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User Fees

On March 31, 2004, Parliament gave legal effect to the User Fees Act with the aim of strengthening the elements of accountability, oversight, and transparency in the management of user fee activities. The User Fees Act requires departments to annually submit to Parliament a list of all user fees in effect, irrespective of when the fees were established.

The table below lists DFO's user fees for which revenues were collected during the fiscal year 2008-09. Since the establishment of the User Fees Act, DFO has not introduced any new user fees, nor has the Department increased any existing user fees.

DFO collects fees for the conferring of Rights and Privileges (R&P) and for Other Goods and Services (O).

Note: Performance standards under the User Fees Act must be established as part of a user fee proposal process, with specific provisions outlining how the standards are to be established. DFO has not introduced new user fees, nor introduced amendments to existing ones that would require a user fee proposal under the Act; and has no such information to report. Information on DFO's service standards for current fees and performance results can be found in the table on External Fees.

 

User Fees

User Fees Totals
($ thousands)

	2008-09			Planning Years
	Forecast Revenue	Actual Revenue	Full Cost	Fiscal Year	Forecast Revenue	Estimated Full Cost
Sub-Total (R)	40,165	42,054	—	2009-10	40,165	—
				2010-11	40,165	—
				2011-12	40,165	—
Sub-Total (O)	49,421	44,635	55,767	2009-10	49,422	55,500
				2010-11	49,423	56,006
				2011-12	49,624	56,518
Total	89,586	86,689	55,767	2009-10	89,587	55,500
				2010-11	85,588	56,006
				2011-12	89,789	56,518

 

External Fees

On November 29, 2004, Treasury Board Ministers approved the Policy on Service Standards for External Fees. The Policy requires departments to report on the status of service standards for all external fees charged on a non-contractual basis. DFO has established service standards for the following external fees:

• Maintenance Dredging Services Tonnage Fee;
• Marine Navigation Services Fee;
• Icebreaking Services Fee;
• Marine Communication and Traffic Services — Canadian Coast Guard Radio Communications Charges;
• Hydrography — Sale of charts and publications; and
• Fees charged for processing of access requests under the Access to Information Act.

DFO also collects external charging revenues through contractual arrangements that fall under the purview of separate federal governance instruments. The revenue information associated with these revenue arrangements continues to be reported in the tables on respendable and non-respendable revenues.

