Adjustment of Certain Fees in Respect of Publication in the Canada Gazette for the 2019–2020 and 2020–2021 Fiscal Years Remission Order: SI/2024-14

Canada Gazette, Part II, Volume 158, Number 6

Registration
SI/2024-14 March 13, 2024

FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION ACT

Adjustment of Certain Fees in Respect of Publication in the Canada Gazette for the 2019–2020 and 2020–2021 Fiscal Years Remission Order

P.C. 2024-196 March 1, 2024

Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, considering that the collection of the amounts is unreasonable, on the recommendation of the Treasury Board and the Minister of Public Works and Government Services, under subsection 23(2.1)footnote a of the Financial Administration Actfootnote b, remits the following amounts representing annual adjustments — that should have been made under subsection 17(1) of the Service Fees Actfootnote c — to the Canada Gazette insertion fees charged under section 17 of the Department of Public Works and Government Services Actfootnote d:

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order.)

Proposal

The Governor in Council, finding that the collection is unreasonable, on the recommendation of the Treasury Board and the Minister of Public Services and Procurement, approves the Adjustment of Certain Fees in Respect of Publication in the Canada Gazette for the 2019–2020 and 2020–2021 Fiscal Years Remission Order pursuant to subsection 23(2.1) of the Financial Administration Act regarding adjustments to Canada Gazette insertion fees in 2019–2020 and 2020–2021 related to the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

Objective

This proposal relates to sound financial management. The outstanding amount represents annually adjusted amounts by the CPI to the Canada Gazette insertion fees by operation of subsection 17(1) of the Service Fees Act (the Act) that were not charged to external Canada Gazette clients under section 17 of the Department of Public Works and Government Services Act ($3,181.38 in 2019–2020 and $4,488.69 in 2020–2021). A remission order under subsection 23(2.1) of the Financial Administration Act is the most viable solution because collection would be unreasonable. Subsection 4.3.7 of the Directive on Public Money and Receivables requires departments to take timely action to remit or forgive debt when a receivable is not settled in full.

Background

The Canada Gazette is the official newspaper of the Government of Canada under Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC). It provides information to Canadians about the official activities of the Government of Canada, including public notices, official appointments, proposed and official regulations from the Government of Canada, public acts of Parliament and related proclamations and orders in council, and miscellaneous government and private sector notices that are required to be published by a federal statute or regulation.

Most of the Canada Gazette’s clients are internal to the Government of Canada, but there are also external clients that account for approximately 3.4% of total revenue. They may include law firms, banks and insurance companies that are required to publish in the Canada Gazette for specific matters pursuant to federal law (such as certain provisions of the Bank Act and the Insurance Companies Act), as well as Government of Canada organizations not listed in Schedules I, I.1, II or III of the Financial Administration Act.

The Service Fees Act provides for annual adjustment of fees for external clients consistent with the CPI. After the Service Fees Act received royal assent in 2017, it was not clear that the new obligation to make mandatory CPI increases to external fees on an annual basis without discretion applied to the Canada Gazette. In the past, PSPC adjusted Canada Gazette internal and external fees regularly to align with trends in revenues. For 2019–2020 and 2020–2021, PSPC did not increase the internal and external fees by the CPI because revenues were sufficient to cover costs. Also, PSPC did not realize that the Act included an obligation to apply annual CPI increases to external fees. However, PSPC did not have the authority under the Act to forego the incremental external fee revenues that it would have received through its annual CPI adjustments ($3,181.38 in 2019–2020 and $4,488.69 in 2020–2021), even though the Canada Gazette program was able to cover the costs of delivering service within its existing resources.

After this situation came to light, the Canada Gazette took steps to ensure that this would not recur. PSPC has clarified the obligations under the Service Fees Act and will ensure ongoing compliance with all aspects of the Act. The Canada Gazette has systematically applied the CPI increase since 2021–2022.

Implications

A remission order under subsection 23(2.1) of the Financial Administration Act is the most viable solution because collection from clients would be unreasonable.

After interdepartmental consultations, it was determined that seeking a remission order offers the best value to the Crown. The amount is relatively small and collection would be administratively burdensome, with the administrative costs outweighing the amounts that the Canada Gazette would collect. Collection would include calculating the amount for each external client involved, for both fiscal years, contacting each external client to request payment, processing the financial transactions for the payments from the external clients and possible follow-up communication with the external clients. Another financial consideration is that the Canada Gazette was able to cover its operating costs without the incremental amount of funds that the CPI increase would have represented. Furthermore, there could be reputational issues in endeavouring to collect past fees from external clients in this context.

Consultation

Given the nature of the proposal, the affected parties were not consulted.

Contact

Carol Anne Biagé
Acting Director
Canada Gazette Directorate
Telephone: 819‑743‑7569
Email: carol-anne.biage@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca