Quarterly Financial Report for the quarter ended September 30, 2024

A) Introduction

Statistics Canada's mandate

Statistics Canada ("the agency") is a member of the Innovation, Science and Industry portfolio.

Statistics Canada's role is to ensure that Canadians have access to a trusted source of statistics on Canada that meets their highest priority needs.

The agency's mandate derives primarily from the Statistics Act. The Act requires that the agency collects, compiles, analyzes and publishes statistical information on the economic, social, and general conditions of the country and its people. It also requires that Statistics Canada conduct the Census of Population and the Census of Agriculture every fifth year and protects the confidentiality of the information with which it is entrusted.

Statistics Canada also has a mandate to co-ordinate and lead the national statistical system. The agency is considered a leader, among statistical agencies around the world, in co–ordinating statistical activities to reduce duplication and reporting burden.

More information on Statistics Canada's mandate, roles, responsibilities and programs can be found in the 2024-2025 Main Estimates and in the Statistics Canada 2024-2025 Departmental Plan.

The Quarterly Financial Report:

• should be read in conjunction with the 2024-2025 Main Estimates;
• has been prepared by management, as required by Section 65.1 of the Financial Administration Act, and in the form and manner prescribed by Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat;
• has not been subject to an external audit or review.

Statistics Canada has the authority to collect and spend revenue from other federal government departments and agencies, as well as from external clients, for statistical services and products.

Basis of presentation

This quarterly report has been prepared by management using an expenditure basis of accounting. The accompanying Statement of Authorities includes the agency's spending authorities granted by Parliament and those used by the agency consistent with the Main Estimates for the 2024-2025 fiscal year. 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.

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.

The agency uses the full accrual method of accounting to prepare and present its annual departmental financial statements that are part of the departmental results reporting process. However, the spending authorities voted by Parliament remain on an expenditure basis.

B) 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, as well as actual expenditures for the quarter ended September 30.

Chart 1 outlines the gross budgetary authorities, which represent the resources available for use for the year as of September 30.

Significant changes to authorities

Total authorities available for 2024-25 have increased by $129.5 million, or 17.2%, from the previous year, from $751.8 million to $881.3 million (Chart 1). The net increase is mostly the result of the following:

• An increase of $78 million for salary increases due to recent collective bargaining agreements;
• An increase of $12.7 million for the carry forward from the previous year. The agency leverages the operating budget carry-forward mechanism to manage the cyclical nature of program operations and investments in the agency's strategic plan;
• An increase of $12.1 million for funding received to cover the advanced planning and testing stage related to the ramping up of the 2026 Census of Population and 2026 Census of Agriculture programs;
• A decrease of $7.4 million for the 2021 Census of Population and 2021 Census of Agriculture programs due to the cyclical nature of funding winding down;
• An increase of $58.7 million for various initiatives including Building a World-Class Health Data System for Canadians, Dental Care for Canadians, as well as for Cloud Operations;
• A decrease of $26.7 million for the Employee Benefit Plan Adjustments and various initiatives such as the Disaggregated Data Action Plan.

In addition to the appropriations allocated to the agency through the Main Estimates, Statistics Canada also has vote net authority within Vote 1, which entitles the agency to spend revenues collected from other federal government departments, agencies, and external clients to provide statistical services. The vote netting authority is stable at $120 million when comparing the second quarter of fiscal years 2023-2024 and 2024-2025.

Significant changes to expenditures

Year-to-date net expenditures recorded to the end of the second quarter increased by $33.4 million, or 9.4% from the previous year, from $354.6 million to $388 million (see Table A: Variation in Departmental Expenditures by Standard Object).

Statistics Canada spent approximately 51% of its authorities by the end of the second quarter, compared with 56.1% in the same quarter of 2023-2024.

Personnel: The increase is mainly due to spending for price increases in relation to the ratification of collective agreements and the overall increase in the agency's activities related to the 2026 Census.

Professional and special services: This decrease is due to a change in the financial coding for Cloud related expenditures. Following consultations with and guidance from other departments and central agencies, a change in accounting treatment was made to code cloud services to rental services from professional and special services to better align with the nature of the agency's Cloud expenditures. The decrease is also due to timing differences compared to last year.

Rentals: This increase is mainly due to financial coding changes in professional and special services for Cloud related expenditures.

