Guide to Travel, Hospitality, Conference and Event Expenditures

What is a travel plan?

A travel plan is a document that contains information about travel requirements for employees over a specific period.

When should a travel plan be used?

A travel plan can be useful in situations where departments can predict in detail who will need to travel, as well as when and where the travel will occur.

What should be included in a travel plan?

When the travel plan is used to obtain expenditure initiation approval, it should contain detailed estimates of travel costs and a rationale for why the travel is required, as described in subsection A.2.2.8 of the Treasury Board Directive.

If travel expenditures for companions are permitted under legislation, regulations, orders-in-council, National Joint Council directives or Treasury Board–approved instruments, or approved as per subsection A.2.2.12 of the Treasury Board Directive, the authority should be documented in the travel plan or in the travel request. Further information on companion travel can be found in subsection A.6.3 of this guide.

How often should a travel plan be prepared?

Travel plans can be prepared monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or annually, depending on a department’s operational needs.

What is the development and approval process for travel plans?

The CFO should:

• develop and coordinate the department’s travel plan process, including the format and content of travel plans
• establish procedures for approving travel plans and for approving trips not included in those plans
• present the consolidated departmental travel plan to the department’s executive management committees to support effective management oversight and resource planning

To maximize efficiencies in the approval process, approvals of travel plans and events can be coordinated (see section D.2 of this guide for more information on combining travel approval with event approval).

A.5.1 Local travel

According to subsection A.2.2.6.1 of the Treasury Board Directive, travel approval authorities under the Treasury Board Directive do not apply to local travel within the normal office location and surrounding working area of a public servant.

Departments should define local travel to reflect their operational circumstances. The definition of “local travel” should include the limits under which local travel would be excluded from the travel approvals in the Treasury Board Directive. Departments should define and document the approval authorities for local travel, for example in their supporting notes to the delegation chart.

Departmental definitions of local travel apply to expenditure initiation authority for travel and are independent of the definitions relating to travel entitlements in the various modules of the NJC travel directive. Contact your designated departmental travel coordinator or your departmental financial policy group for more information.

A.5.2 Approval authority for travel by the deputy head

According to subsection A.2.2.9 of the Treasury Board Directive, the CFO must approve travel by the deputy head. Departments should establish written policies or procedures for approval and payment of the deputy head’s travel expenses.

A.6.1 Travel of non-public servants

For the purpose of the Treasury Board Directive, non-public servants include the following:

• Canadians who are travelling to receive departmental services and programs
• individuals who are participating in departmental consultations and negotiations
• contractors who are doing the work specified in their contract
• individuals who are being interviewed for employment in the department

When a contract sets out travel requirements and states that the contractor will be reimbursed for travel costs, any travel by the contractor must be explicitly approved. If it is determined that the contractor will need to travel after the contract is signed, a subsequent travel approval is required.

The department should determine where in the contracting process it is most efficient and effective to obtain the necessary travel approval authority.

A.6.2 Travel of ministers and their exempt staff

According to subsection A.2.2.3 of the Treasury Board Directive, travel undertaken in support of departmental business by appropriate ministers and their exempt staff is not subject to travel expenditure initiation under the Treasury Board Directive. This travel falls under the Policies for Ministers’ Offices and the Special Travel Authorities.

The CFO should advise the minister’s chief of staff on the development of relevant procedures.

A.6.3 Companion travel

A minister can approve companion travel in accordance with subsection A.2.2.12 of the Treasury Board Directive. The minister may choose to approve on a case-by-case basis or for types of situations. Examples could include attending key award and recognition ceremonies or activities requiring participation of companions for reason of protocol or diplomacy. This authority can only be delegated to the deputy head.

Companion travel authorized under legislation, regulations, orders-in-council, National Joint Council directives or Treasury Board–approved instruments are not subject to the restrictions of the Treasury Board Directive.

In situations where there are existing authorities to allow for companion travel, the authority should be documented in the travel plan or in the travel request as described in subsection A.2 of this guide.

A.7.1 Recording trip authorization elements

Departments need to ensure that the trip authorization elements are included in the travel authorization for expenditure initiation purposes when the department pays travel costs for a public servant or a non-public servant.

The trip authorization elements are to be captured and recorded for each trip or in a travel plan.

