Quarterly Financial Report ending June 30, 2023

Copyright Board of Canada Statement outlining results, risks and significant changes in operations, personnel and program For the Quarter Ended June 30, 2023

Introduction

This quarterly report has been 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. This quarterly report should be read in conjunction with the Main Estimates.

As an economic regulator, an independent administrative tribunal and a key institution of Canada’s intellectual property ecosystem, the Copyright Board of Canada’s (the “Board”) plays the fundamental role of establishing fair and equitable tariffs and licences while ensuring fairness and timeliness of processes.

The Copyright Act (the “Act”) provides that the Board intervenes in three areas, namely approving tariffs for content whose rights are managed by collective societies, the granting of licences for the use of content for which the right owners cannot be found, and arbitration in the event a collective society and user cannot agree on royalties.

Basis of Presentation

This quarterly report has been prepared by management using an expenditure basis of accounting. The accompanying Statement of Authorities includes the Board’s spending authorities granted by Parliament and those used by the Board, consistent with the Main Estimates for the 2023-24 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.

As part of the performance reporting process, the Board prepares its annual departmental financial statements on a full accrual basis in accordance with TBS accounting policies, which are based on Canadian generally accepted 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 Results

The total authorities used during the quarter ended June 30, 2023, were $771,000, an increase of $61,000 when compared to the same quarter last year. The increase in net budgetary expenditures for this quarter is mainly due to increased personnel expenses of $39,000 as result of hiring additional employees and increased salary rates; and professional services of $27,000 related to implementing the Board’s Modernization Initiative.

Risks and Uncertainties:

The Board’s most significant expenditure is personnel which represents about 70% of its planned expenditures. This implies that whenever an employee departs due to retirement or resignation or that a new employee is hired to replace the departing one, there is a risk of substantial variation in quarterly expenditures.

Approval by Senior Officials

Approved by,

Nathalie Théberge	Deputy Head
Lara Taylor	Chief Financial Officer

Statement of Authorities (unaudited)

	Fiscal Year 2023-24
(in thousand of dollars)	Total available for use for the year ending March 31, 2024*	Used during the quarter ended June 30, 2023	Year to date used at quarter-end
Vote 45 - Net Operating expenditures	3,918	663	663
Budgetary statutory authorities
Employee benefit plans	434	108	108
Total authorities	4,352	771	771
* Includes approved estimates documents as at quarter end.
	Fiscal Year 2022-2023
(in thousand of dollars)	Total available for use for the year ending March 31, 2023*	Used during the quarter ended June 30, 2022	Year to date used at quarter-end
Vote 45 - Net Operating expenditures	3,888	609	609
Budgetary statutory authorities
Employee benefit plans	404	101	101
Total authorities	4,292	710	710
* Includes approved estimates documents as at quarter end.
	Variances
(in thousand of dollars)	($)	(%)
Vote 45 - Net Operating expenditures	54	9%
Budgetary statutory authorities
Employee benefit plans	7	7%
Total authorities	61	9%
* Includes approved estimates documents as at quarter end.

Table 1: Departmental budgetary expenditures by Standard Object (unaudited)

	Fiscal Year 2023-2024
(in thousand of dollars)	Planned expenditures for the year ending March 31, 2024*	Expended during the quarter ended June 30, 2023	Year to date used at quarter-end
Expenditures:
Personnel	3,287	650	650
Professional and special services	572	87	87
Repair and maintenance	90	-	-
Rentals	100	7	7
Information	100	7	7
Transportation and communications	100	8	8
Acquisition of machinery and equipment	75	9	9
Utilities, materials and supplies	23	-	-
Other subsidies and payments	5	3	3
Total net budgetary expenditures	4,352	771	771
* Includes approved estimates documents as at quarter end.
	Fiscal Year 2022-2023
(in thousand of dollars)	Planned expenditures for the year ending March 31, 2023*	Expended during the quarter ended June 30, 2022	Year to date used at quarter-end
Expenditures
Personnel	3,101	611	611
Professional and special services	650	60	60
Repair and maintenance	115	-	-
Rentals	110	7	7
Information	108	7	7
Transportation and communications	100	2	2
Acquisition of machinery and equipment	80	7	7
Utilities, materials and supplies	23	3	3
Other subsidies and payments	5	13	13
Total net budgetary expenditures	4,292	710	710
* Includes approved estimates documents as at quarter end.
	Variances
(in thousand of dollars)	($)	(%)
Expenditures
Personnel	39	6%
Professional and special services	27	45%
Repair and maintenance	-	-
Rentals	-	0%
Information	-	0%
Transportation and communications	6	300%
Acquisition of machinery and equipment	2	-
Utilities, materials and supplies	(3)	-100%
Other subsidies and payments	(10)	-77%
Total net budgetary expenditures	61	9%
* Includes approved estimates documents as at quarter end.