Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat's Quarterly Financial Report for the Quarter Ended September 30, 2013

Statement Outlining Results, Risks and Significant Changes in Operations, Personnel and Programs

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

This quarterly report has been prepared by management as required by section 65.1 of the Financial Administration Act (FAA) and in the form and manner prescribed by the Treasury Board (TB). This quarterly report should be read in conjunction with the Main Estimates and the Supplementary Estimates A as well as Canada's Economic Action Plan 2012 (Budget 2012).

A summary description of the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (Secretariat) program activities can be found in Part II of the Main Estimates.

The quarterly report has not been subject to an independent audit or review.

1.1 Basis of Presentation

This quarterly report has been prepared by management using an expenditure basis of accounting. The accompanying Statement of Authorities includes the Secretariat's spending authorities granted by Parliament and those used by the department, consistent with the Main Estimates and the Supplementary Estimates A for the 2013-14 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 monies 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.

The Department 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.

As part of the Parliamentary business of supply, the Main Estimates must be tabled in Parliament on or before March 1 preceding the new fiscal year. Budget 2012 was tabled in Parliament on March 29, 2012 after the tabling of the Main Estimates on February 28, 2012. As a result the measures announced in the Budget 2012 could not be reflected in the 2012-13 Main Estimates.

In fiscal year 2012-13, frozen allotments were established by Treasury Board authority in departmental votes to prohibit the spending of funds identified as savings in Budget 2012. In 2013-14, the changes to departmental authorities were reflected  in the 2013-14 Main Estimates tabled in Parliament.

1.2 The Secretariat Financial Structure

The Secretariat manages both departmental and government-wide expenditures. Its departmental operating revenues and expenditures are managed under Vote 1, Program Expenditures.

Government-wide expenditures are managed via seven different votes:

  • Vote 5, Government Contingencies which serves to supplement other appropriations to provide the Government with sufficient flexibility to meet miscellaneous, urgent or unforeseen departmental expenditures between Parliamentary supply periods;
  • Vote 10, Government-Wide Initiatives which supplements other appropriations in support of the implementation of strategic management initiatives in the Public Service of Canada;
  • Vote 15, Compensation Adjustments which supplements the appropriations of other government departments and agencies that may need to be partially or fully augmented as a result of adjustments made to terms and conditions of service or employment of the federal public service, including members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canadian Forces, Governor in Council appointees and Crown corporations as defined in section 83 of the Financial Administration Act;
  • Vote 20, Public Service Insurance which covers revenues and expenses related to Treasury Board's role as the employer of the core public administration. This includes revenues and expenses for the Public Service Health Care Plan, Public Service Dental Care Plan, Disability Insurance, Provincial Payroll Taxes (Manitoba, Newfoundland, Ontario and Quebec) and other programs;
  • Vote 25, Operating Budget Carry Forward which supplements other appropriations for the carry forward of unused operating funds from the previous fiscal year;
  • Vote 30, Paylist Requirements which covers paylist requirements for departments and agencies related to legal requirements for the government as employer for items such as parental benefits and severance payments; and
  • Vote 33, Capital Budget Carry Forward which supplements other appropriations for the carry forward of unused capital funds from the previous fiscal year. This vote was created in 2011-12.

With the exception of Vote 20, these votes are approved by Parliament for the eventual transfer of funding to other government departments once specified criteria are met. The Secretariat does not incur any revenue or expenses related to these votes and thus they are not reflected in the Statement of Authorities or Planned Spending tables.

The Secretariat also incurs costs under Statutory Authorities, both for departmental and government-wide payments made under legislation approved previously by Parliament, which are not part of the Annual Appropriation Bills. These expenditures mainly reflect the employer's share of Public Service Pension Plans, the Canada/Quebec Pension Plans, Employment Insurance premiums and Public Service Death Benefits. These expenditures are also initially charged to the accounts of the Secretariat but are eventually attributed to the statutory vote contributions to employee benefit plans of each department and agency, including the Secretariat.

