Departmental Financial Statements - March 31, 2017

Management is also responsible for maintaining an effective system of internal control over financial reporting (ICFR) designed to provide reasonable assurance that financial information is reliable, that assets are safeguarded and that transactions are properly authorized and recorded in accordance with the Financial Administration Act and other applicable legislation, regulations, authorities and policies.

Management seeks to ensure the objectivity and integrity of data in its financial statements through careful selection, training and development of qualified staff; through organizational arrangements that provide appropriate divisions of responsibility; through communication programs aimed at ensuring that regulations, policies, standards, and managerial authorities are understood throughout Shared Services Canada and through conducting an annual risk-based assessment of the effectiveness of the system of ICFR.

The system of ICFR is designed to mitigate risks to a reasonable level based on an ongoing process to identify key risks, to assess effectiveness of associated key controls, and to make any necessary adjustments.

A risk-based assessment of the system of ICFR for the year ended March 31, 2017 was completed in accordance with the Treasury Board Policy on Internal Control and the results are summarized in the annex.

The effectiveness and adequacy of Shared Services Canada’s system of internal control is reviewed by the work of internal audit staff, who conduct periodic audits of different areas of Shared Services Canada’s operations, and by the Departmental Audit Committee, which provides objective advice and recommendations to the President regarding the sufficiency, quality and results of assurance on the adequacy and functioning of the department’s risk management, control and governance frameworks and processes. The Committee also provides advice on the financial statements to the President of Shared Services Canada.

The financial statements of Shared Services Canada have not been audited.

Contractual obligations (note 10)

Contingent liabilities (note 11)

Segmented information (note 13)

The accompanying notes form an integral part of these financial statements.

The accompanying notes form an integral part of these financial statements.

The accompanying notes form an integral part of these financial statements.

1. Authority and objectives

Shared Services Canada (SSC) was created on August 4, 2011 to transform how the Government of Canada manages its information technology (IT) infrastructure. SSC operates under the legislation set out in the Shared Services Canada Act and reports to Parliament through the Minister of Public Services and Procurement Canada. SSC delivers email, data centre, network and workplace technology device services to departments and agencies in a consolidated and standardized manner to support the delivery of Government of Canada programs and services. With a whole-of-government approach to IT infrastructure services, SSC is generating economies of scale to deliver more efficient, reliable and secure IT infrastructure services. SSC also provides certain optional technology services to other organizations on a cost-recovery basis.

SSC’s Program Alignment Architecture supports the achievement of the following strategic outcome: Modern, reliable, secure and cost-effective IT infrastructure services to support government priorities and program delivery.

SSC’s Program Alignment Architecture includes the following programs:

• Information Technology (IT) Infrastructure Services: This program delivers IT infrastructure services to federal government departments to enable and support the management, co-ordination and delivery of government programs to Canadians and the achievement of Government of Canada priorities. The IT Infrastructure Services consist of four main IT service groups: (a) Distributed Computing, (b) Production and Operations Computing (Data Centres), (c) Telecommunications (Data, Voice and Video), and (d) Cyber and IT Security. This program establishes a centralized common IT infrastructure service leading to consolidation and standardization in the management and delivery of IT services across the mandated partner and client organizations. This consolidation and standardization of services contributes to greater operational efficiencies and economies of scale, resulting in better value to Canadian taxpayers, enhanced reliability and security of the IT services, a reduction in the duplication of effort and managerial oversight, and the development of a harmonized response to partner and client organizations’ business requirements.


• InternalServices: Internal Services are groups of related activities and resources that are administered to support the needs of programs and other corporate obligations of an organization. Internal Services include only those activities and resources that apply across an organization, not those provided to a specific program. The groups of activities are Management and Oversight Services, Communications Services, Legal Services, Human Resources Management Services, Financial Management Services, Information Management Services, Information Technology Services, Real Property Services, Materiel Services and Acquisition Services.

2. Summary of significant accounting policies

These financial statements have been prepared using the government’s accounting policies stated below, which are based on Canadian public sector accounting standards. The presentation and results using the stated accounting policies do not result in any significant differences from Canadian public sector accounting standards.

