Quarterly Financial Report for the Quarter Ended December 31, 2014

​ISSN: 2564-355X

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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 (B) and the previous quarterly financial reports for the current year 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 and Supplementary (B) 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 and Supplementary Estimates (B).

Significant Changes to Authorities

As at December 31, 2014, the total authorities available for use were $126.3 million compared to $129.4 million for the same quarter of the prior year, representing a decrease of $3.1 million or 2.4% as reflected in the Statement of Authorities and as shown in the graph below.

The net decrease of $3.1 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;
  • A net decrease of $0.2M due to the compensation adjustments;
  • A net decrease of $1.1M as operating budget carry-forward.

Significant Changes to Expenditures

The IRB spent 22.4% of its authorities in the third quarter of 2014-2015. Compared to the previous year quarter, total expenditures have decreased by $0.8 million from $29.1 million to $28.3 million. This represents a decrease of 2.7%.

Third Quarter Expenditures Compared to Annual Authorities 

[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:
    • 2014-2015
    • 2013-2014

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 126.3 million and expenditures are 28.3 million.

For fiscal year 2013-2014, the authorities are 129.4 million and the expenditures are 29.1 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

On December 3rd, Mr. Mario Dion was appointed Chairperson of the Board.

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:

Mario Dion,
Chairperson
Richard Kapune,
Acting Chief Financial Officer

Ottawa, Canada
February 20, 2015


Statement of Authorities (unaudited)

Fiscal year 2014-2015 (in thousands of dollars)
Total available for use for the year ending December 31, 2015Note 1Used during the quarter ended Decenber 31, 2014Year to date used at quarter-end
Vote 10 – Net Operating expenditures113,10925,03375,108
Statutory authority – Contributions to employee benefit plans13,1913,2989,894
Statutory authority – Spending of proceeds from the disposal of surplus Crown assets1-1
Total authorities 126,301 28,331 85,003

Fiscal year 2013-2014 (in thousands of dollars)
Total available for use for the year ending March 31, 2014Note 1Used during the quarter ended December 31, 2013Year to date used at quarter-end
Vote 10 – Net Operating expenditures114,95425,45077,654
Statutory authority – Contributions to employee benefit plans14,4933,6239,661
Statutory authority – Spending of proceeds from the disposal of surplus Crown assets1-1
Total authorities 129,448 29,073 87,316

Departmental budgetary expenditures by Standard Object (unaudited)

Fiscal year 2014-2015 (in thousands of dollars)
ExpendituresPlanned expenditures for the year ending March 31, 2015Expended during the quarter ended December 31, 2014Year to date used at quarter-end
Personnel93,46422,10567,572
Transportation and communications2,7534371,069
Information41731161
Professional and special services23,1194,89511,640
Rentals1,192240547
Repair and maintenance2,500198349
Utilities, materials and supplies578155359
Acquisition of machinery and equipment2,108243533
Other subsidies and payments170272,773
Total net budgetary expenditures 126,301 28,331 85,003

Fiscal year 2013-2014 (in thousands of dollars)
ExpendituresPlanned expenditures for the year ending March 31, 2014Expended during the quarter ended December 31, 2013Year to date used at quarter-end
Personnel98,29623,95773,275
Transportation and communications2,9153981,322
Information27521101
Professional and special services23,2384,28311,346
Rentals670151496
Repair and maintenance1,99570118
Utilities, materials and supplies535155322
Acquisition of machinery and equipment1,42126306
Other subsidies and payments1031230
Total net budgetary expenditures 129,448 29,073 87,316

Notes

Note 1

Includes only Authorities available for use and granted by Parliament at quarter end.

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