249 27,685
Transfer payments 337,000 87,837 263,111
Other subsidies and payments 12,482 (468) 4,470
Total Gross Budgetary Expenditures 5,201,483 1,214,251 3,622,829
Less: Revenues netted against expenditures 389,494 89,034 267,101
Total Net Budgetary Expenditures 4,811,989 1,125,217 3,355,728

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