Reporting on the Total Annual Expenditures on Travel, Hospitality and Conferences for the Fiscal Year 2015-2016
Patented Medicine Prices Review Board
Report on Annual Expenditures for Travel, Hospitality and Conferences
As required by the Treasury Board Directive on Travel, Hospitality, Conference and Event Expenditures, this report provides information on the annual expenditures for travel, hospitality and conference fees for the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB) for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2016. It also provides the variance explanations from the previous fiscal year in each of these areas.
This information is updated annually and does not contain information withheld under the Access to Information Act or the Privacy Act.
Expenditures on travel, hospitality and conference fees incurred by federal departments and agencies are related to activities that support a departmental or agency mandate and the government's priorities.
In particular, the PMPRB is an independent, quasi-judicial body created by Parliament in 1987 under the Patent Act (Act). Its mandate is two-fold:
- Regulatory — to ensure that prices charged by patentees for patented medicines sold in Canada are not excessive; and
- Reporting — to report on pharmaceutical trends of all medicines and on research and development spending by pharmaceutical patentees.
In carrying out its mandate, the PMPRB endeavours to ensure that Canadians are protected from excessive prices for patented medicines sold in Canada, and stakeholders are informed on pharmaceutical trends.
Annual Expenditures for Travel, Hospitality and Conferences of the PMPRB
(in thousands of dollars)
| Expenditure Category |
Expenditures for
the Year Ending
March 31, 2016 ($000) |
Expenditures for
the Year Ending
March 31, 2015 ($000) |
Change ($000) |
| Travel – Public Servants |
77.6 |
52.7 |
24.9 |
| Travel – Non-Public Servants |
24.2 |
14.9 |
9.3 |
| Total Travel |
101.8 |
67.6 |
34.2 |
| Hospitality |
6.0 |
7.5 |
-1.5 |
| Conference Fees |
7.5 |
7.3 |
0.2 |
| Total |
115.3 |
82.4 |
32.9 |
| International Travel by Minister and Minister's Staff |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
Significant Variances Compared With the Previous Fiscal Year
Travel:
Public Servants: Compared with fiscal year 2014-2015, the increase in travel expenditures by public servants is primarily due to an increase in litigation-related travel costs for public hearings.
Non-Public Servants: Compared with fiscal year 2014-2015, the increase in travel expenditures by non-public servants is primarily due to a one-time increase in the number of face-to-face meetings (from 1 to 2) for the Human Drug Advisory Panel (HDAP) as a transitional orientation measure for new HDAP members, and an increase in litigation-related travel costs for public hearings.
Hospitality:
Compared to fiscal year 2014-2015, there was no significant variance in the hospitality expenditures.
Conference:
Compared to fiscal year 2014-2015, there was no significant variance in the conference expenditures.