The trip authorization elements, as described in subsection A.2.2.8 of the Treasury Board Directive, are as follows:

1. Objective
2. Category (see subsection A.7.2 of this guide for more information)
3. Traveller as public servant or non-public servant
4. Virtual presence or other remote meeting solutions
5. Number of travellers
6. Mode of transportation (including the six modes of transportation)
7. Accommodations
8. Meals
9. Incidentals and other costs

As described in subsection A.2.2.13 of the Treasury Board Directive, the following trip authorization elements must be recorded in either the departmental financial management system, a related system (such as the Shared Travel Services travel authorization module or a departmental online system) or a departmental process that uses travel authorization forms:

• B. Category
• F. Mode of transportation (including the six modes of transportation)
• G. Accommodations
• H. Meals
• I. Incidentals and other costs

It is expected that the departmental financial management system will directly capture the trip authorization elements through the use of general ledger codes aligned with the 10 detailed object codes in the government-wide chart of accounts for Canada (see section A.7.3 of this guide) if the department chooses not to use a related system.

A.7.2 Categories of travel

According to subsection A.2.2.7 of the Treasury Board Directive, one of the following five travel categories must be recorded as element B in the trip authorization elements (described in subsection A.7.1 of this guide):

• Operational activities: travel required to support the department’s operational activities (other than the following categories), legislative or legal requirements
• Key stakeholders: travel necessary to engage key stakeholders in relation to such matters as policy, program or regulatory development or renewal
• Internal governance: travel necessary to support sound internal departmental governance
• Training: travel to enable the training of public servants
• Other travel

The “operational activities” category should be selected for activities that meet the definition of operational activities and for travel that does not fit with the definition of “key stakeholders,” “internal governance” or “training.”

The “key stakeholders” or “internal governance” categories should be selected when they represent the main purpose of the travel, even if the trip includes some aspects of “operational activities.”

The following examples illustrate the selection of the appropriate travel category in different situations:

• record the costs for departmental employees to travel to engage with stakeholders on the design of a new departmental program as “key stakeholders” even if the program is considered one of the department’s “operational activities”
• record the travel costs of Departmental Audit Committee members as “internal governance”
• record the costs for a food inspector to travel to a meat-processing plant to perform a food safety inspection as “operational activities”

A.7.3 Economic object codes for the travel of public servants and non-public servants

Travel costs are to be recorded using the economic object code for the appropriate category of public servant and non-public servant travel listed in the government-wide chart of accounts for Canada, as illustrated in Table 3.

B.6.1   Private club membership

Departments are not permitted to purchase memberships in private clubs, either in the name of the department or an individual. 

As per subsection B.2.2.13 of the Treasury Board Directive, a minister has the authority to approve on an exceptional basis the purchase of a membership in a private club. This authority can only be delegated to the deputy head.

Private club membership does not include membership in a professional body, for example, the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada, the Canadian Medical Association or the Canadian Bar Association.

B.6.2 Situations where only public servants are present    

In situations where only public servants are present, hospitality should be provided only on an exceptional basis. Subsection B.2.2.3 of the Treasury Board Directive states that when only public servants are present, hospitality can only be provided in situations where participation is required in operational meetings, training or events that extend beyond normal working hours, including where there are no nearby or appropriate facilities to obtain refreshments or meals, or staff dispersal is not effective or efficient. “Beyond normal working hours” includes situations where public servants are required to work through normal break and meal periods.

B.6.3   Award and recognition ceremonies for public servants

Paragraph 12(1)(b) of the Financial Administration Act provides deputy heads with the authority to provide awards to employees. Hospitality provided as part of a related award and recognition ceremony to public servants should be provided only on an exceptional basis and should follow the hospitality approval process. Event approval is also required. The authority under paragraph 12(1)(b) of the Financial Administration Act does not provide authority for the reimbursement of expenses for companion travel (see subsection A.6.3 of this guide for information on approval of companion travel).

B.6.4   Situations where the department has no discretion in the provision of hospitality

Subsection B.2.2.4 of the Treasury Board Directive recognizes that in some circumstances, departments must provide meals to public servants. For example, when a collective agreement stipulates that meals must be provided to public servants in the course of their duties, no hospitality approval is required. In these circumstances, Appendix B of the Treasury Board Directive does not apply.

