As required by the Treasury Board
Directive on Travel, Hospitality, Conference and Event Expenditures, this report provides information on the total annual expenditures for each of travel, hospitality and conference fees for the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2015. 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 conference fees incurred by federal departments and agencies are related to activities that support departmental or agency mandate and the government's priorities.
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 activity supports the four other programs.
The
IRB carries out its work in three regional offices: Toronto, Montréal and Vancouver. All three divisions hold hearings in these regions, supported by adjudicative and corporate support. Internal and support services are managed at
IRB Headquarters, located in Ottawa.
For more information on the
IRB's mandate and activities, please refer to the
Departmental Performance Report and
Report on Plans and Priorities.
Total annual expenditures for Travel, Hospitality and Conferences of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada are summarized in the following table.
Total Annual Expenditures for Travel, Hospitality and Conferences (in thousands of dollars)
| Expenditure Category | Expenditures for the year ending March 31, 2015 | Expenditures for the previous year ending March 31, 2014 | Change |
|---|
| Travel - Public Servants | 980 | 1,427 | (447) |
| Travel - Non-Public Servants | 67 | 51 | 16 |
|
Total Travel | 1,047 | 1,478 | (431) |
|
Hospitality | 26 | 27 | (1) |
|
Conference Fees | 9 | 17 | (8) |
|
TOTAL | 1,082 | 1,522 | (440) |
| International Travel by Minister and Minister’s Staff (also included in Non-Public Servant travel) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Significant variances compared to the previous fiscal year
Travel
The Board travel expenditures decreased by $431K or 29% compared to 2013-2014.
Public Servants: Compared to fiscal year 2013-2014, the Board travel expenditures by public servants decreased by $447K as a result of a concerted effort to reduce costs through deliberate measures, such as the increased video conferencing and teleconferencing.
Non-Public Servants: Compared to fiscal year 2013-2014, the Board travel expenditures by non-public servants increased by $16K or 31% as a result of changes to the coding of non-public servants travel per Treasury Board Directive on Travel, Hospitality, Conference and Event Expenditures.
Hospitality
Compared to fiscal year 2013-2014, the Board hospitality expenditures remained stable.
Conference fees
Compared to fiscal year 2013-2014, the Board conference fees expenditures have decreased by $8K due to less staff members representing the Board at conferences.