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 and in the form and manner prescribed by the Treasury Board. The report should be read in conjunction with the Main Estimates and 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 (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), which was amended by the
Balanced Refugee Reform Act (BRRA) in 2010 and by the
Protecting Canada’s Immigration System Act (PCISA) in 2012.
The IRB has a single strategic outcome which is to resolve immigration and refugee cases before the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada efficiently, fairly and in accordance with the law.
The
IRB has five programs: Refugee Protection, Refugee Appeals, Immigration Appeals, Admissibility Hearings and Detention Reviews and Internal Services. The Internal Services program supports the four other programs.
A summary description of the
IRB's programs can be found in
2014-2015 Report on Plans and Priorities.
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 for the 2014-2015 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
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
IRB's 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 authorities represent the total Main Estimates. IRB did not request authorities through Supplementary Estimates (A) in 2013-2014 and 2014-2015.
Significant Changes to Authorities
As at September 30, 2014, the total authorities available for use were $121.1 million compared to $122.9 million for the same quarter of the prior year, representing a decrease of $1.8 million or 1.5% as reflected in the Statement of Authorities and as shown in the graph below.
The net decrease of $1.8 million is due to the following:
- A decrease of $6.8M related to savings identified as part of Budget 2012 measures;
- A decrease of $0.4M related to a transfer of funds for the procurement of workplace technology device software;
- A decrease of $0.6M in employee benefit costs;
- An increase of $6.0M related to reprofiling of funds due to legislative changes to enable the implementation of remaining activities associated with the new refugee determination system.
Significant Changes to Expenditures
The
IRB spent 21.8% of its authorities in the second quarter of 2014-2015. Compared to the previous year quarter, total expenditures have decreased by $3.7 million from $30.1 million to $26.4 million. This represents a decrease of 12.3%.
[Alternate format]
The image illustrates a graph.
- The Y axis (vertical) represents amounts in million of dollars in increments of 20 ranging from 0 to 140.
- The X axis (horizontal) represents two fiscal years:
Each fiscal year consist of two columns:
- the first column indicates the total authorities
- the second column represents the expenditures
For fiscal year 2014-2015, the authorities are 121.1 million and expenditures are 26.4 million.
For fiscal year 2013-2014, the authorities are 122.9 million and the expenditures are 30.1 million.
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 fluctuations in the intake of immigration and refugee cases, and by changes brought by legislation and Federal Court jurisprudence.
Significant changes related to operations, personnel and program
There were no significant changes in the Board's operations, personnel and programs over this reporting period.
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 2014-2015 through efficiency measures and program reductions that align resources to the
IRB's core mandate, scaling back activities where the need is reduced; transforming internal operations; and by consolidating and streamlining its activities. With these changes the
IRB will support management excellence and accountability in government.
In the first year of implementation, the
IRB achieved savings of approximately $3.3 million. Savings have increased to $6.3 million in 2013-2014 and will result in ongoing savings of $13.1 million by 2014-2015.
For information on
IRB’s savings included in Budget 2012 by Program Alignment Architecture, please consult the
Supplementary Data on Budget 2012 Implementation.
The savings are derived from the closure of the Ottawa registry office; 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.
Approval by Senior Officials
Approved by:
Ken Sandhu,
Interim Chairperson
Richard Kapune,
Acting Chief Financial Officer
Ottawa, Canada
November 21, 2014
Statement of Authorities
(unaudited)
Fiscal year 2014-2015
(in thousands of dollars)
| Total available for use for the year ending March 31, 2015Note 1 | Used during the quarter ended September 30, 2014 | Year to date used at quarter-end |
---|
Vote 10 – Net Operating expenditures | 107,870 | 23,074 | 50,075 |
Statutory authority – Contributions to employee benefit plans | 13,191 | 3,298 | 6,596 |
Statutory authority – Spending of proceeds from the disposal of surplus Crown assets | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Total authorities |
121,062 |
26,373 |
56,672 |
Fiscal year 2013-2014
(in thousands of dollars)
| Total available for use for the year ending March 31, 2014Note 1 | Used during the quarter ended September 30, 2013 | Year to date used at quarter-end |
---|
Vote 10 – Net Operating expenditures | 108,427 | 26,472 | 50,996 |
Statutory authority – Contributions to employee benefit plans | 14,493 | 3,623 | 7,246 |
Statutory authority – Spending of proceeds from the disposal of surplus Crown assets | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Total authorities |
122,921 |
30,096 |
58,243 |
Departmental budgetary expenditures by Standard Object
(unaudited)
Fiscal year 2014-2015
(in thousands of dollars)
Expenditures | Planned expenditures for the year ending March 31, 2015 | Expended during the quarter ended September 30, 2014 | Year to date used at quarter-end |
---|
Personnel | 93,139 | 21,529 | 45,467 |
Transportation and communications | 2,753 | 274 | 632 |
Information | 417 | 74 | 130 |
Professional and special services | 18,205 | 3,751 | 6,745 |
Rentals | 1,192 | 245 | 307 |
Repair and maintenance | 2,500 | 96 | 151 |
Utilities, materials and supplies | 578 | 109 | 204 |
Acquisition of machinery and equipment | 2,108 | 268 | 290 |
Other subsidies and payments | 170 | 27 | 2,746 |
Total net budgetary expenditures |
121,062 |
26,373 |
56,672 |
Fiscal year 2013-2014
(in thousands of dollars)
Expenditures | Planned expenditures for the year ending March 31, 2014 | Expended during the quarter ended September 30, 2013 | Year to date used at quarter-end |
---|
Personnel | 97,784 | 25,027 | 49,319 |
Transportation and communications | 2,915 | 454 | 924 |
Information | 275 | 37 | 79 |
Professional and special services | 17,223 | 4,091 | 7,063 |
Rentals | 670 | 139 | 346 |
Repair and maintenance | 1,995 | 21 | 48 |
Utilities, materials and supplies | 535 | 79 | 167 |
Acquisition of machinery and equipment | 1,421 | 249 | 280 |
Other subsidies and payments | 103 | (1) | 17 |
Total net budgetary expenditures |
122,921 |
30,096 |
58,243 |