Quarterly Financial Report for the quarter ending June 30, 2012

Introduction

This quarterly financial report has been prepared by management as required by section 65.1 of the Financial Administration Act and in the form and manner prescribed by the Treasury Board. The report should be read in conjunction with the Main Estimates, Supplementary Estimates A as well as Canada's Economic Action Plan 2012 (Budget 2012). The report has not been subject to an external audit or review.

The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (the IRB) is an independent administrative tribunal that was created on January 1, 1989, by an amendment to the Immigration Act.  In 2002, the Immigration Act was replaced by the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) from which each IRB division gets its mandate.

The mission of the IRB is to resolve immigration and refugee cases efficiently, fairly and in accordance with the law.

The IRB has five program activities: Refugee Protection, Immigration Appeals, Admissibility Hearings and Detention Reviews, Refugee Appeals and Internal Services. The Internal Services program activity supports the four other program activities.

A summary description of the IRB's program activities can be found in Part II of the 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 IRB's spending authorities granted by Parliament and those used by the IRB in a manner consistent with the Main Estimates and Supplementary Estimates A for the 2012-13 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.

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, after the tabling of the Main Estimates on February 28, 2012. As a result, the measures announced in Budget 2012 could not be reflected in the 2012-13 Main Estimates.

In fiscal year 2012-13, frozen allotments will be established by Treasury Board authority in departmental votes to prohibit the spending of funds already identified as savings measures in Budget 2012. In future years, the changes to departmental authorities will be implemented through the Annual Reference Level Update, as approved by Treasury Board, and reflected in the subsequent Main Estimates tabled in Parliament.

The IRB 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.

Highlights of fiscal quarter and fiscal year to date (YTD) results

Risks and Uncertainties

The IRB is funded through annual appropriations. As a result, its operations are affected by any changes in funding approved by Parliament. In addition, the IRB's operations are affected by changes to legislation, the pace of Governor in Council appointments and reappointments of IRB members and the intake of new immigration and refugee cases.

Budget 2010 announced that the operating budgets of departments and agencies would be frozen at their 2010-11 levels for fiscal years 2011-12 and 2012-13. Consequently, increases in expenditures related to personnel costs and other operating expenditures have to be managed within the allocated budget. In addition, a Strategic Review was conducted resulting in a net budget reduction of $5.7 million over fiscal years 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 to the Refugee Protection, Admissibility Hearings and Detention Reviews and Internal Services program activities. The impact on organizational activities has been managed through the following actions and mitigation strategies:

• Increases in personnel costs due to collective agreements have been absorbed through attrition due to retirements and departures for other reasons; and
• Increases in other operating costs have been managed through the reallocation of budgets from lower to higher priorities.

Significant changes related to operations, personnel and program

As of May 28, 2012, a portion of the compensation services and pay accounts were transferred to the new Pay Centre in Miramichi, New Brunswick as part of the Consolidation of Pay Services Project.

Budget 2012 Implementation

This section provides an overview of the savings measures announced in Budget 2012 that will be 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.

Under Budget 2012, the IRB will achieve savings of $13.1 million by fiscal year 2014-15 through efficiency measures and program reductions that align resources to the Board's core mandate, scaling back activities where the need is reduced; transforming how it works internally; and by consolidating and streamlining its activities. With these changes the Board will support management excellence and accountability in government.

In the first year of implementation, the IRB will achieve savings of approximately $3.3 million. Savings will increase to $6.3 million in 2013-14 and will result in ongoing savings of $13.1 million by 2014-15.

Over the next three fiscal years, these savings will derive from the discontinuance of hearings in Ottawa; the elimination of a planned measure to provide transcripts of proceedings of the new Refugee Protection Division (RPD) where the decision is appealed to the Refugee Appeal Division (RAD); the elimination of the information-gathering interview at the new RPD; and the expected reduction in the volume of appeals to the RAD resulting from legislation adopted by Parliament.

There was no impact of the Budget 2012 measures in the first quarter.

Approval by Senior Officials

Approved by:

Ottawa, Canada
August 31, 2012

Statement of Authorities (unaudited) - Fiscal year 2012-2013 (in thousands of dollars)

Statement of Authorities (unaudited) - Fiscal year 2011-2012 (in thousands of dollars)

More information is available in the attached table.

Departmental budgetary expenditures by Standard Object (unaudited) -
Fiscal year 2012-13 (in thousands of dollars)

Departmental budgetary expenditures by Standard Object (unaudited) - Fiscal year 2011-12 (in thousands of dollars)