2. Highlights of Fiscal Quarter and Fiscal Year-to-Date

This section highlights the significant items that contributed to the net increase or decrease in authorities available for the year and actual expenditures for the quarter ended September 30, 2013.

Statement of Authorities - Vote 1, Program Expenditures

The Program Expenditure Authorities decreased by $36.6 million from the fiscal year 2012-13 to 2013-14, or by 15%. The change is mainly due to the net effect of the factors below:

  • Total decreases of $39.8 million in funding requirements in 2013-14 related to Budget announcements and key initiatives including:
    • $14.2 million received from Treasury Board Secretariat Central Votes by Q2 in 2012-13 but not received as of Q2 in 2013-14 (Operating Budget Carry Forward and Paylist Expenditures);
    • $9.3 million reduction in funding as part of the Economic Action Plan 2012;
    • $10.9 million reduction in specific initiatives which have ended or are yet to be renewed - Classification Program ($4 million), Joint Learning Program ($1.3 million), Modernization of Human Resources Data and Systems ($4.3 million), and the Secretariat Work Space Renewal Project ($1.3 million);
    • $3.3 million reduction in funding due to the transfer of the US-Canada Regulatory Cooperation Council to Privy Council Office;
    • $1.5 million reduction in funding as part of the 2010 Strategic Review;
    • Other miscellaneous decreases totalling $0.6 million.
  • These decreases were offset by an increase in funding of $3.2 million comprised of:
    • $2.2 million for the incremental compensation associated with the recently signed collective agreements;
    • Other increases totalling $1 million  - $0.6 million transfer from Regional Development Agencies for internal audit services and $0.4 million to implement Canada's Cyber Security Strategy to protect federal digital infrastructure.

The Vote 1 expenditures to September 30, 2013 have increased slightly by approximately $2.2 million or 2% when compared to the same period in fiscal year 2012-13. Although ongoing personnel expenditures have been reduced by $5 million, one time severance payments pursuant to collective agreements of $6.2 million account for the bulk of the increase.

Graph 1 outlines the Net Budgetary Authorities for Vote 1, Program Expenditures, which represent the resources available for use for the year (blue bar) as well as the year-to-date expenditures (red bar).

Comparison of Net Budgetary Authorities and Expenditures for Vote 1 as of September 30, for fiscal years 2012-13 and 2013-14 - Details in table following the chart

Table 1: Comparison of Net Budgetary Authorities and Expenditures for Vote 1 as of September 30, for fiscal years 2012-13 and 2013-14
Vote 1 (in millions $) 2012-2013 2013-2014
Net Budgetary Authorities 250.9 214.3
Year-to-date expenditures ending September 30 101.8 104.0

Statement of Authorities - Vote 20, Public Service Insurance

Public Service Insurance Payments include the employer share of the Public Service Health Care Plan (PSHCP), the largest such plan in Canada, as well as other benefit plans and provincial payroll taxes.

There was a small decrease in Vote 20 Authorities of $10 million from 2012-13 to 2013-14 mainly due to the 2008 Strategic Review .

The Vote 20 net expenditures have increased by $150.1 million, or 16%, when compared to the same period in 2012-13. This is comprised of the following increases:

  • $84.5 million attributed to the Public Service Health Care Plan, Pensioners' Dental Services Plan, and the Public Service Dental Plan ($62 million due to a difference in timing of payments and $22.5 million to increases in plan expenditures);
  • $24 million in Provincial Payroll Taxes, which is attributable to the ongoing workforce adjustment in the Public Service;
  • $20.6 million related to the Disability Insurance Plan as a result of a 20% premium rate increase effective February 1, 2013;
  • $8 million reduction in revenues;
  • $7.8 million in the RCMP Life and Disability insurance benefits  due to the termination of a premium holiday in December 2012;
  • $5.2 million for the Public Service Management Insurance Plan, Quebec Taxes on Insurance Premiums, Service Income Security Insurance Program, Provincial Health Plan premiums and other insurance and benefit plans.

