Rescinded [2014-01-06] - Guideline on Amendments to the Directive on the Management of Expenditures on Travel, Hospitality and Conferences
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1. Purpose
The purpose of this guideline is to assist departments and agencies in implementing key changes to the Directive on the Management of Expenditures on Travel, Hospitality and Conferences (the Directive) that were introduced on October 3, 2012. Annex A provides a summary of key changes and Annex B a set of frequently asked questions.
This guideline provides clarification on the application of the new approval requirements for expenditure initiation for events and hospitality.
2. Events
A. Events for which Ministerial approvals under the Directive are required
Events are defined in Appendix B of the Directive as:
- Events
- include business meetings, conferences as well as any other formal gathering of federal government or non-federal government persons invited to participate in activities such as interviews for recruitment into the public service, prestigious ceremonies, awards and recognition ceremonies. This may include participants from other levels of government or foreign governments, foreign or political dignitaries, national or international organizations, industry representatives and public interest groups. For the purpose of an event approval, total costs include items, such as conferences fees, professional services, hospitality, accommodation, transportation, meals and other relevant costs including those for participants on travel status.
Associated definitions of business meeting and conferences:
- Business Meetings
- are meetings conducted to advance government objectives or operations, including departmental and/or interdepartmental working sessions, work planning meetings, advisory and management committees and staff retreats. Business meetings may or may not involve non-federal government persons.
- Conferences
- refer to a congress, convention or a seminar or other organized or formal gathering where participants debate or are informed of the status of a discipline (e.g. sciences, economics, technology, management etc.). (This definition is based on the object of expenditure 0823 Conference Fees of the Receiver General Chart of Accounts). Guest speakers are often part of such conferences that involve federal government and/or non-federal government persons. Retreats, work-planning meetings and training seminars or courses that provide training are not considered as conferences.
For additional clarification, for the purpose of event approval, it should include costs related to the full duration of a business meeting, conference, or any other formal gathering for a specific business purpose or having a similar objective. An event could last one day or several days and would include all associated activities. For example, Departmental Audit Committee meetings, senior management meetings, retreats or working groups for the purpose of managing departmental affairs would constitute an event requiring appropriate approval under the requirements of this Directive. Note that event approvals continue to be required even where there is no hospitality provided.
B. Events for which Ministerial approvals under the Directive are not required
The three situations where Ministerial approval of events is not required under the Directive are outlined below. It should be noted that the hospitality aspects of the Directive apply regardless of whether approval of an event is required.
Events less than $25,000- Ministerial approval is not required where the total cost of an event is less than $25,000.
Departments will still be required to action other necessary approvals outlined in the Directive. Approvals per established departmental process and delegated authorities matrices also continue to be necessary.
Functional Responsibility- In situations where the primary purpose of an event relates to the direct delivery of the core mandate of the department, Ministerial approval is not required. Some examples include, but are not limited to:
- military exercises;
- border security;
- policing;
- inspection, investigation and enforcement, such as in the areas of food safety and compliance with tax law etc.;
- regulatory, judicial and quasi-judicial proceedings; or
- emergency responses in cases where there is a crisis and departments are required to respond instantaneously to contribute to the damage control and avoidance or minimization of further impact on national safety, health and security. Examples include natural disasters, international crisis etc.
In these cases approvals per established departmental process and delegated authorities matrices continue to be necessary.
Training- Certain training activities are not considered events requiring Ministerial approval. In general, training refers to a range of activities and related costs whose primary purpose is to enable the participants to maintain or acquire skills or knowledge for successful performance of their duties in a job, occupation or profession. Under the Directive, the types of training activities specifically excluded from requiring Ministerial approval are:
- Formalized programs approved and delivered by a department to departmental staff to ensure that staff are qualified to perform their assigned duties;
- Formalized program of instruction to ensure that staff are qualified to perform their assigned duties approved by a department and delivered by a third party such as the Canada School of Public Service, universities or colleges; or
- Formalized program of instruction or accreditation approved by a professional body as recognized by federal or provincial statute and delivered by organizations certified by the professional body, including for the purpose of acquiring or maintaining those accreditations required by staff as part of their duties.
In these cases approvals per established departmental process and delegated authorities matrices continue to be necessary.
C. Interpretation of events requiring Ministerial approvals
When it is not clear whether an event or class of events requires approval as set out in the Directive, it is recommended that departments engage their Chief Financial Office, Deputy Head and/or Minister. This approach is consistent with the principle of full disclosure to the Minister. Departments who are dealing with particularly complex or unique situations can also contact the OCG for advice.
