Departmental Financial Statements For the Year Ended March 31, 2023

Statement of Management Responsibility including Internal Control over Financial Reporting

Responsibility for the integrity and objectivity of the accompanying financial statements for the year ended March 31, 2023, and all information contained in these financial statements rests with the management of the Department of Justice. These financial statements have been prepared by management using the Government of Canada’s accounting policies, which are based on Canadian public sector accounting standards.

Management is responsible for the integrity and objectivity of the information in these financial statements. Some of the information in the financial statements is based on management’s best estimates and judgment, and gives due consideration to materiality. To fulfill its accounting and reporting responsibilities, management maintains a set of accounts that provides a centralized record of the Department of Justice’s financial transactions. Financial information submitted in the preparation of the Public Accounts of Canada, and included in the Department of Justice’s Departmental Results Report, is consistent with these financial statements.

Management is also responsible for maintaining an effective system of internal control over financial reporting (ICFR) designed to provide reasonable assurance that financial information is reliable, that assets are safeguarded and that transactions are properly authorized and recorded in accordance with the Financial Administration Act and other applicable legislation, regulations, authorities and policies.

Management seeks to ensure the objectivity and integrity of data in its financial statements through careful selection, training and development of qualified staff; through organizational arrangements that provide appropriate divisions of responsibility; through communication programs aimed at ensuring that regulations, policies, standards, and managerial authorities are understood throughout the Department of Justice and through conducting an annual risk-based assessment of the effectiveness of the system of ICFR.

The system of ICFR is designed to mitigate risks to a reasonable level based on an ongoing process to identify key risks, to assess effectiveness of associated key controls, and to make any necessary adjustments.

A risk-based assessment of the system of ICFR for the year ended March 31, 2023 was completed in accordance with the Treasury Board Policy on Financial Management and the results and action plans are summarized in the annex.

The annex also provides information on the status of the risk-based assessment of the controls over common services provided by the department that have a bearing on a recipient’s departmental financial statements.

The effectiveness and adequacy of the Department of Justice’s system of internal control is reviewed by the work of internal audit staff, who conduct periodic audits of different areas of the Department of Justice’s operations, and by the Departmental Audit Committee, which oversees management’s responsibilities for maintaining adequate control systems and the quality of financial reporting, and which recommends the financial statements to the Deputy Minister of the Department of Justice.

The financial statements of the Department of Justice have not been audited.

Original signed by Shalene Curtis-Micallef

Shalene Curtis-Micallef
Deputy Minister and
Deputy Attorney General of Canada

Original signed by Bill Kroll

Bill Kroll, CPA, CMA
Assistant Deputy Minister and
Chief Financial Officer

Ottawa, Canada
Date: September 7, 2023

Statement of Financial Position (Unaudited)

As at March 31
(in thousands of dollars)

Contractual obligations (note 9)

Contingent liabilities (note 10)

The accompanying notes form an integral part of these financial statements.

Original signed by Shalene Curtis-Micallef

Shalene Curtis-Micallef
Deputy Minister and
Deputy Attorney General of Canada

Original signed by Bill Kroll

Bill Kroll, CPA, CMA
Assistant Deputy Minister and
Chief Financial Officer

Ottawa, Canada
Date: September 7, 2023

Statement of Operations and Departmental Net Financial Position (Unaudited)

For the year ended March 31
(in thousands of dollars)

Segmented information (note 12)

The accompanying notes form an integral part of these financial statements.

Statement of Change in Departmental Net Debt (Unaudited)

For the year ended March 31
(in thousands of dollars)

The accompanying notes form an integral part of these financial statements.

Statement of Cash Flows (Unaudited)

For the year ended March 31
(in thousands of dollars)

The accompanying notes form an integral part of these financial statements.

Notes to the Financial Statements (Unaudited)

For the year ended March 31

1. Authority and objectives

Established in 1868, the Department of Justice Canada (the Department) supports the dual roles of the Minister of Justice and the Attorney General of Canada. Under the Department of Justice Act, the Minister is the legal advisor to Cabinet and ensures that the administration of public affairs is in accordance with the law. The Minister of Justice is responsible for matters connected with the administration of justice that fall within federal jurisdiction and fulfils this responsibility by developing policies, laws, and programs to strengthen the national framework.

Under the Department of Justice Act, the Attorney General of Canada is the chief law officer of the Crown. The Attorney General provides legal services to the government and its departments and agencies. These services include the provision of legal advice, the conduct of litigation and the drafting of legislation and regulations. The Attorney General also oversees federal prosecutions within the framework of the Director of Public Prosecutions Act. The Attorney General represents the Crown and not individual departments or agencies. Therefore, the Attorney General seeks to protect interests for the whole of government when providing legal advice and conducting litigation.

