Environment Canada Report on Plans and Priorities for 2003-2004

| TOC | Previous | Next |

Section 5 - Financial Information

• 5.1  Planned Spending Overview
• Table 5.1  Departmental Planned Spending
• Table 5.2  Summary of Capital Spending by Business Line
• Table 5.3  Details on Major Capital Project Spending
• Table 5.4  Summary of Transfer Payments
• Table 5.5  Details on Transfer Payments Programs
• Table 5.6  Sources of Respendable and Non-Respendable Revenue

5.1  Planned Spending Overview

The departmental planned spending to deliver on the priorities identified in Section 2 is presented in Table 5.1. Environment Canada will have a budget of approximately $823.2 million in 2003-2004. This total amount is allocated among four Business Lines, as illustrated in the figure below. Section 3 provides more details on budget allocation by Business Line and key results. The budget of the Department has increased from last fiscal year due to announcements made in the Federal Budget 2003 for various key initiatives. These initiatives include a one-time grant to the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences, and funding for: the implementation of the CEPA 1999; research on air quality; the protection of species at risk; and the World Summit on Sustainable Development. The identified planned spending for these Budget 2003 initiatives may still be subject to interdepartmental consultations and to the federal government approval process.

Environment Canada is planning for a decrease in its budget over years two and three of the planning horizon due to the sunsetting of various programs. This decrease is directly attributable to the sunsetting of various programs such as: the Climate Change Action Fund; the Climate Change Action Plan 2000; the Great Lakes Action Plan; Health and Safety Capital Projects; and the one-time grant to the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences. Note that funding for some of these programs have recently been announced in the budget 2003 as mentioned above.

The tables that follow in Section 5 depict the planned spending situation in Environment Canada for the period of 2003-2004 to 2005-2006.*

The graphic below illustrates that the 2003-2004 Net Planned Spending by Business Line are distributed as follows: Clean Environment - 33%, Nature - 23%, Weather and Environmental Predictions - 29%, and Management, Administration and Policy - 15%.
* Please note that some totals may differ from one table to another due to the rounding of the figures.

The Long Term Capital Plan (LTCP) is a sub-set of the Department's business plan and, as such, portrays Environment Canada's capital investment on a Business Line and results basis.

Environment Canada is a science-based Department and a significant national science and technology performer. Environment Canada's mandate, under the Department of the Environment Act, covers preservation and enhancement of the quality of the natural environment, renewable resources, meteorology, enforcement of the rules of the Canada-U.S. International Joint Commission, and the coordination of federal environmental policies and programs.

Being a science-based Department, most of Environment Canada's capital assets are focused on research and other science activities that produce a "public good" - providing knowledge in support of policy development, developing new methods to improve service delivery, and providing technological solutions to meet the Department's mission. The Department operates 15 research institutes and laboratories, has 49 National Wildlife Areas, and over 4,600 air, climate and water monitoring stations in all regions of the country (many of which are operated in partnership with provinces, Canada's universities and international scientific agencies).

There are four broad categories of capital assets, including:

• specialized facilities and land holdings to conduct environmental science research, develop technologies and protect critical wildlife areas;
• scientific equipment to conduct laboratory analyses and monitor the status and trends in the environment;
• information technology infrastructure and equipment to run scientific equipment and facilitate communications; and
• fleet, including off-road vehicles, to transport personnel to study sites and allow needs for a speedy response to programs.

13.4

16.5

Table 5.3 lists major Capital projects over $1 million by Business Line. All of the major capital projects listed have received Effective Project Approval (EPA) or are within Environment Canada's delegated authority (DA). EPA implies Treasury Board's approval of, and expenditure authorization for, the objectives of the project implementation phase. Sponsoring departments and agencies are to submit for EPA only when the scope of the overall project has been defined and when the estimates have been refined to the substantive level. On the other hand, DA implies that Treasury Board has delegated authority to the Department for projects up to a specified amount. Environment Canada's delegated authority is $2.5M for general projects, $5M for the implementation of new technologies and $10M for information replacement projects.

These projects are also listed as Substantive Estimates (S) or Indicative Estimates (I). Substantive implies that the estimate is one of sufficiently high quality and reliability as to warrant Treasury Board approval as a cost objective for the project phase under projects consideration. Indicative implies that the estimate has a low quality order of magnitude that is not sufficiently accurate to warrant Treasury Board approval as a cost objective.

The major decrease in transfer payment expenditures in 2004-2005 (Clean Environment) is due to the sunset of funding for the environmental clean-up of the Sydney Tar Ponds ($8.7M) and of the Climate Change Action Fund ($12.7M). Also, a one-time grant payment for the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences ($50M), was announced in Budget 2003.

The additional decrease in 2005-2006 (Nature) is due to the sunset of contributions dedicated to the Species at Risk Act (SARA) ($10.3M).

Table 5.5  Details on Transfer Payments Programs

Explanation of Grants and Contributions in Business Lines where the total transfer payment budget exceeds $5M.

Table 5.6 lists various sources of respendable and non-respendable revenue sources. To clarify the types of revenues that fall under these revenue sources, short definitions are given below:

Scientific and Professional Services: research and analysis, telecommunications, hydrometrics, consulting services, training, and wildlife studies and surveys.
Information Products: data extracts and access, publications, and hydrometric and weather products.
Regulatory Services: ocean disposal permit applications and monitoring fees, new chemical notification, and other permits and fees.
Realty (Accommodation): living accommodations, rentals, entry fees, concessions, and NWRI building recoveries.
Sale of Sponsorships: sponsorships and advertising sales.

The decrease in revenue is caused primarily by the change in the service level for Aviation Weather Services and a decrease in anticipated revenue for scientific and professional services.