Significant accounting policies are as follows:

1. Parliamentary authorities
   
   SSC is financed by the Government of Canada through parliamentary authorities. Financial reporting of authorities provided to SSC do not parallel financial reporting according to generally accepted accounting principles since authorities are primarily based on cash flow requirements. Consequently, items recognized in the Statement of Operations and Departmental Net Financial Position and in the Statement of Financial Position are not necessarily the same as those provided through authorities from Parliament. Note 3 provides a reconciliation between the bases of reporting.
   
   The planned results amounts in the “Expenses” and “Revenues” sections of the Statement of Operations and Departmental Net Financial Position are the amounts reported in the Future-oriented Statement of Operations included in the 2016-17 Report on Plans and Priorities. Planned results are not presented in the “Government funding and transfers” section of the Statement of Operations and Departmental Net Financial Position and in the Statement of Change in Departmental Net Debt because these amounts were not included in the 2016-17 Report on Plans and Priorities.
   
2. Net cash provided by Government of Canada
   
   SSC operates within the Consolidated Revenue Fund, which is administered by the Receiver General for Canada. All cash received by SSC is deposited to the Consolidated Revenue Fund, and all cash disbursements made by SSC are paid from the Consolidated Revenue Fund. The net cash provided by government is the difference between all cash receipts and all cash disbursements, including transactions between departments of the Government.
   
3. Amounts due from or to the Consolidated Revenue Fund
   
   Amounts due from or to the Consolidated Revenue Fund are the result of timing differences at year-end between when a transaction affects authorities and when it is processed through the Consolidated Revenue Fund. Amounts due from the Consolidated Revenue Fund represent the net amount of cash that SSC is entitled to draw from the Consolidated Revenue Fund without further authorities to discharge its liabilities.
   
4. Revenues
   
   Revenues are accounted for in the period in which the underlying transaction or event that gave rise to the revenue takes place.
   
   Funds that have been received in advance are recorded as deferred revenue, provided SSC has an obligation to other parties for the provision of goods, services or the use of assets in the future.
   
   Revenues that are non-respendable are not available to discharge SSC’s liabilities. While the President of SSC is expected to maintain accounting control, he has no authority regarding the disposition of non-respendable revenues. As a result, non-respendable revenues are considered to be earned on behalf of the Government of Canada and are therefore presented in reduction of SSC’s gross revenues.
   
5. Expenses
   
   Expenses are recorded on the accrual basis:
   
   Vacation pay and compensatory leave are accrued as the benefits are earned by employees under their respective terms of employment.
   
   Services provided without charge by other government departments for accommodation and employer contributions to the health and dental insurance plans are recorded as operating expenses at their estimated cost.
   
6. Employee future benefits
   
   
   • Pension benefits:  Eligible employees participate in the Public Service Pension Plan, a multiemployer pension plan administered by the government. SSC’s contributions to the Plan are charged to expenses in the year incurred and represent the total departmental obligation to the Plan. SSC’s responsibility with regard to the Plan is limited to its contributions. Actuarial surpluses or deficiencies are recognized in the financial statements of the Government of Canada, as the Plan’s sponsor.
   
   
   • Severance benefits: Employees entitled to severance benefits under labour contracts or conditions of employment earn these benefits as services necessary to earn them are rendered. The obligation relating to the benefits earned by employees is calculated using information derived from the results of the actuarially determined liability for employee severance benefits for the government as a whole.
   
   
7. Accounts receivable and advances
   
   Accounts receivable and advances are stated at the lower of cost and net recoverable value. A valuation allowance is recorded for receivables where recovery is considered uncertain.
   
8. Tangible capital assets
   
   All tangible capital assets and leasehold improvements having an initial cost of $10,000 or more are recorded at their acquisition cost. SSC does not hold, and therefore does not capitalize intangibles, works of art and historical treasures that have cultural, aesthetic or historical value, assets located on Indian reserves and museum collections.
   
   Amortization of tangible capital assets is done on a straight-line basis over the estimated useful life of the asset as follows:

Assets under construction are recorded in the applicable capital asset class in the year that they become available for use and are not amortized until they become available for use.

