As required by the Treasury Board
Directive on Travel, Hospitality, Conference and Event Expenditures, this report provides information on travel, hospitality and conference expenditures for the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2019, except for information withheld under the
Access to Information Act or the
Privacy Act.
Travel, hospitality and conference expenditures incurred by a federal department or agency related to activities that support the department or agency’s mandate and the government’s priorities.
The 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.
IRB’s travel, hospitality and conference expenditures support the delivery of the following core programs and services:
- The IRB renders quality decisions and resolves cases in a timely manner regarding immigration and refugee protection cases. This includes determining refugee protection claims and appeals and applications to vacate or cease refugee protection. It also includes making decisions on admissibility hearings and detention reviews, and on appeals on certain immigration cases. The IRB delivers these services through the following four divisions:
- Refugee Protection Division
- Refugee Appeal Division
- Immigration Division
- Immigration Appeal Division
- The IRB carries out its work in three regional offices: Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, one satellite office in Calgary, points of service in Winnipeg and Edmonton and itinerant locations in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba as required. All these sites hold hearings, supported by adjudicative and corporate support.
- More information on the IRB’s mandate and activities can be found in the
2018-2019 Departmental Result Report and
2019-2020 Departmental Plan.
Travel, Hospitality and Conference Expenditures Immigration Refugee Board of Canada Year ended March 31, 2019
| Expenditure Category | Expenditures for Year Ended March 31, 2019 ($ Thousands) | Expenditures for Year Ended March 31, 2018 ($ Thousands) | Variance($ Thousands) |
|---|
| Travel | | | |
| Operational Activities | 797 | 294 | 503 |
| Key Stakeholders | 133 | 178 | -45 |
| Internal Governance | 717 | 563 | 154 |
| Training | 773 | 387 | 386 |
| Other | 93 | 20 | 73 |
| A. Total Travel | 2,513 | 1,442 | 1,071 |
| B. Hospitality | 96 | 41 | 55 |
| C. Conference Fees | 79 | 33 | 46 |
| Total [A+B+C] | 2,688 | 1,516 | 1,172 |
| International Travel by Minister and Minister’s Staff (Included in Travel) | Not applicable | Not Applicable | Not applicable |
Significant variances compared with previous fiscal year
Budget 2018 provided the IRB with temporary funding to increase decision-making capacity for irregular migration asylum claims. To this end, increased spending on travel, hospitality and conferences of $1.1 million (73%) is primarily due to the provision of training to decision makers and support activities to process a higher number of claims.
Travel
The increase in travel expenditures is due mainly to divisional national training sessions, training for new decision makers and operational activities such as setting up offices for decision makers.
Hospitality
The increase in hospitality expenditures is also due to divisional training sessions, operational planning sessions to ramp up the IRB’s decision-making capacity, and consultative sessions.
Conference fees
The increase in personnel to augment decision-making capacity also impacted participation in conferences relevant to the IRB’s mandate and programs.