Notes to the Financial Statements

For the year ended March 31

1. Authority and objectives

The Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada (the Office), was created under the Access to Information Act, which came into force on July 1, 1983. The Information Commissioner is an independent officer of Parliament appointed by the Governor-in-Council following approval of the nominee by resolution of the Senate and the House of Commons. The Office is listed under Schedule I.1 of the Financial Administration Act and is funded through annual appropriations. The Commissioner is accountable for, and reports directly to Parliament on the results achieved.

The Access to Information Act is the legislative authority for the activities of the Information Commissioner and the Office. The objectives of the Office are:

• to deliver timely, thorough and fair investigations of complaints made by individuals denied information by the government;
• to encourage a culture of openness within the federal public service;
• to persuade federal government institutions to adopt information practices in keeping with the Access to Information Act;
• to bring appropriate issues of interpretation of the Access to Information Act before the Federal Court; and
• to ensure that Parliament is informed of the activities of the Commissioner's Office, the general state of health of the right of access and any matter dealt within the access law requiring reform.

2. Significant accounting policies

(a) Basis of presentation
The financial statements of the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada have been prepared in accordance with Treasury Board accounting policies which are consistent with Canadian generally accepted accounting principles for the public sector.

(b) Parliamentary appropriations
The Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada is financed by the Government of Canada through Parliamentary appropriations. Appropriations provided to the Office do not parallel financial reporting according to generally accepted accounting principles since appropriations are primarily based on cash flow requirements. Consequently, items recognized in the statement of operations and the statement of financial position are not necessarily the same as those provided through appropriations from Parliament. Note 3 provides a high level reconciliation between the two bases of reporting.

(c) Net cash provided by Government
The Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada operates within the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF), which is administered by the Receiver General for Canada. All cash receipts of the Office are deposited to the CRF and all cash disbursements made by the Office are paid from the CRF. The net cash provided by the government is the difference between all cash receipts and all cash disbursements including transactions between departments of the federal government.

d) Due from the Consolidated Revenue Fund
Due from the CRF represents the amount of cash that the Office is entitled to draw from the Consolidated Revenue Fund without further appropriations, in order to discharge its liabilities.

(e) Revenues
Revenues are accounted for in the period in which the underlying transaction or event occurred that gave rise to the revenues.

(f) Expenses

• Vacation pay and compensatory leave are expensed as the benefits accrue to employees under their respective terms of employment.
• Services received without charge from other government departments are recorded as operating expenses at their estimated cost.

(g) Accounts receivable
Accounts receivable are stated at amounts expected to be ultimately realized. A provision is made for receivables where recovery is considered uncertain.

(h) Tangible capital assets
All tangible capital assets and leasehold improvements providing multi-year benefits to the Office with an initial cost of $2,500 or more are recorded at their acquisition cost. Similar items with a cost less than $2,500 are included in the statement of operations. Amortization of tangible capital assets is done on a straight line basis over the estimated useful life of the asset as follows:

(i) Employee future benefits

1. Pension benefits: Eligible employees participate in the Public Service Pension Plan, a multiemployer pension plan administered by the Government of Canada. The Office's contributions to the plan are charged to expenses in the year incurred and represent the total pension obligation of the Office to the Plan. Current legislation does not require the Office to make contributions for any actuarial deficiencies of the Plan.
   
   
2. Severance benefits: Employees of the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada are entitled to severance benefits under labour contracts or conditions of employment. The cost of these benefits is accrued as employees render the services necessary to earn them. The obligation relating to the benefits earned by employees is calculated using information derived from the results of the actuarially determined liability for employee severance benefits for the Government as a whole.

3. Current year appropriations

The Office receives most of its funding through annual Parliamentary appropriations. Items recognized in the statement of operations and the statement of financial position in one year may be funded through Parliamentary appropriations in prior, current or future years. Accordingly, the Office has different net results of operations for the year on a government funding basis than on an accrual accounting basis. The differences are reconciled in the following tables:

(a) Reconciliation of net cost of operations to current year appropriations used:

4. Accounts receivable

5. Accounts Payable and Accrued Liabilities

6. Tangible capital assets

7. Employee benefits

(a) Pension benefits
The Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada and all eligible employees participate in the Public Service Pension Plan, which is sponsored and administered by the Government of Canada. Pension benefits accrue up to a maximum period of 35 years at a rate of 2 percent per year of pensionable service, times the average of the best 5 consecutive years of earnings. The benefits are integrated with Canada/Quebec Pension Plans benefits and they are indexed to inflation.

Both the employees and the Office contribute to the cost of the Plan. The 2008-09 expense amounts to $609,528 ($615,574 in 2007-2008), which represents approximately 2.3 times the contributions by employees.

The Office's responsibility with regard to the Plan is limited to its contributions. Actuarial surpluses or deficiencies are recognized in the financial statements of the Government of Canada, as the Plan's sponsor.

(b) Severance benefits
The Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada provides severance benefits to its employees based on eligibility, years of service and final salary. The benefit plan is not pre-funded and thus has no assets, resulting in a plan deficit equal to the accrued benefit obligation. Benefits will be paid from future appropriations.

Information about the severance benefits, measured as at March 31, is as follows:

8. Equity of Canada

The equity of Canada represents liabilities incurred by the Office, net of tangible capital assets and prepaid expenses, that have not yet been funded through appropriations. Significant components of this amount are employee severance benefits and vacation pay liabilities. These amounts are expected to be funded by appropriations in future years as they are paid.

9. Contractual obligations

The nature of the Office's activities can result in some large multi-year contracts and obligations whereby the Office will be obligated to make future payments when the services/goods are received. Significant contractual obligations that can be reasonably estimated are summarized as follows:

10. Services received without charge

During the year, the Office received without charge from other departments, accommodation, employer's contribution to the health and dental insurance plans, audit services and payroll and cheque issuance services. These services without charge have been recognized in the Office's statement of operations as follows:

11. Related party transactions

The Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada is related as a result of common ownership to all Government of Canada departments, agencies and Crown corporations. The Office enters into transactions with these entities in the normal course of business and on normal trade terms. During the year, the Office expensed $3,157,842 ($2,433,325 in 2007-2008) in the normal course of business with other government departments, agencies and Crown corporations. These expenses include services received without charge of $1,530,842 as described in Note 10.