Revenues: The decrease is mainly due to a timing difference in invoicing compared to last year.

C) Significant changes to operations, personnel and programs

In 2024-25, the following changes in operations, personnel and program activities are underway:

• The Census program is ramping down operations from the 2021 Census of Population while ramping up for the 2026 Census which is in the advanced planning and testing stage. As such, expenditures for this program are increasing.
• Budget 2024 announced funding for new initiatives for which Statistics Canada will be contributing to, such as, the Modernizing Housing Data and Canada's Action Plan to Combatting Hate. As such, the Agency will be incurring expenditures for these new initiatives.
• Budget 2024 announced a second phase of the Responsible Government Spending:
  • Budget 2024 announces the government will seek to achieve savings primarily through natural attrition in the federal public service;
  • Starting on April 1, 2025, federal public service organizations will be required to cover a portion of increased operating costs through their existing resources;
  • Impacts on Statistics Canada are still unknown at this time.
• Cloud funding is ending in 2024-25. For 2025-26, in the absence of an enterprise-wide funding model by 2025-26, funding will be sourced by Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat resources for that year. In December 2023, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat announced the GC Application Hosting Strategy, which included the centralization of cloud operations within Shared Services Canada (SSC). As per the direction, a temporary transfer agreement, effective September 2024, was signed by Statistics Canada (StatCan) and SSC, to transfer some cloud operations functions from StatCan to SSC, which includes the corresponding human resource capacity to ensure the operations of StatCan's cloud infrastructure.

D) Risks and uncertainties

Statistics Canada is addressing the issues and corresponding uncertainties raised in this Quarterly Financial Report through ongoing monitoring activities on its corporate risks and mitigation measures captured in the 2024-25 Corporate Risk Profile and at the program level.

Statistics Canada is strengthening its resilience in response to evolving financial challenges. The agency faces variations in budget allocation particularly due to cyclical programs like the Census programs and adjustments from Budget 2023, which necessitate agile planning and resource management. Strategic partnerships with government entities are also essential for facilitating the transition to enterprise-wide cloud hosting and addressing uncertainties in cost-recovery efforts, ensuring a more coordinated approach to long-term financial planning.

Statistics Canada continues to pursue and invest in modernizing business processes and tools to maintain its relevance and maximize the value it provides to Canadians. To address uncertainties, the agency is continuing its work on the Census of Environment, the Quality of Life Framework for Canada, the Disaggregated Data Action Plan and several other initiatives focused on leveraging modern methods and recent investments in a modern infrastructure to meet the evolving needs of users and remain relevant as an agency. Additionally, Statistics Canada continued to conduct ethical assessments on its new data collections and develop content and expand the Trust Centre on its website. The agency is committed to protecting its data against cyber threats by continuously ensuring the security of data handling and processing, and by supporting the use of modern methods with a functional digital infrastructure.

To achieve its goals, Statistics Canada needs a proficient and empowered workforce. Yet, it faces challenges in competing with other organizations in the data ecosystem due to the current labor market conditions and the growing demand for digital tools and skills. In addition, it is imperative to continue focusing on having an accessible, equitable and inclusive workforce. To address uncertainties, Statistics Canada will collaborate with key stakeholders (e.g. Treasury Board of Canada's Digital Talent Bank) to find innovative ways to work on bridging gaps in digital skills and IT human resource shortfalls, including upskilling and reskilling employees, retaining talent with essential technical skills and the recruitment of students. The agency will continue promoting a strong workplace culture, a healthy work-life balance, foster values and ethics and advance on the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan.

Furthermore, it will focus on existing employees and continue its effort to achieve greater diversity and inclusion across its workforce and promote and support accessibility through the Accessibility, Accommodation and Adaptive Computer Technology trainings, GC Workplace Accessibility Passport, and other training resources. Statistics Canada continues its collaboration with federal partners to access IT services and support to realize its modernization objectives and to achieve the agency's priority to build and adopt a complete enabling infrastructure through the reduction of duplicative solutions, enhancement of digital infrastructure, automation of manual processes and shifting to open-source language. To address uncertainties, the agency is working closely with its federal partners, while adhering to the agency's notable financial planning management practices, integrated strategic planning framework as well as strengthening its financial stewardship.

Approval by senior officials

Approved by:

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