D. Costs of Events
In the definition of "events" for purposes of an event approval under the Directive, total departmental costs include items such as:
- conference fees,
- professional services,
- hospitality,
- accommodation,
- transportation,
- meals; and
- other relevant costs including those for participants on travel status.
The total cost of an event also includes:
- Costs incurred by the Minister or the Minister's staff for activities related to a department's programs that are charged to the department's budget; and
- Other relevant costs, such as taxes, gratuities and service charges.
However, the cost of an event does not include:
- Salary and wage costs of public servants; and
- Other departmental fixed operating costs for the on-going operations of the department.
3. Approval Authorities
The table below reflects the levels of approval authorities for expenditure initiation that are required in a department or agency for approving an event and specific hospitality elements as outlined in section 2.5, Appendix A, of the Directive.
| Approval Authority | Event Costs | Directive Reference |
|---|---|---|
|
Notes:
|
||
| Minister See endnote 1, See endnote 2, See endnote 3 | Exceeding $25,000 | s.2.5.1 |
| Deputy Head (DH) | Exceeding $5,000 but $25,000 or less (cannot be delegated) | s.2.5.5 |
| Senior Departmental Manager (SDM)/ Delegate | $5,000 or less | s.2.5.6 |
| Approval Authority | Total Hospitality Costs | Directive Reference |
|---|---|---|
|
Notes:
|
||
| Minister See endnote 1, See endnote 2, See endnote 3 | Exceeding $5,000 | s.2.5.2.a |
| Deputy Head (DH) | Exceeding $1,500 but $5,000 or less (cannot be delegated) | s.2.5.5 |
| Exceeding $5,000 but $25,000 or less (only if delegated by the Minister) | s.2.5.2.1 | |
| Senior Departmental Manager (SDM)/ Delegate | $1,500 or less | s.2.5.6 |
| Approval Authority | Hospitality Element | Directive Reference |
|---|---|---|
|
Notes:
|
||
| Minister See endnote 1, See endnote 2, See endnote 3 Or Deputy Head (DH), only if delegated by the Minister under s.2.5.2.1 |
Alcoholic Beverages | s.2.5.2.b |
| Food and beverage costs exceeding the maximum or standard cost per person | s.2.5.2.c | |
| Entertainment | s.2.5.2.d | |
| Hospitality or entertainment provided to a spouse or to a person accompanying an event participant | s.2.5.2.e | |
| Hospitality extended at the residence of a federal employee | s.2.5.2.f | |
| Minister | Hospitality for honouring a distinguished Canadian | s.2.5.2.g |
Considerations:
In circumstances where multiple levels of authority are required for an event and/or provision of hospitality, a single approval approach is recommended. The highest approval authority would therefore provide the sole approval for the elements under this directive.
For example, a department is organizing an event and the estimated departmental cost is $1,500 and alcoholic beverages will be provided. Based on the Directive, two levels of approval authority are required: 1) the Senior Departmental Manager or delegate for the estimated total departmental cost; and 2) the Minister for the provision of alcoholic beverages. Based on a single approval approach, the Minister, as the highest approval authority, would approve both the planned total departmental cost of the event and the provision of alcoholic beverages.
4. Enquiries
Please direct your enquiries to your department's Chief Financial Officer Branch. For further interpretation, the departmental Chief Financial Officer Branch may contact:
Financial Management Sector
Office of the Comptroller General
Treasury Board Secretariat
Ottawa ON K1A 0R5
Email: Contact Financial Management Sector at fin-www@tbs-sct.gc.ca
Telephone: 613-957-7233
Annex A
Summary of the Changes to the Directive on the Management of Expenditures on Travel, Hospitality and Conferences
The following extracts reflect the October 2012 changes to the Directive on the Management of Expenditures on Travel, Hospitality and Conferences.
-
A new provision (6.5) was inserted in Section 6 - Requirements for deputy heads regarding the approval of an event where the total departmental cost exceeds $25,000.
6.5 Ensuring that approval is received from the appropriate minister in cases where the total departmental cost for a single event exceeds $25,000, or any other element listed in section 2.5.2, Part 2, Appendix A are present; where the situation is the former confirming that the event provides a) value for money and b) the use of the most economical option to minimize or reduce costs, and where the situation is the latter, that total event costs are disclosed to the minister, for information.
-
Part 2 of the Appendix A was reorganized and streamlined.
- Previous section 2.1 “Restrictions for federal government persons” now becomes section 2.3
- Previous section 2.2 “Non-federal government persons” now becomes section 2.4
- Previous section 2.3 “Elements of hospitality and restrictions” now becomes section 2.1
- Previous section 2.4 “Hospitality expenditures do not include the following” now becomes section 2.2
-
Table 2 was removed and replaced by Section 2.5.