B.6.5   Exceptional hospitality

Approval from the appropriate minister is required for hospitality that is considered exceptional due to unusual circumstances and that is not covered under the ministerial approval authority in subsection B.2.2.6 of the Treasury Board Directive. Exceptional hospitality can be approved by the appropriate minister as long as it is deemed necessary for reasons of courtesy, diplomacy or protocol, or to facilitate the achievement of the business of the government in accordance with subsection B.2.2.1 of the Treasury Board Directive. Appropriate ministers may choose to delegate to the deputy head the approval of exceptional hospitality in accordance with subsection B.2.2.6 of the Treasury Board Directive. The deputy head cannot sub-delegate the approval of exceptional hospitality.

B.6.6   Situations where the individual who would normally approve hospitality also attends the event

Subsection B.2.2.9 of the Treasury Board Directive states that an appropriate alternative approval authority must be obtained when the individual who would normally approve the hospitality is also a participant at the hospitality event. Only ministers are exempted from this requirement. The alternative individual needs to have sufficient delegated approval authority.

Subsection B.2.2.10 of the Treasury Board Directive states that the CFO will be the approval authority for hospitality when the deputy head is in attendance at the event and where the deputy head would normally approve the hospitality. To avoid the perception that the deputy head is in conflict of interest, the CFO approves the hospitality up to the limits delegated to the deputy head, including when the CFO is also in attendance at the same hospitality event.

B.6.7 Coordination of approvals

To maximize efficiencies, if approval is required for an event and the event includes hospitality, then the event and hospitality should be approved together at the highest approval level.

For example, a department is organizing an event. The travel and other costs are low, but the food and beverage costs are above the standard cost per person in subsection B.2.2.2.1 of the Treasury Board Directive. Ministerial approval should therefore be sought for both hospitality and event expenditures, in accordance with subsection B.2.2.6.3 of the Treasury Board Directive.

Departments can determine how to coordinate event approvals. In cases where the CFO has approved hospitality because the deputy head is in attendance, the deputy head approves the event within the event approval authorities, as applicable.

C.4.1 Conference attendance to share information

Attendance at a conference to share recent developments on a product or service provided by a private organization or to increase awareness of a certain subject requires conference and event approval. For example, a conference that an employee attends to gather information on a product (such as a trade show) that the department is considering purchasing requires conference and event approval.

Attendance at a conference that is not necessary for the department to achieve its objectives requires conference and event approval. For example, a conference that an employee attends to increase his or her awareness of specific issues or to receive updates on a discipline unrelated to his or her daily tasks requires conference and event approval.

C.4.2 Conference attendance in support of departmental programs

There may be situations where attendance at a conference is required to help deliver the department’s programs or services, such as promoting a departmental program or service or engaging with stakeholders. In these situations, the attendance at the conference may be considered an operational activity; therefore, conference and event approval is not required. For example:

• a conference where an employee delivers a presentation or discusses with stakeholders the design of a departmental program could be considered an operational activity
• a student conference where human resources employees responsible for recruitment work at an information booth to promote careers in the Government of Canada could be considered an operational activity

C.4.3 Conference attendance in support of learning and professional development

Attendance at a large information-sharing or learning session for the purpose of learning or professional development (for example, fees for employees to participate in a large learning session to help them maintain or acquire skills or knowledge they need to perform their duties) may be considered training by the government-wide functional community leads. See subsection D.3.2.1 of this guide for more information.

D.3.1 Operational activities

Operational activities do not require event approval. The Treasury Board Directive defines operational activities as those activities undertaken to deliver departmental programs and services, including departmental internal services. For individuals, operational activities are those activities undertaken in the performance of their assigned tasks, as set out in position descriptions, terms of reference, statements of work, or other similar documents. Any gathering of individuals whose purpose is not to conduct operational activities is to be defined as an “event.”

The chief financial officer (CFO) should ensure that the department has a process in place to support individuals who have delegated approval authority in making the distinction between operational activities and events.

The CFO is encouraged to confirm with the deputy head the desired treatment of certain approvals, including where discretion may be applied. Factors such as public perception, nature, scale or significance of an event, and ministerial expectations may all affect the determination of whether an activity should be classified as an operational activity or an event.

Figure 4 provides examples to illustrate when an activity could be considered an operational activity or an event.

Figure 4: Text version

This figure provides examples of operational and non-operational activities and whether event approval is required.

