Planning and Reporting

Status of Women Canada (SWC) was established by the Government of Canada in 1976 to "co-ordinate policy with respect to the status of women and administer related program" (Order in Council 1976-779).  The mandate of SWC is further guided by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as well as by Canada's adherence to the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women. SWC plays a key role in fulfilling the Government of Canada's commitment to building a society that is inclusive and respectful of all Canadians by promoting equality and the full participation of women in Canada.

Strategic Outcome: Gender equality and the full participation of women in the economic, social, and cultural life of Canada. 

Program Activities:

• Women's participation in Canadian society: by strengthening women's full participation by addressing their economic and social situations and their participation in democratic life through financial and professional assistance for projects and through strategic partnerships that leverage resources involving public institutions and non-governmental organizations
• Strategic policy analysis, planning and development: by developing strategic policy analysis, advice, and tools to support federal departments and central agencies in identification of policy priorities and in integrating gender-based analysis in existing and proposed policies, programs and initiatives. This is done through collaboration with other federal departments, provincial-territorial governments, civil society, and key international partners.
  

• as at November 30th, 2009
• on the basis of government policies, government priorities, and external environment at the time the future-oriented financial information was finalized
• according to the requirements of Treasury Board Accounting Policies which are based on Canadian generally accepted accounting principles for the public sector.
• on the basis that the resources provided will enable Status of Women to deliver the expected results specified in the Report on Plans and Priorities.
• on the basis of historical costs, trend analysis and other analytical methodologies.

While every attempt has been made to accurately forecast final results from 2009/10 to 2010/11, actual results achieved are likely to vary from the forecast information presented, and this variation could be material.

Once the Report on Plans and Priorities is presented, Status of Women will not be updating the forecasts for any changes to appropriations or forecast financial information made in ensuing supplementary estimates.

The future-oriented financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Treasury Board accounting policies which are consistent with Canadian generally accepted accounting principles for the public sector.

Significant accounting policies are as follows:

(a) Parliamentary appropriations

The department is financed by the Government of Canada through Parliamentary appropriations. Appropriations provided to the department do not parallel financial reporting according to generally accepted accounting principles since appropriations are primarily based on a modified-cash basis. Consequently, items recognized in the future-oriented statement of operations and the future-oriented statement of financial position are not necessarily the same as those provided through appropriations from Parliament. Note 5 provides a high-level reconciliation between the bases of reporting.

(b) Net Cash Provided by Government

The department operates within the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF), which is administered by the Receiver General for Canada.  All cash received by the department is deposited to the CRF and all cash disbursements made by the department are paid from the CRF.  The net cash provided by Government is the difference between all cash receipts and all cash disbursements including transactions between departments of the federal government.

(c) Forecasted Revenues

Revenues are accounted for in the period in which the underlying transaction or event occurred that gave rise to the revenues.

(d) Forecasted Expenses

Forecasted expenses are recorded when the underlying transaction or expense occurred subject to the following:

• Grants are recognized in the year in which the conditions for payment are met. In the case of grants which do not form part of an existing program, the expense is recognized when the Government announces a decision to make a non-recurring transfer, provided the enabling legislation or authorization for payment receives parliamentary approval prior to the completion of the financial statements.
• Contributions are recognized in the year in which the recipient has met the eligibility criteria or fulfilled the terms of a contractual transfer agreement.
• Vacation pay and compensatory leave are expensed as the benefits accrue to employees under their respective terms of employment.
• Services provided without charge by other government departments for accommodation, the employer's contribution to the health and dental insurance plans and legal services are recorded as operating expenses at their estimated cost.

(e)  Employee future benefits

1. Pension benefits: Eligible employees participate in the Public Service Pension Plan, a multiemployer plan administered by the Government of Canada. The department's contributions to the Plan are charged to expenses in the year incurred and represent the total obligation to the Plan. Current legislation does not require the department to make contributions for any actuarial deficiencies of the Plan.
2. Severance benefits: Employees are entitled to severance benefits under labour contracts or conditions of employment. These benefits are accrued as employees render the services necessary to earn them. The obligation relating to the benefits earned by employees is calculated using information derived from the results of the actuarially determined liability for employee severance benefits for the Government as a whole.

(f) Accounts receivable

Account receivable are stated at amounts expected to be ultimately realized; a provision is made for receivables where recovery is considered uncertain.

(g) Tangible capital assets

All tangible capital assets and leasehold improvements having an initial cost of $2,500 or more are recorded at their acquisition cost.  The department does not capitalize intangibles, works of art and historical treasures that have cultural, aesthetic or historical value, assets located on Indian Reserves and museum collections.

Amortization of capital assets is done on a straight-line basis over the estimated useful life of the capital asset as follows:

(h) Measurement uncertainty

The preparation of the future-oriented financial information requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of all the assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses reported in the future-oriented financial statements. Assumptions are based upon information available and known to management at the time of development, reflect current business and economic conditions, and assume a continuation of current governmental priorities and consistency in departmental mandate and strategic objectives. At the time of preparation of these statements, management believes the estimates and assumptions to be reasonable. Nonetheless, as with all such estimates and assumptions, there is a measure of uncertainty surrounding them. This uncertainty increases as the forecast horizon extends.

The department receives most of its funding through annual Parliamentary appropriations. Items recognized in the future-oriented statement of operations and the future-oriented statement of financial position in one year may be funded through Parliamentary appropriations in prior, current or future years. Accordingly, the department has different net results of operations for the year on a government funding basis than on an accrual accounting basis. The differences are reconciled in the following tables:

(a) Appropriations provided and used: