Financial Administration Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. F-11)

Marginal note:Operating budgets

• 123 (1) Each parent Crown corporation named in Part I of Schedule III shall annually submit an operating budget for the next following financial year of the corporation to the appropriate Minister for the approval of the Treasury Board on the recommendation of the appropriate Minister.

• Marginal note:Scope of operating budget

  (2) The operating budget of a parent Crown corporation shall encompass all the businesses and activities, including investments, of the corporation and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, if any.

• Marginal note:Form of operating budget

  (3) The operating budget of a parent Crown corporation shall be prepared in a form that clearly sets out information according to the major businesses or activities of the corporation and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, if any.

• Marginal note:Amendment to operating budget

  (4) Where a parent Crown corporation anticipates that the total amount of expenditures or commitments to make expenditures in respect of any major business or activity in a financial year will vary significantly from the total amount projected for that major business or activity in an operating budget of the corporation or any amendment thereto that is approved pursuant to this section for that year, the corporation shall submit an amendment to the budget to the appropriate Minister for the approval of the Treasury Board on the recommendation of the appropriate Minister.

• Marginal note:Terms and conditions

  (5) The Treasury Board may specify such terms and conditions as it deems appropriate for the approval of an operating budget or an amendment to an operating budget.

Marginal note:Capital budgets

• 124 (1) Each parent Crown corporation shall annually submit a capital budget for the next following financial year of the corporation to the appropriate Minister for the approval of the Treasury Board on the recommendation of the appropriate Minister.

• Marginal note:Scope of capital budget

  (2) The capital budget of a parent Crown corporation shall encompass all the businesses and activities, including investments, of the corporation and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, if any.

• Marginal note:Approval of multi-year items

  (3) The Treasury Board may approve any item in a capital budget submitted pursuant to subsection (1) for any financial year or years after the financial year for which the budget is submitted.

• Marginal note:Form of capital budget

  (4) The capital budget of a parent Crown corporation shall be prepared in a form that clearly sets out information according to the major businesses or activities of the corporation and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, if any.

• Marginal note:Restriction on capital expenditures or commitments

  (5) No parent Crown corporation or wholly-owned subsidiary of a parent Crown corporation shall incur, or make a commitment to incur, a capital expenditure in any financial year for which the corporation is required to submit a budget pursuant to this section, unless

  • (a) a budget for that year has been approved pursuant to this section; or

  • (b) the expenditure or commitment

    • (i) is included in an item for that year that has been approved pursuant to subsection (3) as part of a budget for a previous year,

    • (ii) has been specifically approved pursuant to this section as though it were a capital budget, or

    • (iii) is, in the opinion of the board of directors of the corporation or subsidiary, essential to continue a current business or activity of the corporation or subsidiary as set out in a corporate plan or budget of the corporation that has been approved pursuant to this section or section 122 or 123.

• Marginal note:Amendment to capital budget

  (6) Where, by reason of any one or more proposed expenditures or commitments to make expenditures, a parent Crown corporation anticipates that the total amount of expenditures or commitments to make expenditures in respect of any major business or activity in a financial year will vary significantly from the total amount projected for that major business or activity in a capital budget of the corporation or any amendment thereto that is approved pursuant to this section for that year, the corporation shall submit an amendment to the budget to the appropriate Minister for the approval of the Treasury Board on the recommendation of the appropriate Minister, and the expenditure or expenditures shall not be incurred or commitments made before that approval is obtained.

• Marginal note:Recommendation of Minister of Finance

  (7) The Minister of Finance may require that his recommendation, in addition to that of the appropriate Minister, be obtained before a capital budget or an amendment to a capital budget is submitted to the Treasury Board for approval under this section.

• Marginal note:Terms and conditions

  (8) The Treasury Board may specify such terms and conditions as it deems appropriate for the approval of a capital budget or an amendment to a capital budget.

Marginal note:Summary of plan or budget

• 125 (1) After a corporate plan, operating budget or capital budget, or an amendment thereto, is approved pursuant to section 122, 123 or 124, the parent Crown corporation shall submit a summary of the plan or budget, or the plan or budget as so amended, to the appropriate Minister for his approval.

