Quarterly financial report for the quarter ended December 31, 2020

Statement outlining results, risks and significant changes in operations, personnel and program

Introduction

This quarterly report was 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. It should be read in conjunction with the OPC Main and Supplementary Estimates.

The OPC’s mandate is overseeing compliance with both the Privacy Act (PA), which covers the personal information-handling practices of federal government institutions, and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), Canada’s federal private sector privacy law.

Detailed information on the OPC’s authority, mandate and programs can be found in our Departmental Plan (DP) and the Main Estimates.

Basis for Presentation

This quarterly report has been prepared by management using an expenditure basis of accounting. The accompanying Statement of Authorities includes the Office’s spending authorities granted by Parliament and those used by the Office, consistent with the Main Estimates and the Supplementary Estimates (as applicable) for fiscal year 2020-21. 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. (More information)

The authority of Parliament is required before moneys 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 OPC uses full accrual method of accounting to prepare and present its annual financial statements that are part of the departmental performance reporting process. However, the spending authorities voted by Parliament remain on an expenditure basis.

This report has not been subject to an external audit or review.

Highlights of fiscal quarter and fiscal year to date (YTD) Results

This section highlights the significant variances between actual expenditures and planned expenditures that affected both the quarter and the year-to-date results, compared to the same period the preceding fiscal year.

Statement of authorities analysis

As expected, the OPC received full supply for the 2020-21 Main Estimates in December 2020. In the statement of authorities table, the authorities available for use for the year are $30.9M compared to $31.0M in 2019-20. Total authorities represent the OPC’s 2020-21 Main Estimates amount, the reimbursement of eligible paylist expenditures and the operating budget carry forward.

However, the OPC’s expected total authorities available for use for the year 2020-21 are $32.2M, which represents an increase of $1.3M. This variance is explained by the compensation adjustments to fund salary increases to meet obligations under new collective agreements. This additional funding will be transferred to the OPC following the approval of the final Supplementary Estimates of 2020-21.

As of December 31, 2020, the OPC used $21.0M of its authorities available for use while for the same period in the preceding fiscal year, the OPC had used $19.3M of its authorities available for use. This increase is mainly attributable to the implementation of the Budget 2019 measure and relates more specifically to additional personnel expenditures due to new hiring’s and salary increases following the ratification of collective agreements.

The OPC provides Internal Support Services to other small government departments related to the provision of information technology services. Pursuant to section 29.2 of the Financial Administration Act, Internal Support Services agreements are recorded as revenues.

Budgetary expenditures by standard object analysis

As per the departmental budgetary expenditures by standard object table, the OPC’s quarterly spending has increased by $0.2M or 2.4% compared to the previous year while the year-to-date spending has increased by $1.7M or 8.7% when compared to the same period last fiscal year. These increases are mainly attributable to the implementation of the Budget 2019 measure and relates more specifically to additional personnel expenditures due to new hiring’s and salary increases following the ratification of collective agreements. However, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the OPC’s expenditures for travel, exhibits, training, translation and temporary help services have decreased. The OPC’s acquisition of informatics technology equipment have also decreased when compared to the same period last fiscal year.

Risks and Uncertainties

As mentioned in previous quarterly reports, the OPC’s key corporate risks are identified and assessed through its strategic planning process, which includes an environmental scanning exercise and an update of its Corporate Risk Profile. This year again, the Office continues to deal with a challenging operating context, stemming from the growing digital economy. For more information on these challenges, and how the OPC is addressing them, please refer to the section titled Plans at a glance and Operating Context of the OPC’s 2020-21 Departmental Plan.

As with other government departments and agencies, the COVID-19 outbreak is creating challenges for the OPC.  Despite this, we have remained operational throughout the pandemic while respecting public health guidelines.  Working remotely continues to be very effective for the OPC and staff are able to provide services as usual.

In addition, the OPC continues to take actions to mitigate the issues arising with the implementation of the Phoenix pay system for its employees and to monitor closely any salary payments adjustments that may be required.

Significant changes in relation to operations, personnel and programs

The pandemic has created an increase in activity as the greater use of digital technologies has raised many privacy issues. Of note, new guidance was produced on Privacy in a Pandemic environment, a framework was developed to assess COVID-19 related initiatives from a privacy perspective, engagement and coordination efforts with Provincial and Territorial counterparts as well as international organizations took place and advisory engagements on multiple federal and private sector COVID-19 initiatives were carried out. Also of note, the number of complaints received so far this year has decreased compared to last year while privacy breaches reported to our Office have increased significantly.

During the last quarter, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada tabled in Parliament its latest Annual Report which examines, among other privacy matters, lessons learned about privacy in a pandemic and issued the following statement regarding the tabling of Bill C-11, the federal government’s proposed new private-sector privacy legislation.

No other significant changes related to operations, personnel or programs occurred during the third quarter of 2020-21.

Approval by Senior Officials:

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Statement of Authorities (unaudited)
(in thousands of dollars)
For the quarter ended December 31, 2020

	Fiscal year 2020-2021			Fiscal year 2019-2020
	Total available for use for the year ending March 31, 2021	Used during the quarter ended December 31, 2020	Year to date used at quarter end	Total available for use for the year ending March 31, 2020	Used during the quarter ended December 31, 2019	Year to date used at quarter end
Program expenditures	28,041	6,903	18,746	27,789	6,801	17,320
Less: Revenues Netted Against Expenditures	(200)	(56)	(113)	(200)	(48)	(97)
Budgetary statutory authority - Employee benefit plan	3,097	774	2,322	3,455	687	2,060
Total budgetary authorities	30,938	7,621	20,955	31,044	7,439	19,283
TOTAL AUTHORITIES	30,938	7,621	20,955	31,044	7,439	19,283

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Departmental budgetary expenditures by Standard Object (unaudited)
(in thousands of dollars)
For the quarter ended December 31, 2020

	Fiscal year 2020-2021			Fiscal year 2019-2020
	Planned expenditures for the year ending March 31, 2021	Expended during the quarter ended December 31, 2020	Year to date used at quarter end	Planned expenditures for the year ending March 31, 2020	Expended during the quarter ended December 31, 2019	Year to date used at quarter end
Expenditures
Personnel	25,167	6,158	17,627	24,826	5,567	15,024
Transportation and communications	587	44	144	444	247	475
Information	508	148	197	377	59	207
Professional and special services	3,020	956	1,921	4,065	1,149	2,325
Rentals	575	117	677	429	273	664
Repair and maintenance	82	9	30	63	(17)	35
Utilities, materials and supplies	107	34	95	77	26	71
Acquisition of land, buildings and works	-	-	34	-	44	44
Acquisition of machinery and equipment	591	185	223	462	192	426
Transfer payments	500	-	-	500	8	27
Other subsidies and paymentsFootnote 1	1	26	120	1	(61)	82
Total gross budgetary expenditures	31,138	7,677	21,068	31,244	7,487	19,380
Less: Revenues netted against expenditures
Internal Support Services	(200)	(56)	(113)	(200)	(48)	(97)
TOTAL BUDGETARY EXPENDITURES	30,938	7,621	20,955	31,044	7,439	19,283