As required by the Treasury Board
Directive for the Management of Expenditures on Travel, Hospitality and Conferences, this report provides information on the total annual expenditures for each of travel, hospitality and conferences for the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2013. 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 related to supporting departmental mandate(s) 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, Immigration Appeals, Admissibility Hearings and Detention Reviews, Refugee Appeals and Internal Services. The Internal Services program activity support 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. The
IRB also has offices in Calgary and Ottawa in which hearings are held. 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, 2013
(a) | Expenditures for the previous year ending March 31, 2012
(b) | Variance
(a-b) |
|---|
| Travel - Public Servants | 2,356 | 1,791 | 565 |
| Travel - Non-Public Servants | 68 | 66 | 2 |
| International Travel by Minister and Minister's StaffNote 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
Total Travel | 2,424 | 1,857 | 597 |
|
Hospitality | 145 | 49 | 96 |
|
Conference Fees | 1 | 7 | (6) |
|
TOTAL | 2,570 | 1,913 | 657 |
Significant variances compared to the previous fiscal year
Travel
Public Servants: Compared to fiscal year 2011-2012, departmental travel expenditures by public servants increased mainly due to:
- transition activities to implement the new refugee determination system resulting from amendments to the
Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
Hospitality
Compared to fiscal year 2011-2012, departmental hospitality expenditures increased mainly due to:
- holding of an Integrated National Training Seminar for the IRB members and adjudicative support personnel in support of the implementation of the new refugee determination system.
Conference fees
Compared to fiscal year 2011-2012, departmental conference fees expenditures decreased mainly due to:
- fewer IRB staff members attended conferences.