• Marginal note:Scope of summary

  (2) A summary shall encompass all the businesses and activities, including investments, of the parent Crown corporation and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, if any, and shall set out the major business decisions taken with respect thereto.

• Marginal note:Form of summary

  (3) A summary shall be prepared in a form that clearly sets out information according to the major businesses or activities of the parent Crown corporation and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, if any.

• Marginal note:Tabling in Parliament

  (4) The appropriate Minister shall cause a copy of every summary he approves pursuant to this section to be laid before each House of Parliament.

• Marginal note:Reference to committee

  (5) A summary laid before Parliament pursuant to subsection (4) stands permanently referred to such committee of Parliament as may be designated or established to review matters relating to the businesses and activities of the corporation submitting the summary.

Marginal note:Regulations

126 In addition to any other requirements under this Act or any other Act of Parliament with respect thereto, the Treasury Board may make regulations

• (a) prescribing the form in which corporate plans, budgets, summaries or amendments required under section 122, 123, 124 or 125 shall be prepared, the information to be included therein and the time at, before or within which they are to be submitted and summaries are to be laid before each House of Parliament;

• (b) prescribing the period to be covered by corporate plans under section 122, either generally or in respect of any specified parent Crown corporation or any parent Crown corporation of a specified class; and

• (c) defining for the purpose of this Division the expression vary significantly.

Borrowing

Marginal note:Intended borrowing

• 127 (1) Where a parent Crown corporation or a wholly-owned subsidiary of a parent Crown corporation intends to borrow money, the corporation shall so indicate in its corporate plan or an amendment thereto under section 122 for the period in which the corporation or subsidiary intends to borrow and shall give a general indication therein of the borrowing plans and strategy of the corporation or subsidiary for that period.

• Marginal note:Recommendation of Minister of Finance

  (2) Where a parent Crown corporation indicates in a corporate plan or an amendment to a corporate plan an intention to borrow money, the Minister of Finance may require that his recommendation, in addition to that of the appropriate Minister, be obtained before the plan or amendment is submitted to the Governor in Council for approval.

• Marginal note:Particular borrowing

  (3) No Crown corporation shall enter into any particular transaction to borrow money without the approval of the Minister of Finance with respect to the time and the terms and conditions of the transaction.

• Marginal note:Regulations

  (4) The Governor in Council may, on the recommendation of the Minister of Finance, make regulations

  • (a) exempting a specified Crown corporation or a Crown corporation of a specified class from the application of subsection (3), either generally or in respect of any specified borrowing or any borrowing of a specified class;

  • (b) deeming a specified transaction or a transaction of a specified class to be, for the purposes of this Part, a transaction to borrow money; and

  • (c) specifying the manner of granting approvals under subsection (3) and the circumstances in which an approval under that subsection is deemed to have been granted in respect of borrowing by Crown corporations.

• Marginal note:Limitations preserved

  (5) Nothing in this section shall be construed as authorizing a Crown corporation to borrow money in excess of any limit established by any other Act of Parliament on the amount of money the corporation may borrow.

• Marginal note:Leases entered into by Crown corporation

  (6) Despite any regulations made under paragraph (4)(b), leases — as defined in the Handbook of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada, as amended from time to time — that are entered into by a Crown corporation, are not considered to be transactions to borrow money for the purpose of a limit referred to in subsection (5).

Bank Accounts

Marginal note:Deposits and deposit receipts

128 A Crown corporation may, directly or indirectly, deposit funds with or acquire deposit receipts from

• (a) any member of the Canadian Payments Association;

• (b) any local cooperative credit society that is a member of a central cooperative credit society having membership in the Canadian Payments Association; and

• (c) any financial institution outside Canada that is not a member of the Canadian Payments Association, but only with the approval of the Minister of Finance.

Marginal note:Receiver General account

• 129 (1) A parent Crown corporation shall, if directed by the Minister of Finance with the concurrence of the appropriate Minister, and may, if the Minister of Finance and the appropriate Minister approve, pay or cause to be paid all or any part of the money of the corporation or a wholly-owned subsidiary of the corporation to the Receiver General to be paid into the Consolidated Revenue Fund and credited to a special account in the accounts of Canada in the name of the corporation or subsidiary, and the Receiver General, subject to such terms and conditions as the Minister of Finance may prescribe, may pay out, for the purposes of the corporation or subsidiary, or repay to the corporation or subsidiary, all or any part of the money credited to the special account.