Activity	Is this activity an operational activity?	Is event approval required?
Delivery of departmental programs or services (for example employees of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency performing food inspections)	Yes	No
Delivery of internal services that support the delivery of departmental programs or services (for example, internal audit)	Yes	No
Meetings to plan activities that support departmental programs or services, including internal services (for example, meetings to plan stakeholder consultations as part of the development or amendment of regulations)	Yes	No
Governance activities that are an essential part of departmental oversight (for example, Departmental Audit Committee meetings)	Yes	No
Meetings to brief staff or provide an update on key priorities (for example, staff meetings, staff retreats, management retreats)	No	Yes
Activities to recognize teams or employees (for example, departmental celebrations and award and recognition ceremonies)	No	Yes

D.3.2 Training

Training activities are not considered events. They should be approved according to the established departmental processes for training, such as the delegated spending and financial authorities or the delegation of human resources authorities. They should also form part of an individual’s annual training plan, as described in subsection D.2.2.2 of the Treasury Board Directive.

D.3.2.1 Conference versus training: large information-sharing or learning sessions

What are large information-sharing or learning sessions?

Large information-sharing or learning sessions are conferences that may support an individual’s learning and professional development or provide information on the status of a subject. These sessions have a large number of participants and may include participants from the public sector and private sector. These sessions do not include traditional forms of training, such as courses offered by the Canada School of Public Service, a university or other post-secondary institutions. Each large information-sharing or learning session is to be assessed on a case-by-case basis to determine whether it is to be considered as a conference or as training for approval purposes.

What is the role of government-wide functional community leads?

The government-wide functional community leads at the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (as described in Table 5) will objectively determine, on a case-by-case basis, whether large information-sharing or learning sessions are to be considered conferences or training.

For example, the Comptroller General of Canada will make decisions on the treatment of large information-sharing or learning sessions for the financial management function. The financial management function could include several occupational groups, for example, Financial Management (FI) and Administrative Services (AS) involved in the financial management function.

Table 5: Government-wide functional community leads

Government-wide functional community lead	Function
Comptroller General of Canada	Financial management, internal audit, real property, material management, procurement and project management
Chief Information Officer of the Government of Canada	Information management, information technology and security
Chief Human Resources Officer	People management and executives
Departmental deputy head (not a government-wide functional community lead)	Other communities where there is no government-wide functional community lead, such as research, health services, legal services, applied science, economics and social science services, etc.

How do government-wide functional community leads communicate decisions about the designation of a large information-sharing or learning session?

When the government-wide functional community lead has made a decision about the designation of a large information-sharing or learning session, the information will be posted on the GCpedia page (accessible only on the Government of Canada network).

CFOs and departmental heads of human resources are responsible for regularly reviewing the GCpedia page (accessible only on the Government of Canada network) to ensure that the appropriate approvals for the large information-sharing or learning sessions are obtained for their departmental staff.

What if there is no government-wide functional community lead?

If there is no government-wide functional community lead, the deputy head will decide how large information-sharing or learning sessions will be treated for their staff. It is recommended that departments maintain a list of conferences for which an internal decision has been made and make it available within their department.

What approvals are required?

If the large information-sharing or learning session is designated as a conference, then conference approval and event approval are required.

If the large information-sharing or learning session is designated as training, then conference approval and event approval are not required.

• Training approval is to be obtained through the established departmental processes as described in subsection D.3.2 of this guide.
• Ideally before the conference, the CFO should provide the deputy head with a report for information purposes (not for approval) on the total departmental costs and number of participants when the total cost of the conference (including associated costs, such as travel) exceeds $50,000.

Figure 5 shows the process to determine which approval is required for a large information-sharing or learning session.

Figure 5: Text version

This figure provides an overview of the approval process for large information-sharing or learning sessions. It illustrates the difference in the process for decisions made by the government-wide functional community lead and the deputy head (when there is no government-wide functional community lead).

Approvals process when there is a government-wide functional community lead

If the government-wide functional community lead has designated a large information-sharing or learning session as training, training approval is required.

If the government-wide functional community lead has not yet designated a session as training or a conference, he or she is asked to make a decision. If the government-wide functional community lead decides that the large information-sharing or learning session is training, training approval is required. If the functional community lead decides that the session is a conference, conference approval and event approval are required.

Approvals process when there is no government-wide functional community lead

If there is no government-wide functional community lead, the departmental process should be followed; for example, consulting a list of sessions that the deputy head has designated as training or conferences. If the deputy head decides to designate a session as training, training approval is required. If the deputy head decides to designate a session as a conference, conference approval and event approval are required.

D.3.3 Recording of large information-sharing or learning session expenses

To ensure consistent government-wide coding, all travel expenses incurred to attend a large information-sharing or learning session should be coded to the appropriate economic object code, as described in Table 3 of Appendix A of this guide.

