Quarterly Financial Report for the quarter ended December 31, 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 to ensure 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 information about OCOL's responsibilities and program activities can be found in the 2011-2012 Report on Plans and Priorities and in 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 used by OCOL, consistent with the Main Estimates and Supplementary Estimates for the 2011-2012 fiscal year. This quarterly report has also 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.

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 are prepared on an expenditure basis.

Significant changes to authorities

As of December 31, 2011, total authorities available for the fiscal year increased by $1.1 million compared to the previous fiscal year, mainly due to the following factors:

• A $1.5 million increase in the amount allocated by Treasury Board for reimbursement of eligible paylist expenditures;
• A $0.3 million decrease in the operating budget carry forward amount.

Significant changes to budgetary expenditures

OCOL has used approximately 68% of its authorities as of December 31, 2011, of which 84% are personnel-related expenditures.

Compared to the previous fiscal year, expenditures in this quarter have increased by $0.2 million, or 2.7%, up to a total of $5.3 million due to:

• A $0.4 million increase in personnel expenditures, mainly due to severance liquidation payments to eligible employees;
• A $0.2 million decrease in professional services expenditures.

These differences are indicated in the Departmental budgetary expenditures by Standard Object table under the “Personnel” and “Professional and special services” expenditure categories.

Funding required for IM/IT

OCOL is still facing a risk as a consequence of the inadequacy of its IM/IT systems. A Treasury Board submission has been sent to request the one-time funding required to upgrade its deteriorating applications because the current authorities available are not sufficient. This investment would allow OCOL to optimize its business processes in order to improve its productivity and efficiency and to generate savings over the next two years.

A-Base Review

Management is presently implementing the action plan prepared in response to the A-Base Review conducted in 2010-2011. This review identified several constraints within the organization as well as opportunities for optimizing resources.

Budget 2010

The cost containment measures announced in Budget 2010 are another financial risk OCOL faces because it has to absorb salary increases that have been agreed on in collective agreements through its A-Base funding. Management is presently reviewing various options to adjust to this financial constraint.

Budget 2011

OCOL agrees to adhere to the spirit and intent of the Strategic and Operating Review announced in Budget 2011. Management is analyzing its financial capability while taking into account the results of the implementation of the A-Base Review action plan and the results of the IM/IT funding request.