The Department’s key priorities are delivered through the following core responsibilities, as well as internal services:

Legal Services

The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada provides legal services to the federal government and its departments and agencies. The Minister is responsible for seeing that the administration of public affairs is in accordance with the law. The Minister is also responsible for examining all government bills and regulations for consistency with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Additionally, the Attorney General is responsible for advising the heads of departments on all matters of law, for the legislative drafting of all government bills and regulations, and for conducting all litigation for federal departments or agencies on subjects within the authority or jurisdiction of Canada.

Justice System Support

The Department of Justice Canada plays an essential role in ensuring a fair, relevant and accessible Canadian justice system. This responsibility is shared among a broad range of players, including Parliament; the judiciary; federal departments and agencies; partners in provincial, territorial and municipal governments; a broad range of non-governmental organizations and stakeholders; and, ultimately, all Canadians.

Internal Services

Internal Services are those groups of related activities and resources that the federal government considers to be services in support of Programs and/or required to meet corporate obligations of an organization. Internal Services refers to the activities and resources of the ten distinct services that support program delivery in the organization, regardless of the Internal Services delivery model in a department. These services are: Management and Oversight, Communications, Legal, Human Resources Management, Financial Management, Information Management, Information Technology, Real Property Management, Materiel Management, and Acquisition Management.

2. Summary of significant accounting policies

These financial statements are prepared using the department’s accounting policies stated below, which are based on Canadian public sector accounting standards. The presentation and results using the stated accounting policies do not result in any significant differences from Canadian public sector accounting standards.

Significant accounting policies are as follows:

(a) Parliamentary authorities

The Department of Justice is financed by the Government of Canada through Parliamentary authorities. Financial reporting of authorities provided to the Department do not parallel financial reporting according to generally accepted accounting principles since authorities are primarily based on cash flow requirements. Consequently, items recognized in the Statement of Operations and Departmental Net Financial Position and in the Statement of Financial Position are not necessarily the same as those provided through authorities from Parliament. Note 3 provides a reconciliation between the basis of reporting. The planned results amounts in the “Expenses” and “Revenues” sections of the Statement of Operations and Departmental Net Financial Position are the amounts reported in the Future-Oriented Statement of Operations included in the 2022-2023 Departmental Plan. Planned results are not presented in the “Government funding and transfers” section of the Statement of Operations and Departmental Net Financial Position and in the Statement of Change in Departmental Net Debt because these amounts were not included in the 2022-2023 Departmental Plan.

(b) Net cash provided by Government of Canada

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 Government.

(c) Amounts due from or to the CRF

Amounts due from or to the CRF are the result of timing differences at year-end between when a transaction affects authorities and when it is processed through the CRF. Amounts due from the CRF represent the net amount of cash that the Department is entitled to draw from the CRF without further authorities to discharge its liabilities.

(d) Revenues

Revenues are derived from the provision of advisory, litigation and legislative services provided by the Department of Justice’s law practitioners and they are recognized in the year the services are rendered. These revenues are based on legal services rates approved by Treasury Board in accordance with the Directive on Charging and Special Financial Authorities, for non-appropriated mandatory legal services to government departments and agencies as well as legal services to crown corporations and non-federal organizations.

Service and administration fee revenues under the Family Law programs are recognized based on services provided in the year, such as upon validation of the garnishment application or upon issuance of the divorce clearance certificate. As prescribed by the Family Orders and Agreements Enforcement Assistance Act, a fee is chargeable in respect of the processing of every garnishee summons served on the Minister.

Common Services revenues are derived in accordance with the Directive on Charging and Special Financial Authorities for specific internal services provided to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada.

Fines, forfeitures and awarded court costs provided under the Contraventions Act are recognized upon receipt of payment by the Department. Fines and forfeitures are in effect penalties for illegal actions, rather than fees. These revenues are reported in "Other revenues".

Revenues that are non-respendable are not available to discharge the Department’s liabilities. While the Deputy Minister is expected to maintain accounting control, she has no authority regarding the disposition of non-respendable revenues. As a result, non-respendable revenues are considered to be earned on behalf of the Government of Canada and are therefore presented as a reduction of the Department’s gross revenues.

(e) Expenses

Expenses are recorded on an accrual basis.

Transfer payments are recorded as an expense in the year the transfer is authorized and all eligibility criteria have been met by the recipient.

Vacation pay and compensatory leave are accrued as the benefits are earned by employees under their respective terms of employment.