Graph 2 outlines the Net Budgetary Authorities for Vote 20, Public Service Insurance, which  represent the resources available for use for the year (blue bar) as well as year-to-date expenditures (red bar).

Comparison of Net Budgetary Authorities and Expenditures for Vote 20 as of September 30, for fiscal years 2012-13 and 2013-14 - Details in table following the chart

Table 2: Comparison of Net Budgetary Authorities and Expenditures for Vote 20 as of September 30, for fiscal years 2012-13 and 2013-14
Vote 20 (in millions $) 2012-2013 2013-2014
Net Budgetary Authorities 2,277.2 2,267.2
Year-to-date expenditures ending September 30 933.5 1,083.6

Statement of Authorities - Statutory Authorities

Statutory Authorities, which reflect the Secretariat's share of pension and related benefits, have decreased by $2.5 million or 8% when compared to the same period of 2012-13. The decrease is the result of a reduction in the Salary envelope from $165.6 million in 2012-13 to $157.1 million in 2013-14 and a reduction in the EBP (employee benefit plan) rate from 17.6% in 2012-13 to 17.4% in 2013-14.

The Secretariat Statutory Authorities expenditures have a large credit balance at the end of the second quarter in both fiscal years. This is due to the timing of flow-through payments to Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) primarily related to employer contributions made under the Public Service Superannuation Act (PSSA), and is not reflective of any forecasted annual decrease. The Secretariat receives the employee contribution of the pension payments from Government departments and agencies and then transfers them to PWGSC to fund the PSSA. The net effect on the financial statements of the Secretariat will be zero at year-end.

Graph 3 outlines the Net Budgetary Authorities as well as actual expenditures for the Secretariat's Statutory Authorities.

Comparison of Net Budgetary Authorities and Expenditures for Statutory Authorities as of September 30, for fiscal years 2012-13 and 2013-14 - Details in table following the chart

Table 3: Comparison of Net Budgetary Authorities and Net Expenditures for Statutory Authorities as of September 30, for fiscal years 2012-13 and 2013-14
Statutory Authorities (in millions $) 2012-13 2013-14
Net Budgetary Authorities 30.6 28.1
Year-to-date net expenditures ending September 30 -206.8 -142.2

Statement of Departmental Budgetary Expenditures by Standard Object

This section elaborates on variances in expenditures for Vote 1, Vote 20 and Statutory Authorities by standard object in order to explain changes in spending trends from the same quarter the previous fiscal year.

Year-to-date personnel expenditures have increased by $212.2 million resulting from an increase of $146.5 million in Vote 20, $64.5 million in Statutory Authorities and $1.2 million in Vote 1.

  • The $146.5 million increase in Vote 20 personnel expenditures are detailed below:
    • $82.6 million attributed to the Public Service Health Care Plan, Pensioners' Dental Services Plan, and the Public Service Dental Plan ($62 million due to a difference in timing of payments and $22.5 million to increases in plan expenditures);
    • $24 million for Provincial Payroll Taxes which is attributable to the ongoing workforce adjustment in the Public Service;
    • $20.6 million related to the Disability Insurance (DI) plan as a result of a 20% premium rate increase effective February 1, 2013;
    • $7.8 million for the RCMP Life and Disability insurance benefit due to the end of the premium holiday on December 2012;
    • $7.3 million for the Public Service Management Insurance Plan and the Service Income Security Insurance Plan;
    • $2.4 million for Quebec Taxes on Insurance Premiums which is mainly related to accounting and timing issues;
    • $1.3 million for Provincial Health Plan Premiums and other insurance and benefit plans totalling $0.5 million.
  • The $64.5 million increase in Statutory Authorities are related to the:
    • $35.2 million increase of pension contributions for periods of leave without pay, contributions for buying back service, contributions for regular employees and new contributions since January 2013;
    • $30.5 million decrease in recoveries due to timing differences; and
    • $1.2 million decrease as a result of reductions in the salary expenses and the decrease in the EBP contribution rate.
  • The $1.2 million increase in personnel expenditures for Vote 1 is mainly due to:
    • one-time severance payments of $6.2 million pursuant to collective agreements eliminating future severance pay accumulation for voluntary departure or retirement; and
    • $5 million in salary reductions as a result of a reduced workforce.
  • Professional and Special Services costs increased by $1.9 million due to:
    • Workspace Renewal Initiative and;
    • timing differences

