2017 to 2018 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 total annual expenditures for each of travel, hospitality and conferences for the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2018. 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 conferences incurred by federal departments and agencies are for the most part directly related to supporting departmental mandates and the government's priorities. The mandate of the TSB is to advance transportation safety. This mandate is fulfilled by conducting independent investigations into selected transportation occurrences to identify the causes and contributing factors of the occurrences and the underlying safety deficiencies, reporting on its findings, making recommendations and advocating to influence safety actions and changes.

The jurisdiction of the TSB includes all aviation, marine, rail and pipeline transportation occurrences in or over Canada that fall under federal jurisdiction. The TSB may also represent Canadian interests in foreign investigations of transportation accidents involving Canadian registered, licensed or manufactured aircraft, ships or railway rolling stock. The department's travel expenditures are primarily dependent on the frequency and location of transportation occurrences. Travel expenditures are also incurred by the TSB for employees to attend training in their field of expertise. The credibility and success of the TSB depend on its ability to develop and maintain a competent and diverse professional workforce. Given the international nature of transportation, training and conferences on topics relevant to transportation safety are primarily held outside of Canada and travel costs are required in order to attend.

The TSB endeavors to minimize hospitality expenses to the extent possible. Expenses are primarily incurred by the TSB as a result of the requirement for employees to work through normal break or meal periods due to operations or business meetings. On an occasional basis, the TSB will host events and conferences directly related to the department's mandate whereby hospitality costs may also be incurred.

The TSB occasionally incurs expenses to host conferences. However, conference expenses generally represent conference registration fees where a TSB employee has participated as an official representative of the organization or has presented on a subject relevant to the department's mandate. As per the Treasury Board Secretariat reporting requirements, expenditures to attend conferences where the primary purpose is to enable participants to maintain or acquire skills or knowledge are not reported as conference expenses but rather as training.

Total annual expenditures for Travel, Hospitality and Conferences of the Transportation Safety Board are summarized below:

Expenditure category Expenditures for
the year ending
March 31 2018
(a)
(in thousands of dollars)
Expenditures for
the year ending
March 31 2017
(b)
(in thousands of dollars)
Variance
 
 
(a-b)
(in thousands of dollars)
Travel
     Operational activities $ 361 $ 380 $ -19
     Key stakeholders $ 172 $ 194 $ -22
     Internal governance $ 149 $ 216 $ -67
     Training $ 166 $ 254 $ -88
     Other $ 19 $ 17 $ 2
Total travel $ 867 $ 1,061 $ -194
Hospitality $ 6 $ 11 $ -5
Conference fees $ 8 $ 12 $ -4
TOTAL $ 881 $ 1,084 $ -203

Significant variances compared to the previous fiscal year

Travel:

Compared with fiscal year 2016-17, departmental travel expenditures reimbursed to Public Servants and Non-Public Servants are now reported together under the categories identified in the above table.

Travel expenditures by TSB employees decreased by $187K between years, this represents a 22% decrease due to less travel related to occurrence investigations, Outreach activities and departmental branch meetings. During 2017-18, some travel was specifically cancelled or deferred as a short term measure to address the anticipated TSB budget shortfall. Once the TSB resource pressures are fully addressed it is expected that travel expenditures will increase to a level more comparable to 2016-17.

For Non-Public Servants, travel expenditures dropped by $7K compared to 2016-17 due to the one-time travel costs ($3K) for speakers at the TSB Safety Summit, and the travel costs for candidates in Governor-in-Council Selection Process for TSB Board members ($4K).

Hospitality:

Typically, spending on hospitality expenditures is minimal; as a result, a single event can present a significant percentage variance between years.  In 2016-17, the TSB hosted a Safety Summit ($10K) which involved about 80 stakeholders from the transportation industry. This one-time event therefore increased hospitality expenditures above the normal level. In 2017-18, the TSB did not host any significant events. Expenditures therefore returned to the normal level.

Conferences Fees:

Spending in this category relates to conference fees incurred by TSB employees and Board Members who served as official TSB representatives to attend and/or speak at various conferences. When possible, the TSB tries to arrange for its representatives to participate in the conferences on a complimentary basis given their role as speakers on the conference program.  However, host organizations are not always agreeable to such arrangements and may charge registration fees for participation in the program. The TSB participated in a lower number of events in 2017-18, which explains the decrease of $4K in conference fees compared to the previous year.

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