Expenses related to the provision of legal services are limited to those costs borne and settled directly by the Department. The cost of legal services which are paid directly by client departments to outside suppliers such as legal agents, are not included in the expenses of the Department.

Services provided without charge by other government departments for accommodation, employer contributions to the health and dental insurance plans, and workers’ compensation are recorded as operating expenses at their carrying value.

Expenses related to transactions arising from the recording of accounts receivable generated from non-respendable revenues, such as bad debt expense resulting from valuation allowances, are considered to be incurred on behalf of the Government of Canada and are therefore presented as a reduction to the Department’s gross expenses.

(f) Employee future benefits

1. Pension benefits: Eligible employees participate in the Public Service Pension Plan, a multiemployer pension plan administered by the Government. The Department’s contributions to the Plan are charged to expenses in the year incurred and represent the total departmental obligation to the Plan. The Department’s responsibility with regard to the Plan is limited to its contributions. Actuarial surpluses or deficiencies are recognized in the financial statements of the Government of Canada, as the Plan’s sponsor.
2. Severance benefits: The accumulation of severance benefits for voluntary departures ceased for applicable employee groups. The remaining obligation for employees who did not withdraw benefits is calculated using information derived from the results of the actuarially determined liability for employee severance benefits for the Government as a whole.

(g) Accounts receivable

Receivables are recorded at cost and an allowance for doubtful accounts is made for receivables where recovery is considered uncertain. The allowance for doubtful accounts represents management’s best estimate of probable losses in receivables. The allowance is determined based on an analysis of historical loss experience and an assessment of current conditions. The allowance is increased for losses and reduced by amounts written-off.

Under the Family Orders and Agreements Enforcement Assistance Act and pursuant to Order in Council P.C. 2019-0136, outstanding receivables are written off once the garnishee application has terminated or when any amount remains unpaid at the end of a year during the five-year garnishee summons. The application terminates when the five-year life of the garnishee summons expires or when the province or territory requests that the application be cancelled.

Receivables that are not available to discharge the Department’s liabilities are considered to be held on behalf of the Government of Canada.

(h) Non-financial assets

The costs of acquiring equipment and other capital property are capitalized as tangible capital assets and are amortized to expense over the estimated useful lives of the assets. All tangible capital assets and leasehold improvements having an initial cost of $10,000 or more are recorded at their acquisition cost. Amortization of tangible capital assets is done on a straight-line basis over the estimated useful life of the asset as follows:

Assets under construction are recorded in the applicable asset class and amortized when they become available for use.

(i) Contingent liabilities

Contingent liabilities are potential liabilities which may become actual liabilities when one or more future events occur or fail to occur. If the future event is likely to occur or fail to occur, and a reasonable estimate of the loss can be made, a provision is accrued and an expense is recorded to other expenses. If the likelihood is not determinable or an amount cannot be reasonably estimated, the contingency is disclosed in the notes to the financial statements.

(j) Measurement uncertainty

The preparation of these financial statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported and disclosed amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses reported in the financial statements and accompanying notes at March 31. The estimates are based on facts and circumstances, historical experience, general economic conditions and reflect the Government’s best estimate of the related amount at the end of the reporting period. The most significant items where estimates are used are contingent liabilities, the liability for employee future benefits, salary overpayments and underpayments, allowance for doubtful accounts, and the useful life of tangible capital assets. Actual results could significantly differ from those estimated. Management’s estimates are reviewed periodically and, as adjustments become necessary, they are recorded in the financial statements in the year they become known.

(k) Related party transactions

Related party transactions, other than inter-entity transactions, are recorded at the exchange amount.

Inter-entity transactions are transactions between commonly controlled entities. Inter-entity transactions, other than restructuring transactions, are recorded on a gross basis and are measured at the carrying amount, except for the following:

1. Services provided on a recovery basis are recognized as revenues and expenses on a gross basis and measured at the exchange amount.
2. Certain services received on a without charge basis are recorded for departmental financial statements purposes at the carrying amount.

3. Parliamentary authorities

The Department receives most of its funding through annual parliamentary authorities. Items recognized in the Statement of Operations and Departmental Net Financial Position and the Statement of Financial Position in one year may be funded through parliamentary authorities in prior, current or future years. Accordingly, the Department has different net cost 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) Reconciliation of net cost of operations to current year authorities used

(in thousands of dollars)

(b) Authorities provided and used

(in thousands of dollars)

4. Accounts payable and accrued liabilities

The following table presents details of the Department’s accounts payable and accrued liabilities:

(in thousands of dollars)

5. Family Law account

Under the Family Orders and Agreements Enforcement Assistance Act, the Department assists provinces and territories in the enforcement of family support orders and agreements by providing garnishment assistance through the interception of designated federal moneys payable to individuals in order to satisfy family support debts. These intercepted moneys (consisting of garnisheed moneys such as income tax refunds, employment insurance benefits, etc.) are deposited into the Family Law account from which payments to the provinces and territories are then made. The provinces and territories distribute these payments to the beneficiaries.

