Vol. 150, No. 24 — November 30, 2016

Registration

SI/2016-63 November 30, 2016

FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION ACT

Order Discontinuing the Canada Revenue Agency Annual Report to Parliament

P.C. 2016-990 November 18, 2016

Whereas it appears to the Governor in Council that the document set out in the annexed schedule, required by an Act of Parliament to be laid before one or both Houses of Parliament, contains the same information as or less information than is contained in the Public Accounts or in any estimates of expenditures submitted to Parliament;

Therefore, His Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the President of the Treasury Board, pursuant to section 157 (see footnote a) of the Financial Administration Act (see footnote b), directs that the document set out in the annexed schedule be discontinued, and hereafter it need not be prepared or laid before either House of Parliament.

SCHEDULE

Canada Revenue Agency Annual Report to Parliament [Canada Revenue Agency Act, S.C. 1999, c. 17, s. 88(1)]

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order.)

Proposal

This Order discontinues the requirement for the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to table an annual report to Parliament, given that this document appears to contain the same information as or less information than is contained in the CRA’s Departmental Performance Report (DPR), which is also tabled in Parliament. The Order is made under Section 157 of the Financial Administration Act (FAA).

Objective

The objective of the Order is to reduce duplication in reporting, thereby promoting the efficient use of departmental resources without compromising the level of information accessible to the public.

Background

As per section 88 of the Canada Revenue Agency Act (1999), the CRA is required to table an annual report to Parliament on its operations for the preceding fiscal year. In parallel, the CRA is also required to table a DPR to Parliament which effectively serves the same purpose: providing an account of each federal department or agency’s actual performance, for the most recently completed fiscal year, against the plans, priorities and expected results set out at the beginning of the year.

As per section 157 of the FAA, the Governor in Council may direct that an account, statement, return or other document be discontinued if it appears to contain the same information or less than is contained in the Public Accounts or in any estimates of expenditures submitted to Parliament.

Based on a comparison of the CRA’s DPR, which is attached as an annex to the main estimates, and the CRA’s Annual Report for the 2014–2015 fiscal year, it appears that both documents contain the same information, thus meeting the requirements of section 157 of the FAA noted above. Similar orders have been made for the Annual Report on the operations of the Parks Canada Agency (SI/2005-50), the Annual Report on the operations of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (SI/2005-50), the Annual Report on the activities of the Canada Industrial Relations Board (SI/2003-146), and the Annual Report on the activities of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (SI/2003-146), among others.

Implications

This Order will have very limited impact beyond the CRA’s internal operations. Stakeholders that currently use the annual report will have the same access to the DPR, which includes the same information.

Consultation

This Order impacts a limited number of stakeholders internal to the Government of Canada. No external consultations were conducted.

Departmental contact

Nancy Chahwan
Assistant Secretary
Government Operations Sector
Treasury Board Secretariat of Canada