Financial Statements Highlights

The highlights presented in this section are drawn from CAS’ financial statements and are prepared on an accrual basis. These financial statements have been prepared using Government of Canada accounting policies, which are based on Canadian public sector accounting standards.

Expenses: CAS’ total expenses were $101,101,357 in 2016–17 ($101,941,788 in 2015–16). The largest components of the decrease of $840,431 (0.82%) were decreases in professional and special services, as well as accommodations.

• Salaries and employee benefits: Salaries and employee benefits expense was $54,401,270 in 2016–17 ($53,678,562 in 2015–16). The $722,708 (1.35%) variance is mainly due to an increase of 17 full-time equivalents, resulting in increases of $1,016,871 in salaries and wages and $357,514 in employer contribution to the health and dental insurance plans (related party transaction). These increases were partly offset by decreases of $629,794 in the provision for severance benefits and $21,883 in employer contributions to employee benefit plans. Part of the increase in full-time equivalents was to deal with additional work and compensatory controls to address over and under payments resulting from the Phoenix Pay System. More than half (53%) of CAS' total expenses in 2016–17 consisted of salaries and employee benefits.
• Operating: Operating expenses totalled $46,700,087 in 2016–17 ($48,263,226 in 2015–16). The $1,563,139 (3.24%) variance is mainly attributable to decreases of $1,894,393 in professional and special services, $896,428 in accommodations, $344,912 in machinery and equipment and $70,304 in materials and supplies. The decrease in professional and special services was largely driven by a decrease in translation and interpretive services, compared to 2015–16 when additional funds were allocated to these services. These decreases were partly offset by increases of $667,293 in the amortization of tangible capital assets, $449,958 in repair and maintenance, $369,724 in rentals, $169,719 in transportation and telecommunications. Other smaller variances resulted in a net decrease of $13,796.

Revenues: The majority of CAS’ revenues are earned on behalf of Government. Such revenues are non-respendable, meaning that they cannot be used by CAS, and are deposited directly into the Consolidated Revenue Fund. CAS earns a small amount of respendable revenue from the sale of Crown assets. CAS’ gross revenues were $3,069,931 in 2016–17 ($2,979,168 in 2015–16) and net revenues were $7,786 in 2016–17 ($2,875 in 2015–16).

Liabilities:

CAS’ net liabilities as at March 31, 2017 were $17,654,744 ($17,487,777 as at March 31, 2016). The increase of $166,967 (1%) is the result of the following:

• Accounts payable and accrued liabilities (43% of total liabilities): Increase of $1,891,011 mainly due to a $923,217 increase in external accounts payable, primarily due to timing of equipment and service delivery, and $798,305 increase in OGD accounts payable.
• Vacation pay and compensatory leave (13% of total liabilities): Increase of $292,221 mainly due to a $217,851 increase in vacation pay.
• Deposit accounts (32% of total liabilities): Decrease of $1,432,754. Because they reflect many separate decisions of the Courts, deposits cannot be projected and the balance in the deposit accounts can vary significantly from year to year.
• Employee future benefits (12% of total liabilities): Decrease of $583,511 due to a decrease in the percentage factor used to calculate severance benefits.

Assets: The composition of CAS’ financial and non-financial assets is the following:

Financial assets:

• Due from the Consolidated Revenue Fund (42% of gross assets)
• Accounts receivable and employee advances (9% of gross assets)

Non-financial assets:

• Tangible capital assets (47% of gross assets)
• Prepaid expenses (2% of gross assets)

Net financial assets: This is comprised of financial assets net of accounts receivable held on behalf of Government. Accounts receivable held on behalf of Government consist primarily of accounts receivable from other governmental organizations. The increase of $644,571 is mainly due to an increase in the accounts receivable and advances.

Non-financial assets: The increase of $2,320,833 is mainly due to the acquisitions of tangible capital assets, mostly related to the physical security and IT infrastructure, as well as a smaller increase in prepaid expenses.

Departmental net debt: This provides a measure of the future authorities required to pay for past transactions and events.

Departmental net financial position: This represents the net resources (financial and non-financial) that will be used to provide future services to the Courts and thereby to benefit Canadians.