External Fee	Service Standard1	Performance Results2	Stakeholder Consultation
Maintenance Dredging Services Tonnage Fee	In general, dredging is intended to maintain the depths indicated on the sea charts and to ensure the optimal and safe use of the St. Lawrence seaway twelve months a year3.	In 2008-09, the St. Lawrence seaway was maintained in conformity with the depths indicated on the sea charts.	The annual meeting between the CCG and dredging service recipients took place in May 2008. The clients were very satisfied with the services which they received from the CCG and did not request any changes to the current agreement. The customers were also informed of the fee increase for the new year as a result of the consumer price index.
Marine Navigation Services Fee	Short Range Aids to Navigation identified as required to support commercial shipping in Canadian waters are operational not less than 99% of the time in accordance with established levels of service.	Short Range Aids to Navigation identified as required to support commercial shipping in Canadian waters were operational not less than 99% of the time in accordance with established levels of service.	The current Marine Navigation Services Fee's rates and application were developed in co-operation with the commercial shipping industry in 1998.
	All vessel traffic services identified as required to support commercial shipping in Canadian waters are available from the Canadian Coast Guard's Marine Communication and Traffic Services Centres in accordance with established levels of service.	All vessel traffic services identified as required to support commercial shipping in Canadian waters were available not less than 97% of the time in accordance with established levels of service.	The current Marine Navigation Services Fee's rates and application were developed in co-operation with the commercial shipping industry in 1998.
Icebreaking Services Fee	All ice information and routing services in support of commercial shipping in Canadian waters are available from Canadian Coast Guard Ice Operations Centres in accordance with the Icebreaking Program's levels of service.	All ice information and routing services in support of commercial shipping in Canadian waters were available from Canadian Coast Guard Ice Operations Centres in accordance with the Icebreaking Program's levels of service.	The Icebreaking Services Fee's transit-based structure, rate and application were developed in 1998 by an Industry/Canadian Coast Guard Working Group that rejected a fee based on direct service. The Icebreaking Services Fee has remained unadjusted since then.
	All requests for route assistance and commercial harbour breakouts in support of commercial shipping in Canadian waters will be responded to in accordance with established Icebreaking Program levels of service.	All requests for route assistance and commercial harbour breakouts in support of commercial shipping in Canadian waters were responded to in accordance with established Icebreaking Program levels of service.	Canadian Coast Guard officers in the region and from Headquarters liaise on a routine and regular basis with commercial shipping clients respecting icebreaking operations. This includes regular meetings in each region in the lead-up to each ice season, and a post mortem meeting at the end of each ice season.
Marine Communication and Traffic Services - Canadian Coast Guard Radio Communications Charges	Where the service is available4 ship to shore, and shore to ship public correspondence communications are facilitated 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in accordance with established Marine Communication and Traffic Services levels of service.	1509 ship to shore/shore to ship telephone calls were placed via CCG personnel in accordance with Marine Communication and Traffic Services levels of service.	The fees in place were established in 1994 and have remained unadjusted since then.
Hydrography — Sale of paper charts and publications on a wholesale basis through dealers	Updated CHS Nautical Products will be provided in accordance with established levels of service that ensure the timeliness and accessibility of these products. Looking to core elements of CHS's Levels of Service, purchasers of charts and publications can expect that updates will be provided to these products within 4 months of the receipt of new critical information; that requests for products will be shipped within 5 working days following receipt of the order, and; that 20% of CHS high-risk charts are reviewed annually.	CHS achieved its targets for processing and disseminating critical information. On average, updates were issued to clients within the 4 month period. Orders for products were shipped within 5 working days 99% of the time. 20% of CHS high risk charts were reviewed.	CHS's Levels of Service were developed in consultation with CHS clients, the Levels of Service Advisory Panel and the Canadian Marine Advisory Council (CMAC) between 2005-2007. CHS reports to the Advisory Panel and CMAC annually on progress made in meeting the levels of service standards.
Fees charged for the processing of Access requests filed under the Access to Information Act	Response provided within 30 days following receipt of request; the response time may be extended pursuant to Section 9 of the Access to Information Act. Notice of extension to be sent within 30 days after receipt of request. The Access to Information Act provides fuller details.	Statutory deadlines were met 95% of the time.	The service standard is established by the Access to Information Act and the Access to Information Regulations. Consultations with stakeholders were undertaken by the Department of Justice and the Treasury Board Secretariat for amendments done in 1986 and 1992.

¹ As established pursuant to the Policy on Service Standards for External Fees: service standards may not have received parliamentary review; and may not respect all performance standard establishment requirements under the User Fees Act (e.g. international comparison; independent complaint address).

² Performance results are not legally subject to section 5.1 of the User Fees Act regarding fee reductions for unachieved performance.

³ Seaway maintenance takes user delays into consideration. Ship loading capacity was not affected by shallow water in the seaway.

⁴ The cessation of the Canadian Coast Guard commercial public correspondence service has commenced as of December 31, 1999, in selected areas, based upon the demand for the service and the availability of alternate service delivery methods.

 

Other Information

Canadian Coast Guard Fees: Canadian Coast Guard is conducting a review of Levels of Service (LOS) to validate the LOS and service standards provided. Clients will be closely engaged in this process. The scope of the LOS covers all main CCG activities for which LOS are appropriate, regardless of whether there are external charges associated with them.

Access Fees: Commercial fishing licence fees and recreational fishing licence fees identified in the User Fees Table under Fisheries Management are not reflected in the External Fees Table, as reflect the value of the privilege/benefit of access to a valuable natural resource owned by all Canadians. Decisions that could come out of DFO's Fisheries Renewal initiative and Commercial Fishing Licence Fee Review could inform what future role and links should be made between access fees and service standards. The Pacific Salmon Conservation Stamp also has an access element, but is primarily designed to support salmon restoration and enhancement initiatives. The Sport Fishing Advisory Board of BC supports the licence and salmon stamp fees.

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