• Marginal note:Interest

  (2) Interest may be paid from the Consolidated Revenue Fund in respect of money credited to a special account pursuant to subsection (1), in accordance with and at rates fixed by the Minister of Finance with the approval of the Governor in Council.

Surpluses

Marginal note:Payment over of surplus money

130 Subject to any other Act of Parliament, where the appropriate Minister and the Minister of Finance, with the approval of the Governor in Council, so direct, a parent Crown corporation shall pay or cause to be paid to the Receiver General so much of the money of the corporation or of a wholly-owned subsidiary of the corporation as the appropriate Minister and the Minister of Finance consider to be in excess of the amount required for the purposes of the corporation or subsidiary, and any money so paid may be applied toward the discharge of any obligation of the corporation or subsidiary to the Crown or may be applied as revenues of Canada.

Dividends

Marginal note:Dividend proposal

130.1 Each parent Crown corporation named in Part II of Schedule III shall annually submit a dividend proposal to the appropriate Minister as part of its corporate plan submitted pursuant to section 122.

Marginal note:Dividend payment

130.2 The Governor in Council may prescribe, waive or vary the dividends to be paid by any parent Crown corporation named in Schedule III.

Financial Management

Marginal note:Books and systems

• 131 (1) Each parent Crown corporation shall cause

  • (a) books of account and records in relation thereto to be kept, and

  • (b) financial and management control and information systems and management practices to be maintained,

  in respect of itself and each of its wholly-owned subsidiaries, if any.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (2) The books, records, systems and practices referred to in subsection (1) shall be kept and maintained in such manner as will provide reasonable assurance that

  • (a) the assets of the corporation and each subsidiary are safeguarded and controlled;

  • (b) the transactions of the corporation and each subsidiary are in accordance with this Part, the regulations, the charter and by-laws of the corporation or subsidiary and any directive given to the corporation; and

  • (c) the financial, human and physical resources of the corporation and each subsidiary are managed economically and efficiently and the operations of the corporation and each subsidiary are carried out effectively.

• Marginal note:Internal audit

  (3) Each parent Crown corporation shall cause internal audits to be conducted, in respect of itself and each of its wholly-owned subsidiaries, if any, to assess compliance with subsections (1) and (2), unless the Governor in Council is of the opinion that the benefits to be derived from those audits do not justify their cost.

• Marginal note:Financial statements

  (4) Each parent Crown corporation shall cause financial statements to be prepared annually, in respect of itself and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, if any, in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles as supplemented or augmented by regulations made pursuant to subsection (6), if any.

• Marginal note:Form of financial statements

  (5) The financial statements of a parent Crown corporation and of a wholly-owned subsidiary shall be prepared in a form that clearly sets out information according to the major businesses or activities of the corporation or subsidiary.

• Marginal note:Regulations

  (6) The Treasury Board may, for the purposes of subsection (4), make regulations respecting financial statements either generally or in respect of any specified parent Crown corporation or any parent Crown corporation of a specified class, but such regulations shall, in respect of the preparation of financial statements, only supplement or augment generally accepted accounting principles.

Marginal note:Quarterly financial reports

• 131.1 (1) Each parent Crown corporation shall, in respect of itself and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, if any, cause to be prepared, in the form and manner provided for by the Treasury Board, a quarterly financial report for each of the first three quarters of each financial year of the parent Crown corporation.

• Marginal note:Contents

  (2) The report shall contain

  • (a) a financial statement for the quarter and for the period from the start of the financial year to the end of that quarter;

  • (b) comparative financial information for the preceding financial year; and

  • (c) a statement outlining the results, risks and significant changes in relation to operations, personnel and programs.

• Marginal note:Report to be made public

  (3) The parent Crown corporation shall cause the report to be made public within 60 days after the end of the quarter to which the report relates.

• Marginal note:Regulations

  (4) The Treasury Board may, by regulation, exempt a parent Crown corporation from the requirement set out in subsection (1) or provide that any of the content referred to in subsection (2) be excluded from its report.