Copyright Board of Canada
Statement outlining results, risks and significant changes in operations, personnel and program
For the Quarter Ended December 31, 2012

Inroduction

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 (TB). This quarterly report should be read in conjunction with the Main Estimates and the previous quarterly financial report for the current year.

The Copyright Board of Canada (the "Board") is an independent administrative agency that has been conferred department status for purposes of the Financial Administration Act. Its mandate is set out in the Copyright Act (the "Act"). The Board is empowered to establish, either mandatorily or at the request of an interested party, the royalties to be paid for the use of copyrighted works when the administration of such works is entrusted to a collective administrative society.

The Board's program objective is to set royalties which are fair and equitable to both copyright owners and users of copyright-protected works. This includes setting fair and equitable terms and conditions so as to permit the use of works when the owner of the copyright cannot be located.

Basis of Presentation

This quarterly report has been prepared by management using an expenditure basis of accounting. The accompanying Statement of Authorities includes the Copyright Board of Canada's spending authorities granted by Parliament and those used by the Board, consistent with the Main Estimates for the 2012-13 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 departmental performance reporting process, the Board prepares its annual departmental financial statements on a full accrual basis in accordance with TB 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

Overall, there is no significant variance in expenditures between the years due to the stability of its workforce and workload. There is a slight increase of around $16,000 in the Board's quarterly budgetary expenditures with that of the previous year. The expenditures in personnel decreased by approximately $65,000. This is explained by the fact that some positions became vacant over the last year. There is also a decrease of around $16,000 in transportation costs due to fluctuating demands. The increase of $73,000 in professional and special services and the increase in rentals of around $16,000 are both due to earlier timing of invoices.

The year to date expenses increased by approximately $57,000. The expenditures in information increased by around $45,000 because of higher costs for publications. There is also an increase of approximately $88,000 in professional and special services, a decrease of around $68,000 in personnel and a decrease of $28,000 in transportation and communications. These are due to changing operational demands.

Given that the Board's most significant expense is salaries, the Board's spending is generally distributed equally throughout the year.

Risks and Uncertainties

The Board is funded through annual appropriations. As a result, its operations are impacted by any changes in funding approved through Parliament.

Budget 2010 announced that departments would not be funded for the 2010-11 to 2012- 13 wage and salary increases resulting from collective agreements. As departments must pay the salary increases to employees, organizations are expected to find efficiencies within their operating vote to fund these increases.

The Board has estimated the impact of this government-wide initiative to be approximately $14,000 in 2012-13. The Board can accommodate the reduction in funding in 2012-13 without significantly impacting its operations.

With respect to Budget 2012 implementation, there are no new or renewed initiatives and savings measures announced in Canada's Economic Action Plan 2012 that will have a significant influence on the Copyright Board's authorities and expenditures.

The Board's most significant expenditure is personnel which represents 65% of its planned expenditures. Over the past few fiscal years, the Board's staff has been stable at 13 employees. However, of the 13 employees in 2008-09, only six remain in the positions they then occupied. The median tenure of the Board's staff is about three years. This implies that whenever an employee departs due to retirement or resignation or a new employee is hired to replace the departing one, there is a risk of substantial variation in quarterly expenditures.

In addition, the Board's expenditures are influenced by the number and complexity of tariffs that it has to establish. A significant increase in the number of hearings can result in resource pressures.

Significant Changes in Relation to Operations, Personnel and Programs

There have been no significant changes in relation to operations, personnel and programs this fiscal year.

Approval by Senior Officials

Approved by,

Deputy Head	Claude Majeau
Chief Financial Officer	Gilles McDougall

Table 1: Statement of Authorities (unaudited)

	Fiscal Year 2012-2013
(in thousand of dollars)	Total available for use for the year ending March 31, 2013*	Used during the quarter ended December 31, 2012	Year to date used at quarter-end
Vote 45 - Net Operating expenditures	2,815	579	1,561
Vote 25 - Operating Budget Carry Forward	141
Budgetary statutory authorities
Employee benefit plans	303	76	227
Total authorities	3,259	655	1,788
	Fiscal Year 2011-2012
(in thousand of dollars)	Total available for use for the year ending March 31, 2012*	Used during the quarter ended December 31, 2011	Year to date used at quarter-end
Vote 45 - Net Operating expenditures	2,815	563	1,504
Vote 25 - Operating Budget Carry Forward
Budgetary statutory authorities
Employee benefit plans	310	77	232
Total authorities	3,125	640	1,736
* Includes approved estimates documents as at quarter end.
	Fiscal Year 2012-2013
(in thousand of dollars)	Planned expenditures for the year ending March 31, 2013*	Expended during the quarter ended December 31, 2012	Year to date used at quarter-end
Expenditures
Personnel	2,023	420	1,271
Transportation and communications	266	41	80
Information	215	11	98
Professional and special services	570	142	245
Rentals	75	24	60
Repair and maintenance	10	1	2
Utilities, materials and supplies	65	12	28
Acquisition of machinery and equipment	35	4	4
Other subsidies and payments	-	-	-
Total net budgetary expenditures	3,259	655	1,788
	Fiscal Year 2011-2012
(in thousand of dollars)	Planned expenditures for the year ending March 31, 2011*	Expended during the quarter ended December 31,2010	Year to date used at quarter-end
Expenditures
Personnel	2,030	485	1,339
Transportation and communications	190	57	108
Information	115	6	53
Professional and special services	610	69	157
Rentals	70	8	54
Repair and maintenance	10	-	-
Utilities, materials and supplies	65	9	18
Acquisition of machinery and equipment	35	6	7
Other subsidies and payments	-	-	-
Total net budgetary expenditures	3,125	640	1,736
* Includes approved estimates documents as at quarter end.