There were no significant variances to report in the other standard objects.

3. Risks and Uncertainties

The Secretariat maintains a Corporate Risk Profile which identifies and assesses high-level risks that could affect the achievement of the Secretariat objectives and priorities. Similar to most organizations, certain risks could have financial impacts should they materialize. Response strategies have been developed and measures are in place to minimize their likelihood. For example, in a context where the pace and complexity of efforts to standardize and consolidate back-office systems poses some challenge and risk, the Secretariat continues to focus on ensuring that appropriate policies, frameworks, tools and guidance are in place to support more efficient enterprise-wide approaches and operational savings.

The Secretariat is addressing reduced flexibility to its operating budget as a result of the expenditure restraint measures reported in the Economic Action Plan 2012 ($9.3 million in
2013-14), the 2010 Strategic Review reported in Budget 2011 ($1.5 million in 2013-14). The Secretariat is managing the implementation of these measures through reduced budget allocations to sectors and supported by rigorous monitoring of staffing and expenditures against financial and human resources targets.

As the Public Service Heath Care Plan is driven by many variables, there could be significant shifts from the budget in a given year as a result of changes in: plan membership, the cost of drugs and medical treatments, use of plan entitlements and provincial tax regulations. The Secretariat continues to closely monitor payment activity and trends. 

4. Significant Changes in Relation to Operations, Personnel and Programs

This section highlights significant changes which impact the expenditures or approved resources available for the year or have impacted actual expenditures for the quarter ended June 30, 2013.

Since the release of Budget 2012, the Secretariat has been implementing measures to increase efficiency and reduce expenditures in the department, as part of the Government's efforts to reduce the deficit.

These measures are changing the way the Secretariat works. Through the creation of pooled administrative support services; delayering management levels; the increased use of risk-based delegations to ministers and departments; the more extensive use of expertise and experience in departments and agencies to guide, implement and monitor policies; and greater use and pooling of data and electronic publications, the Secretariat is reducing its operating costs and adjusting the organization of work.

To achieve the ongoing savings, the Secretariat has eliminated 178 positions across the department. As people retired or left the Secretariat, or as work was reorganized, vacancies were effectively managed to reduce the number of potentially affected employees.

5. Savings Measures

As a result of the 2010 Strategic Review reported in Budget 2011, the Secretariat found savings totalling $11.5 million, leading to the elimination of 84 positions (these positions are separate from the 178 positions eliminated as a result of Budget 2012) over three years (see page 230 of Budget 2011), starting in fiscal year 2011-12. Through this review, opportunities were identified to better align activities with core roles and to achieve internal efficiencies, and to cease operation of the Regional Communications Network located across Canada. The Secretariat has fully implemented its 2013-14 and on-going savings target of $11.5 million as laid out in the 2010 Strategic Review results.

6. Economic Action Plan 2012 (Budget 2012) Implementation

This section provides an overview of the savings measures announced in Budget 2012 that are being implemented in order to refocus government and programs; make it easier for Canadians and business to deal with their government; and, modernize and reduce the back office.

The Secretariat will achieve Budget 2012 savings of $23.6 million by fiscal year 2014-15 through efficiency measures and program reductions that align resources to its core mandate, scaling back where the need is reduced; transforming how it works internally; and by consolidating, streamlining and focusing internal business processes. With these changes the Secretariat will focus on supporting management excellence and accountability across government.