9. Contingent liabilities
   

Contingent liabilities are potential liabilities that may become actual liabilities when one or more future events occur or fail to occur. To the extent that the future event is likely to occur or fail to occur, and a reasonable estimate of the loss can be made, an estimated liability is accrued and an expense recorded. If the likelihood is not determinable or if an amount cannot be reasonably estimated, the contingency is disclosed in the notes to the financial statements.

10. Measurement uncertainty
    

The preparation of these financial statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses reported in the financial statements. At the time of preparation of these statements, management believes the estimates and assumptions to be reasonable. The most significant items where estimates are used are contingent liabilities, the liability for employee future benefits and the useful life of tangible capital assets. Actual results could significantly differ from those estimated. Management’s estimates are reviewed periodically and, as adjustments become necessary, they are recorded in the financial statements in the year they become known.

3. Parliamentary authorities

SSC receives most of its funding through annual parliamentary authorities. Items recognized in the Statement of Operations and Departmental Net Financial Position and in the Statement of Financial Position in one year may be funded through parliamentary authorities in prior, current or future years. Accordingly, SSC has different net results of operations for the year on a government funding basis than on an accrual accounting basis. The differences are reconciled in the following tables:

(1) The lapse of $99.6 million in Operating expenditures includes an amount of $80.0 million which has been requested to Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) to be carried over to 2017-18. The lapse includes total frozen allotments (funds withheld by TBS which cannot be spent by SSC in 2016-17) of $21.2 million composed of $10.0 million in retroactive payments under collective agreements, $4.8 million in special purpose allotments for Workspace Renewal Project, Refresh of the Mission Critical Infrastructure Technology and Secure Canada’s Government IT Infrastructure and Information, $3.0 million for the Financial Management Transformation, $2.6 million for Back Office Transformation, $0.7 million for Resettlement of Syrian Refugees, and $0.1 million for professional services, advertising and travel.

(2) The lapse of $115.0 million in Capital expenditures includes an amount of $59.9 million which has been requested to TBS to be carried over to 2017-18. The lapse includes total frozen allotments (funds withheld by TBS which cannot be spent by SSC in 2016-17) of $62.6 million composed of $52.0 million for Carling Campus Reprofile, $9.0 million for Secure Canada’s Government IT Infrastructure and Information, $1.1 million for the Conversion for lapse in Personnel and $0.5 million for Resettlement of Syrian Refugee.

4. Accounts payable and accrued liabilities

The following table presents details of SSC’s accounts payable and accrued liabilities:

5. Deferred revenue

Deferred revenue represents the balance at year-end of unearned revenues stemming from amounts received prior to services being performed. Revenue is recognized in the period in which the service is performed. Details of the transactions related to this account are as follows:

6. Lease obligations for tangible capital assets

SSC has entered into agreements to lease certain computer hardware under capital leases with a cost of $185 million and accumulated amortization of $128 million as at March 31, 2017 ($185 million and $86 million respectively as at March 31, 2016). The obligations related to the upcoming years include the following:

7. Employee future benefits

a) Pension benefits

SSC’s employees participate in the public service pension plan (the “Plan”), which is sponsored and administered by the Government of Canada. Pension benefits accrue up to a maximum period of 35 years at a rate of 2 percent per year of pensionable service, times the average of the best five consecutive years of earnings. The benefits are integrated with Canada/Québec Pension Plan benefits and they are indexed to inflation.

Both the employees and SSC contribute to the cost of the Plan. Due to the amendment of the Public Service Superannuation Act following the implementation of provisions related to Economic Action Plan 2012, employee contributors have been divided into two groups – Group 1 relates to existing plan members as of December 31, 2012 and Group 2 relates to members joining the Plan as of January 1, 2013. Each group has a distinct contribution rate.

The 2016-17 expense amounts to $50 million ($56 million in 2015-16). For Group 1 members, the expense represents approximately 1.12 times (1.25 times in 2015-16) the employees’ contributions and, for Group 2 members, approximately 1.08 times (1.24 times in 2015-16) the employees’ contributions.

