Quarterly Financial Report for the quarter ended June 30, 2011

Mandate and Program Activities

The Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages (OCOL) supports the Commissioner of Official Languages in fulfilling his mandate which consists of taking all actions and measures within his authority with a view to ensuring recognition of the status of each of the official languages and compliance with the spirit and intent of the Official Languages Act in the administration of the affairs of federal institutions, including any of their activities relating to the advancement of English and French in Canadian society.

Further details on OCOL's responsibilities and program activities may be found in the Report on Plans and Priorities 2011–12 and 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 OCOL's spending authorities granted by Parliament and those used by the organization, consistent with the Main Estimates for the 2011–12 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 moneys 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.

When Parliament is dissolved for the purposes of a general election, section 30 of the Financial Administration Act authorizes the Governor General, under certain conditions, to issue a special warrant authorizing the Government to withdraw funds from the Consolidated Revenue Fund. A special warrant is deemed to be an appropriation for the fiscal year in which it is issued.

OCOL uses the full accrual method of accounting to prepare and present its annual financial statements which are part of the organization's performance reporting process. However, the spending authorities voted by Parliament remain on an expenditure basis.

Significant Changes to Authorities

As of June 30, 2011, total authorities available for the fiscal year have not significantly changed compared to the same quarter of the prior year. The increase represents 0.2%. The planned expenditures presented are from the Main Estimates only. OCOL has not received any funds through Supplementary Estimates A in any of these fiscal years.

Significant Changes to Budgetary Expenditures

OCOL has spent approximately 21% of its authorities in the first quarter. Given that the most significant expense is salaries, OCOL's spending is generally distributed equally throughout the year.

Compared to the previous fiscal year, the expenditures recorded in the first quarter, ending June 30, 2011, decreased by $0.3 million or 6.3%, from $4.7 million to $4.4 million. In the first quarter of 2010–11, OCOL had spent more resources in consulting management services than in 2011–12 due to conducting an A-Base Review and for services associated with information management/information technology (IM/IT). This variance is reflected in the Departmental budgetary expenditures by Standard Object table under the category of expenditures Professional and Special Services. All other expenditures by standard object were consistent with prior year spending trends.