Quarterly Financial Report For the Quarter Ended December 31, 2022

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

Introduction

This Quarterly Financial Report (QFR) is prepared by management as required by section 65.1 of the Financial Administration Act. It should be read in conjunction with the 2022-23 Main Estimates.

Authority, mandate and programs

When the Accessible Canada Act became law in July 2019, it created the Canadian Accessibility Standards Development Organization. In January 2020, the organization adopted the title Accessibility Standards Canada because it is easier to remember and also follows Treasury Board requirements. The legal title of the organization is still the Canadian Accessibility Standards Development Organization, as per the Accessible Canada Act.

Accessibility Standards Canada will help to achieve a Canada without barriers, on or before January 1, 2040. It will do this by:

• developing new, and changing existing, accessibility standards
• supporting innovative research
• sharing information about identifying, removing and preventing accessibility barriers

The December 2019 Mandate Letter to the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion from the Prime Minister highlighted the importance of Accessibility Standards Canada’s work. The letter asked the Minister to: 

• continue her efforts in leading the Government’s work to promote disability inclusion
• support the operationalization of Accessibility Standards Canada, in consultation with the disability community

Accessibility Standards Canada’s priorities for the 2022 to 2023 year are in line with the directives in the Mandate Letter: 

• Accessibility Standards Canada will focus on hiring new people, particularly persons with disabilities
• The organization will continue to build organizational capacity to achieve planned activities such as the creation of model accessibility standards and the support of research to help remove accessibility barriers

The Board will work with persons with disabilities and partners across the country to guide the work.

Further information on Accessibility Standards Canada’s mandate and program activities are found in Part II of the Main Estimates and in the Departmental Plan.

Basis of presentation

This quarterly report was prepared by management using: 

• an expenditure basis of accounting
• a special-purpose financial reporting framework designed to meet financial information needs with respect to the use of spending authorities 

The accompanying Statement of Authorities (Table 1) includes Accessibility Standards Canada’s spending authorities granted by Parliament. It is consistent with the Main Estimates and the budgetary authorities used by the Department for the 2022-23 fiscal year.

Parliament must approve spending by the Government. Approvals are provided annually in allocated limits through appropriation acts or through legislation.

As part of the departmental performance reporting process, Accessibility Standards Canada prepares its annual financial statements on a full accrual basis. It follows Treasury Board accounting policies, which are based on Canadian accounting principles for the public sector. However, the spending authorities voted by Parliament remain on an expenditure basis.

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

Highlights of fiscal quarter and fiscal year-to-date results

This section highlights the significant items that contributed to: 

• the net increase in resources available for the year
• the net increase in year-to-date actual expenditures as of December 31, 2022

Significant changes to budgetary authorities

As of December 31, 2022, Accessibility Standards Canada’s total available authorities for fiscal year 2022 to 2023 amounted to $21.6 million, compared to $20.5 million for the same period last year. This increase of $1.1 million is largely within the operating sub-allotment and is in line with the projected spending of the organization. The total available authorities increased by $0.2M since the second quarter due to new personnel funding related to collective agreements.

Significant changes to authorities used

As of December 31, 2022, Accessibility Standards Canada spent $12.8 million, compared to $11.2M in the previous year. The reason for this $1.6M increase is due to salary invoicing and improved procurement practices. In the prior fiscal year, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) was processing pay files for ASC and then issuing quarterly invoices. This process caused delays in expense reporting. This year, ASC is an independent entity within Phoenix, therefore salary charges appear immediately in the departmental financial system. ASC has also leveraged internal processes to improve procurement timelines. As a result, the department has been able to spend funds more efficiently on professional and special services to help meet its mandate.

Risks and uncertainties

To ensure that corporate objectives are met, key risks were highlighted in the organization’s Departmental Plan. In addition to these risks, an Enterprise-wide Risk Management Framework was presented to the Board to highlight the risks that the organization faces, and how to mitigate them. ASC is still assessing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on operations in both the present and the future.

The primary financial risk is the ramp-up of operations. With a new organization comes a steep learning curve. This uncertainty manifests itself when defining the optimal workforce and financial requirements to achieve its mandate. The agility exhibited by senior management and its Board of Directors is a key mitigation factor that allows Accessibility Standards Canada to build its operations. Decisions are made in a timely manner, which allows for great efficiency and minimizes the impact COVID-19 could have had on the ramp-up of its operations.

Significant changes related to operations, personnel and programs

As a fledgling department, Accessibility Standards Canada is meeting unique challenges: 

• how to establish an optimal workforce
• how to operationally meet its mandate

Integrated and multi-year planning has been implemented which has created a baseline for what the organization’s operations will look like in the future. The process of re-patriating currently outsourced processes continues. ASC has already re-patriated the grants and contributions process and oversees the distribution of funds for all new agreements. There are still multi-year agreements in place that continue to be administered by ESDC as part of a collaborative process.

Approval by Senior Officials

Original signed by CEO Philip Rizcallah
Original signed by CFO Philipe Sarrazin

Table 1: Statement of authorities (unaudited)

*Includes only Authorities available for use and granted by Parliament at quarter-end.

Table 2: Departmental budgetary expenditures by standard object (unaudited) 

*Includes only Authorities available for use and granted by Parliament at quarter-end.