(in thousands of dollars)

6. Employee future benefits

(a) Pension benefits

The Department’s employees participate in the public service pension plan (the "Plan"), which is sponsored and administered by the Government of Canada. Pension benefits accrue up to a maximum period of 35 years at a rate of 2 percent per year of pensionable service, times the average of the best five consecutive years of earnings. The benefits are integrated with Canada/Québec Pension Plan benefits and they are indexed to inflation.

Both the employees and the Department contribute to the cost of the Plan. Due to the amendment of the Public Service Superannuation Act following the implementation of provisions related to Canada’s Economic Action Plan 2012, employee contributors have been divided into two groups – Group 1 relates to existing plan members as of December 31, 2012 and Group 2 relates to members joining the Plan as of January 1, 2013. Each group has a distinct contribution rate.

The 2022-23 expense amounts to $60,189,926 ($57,916,683 in 2021-22). For Group 1 members, the expense represents approximately 1.02 times the employee contributions (1.01 in 2021-22), and, for Group 2 members, approximately 1.00 times (same as in 2021-22) the employee contributions.

The Department’s responsibility with regard to the Plan is limited to its contributions. Actuarial surpluses or deficiencies are recognized in the Financial Statements of the Government of Canada, as the Plan’s sponsor.

(b) Severance benefits

Severance benefits provided to the Department’s employees were previously based on an employee’s eligibility, years of service and salary at termination of employment. However, since 2011 the accumulation of severance benefits for voluntary departures progressively ceased for substantially all employees. Employees subject to these changes were given the option to be paid the full or partial value of benefits earned to date or collect the full or remaining value of benefits upon departure from the public service. By March 31, 2023, substantially all settlements for immediate cash out were completed. Severance benefits are unfunded and, consequently, the outstanding obligation will be paid from future authorities.

The changes in the obligations during the year were as follows:

(in thousands of dollars)

7. Accounts receivable and advances

The following table presents details of the Department’s accounts receivable and advances balances:

(in thousands of dollars)

8. Tangible capital assets

The following table presents the detail by category of the tangible capital assets:

Cost

(in thousands of dollars)

Accumulated amortization

(in thousands of dollars)

Net book value

(in thousands of dollars)

Disposals, Write-Offs and Adjustments include assets under construction of $621,217 that were transferred to the other categories upon completion of the assets.

9. Contractual obligations

The nature of the Department’s activities results in some large multi-year contracts and obligations whereby the Department will be obligated to make future payments in order to carry out its transfer payment programs or when the services and/or goods are received.

Significant contractual obligations that can be reasonably estimated are summarized as follows:

(in thousands of dollars)

10. Contingent liabilities

Claims and litigation

Claims have been made against the Department in the normal course of operations. These claims include items with pleading amounts and others for which no amount is specified. While the total amount claimed in these actions is significant, their outcomes are not determinable. Claims and litigations for which the outcome is not determinable and a reasonable estimate can be made by management amount to $0 at March 31, 2023 ($3,000,000 in 2021-22).

11. Related party transactions

The Department is related as a result of common ownership to all government departments, agencies, and Crown corporations. Related parties also include individuals who are members of key management personnel or close family members of those individuals, and entities controlled by, or under shared control of, a member of key management personnel or a close family members of that individual.

The Department enters into transactions with these entities in the normal course of business and on normal trade terms.

a) Common services provided without charge by other government departments

During the year, the Department received services without charge from certain common service organizations, related to accommodation, the employer’s contribution to the health and dental insurance plans, and workers’ compensation coverage. These services provided without charge have been recorded at the carrying value in the Department’s Statement of Operations and Departmental Net Financial Position as follows:

(in thousands of dollars)

The Government has centralized some of its administrative activities for efficiency, cost-effectiveness purposes and economic delivery of programs to the public. As a result, the Government uses central agencies and common service organizations so that one department performs services for all other departments and agencies without charge. The costs of these services, such as the payroll and cheque issuance services provided by Public Services and Procurement Canada and audit services provided by the Office of the Auditor General are not included in the Department’s Statement of Operations and Departmental Net Financial Position. The costs of information technology infrastructure services provided by Shared Services Canada, following the transfer of responsibilities in November 2011 and April 2013, are also not included in the Department’s Statement of Operations and Departmental Net Financial Position.

