Quarterly Financial Report for the quarter ended June 30, 2019

​ISSN: 2564-355X

​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 2018-19 Main Estimates Part II  and the previous quarterly financial reports for the current year. 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.

A summary description of the IRB’s programs can be found in the Part II the Main Estimates and the 2019-20 Departmental Plan.

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 2019-20 Main Estimates. 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 money 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.

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

This section highlights the significant items that have contributed to the net increase or decrease in resources available and actual expenditures for the year and for the quarter ended June 30, 2019 in comparison to the prior year.

The total budgetary authorities available for use, as of June 30, increased in 2019-20 from those in 2018-19 by $85.8 million. This increase is largely due to temporary funding provided in budget 2018 ($31.5 million), and in Budget 2019 ($52.4 million) to process the increased number of refugee claims. Program expenditures in the quarter ended June 30, 2019, totaled $42 million, representing an increase of $10.6 million from the same period in the previous fiscal year.

The following table provides explanations of significant changes by standard object:

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 increases in the intake of immigration and refugee cases, and by changes brought by legislation and/or federal Court jurisprudence. To this end, management is implementing measures to maximize allocated funding and at the same time, reduce the impact of funding gaps. These measures include ramp up plans to increase capacity and reprofiling of unspent funding.

While the IRB is aggressively ramping up to increase capacity to meet its targets, there have been some delays in staffing all required positions. To mitigate the impact, management is employing measures to improve productivity and strengthen system-wide case management practices. These measures will allow the IRB to maximize available resources and at the same time, continue to pursue aggressive recruitment activities.

Significant changes related to operations, personnel and program

In Budget 2019, $203.87M were allocated, over a 2-year period, for the IRB to support government-wide efforts to increase processing of refugee claims to 40,700 in 2019-20 and 50,000 in 2020-21.  The IRB is leveraging this funding to increase capacity to process claims.

The following changes to senior personnel were made since the last report:

• Appointment of Alice Tang as Deputy Chairperson for the Immigration Division, since May 1st, 2019; and,
• Temporary appointment of Roula Eatrides as Deputy Chairperson for Refugee Protection Division, since May 1st, 2019.

Approval by senior officials

Approved by:

Richard Wex
Chairperson

Jason Choueiri
Chief Financial Officer

Ottawa, Canada
August 29, 2019