Report on Annual Expenditures for Travel, Hospitality and Conferences

As required by the Treasury Board Directive on Travel, Hospitality, Conference and Event Expenditures, this report provides information on the annual expenditures for each of travel, hospitality and conference fees for the department of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2016. It also provides the significant variance explanations from the previous fiscal year in each of these categories.

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 conference fees incurred by federal departments and agencies are related to activities that support a departmental or agency mandate and the government's priorities.

The vision of NRCan is to improve the quality of life of Canadians by creating a sustainable resource advantage – now and for the future. It seeks to achieve this vision by working to improve the competitiveness of the natural resource sectors and to grow their contribution to Canada’s economy. NRCan supports the responsible development of Canada’s resources in a manner that advances the country’s global standing as a leader on the environment, and uses its knowledge and expertise of Canada’s landmass to support the safety and security of citizens.

In 2015-16, NRCan spent $11.6 million on travel, hospitality and conference fees. The largest contributor to expenditures in travel (18%) were in support of the program ‘Protection for Canadians and Natural Resources’, which supports government departments, communities and the private sector to manage risks to human, natural resource and infrastructure health.  This is done by providing regulation, knowledge, tools and services, while fulfilling legislated responsibilities.

The largest contributor to expenditures in hospitality (22%) were in support of the program ‘Market Access and Diversification’, which supports natural resource sectors that face  two key barriers to market access and diversification: 1) trade and policy barriers and 2) lack of awareness of Canada’s natural resource products. The objectives of this Program are to break down those barriers and support the development and expansion of markets for Canadian natural resource products by making information available to Canadians, supporting negotiations to reduce trade barriers, and ensuring that regulations are up to date.  This helps maintain natural resource sectors’ access to existing markets and increases their access to new market segments.

The largest contributor to expenditures in conference fees (25%) were in support of the program ‘Technology Innovation’, which encourages academia, industry and the public sector to research, develop and demonstrate innovative solutions to environmental challenges confronted by the natural resource sector.  This is done through the generation and dissemination of scientific knowledge, and the development and demonstration of new technologies.

For more information on NRCan’s Plans and Priorities, see the 2015-16 Report on Plans and Priorities.

Total annual expenditures for travel, hospitality and conferences of NRCan are summarized below:

Annual Expenditures for Travel, Hospitality and Conferences of Natural Resources Canada (in thousands of dollars)
Expenditure Category	Expenditures for the Year Ending March 31, 2016	Expenditures for the Previous Year Ending March 31, 2015	Change
Travel: Public Servants	9,820	10,224	-404
Travel: Non-Public Servants	1,174	1,643	-469
Total Travel	10,994	11,867	-873
Hospitality	154	137	17
Conference Fees	499	455	44
Total	11,647	12,459	-812
International Travel by Minister and Minister's Staff (also included in Non-Public Servant travel)	67	82	-15

Significant Variances Compared With the Previous Fiscal Year

Travel:

Public servants: Compared with fiscal year 2014-15, 2015-16 departmental travel expenditures by public servants decreased by $404 thousand.

Non-public servants: Compared with fiscal year 2014-15, 2015-16 departmental travel expenditures by non-public servants decreased by $469 thousand.

The combined decrease of $873 thousand for public servants travel and non-public servants travel is mainly due to the completion of activities, as described below:

• The Energy, Security, Prosperity & Sustainability Task Force, focusing on the whole-of-government coordination of policy, outreach and strategic communications, was completed on March 31, 2015 and was not renewed.  Consequently, there were no travel costs in fiscal year 2015-16; and
• The Atomic Energy Canada Limited Restructuring mandated activities were completed in early June 2015 with the restructuring of Atomic Energy Canada Limited for which the transfer occurred in September 2015.  Consequently, travel requirements for Atomic Energy Canada Limited Restructuring were reduced when compared to fiscal year 2014-15.

Hospitality: Compared with fiscal year 2014-15, 2015-16 departmental hospitality expenditures increased by $17 thousand:

• Hospitality costs have remained relatively stable.

Conferences: Compared with fiscal year 2014-15, 2015-16 departmental conferences expenditures increased by $44 thousand mainly due to:

• Greater participation in conferences such as NRCan’s participation to the GLOBE 2016 Innovation Expo which is designed to showcase Canada’s leadership in clean innovation to a large domestic and international audience.  

Ministers and minister’s staff: Compared with fiscal year 2014-15, 2015-16 departmental international travel expenditures by the ministers and their staff decreased by $15 thousand mainly due to:

A reduction in the number of international trips taken by the ministers and their staff for the period of June to November due to the federal election.