SSC’s responsibility with regard to the Plan is limited to its contributions. Actuarial surpluses or deficiencies are recognized in the financial statements of the Government of Canada, as the Plan’s sponsor.

b) Severance benefits

Severance benefits provided to SSC’s employees were previously based on an employee’s eligibility, years of service and salary at termination of employment. However, since 2011 the accumulation of severance benefits for voluntary departures progressively ceased for substantially all employees. Employees subject to these changes were given the option to be paid the full or partial value of benefits earned to date or collect the full or remaining value of benefits upon departure from the public service. By March 31, 2017, substantially all settlements for immediate cash out were completed. Severance benefits are unfunded and, consequently, the outstanding obligation will be paid from future authorities.

The changes in the obligations during the year were as follows:

9. Tangible capital assets

(in thousands of dollars)

Adjustments include assets under construction of $69.8 million that were transferred to the other categories upon completion of the assets.

Adjustments also include $1.8 million in adjustments of previous year expenses that should not have been capitalized.

10. Contractual obligations

The nature of SSC’s activities can result in some large multi-year contracts and obligations whereby SSC will be obligated to make future payments when the services/goods are received. Significant contractual obligations ($10 million or more) that can be reasonably estimated are summarized as follows:

11. Contingent liabilities

Claims have been made against SSC in the normal course of operations. Where it is likely that there will be a future payment and a reasonable estimate of the loss can be made, an allowance for claims and litigations is recorded. No allowance has been recorded in SSC’s financial statements. Claims and litigations for which the outcome is not determinable and a reasonable estimate can be made by management are nil at March 31, 2017 and amounted to approximately $2.7 million at March 31, 2016.

12. Related party transactions

As a result of common ownership, SSC is related to all government departments, agencies, and Crown corporations. SSC enters into transactions with these entities in the normal course of business and on normal trade terms. During the year, SSC received common services which were obtained without charge from other government departments and provided common services without charge to other government departments as disclosed below.

(a) Common services provided without charge by other government departments

During the year, SSC received services without charge from certain common service organizations, related to accommodation and the employer’s contribution to the health and dental insurance plans. These services provided without charge have been recorded in SSC’s Statement of Operations and Departmental Net Financial Position as follows:

The government has centralized some of its administrative activities for efficiency, cost-effectiveness purposes and economic delivery of programs to the public. As a result, the government uses central agencies and common service organizations so that one department performs services for all other departments and agencies without charge. The costs of these services, such as the payroll and cheque issuance services provided by Public Services and Procurement Canada, are not included in SSC’s Statement of Operations and Departmental Net Financial Position.

(b)   Common services provided without charge to other government departments

During the year, SSC provided services without charge to other government departments, related to the provision of IT infrastructure services. These services are not recognized as revenues in the Statement of Operations and Departmental Net Financial Position.

(c) Other transactions with related parties

Expenses and revenues disclosed in (c) exclude common services provided without charge, which are already disclosed in (a).

13. Segmented information

Presentation by segment is based on SSC’s Program Alignment Architecture. The presentation by segment is based on the same accounting policies as described in the Summary of significant accounting policies in note 2. The following table presents the expenses incurred and revenues generated for the programs, by major object of expenses and by major type of revenues. The segment results for the period are as follows:

Annex to the Statement of Management Responsibility Including Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

Assessment of Internal Controls over Financial Reporting and the Action Plan for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017

1. Introduction

This document provides summary information on the measures taken by Shared Services Canada (SSC) to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting (ICFR), including information on internal control management, assessment results and related action plans.

Detailed information on the department's authority, mandate and program activities can be found in the 2016-17 Departmental Results Report and the 2017-18 Departmental Plan.