In the first year of implementation, the Secretariat reference levels have been reduced by approximately $7.6 million. Specifically, savings were achieved in 2012-13 by winding down the Internal Audit Human Resource Management Framework ($3.2 million including employee benefit plan, EBP) and the Financial Interoperability and Stewardship Initiative ($1.6 million); as well as reductions to the Departmental Audit Software Initiative ($1.5 million) and other miscellaneous savings. Savings will increase to $15.1 million in 2013-14 and will result in ongoing savings of $23.6 million by 2014-15.

There is a variance of $9.3 million in the Secretariat's authorities between second quarter of fiscal year 2012-13 and the second quarter of 2013-14 related to Budget 2012 initiatives.

In its role as management board, the Secretariat provides funding to support departments and agencies in meeting government-wide management priorities.

Specifically savings are achieved in 2013-14 by eliminating funding to the following initiatives as the objectives of these projects have been met:

  • $2.47 million in savings by using standardization for a more effective and efficient internal service delivery. Service improvements include: consolidating translation, editing and publishing services; moving to a single financial software; standardizing work tools including printers, scanners and photocopiers; implementing HR service standards; and reducing internal communications services.
  • $2.40 million in savings by eliminating work redundancies through streamlining various administrative and corporate functions and centralizing processes in the areas of people management, expenditure management and corporate support, as well as de-layering the number of EXs throughout the Secretariat thereby reducing executive overhead and their administrative support teams.
  • $2.10 million for the Departmental Audit Software Initiative as program objectives have been achieved and work can be undertaken by departments and agencies without the Secretariat funding.
  • $1.10 million in savings achieved by transforming government-wide Information Management and Information Technology (IMIT) focusing on  stewardship, policy, and IMIT horizontal initiatives that have an impact across government.
  • $0.68 million in savings by modernizing the provision of policy support and advice to departments and agencies, leveraging existing community networks and making more systematic use of readily available collaborative tools such as GCPEDIA.
  • $0.56 million reduction achieved by transforming strategic support to Treasury Board Ministers and Departments by: moving towards electronic formats for reports in order to make information available to Parliament and to Canadians in a more cost-effective, timely and efficient manner; streamlining oversight and accountability by re-scoping the Management Accountability Framework and increasing delegation to Deputy Heads.

In addition to the reduction in authorities, expenditures to date have also decreased by approximately $2.5 million.

There were no other significant changes to report this quarter. The balance of the 2013-14 Budget 2012 savings will be reflected in subsequent quarterly financial reports.

There are no financial risks or uncertainties related to these savings.

7. Approval by Senior Officials

Approved by,

Originally signed by:
Yaprak Baltacıoğlu, Secretary

Originally signed by:
Christine Walker, Chief Financial Officer

Ottawa, Canada

Date:

