Quarterly Financial Report ending September 30, 2023

Copyright Board of Canada
Statement outlining results, risks and significant changes in operations, personnel and program
For the Quarter Ended September 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 September 30, 2023, were $961,000, an increase of $65,000 when compared to the same quarter last year. The increase in net budgetary expenditures is mainly due to increased personnel expenses of $57,000 as result of hiring additional employees and increased salary rates.

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
September 30, 2023	Date
Lara Taylor	Chief Financial Officer
September 30, 2023	Date

Statement of Authorities (unaudited)

	Fiscal Year 2023-2024
(in thousand of dollars)	Total available for use for the year ending March 31, 2024*	Used during the quarter ended September 30, 2023	Year to date used at quarter-end
Vote 45 - Net Operating expenditures	4,257	852	1,515
Budgetary statutory authorities
Employee benefit plans	433	109	217
Total authorities	4,690	961	1,732
* 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 September 30, 2022	Year to date used at quarter-end
Vote 45 - Net Operating expenditures	3,888	795	1,405
Budgetary statutory authorities
Employee benefit plans	404	101	202
Total authorities	4,292	896	1,607
* Includes approved estimates documents as at quarter end.

	Variances
(in thousand of dollars)	YTD	YTD %		Q2	Q2 %
Vote 45 - Net Operating expenditures	110	8%		57	7%
Budgetary statutory authorities
Employee benefit plans	15	7%		8	8%
Total authorities	125	8%		65	7%
* 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 September 30, 2023	Year to date used at quarter-end
Expenditures
Personnel	2,997	772	1,421
Transportation and communications	100	18	26
Information	100	10	17
Professional and special services	767	118	205
Rentals	100	35	41
Repair and maintenance	90	-	-
Utilities, materials and supplies	23	-	1
Acquisition of machinery and equipment	75	2	11
Other subsidies and payments	5	6	10
Total net budgetary expenditures	4,257	961	1,732
* 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 September 30, 2022	Year to date used at quarter-end
Expenditures
Personnel	2,697	760	1,371
Transportation and communications	100	9	11
Information	108	5	13
Professional and special services	650	54	113
Rentals	110	25	33
Repair and maintenance	115	-	-
Utilities, materials and supplies	23	-	3
Acquisition of machinery and equipment	80	36	44
Other subsidies and payments	5	7	19
Total net budgetary expenditures	3,888	896	1,607
* Includes approved estimates documents as at quarter end.

	Variances
(in thousand of dollars)	YTD	YTD %		Q2	Q2 %
Expenditures
Personnel	50	4%		12	2%
Transportation and communications	15	136%		9	100%
Information	4	31%		5	100%
Professional and special services	92	81%		64	119%
Rentals	8	24%		10	40%
Repair and maintenance	0	-		-	-
Utilities, materials and supplies	(2)	-67%		-	-
Acquisition of machinery and equipment	(33)	-75%		(34)	-94%
Other subsidies and payments	(9)	-47%		(1)	-14%
Total net budgetary expenditures	125	8%		65	7%
* Includes approved estimates documents as at quarter end.