Report on Annual Expenditures for Travel, Hospitality and Conferences
As required by the Treasury Board Directive for the Management of Expenditures on Travel, Hospitality and Conferences, this report provides information on the total annual expenditures for each of travel, hospitality and conferences for the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2013. It also provides the variance explanations from the previous fiscal year in each of these areas.
This information is updated annually and does not contain information withheld under the Access to Information Act or the Privacy Act.
Expenditures on travel, hospitality and conferences incurred by federal departments and agencies are for the most part directly related to supporting departmental mandate(s) and the government’s priorities.
To fulfill his mandate, the Commissioner of Official Languages, with the support of the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages (OCOL), oversees the full implementation of the Official Languages Act, protects the language rights of Canadians and promotes linguistic duality and bilingualism in Canada.
OCOL strives to accomplish this mandate through activities that raise awareness among federal institutions and other organizations subject to the Official Languages Act so that linguistic duality is an important element of leadership. These activities also aim to promote to Canada’s two official language communities the value of linguistic duality as one of the key elements of Canadian identity, and support official language minority communities in order to enhance their development and vitality.
Total annual expenditures for Travel, Hospitality and Conferences of the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages are summarized below:
| Expenditure Category | Expenditures for the year ending March 31, 2013 (a) | Expenditures for the year ending March 31, 2012 (b) | Variance (a - b) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Travel – Public Servants | 344 | 375 | (31) |
| Travel – Non-Public Servants | 10 | 32 | (22) |
| International Travel by Minister and Minister's Staff | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Total Travel | 354 | 407 | (53) |
| Hospitality | 39 | 44 | (5) |
| Conference Fees | 6 | 5 | 1 |
| Total | 399 | 456 | (57) |
Significant variances compared to the previous fiscal year
-
Travel:
- Public Servants: Compared to fiscal year 2011–12, OCOL’s travel expenditures by public servants decreased mainly due to continuous efforts aimed at reducing costs by streamlining operational processes and promoting the use of technologies, such as teleconferencing and videoconferencing.
- Non-Public Servants: Compared to fiscal year 2011–12, OCOL’s travel expenditures by non-public servants decreased because back in November 2011, OCOL had held a discussion forum on the relationship between linguistic duality and cultural diversity where participants from outside were invited. This year, there was no such event.
- Hospitality: Compared to fiscal year 2011–12, OCOL’s hospitality expenditures decreased mainly due to efforts aimed at reducing the cost of hospitality activities throughout OCOL.
- Conference Fees: Compared to fiscal year 2011–12, OCOL’s conference fees expenditures did not significantly change.