Appendix

For the quarter ended Sept 30, 2013


Table 1 - Departmental budgetary expenditures by Standard Object ( unaudited)
( in dollars)
  Fiscal year 2012-2013 Fiscal year 2013-2014
  Planned expenditures for the year ending March 31, 2013* Expended during the quarter ended Sept 30, 2012 Year to date used at quarter-end Planned expenditures for the year ending March 31, 2014 Expended during the quarter ended Sept 30, 2013 Year to date used at quarter-end
* Planned expenditures not reflect measures announced in Budget 2012
** Government-Wide Expenses include Vote 20 and $20,000 statutory for Public Service Pension Adjustment Act
Expenditures:
1 Personnel
2,928,898,947 589,931,699 979,542,563 2,910,192,782 731,403,625 1,191,770,777
2 Transportation and communications
6,194,096 492,325 1,010,336 3,183,767 353,024 586,396
3 Information
812,169 90,502 139,983 443,610 107,683 184,157
4 Professional and special services
61,590,663 14,309,344 24,490,353 48,982,173 16,470,419 26,356,178
5 Rentals
1,248,636 520,703 703,005 719,106 982,566 1,653,467
6 Repair and maintenance
2,488,240 414,302 623,590 1,051,628 146,954 190,237
7 Utilities, materials and supplies
2,153,225 230,715 328,001 950,169 173,641 241,181
9 Acquisition of machinery and equipment
6,903,220 447,721 744,985 5,608,437 611,714 987,602
10 Transfer payments
520,000 351,418 351,779 520,000 5,936 355,936
12 Other subsidies and payments
6,096,617 -168,045 2,039,414 2,716,459 -1,919,162 2,099,690
Total gross budgetary expenditures
3,016,905,813 606,620,682 1,009,974,008 2,974,368,131 748,336,399 1,224,425,620
Less Revenues netted against expenditures:
Vote Netted Revenues (VNR) - Centrally managed items
-445,197,000 -104,834,370 -178,262,941 -450,980,664 -86,415,613 -175,668,861
Vote Netted Revenues (VNR) - Program expenditures
-13,044,094 -2,724,174 -3,207,649 -13,680,699 -3,380,765 -3,380,765
Total Revenues netted against expenditures
-458,241,094 -107,558,544 -181,470,590 -464,661,363 -89,796,378 -179,049,626
Total net budgetary expenditures 2,558,664,719 499,062,138 828,503,418 2,509,706,768 658,540,020 1,045,375,995
Q2 by Vote Total 1,045,375,995
Difference 0
Note 1
Government-Wide Expenses included above**
1 Personnel
2,719,958,397 536,881,624 875,765,410 2,717,742,061 680,508,677 1,088,061,943
2 Transportation and communications
3,550 8,918 4,227 11,574
4 Professional and special services
7,117,795 12,590,937 7,086,502 13,515,313
5 Rentals
1,995 1,995
10 Transfer payments
520,000 351,418 351,779 520,000 2,336 352,336
12 Other subsidies and payments
1,958,171 -317,163 979,499   122,169 1,082,169
Total 2,722,436,568 544,037,224 889,696,543 2,718,262,061 687,725,905 1,103,025,329

Table 2 - Statement of Authorities ( unaudited)
( in dollars)
  Fiscal year 2012-2013 Fiscal year 2013-2014
Total available for use for the year ending March 31, 2013** Used during the quarter ended Sept 30, 2012 Year to date used at quarter-end Total available for use for the year ending March 31, 2014* Used during the quarter ended Sept 30, 2013 Year to date used at quarter-end
* Includes only Authorities available for use and granted by Parliament at quarter-end
** Total available for use does not reflect neasures announced in Budget 2012
Vote 1 - Program Expenditures 250,866,115 52,219,525 101,790,299 214,344,779 50,209,681 103,979,431
Vote 20 - Public Service Insurance 2,277,219,568 434,357,858 933,493,293 2,267,261,397 557,162,760 1,083,595,346
Statutory Authorities
A111 - President of the Treasury Board - Salary and motor car allowance
77,516 19,379 38,758 79,102 19,675 39,350
A140 - Contributions to employee benefit plans
30,481,520 7,620,380 15,240,760 28,001,490 7,000,373 14,000,745
A145 - Unallocated employer contributions made under the PSSA and other retirement acts and the Employment Act (EI)
0 4,839,936 -222,065,184 0 44,112,834 -156,292,907
A681 - Payments under the Public Service Pension Adjustment Act
20,000 271 633 20,000 2 2
A683 - Payments for the pay equity settlement pursuant to section 30 of the Crown Liability and Proceedings Act
0 4,788 4,861 0 34,696 54,028
Total Statutory Authorities 30,579,036 12,484,755 -206,780,173 28,100,592 51,167,579 -142,198,782
Total authorities 2,558,664,719 499,062,138 828,503,418 2,509,706,768 658,540,020 1,045,375,995

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