2.5 Approval Authority See footnote *
(Return to footnote reference *) Approval authority required for expenditure initiation.
2.5.1 Ministerial approval is required when total departmental costs associated with the event exceed $25,000.
2.5.2 When total departmental costs associated with an event are $25,000 or less, Ministerial approval is required for the following elements unless delegated under 2.5.2.1 or 2.5.2.2. In all circumstances, total departmental event costs will be provided to the Minister for information purposes.
- Total hospitality costs associated with the event exceed $5,000; or
- Alcoholic beverages will be provided; or
- Food and beverage costs exceed the maximum or standard cost per person (Table 1); or
- Entertainment will be provided; or
- Hospitality or entertainment will be provided to a spouse or to a person accompanying an event participant; or
- Hospitality paid by the federal government will be extended at the residence of a federal employee; or
- Hospitality for honouring a distinguished Canadian.
2.5.2.1 Ministers may choose to delegate to a deputy head, in writing, any element of the approval authorities in 2.5.2 a. to f. When a deputy head has increased delegation for any element of 2.5.2 a. to f., ministerial approval is still required for all events where total departmental costs exceed $25,000.
2.5.2.2 Increased hospitality approval authority limits under 2.5.2 a. may be delegated only when the deputy head has government-wide responsibility for a community of practice, including training delivery, or to meet operational requirements.
2.5.2.3 Where the purpose of an event is to honour a distinguished Canadian, the minister is to ensure that prior approval of the purpose has been obtained from the Prime Minister, Cabinet or Treasury Board as appropriate.
2.5.3 Where an event requiring ministerial approval is hosted by the department, the minister will also be provided, for information, the total estimated federal cost for all participating departments.
2.5.4 With respect to the Office of Auditor General, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, the Office of the Information Commissioner, the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying, the Office of the Commissioner of Official Language and the Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner, deputy heads of these organizations can exercise the ministerial approval authority in the preceding sections.
2.5.5 Deputy head approval of an event is required when the event has the following characteristics:
- Total departmental costs associated with the event exceed $5,000 but are less than $25,000; or
- Total hospitality costs associated with the event exceed $1,500 but are less than $5,000; and
- None of the elements listed in 2.5.2 a. to g. are present for which delegated authority has not been provided.
2.5.6 Senior departmental manager or delegate approval of an event is required when the event has the following characteristics:
- Total departmental costs associated with the event are $5,000 or less; and
- Total hospitality costs associated with the event are $1,500 or less, and
- None of the elements listed in 2.5.2 are present.
-
Appendix B – The Definitions section was updated to include a definition for “Entertainment” and to add a sentence to the definition of “Events” with examples of total cost elements.
- Entertainment (divertissement)
- includes, but is not limited to tickets to musical, theatre, sporting or similar events, tours of local or other places of interest, and other similar activities for reasons of courtesy, diplomacy and protocol.
- Events (événements)
- ………For the purpose of an event approval, total costs include items, such as conferences fees, professional services, hospitality, accommodation, transportation, meals and other relevant costs including those for participants on travel status.
Annex B
Frequently Asked Questions
Why was the Directive amended?
The Directive was amended to provide enhanced oversight and ministerial awareness of costs related to planned events that departments and agencies are organizing or participating in, and to promote fiscal prudence.
What is meant by "government-wide responsibility for a community of practice"?
Government-wide responsibility for a community of practice refers to situations where a department has responsibility, on their own or in partnership with other departments, for coordinating or managing a specific and defined functional group of federal government employees or appointees (e.g. military forces, food inspectors, ADM community, etc).
Does the Directive apply to events that are organized by third-parties?
The Directive applies to all events that are organized by federal government entities as well as events attended by federal government employees that are organized by third-parties. In cases where the Directive applies, approvals relate to federal departments' costs only. Departments are encouraged to review the clarifications provided in the Guideline in light of their departments' business and operational needs.
Does the Directive apply if I am participating in an event organized by another department or agency?
The Directive applies to both the department that is participating in an event and the department that is organizing an event.
Where a department is attending in an event, total departmental costs associated with the event will be approved by the appropriate approval authority (i.e. the minister, the deputy head or the senior departmental manager or delegate). Where a department is also hosting the event and a ministerial approval for the event is required, the minister will also be provided, for information, the total estimated federal cost for all participating departments as required under section 2.5.3 of Appendix A of the Directive. Note that the Minister of the hosting department only approves the costs of his or her own department.