If a large information-sharing or learning session is designated as a conference, then the expenses should be recorded using economic object 0823.

If a large information-sharing or learning session is designated as training, then the expenses should be recorded using economic object 0447.

D.3.4 Summary of when event approval authority is required for training, conferences and events

Table 6 shows the distinction between training, conferences and events and outlines when event approval is required.

G.3.1 Travel

Travel expenditures include the following expenses of public servants and non-public servants, including when a travel agency invoices a department for the following expenses:

• transportation of people by air, rail, sea, bus, taxi, air taxi and tolls
• meals, incidentals and accommodation services such as hotels, motels, corporate residences, apartments, private non-commercial accommodation, and government and institutional accommodation

Travel expenditures are to be recorded using the five categories of travel listed in Table 3 of Appendix A of this guide.

G.3.2 Hospitality expenditures

Hospitality expenditures refer to amounts paid for the provision of hospitality to individuals under the Treasury Board Directive and hospitality governed by other authorities such as Global Affairs Canada’s Official Hospitality Outside Canada policy and the Heads of Post and Foreign Service Official Hospitality directives. Hospitality expenditures are to be recorded using object 0822 of the government-wide chart of accounts for Canada.

G.3.3 Conference expenditures

Conference expenditures refer to fees paid to attend a conference, congress, convention, briefing seminar or other formal gathering in one location where participants debate or are informed of the status of a discipline (for example, science, economics, technology or management).

Conference expenditures do not include amounts paid for the following:

• attending an event for the primary purpose of acquiring training to maintain or acquire skills or knowledge (object 0447)
• travelling to attend a conference (objects 0251 to 0265)
• hosting a conference (for example, facility rental, hospitality, equipment rental)
• attending retreats and work-planning meetings

Conference expenditures are to be recorded using object 0823 of the government-wide chart of accounts for Canada.

[Name of department]

[This template provides generic text that should be included in the report.]

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 [name of department] for the fiscal year ended March 31, YYYY.

Travel, hospitality and conference expenditures incurred by a federal department or agency relate to activities that support the department or agency’s mandate and the government’s priorities.

[Name of department]’s travel, hospitality and conference expenditures support the delivery of the following core programs and services to Canadians:

• [describe, in a few sentences, the department’s mandate, major programs and linkages with core laws or regulations to help readers understand the travel, hospitality and conference expenditures incurred by the department and how they support the department’s mandate.]
• [to avoid duplication of information, include hyperlinks to sections of the department’s Departmental Plan, Departmental Results Report, or other sources of relevant public information]

[Name of department]

[Name of department]

[This template provides generic text that should be included in the report.]

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 [name of department] for the fiscal year ended March 31, YYYY.

Travel, hospitality and conference expenditures incurred by a federal department or agency relate to activities that support the department or agency’s mandate and the government’s priorities.

[Name of department]’s travel, hospitality and conference expenditures support the delivery of the following core programs and services to Canadians:

• [describe, in a few sentences, the department’s mandate, major programs and linkages with core laws or regulations to help readers understand the travel, hospitality and conference expenditures incurred by the department and how they support the department’s mandate]
• [to avoid duplication of information, include hyperlinks to sections of the department’s Departmental Plan, Departmental Results Report or other sources of relevant public information]
• [mention significant structural or program changes (for example, new programs or initiatives, increased program budgets, mergers with other departments, or sunsetting of programs) if there is a direct relationship to variances from the previous year’s expenditures]

[Name of department]

Significant variances compared with previous fiscal year

[Where applicable, briefly explain significant variances from the previous year’s expenditures for each category.]

Travel: compared with fiscal year YYYY–YY, departmental travel expenditures for [specify the expenditure category] [increased/decreased] mainly due to [briefly explain the main reason(s) for the increase or decrease].

Hospitality: compared with fiscal year YYYY–YY, departmental hospitality expenditures [increased/decreased] mainly due to [briefly explain the main reason(s) for the increase or decrease].

Conference fees: compared with fiscal year YYYY–YY, departmental conference fee expenditures [increased/decreased] mainly due to [briefly explain the main reason(s) for the increase or decrease].

Minister and minister’s exempt staff: compared with fiscal year YYYY–YY, departmental expenditures for international travel by the Minister and the Minister’s exempt staff [increased/decreased] mainly due to [briefly explain the main reason(s) for the increase or decrease].