2. Departmental system of internal control over financial reporting

2.1 Internal control management

SSC has a well-established governance and accountability structure to support departmental assessment efforts and oversight of its system of internal control. A departmental internal control management framework, approved by the President, is in place and includes:

• Organizational accountability structures as they relate to internal control management to support sound financial management, including roles and responsibilities of senior managers in their areas of responsibility for control management;
• An internal attestation process in support of certification by the President and Chief Financial Officer, whereby, senior departmental executives who report to the President attest that they have maintained an effective system of internal control over financial reporting in their area of responsibility;
• Values and ethics;
• Ongoing communication and training on statutory requirements, and policies and procedures for sound financial management and control; and  
• Regular monitoring of internal control management, as well as the provision of related assessment results and action plans to the President and departmental senior management and, as applicable, the Departmental Audit Committee.

The Departmental Audit Committee provides advice to the President on the adequacy and functioning of the department's risk management, control and governance frameworks and processes.

2.2 Service arrangements relevant to financial statements

SSC relies on other organizations for the processing of certain transactions that are recorded in its financial statements as follows:

Common Arrangements

• Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) centrally administers the payments of salaries and the procurement of goods and services as per the delegation of authority of other government organizations. PSPC also administers the Receiver General Centrals Systems used by the department to process treasury-related and salary-related transactions;
• The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat provides SSC with information used to calculate various accruals and allowances, such as the accrued severance liability; and
• The Department of Justice provides legal services to SSC.

Specific Arrangements

• PSPC provides SSC with a SAP financial platform to capture and report all financial transactions; and
• Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada provides SSC with a PeopleSoft platform to process transactions related to human resources (HR).

SSC provides information technology (IT) infrastructure services to partner organizations in the areas of data centres, networks and IT security services.

3. Departmental assessment results during fiscal year 2016-17

The department continued implementing its multi-year plan to carry out documentation, design effectiveness testing and operating effectiveness testing for the assessment of ICFR in key control areas consisting of Entity-Level Controls, Information Technology General Controls (ITGCs) and Business Process Controls. Ongoing monitoring of key controls will be implemented following completion of operating effectiveness testing and the remediation of applicable control deficiencies.

3.1 Design effectiveness testing of key controls

In accordance with the multi-year departmental ICFR assessment plan, SSC completed the documentation and design effectiveness testing of the Payroll and Benefits and the Revenue and Accounts Receivable processes. Progress has been made in the documentation and design effectiveness testing of the Operating Expenses and Accounts Payable process, which will be completed in 2018-19. The documentation of Financial Close and Reporting is expected to begin in 2017-18 and will be completed in 2018-19 to leverage the experience of the 2016-17 year end exercise.

As a result of the design effectiveness testing, SSC identified some control deficiencies that will require remediation. No significant control deficiencies, which would expose the department to an elevated risk of material misstatementof its financial statements, have been identified.

3.2 Operating effectiveness testing of key controls

In accordance with the multi-year departmental ICFR assessment plan, SSC completed the operating effectiveness testing of the Entity-Level Controls and ITGCs over SIGMA, the departmental SAP financial system.

As a result of the operating effectiveness testing, SSC identified some control deficiencies that will require remediation. No significant control deficiencies, which would expose the department to an elevated risk of material misstatementof its financial statements, have been identified.

3.3 Ongoing monitoring of key controls

Commencing in 2017-18, SSC plans to fully implement ongoing monitoring of key controls by 2019-20.

4. Departmental action plan

SSC continued to make good progress on its ICFR assessment. However, as a young department, its progress is affected by the continuing evolution of SSC’s business processes and systems in an environment of significant transformation, such as the implementation of a procure to pay system and the government-wide transformation of pay initiative.SSC is planning to complete the assessment of its system of ICFR for most key control areas in 2017-18. At that time, the department will be broadly applying its risk-based ongoing monitoring plan to reassess control performance in key control areas. The status and action plan for the completion of the identified key control areas for the next fiscal year and for subsequent years are shown in the following table.

As a result of the ICFR annual risk assessment, SSC identified control deficiencies related to capital assets accounting. It is currently believed that capital asset disposals are underrepresented. A review of SSC’s capital assets and related internal practices is currently underway to address these deficiencies. This work will be leveraged when implementing the below ICFR assessment plan for the capital assets business process. 

Status and Action Plan for the Next Fiscal Year and Subsequent Years

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