(b) Common services provided without charge to other government departments

In addition, the Department has provided legal services, such as advisory, litigation and legislative services, without charge to other government departments for a total amount of $127,083,845 ($121,078,483 in 2021-22). The amount is determined based on actual salary and operating expenses attributed to non-recoverable services provided to other government departments.

(c) Other transactions with other government departments and agencies

(in thousands of dollars)

Expenses and revenues disclosed in (c) exclude common services provided without charge, which are already disclosed in (a) and (b).

12. Segmented information

Presentation by segment is based on the Department’s core responsibility, as well as its internal services. The presentation by segment is based on the same accounting policies as described in the summary of significant accounting policies in note 2. The following table presents the expenses incurred and revenues generated for the core responsibilities and internal services, by major object of expense and by major type of revenue. The segment results for the period are as follows:

(in thousands of dollars)

13. Comparative information

Comparative figures have been reclassified to conform to the current year’s presentation.

Annex to the Statement of Management Responsibility including Internal Control over Financial Reporting of Justice Canada for Fiscal Year 2022-23 (Unaudited)

For the year ended March 31

1. Introduction

This document provides summary information on the measures taken by the Department of Justice Canada (the Department) to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting (ICFR), as well as information on internal control management, assessment results and related action plans.

Detailed information on the Department’s authority, mandate and core responsibilities can be found in the 2022-23 Departmental Plan and the 2022-23 Departmental Results Report.

2. Departmental system of internal control over financial reporting

2.1 Internal control management

The Department has a well-established governance and accountability structure to support departmental assessment efforts and oversight of its system of internal control.

A departmental internal control financial management framework, approved by the Chief Financial Officer, is in place and includes:

• Organizational accountability structures as they relate to internal control management to support sound financial management, including roles and responsibilities of senior managers in their areas of responsibility for internal control management;
• References to values and ethics, including responsibilities of the Values and Ethics unit, which provides educational and awareness programs and has developed a departmental code of conduct;
• Ongoing communication and training on the legislative and policy requirements for sound financial management and control; and
• Semi-annual monitoring of, and regular updates on, internal control management, as well as provision of related assessment results and action plans to the deputy head and departmental senior management and, as applicable, the Departmental Audit Committee (DAC).

The DAC is an independent and objective committee that provides advice to the Deputy Minister on the adequacy and functioning of the department’s governance, risk management and control frameworks and processes.

2.2 Service arrangements relevant to financial statements

The Department relies on other organizations to process certain transactions that are recorded in its financial statements, as follows:

Common Arrangements within the Government of Canada

• Public Services and Procurement Canada centrally administers the payments of salaries, the procurement of goods and services and provides accommodation services;
• Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat provides information on public service insurance and centrally administers payment of the employer’s share of contributions toward statutory employee benefit plans; and
• Shared Services Canada provides Information Technology (IT) infrastructure services to the Department, including in the areas of data centre, security and network services.

Readers of this Annex may refer to the Annexes of the above-noted organizations for a greater understanding of the systems of ICFR related to these specific services.

Specific Arrangements for the Department

The Department provides certain corporate (internal) services to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada, a human resource management system, a legal case management system (i.e. LEX) and a SAP financial system platform to capture and report all financial transactions.

Common Services provided by the Department

• The Department is the common service provider of legal services to federal departments and agencies, and as such, the Department charges these organizations with the cost of providing legal services pursuant to legal services agreements and provides an annual dollar figure for those legal services it provides without charge.
• To support the common services provided, the Department is responsible for the appointment of legal agents when in-house expertise is not available. The term legal agents refers to private sector law practitioners who are occasionally retained to provide legal services to federal departments and agencies. The expenses related to legal agents are typically paid by other federal departments and agencies.
• The Department also provides information on pending litigation cases in order to assist federal departments and agencies in the reporting of contingencies.

3. Departmental assessment results for the 2022-23 fiscal year

The following table summarizes the status of the ongoing monitoring activities according to the previous fiscal year’s rotational plan.

The key findings from the current fiscal year’s assessment activities are summarized in the subsections below.

3.1 New or significantly amended key controls

In the current year, there were no significantly amended key controls in existing processes that required a reassessment.

3.2 Ongoing monitoring program

In accordance with its rotational ongoing monitoring plan, the Department completed the re-assessment of:

• Information Technology General Controls (ITGC) for the Legal Case Management System (LEX); and
• Process level controls (PLC) for the Tangible Capital Assets & Non-Capitalized Asset Management business process.

Given that a number of Management Action Plans are still being implemented specifically related to the Legal Service Revenue business process, a full assessment was not conducted and 2022-23 activities focused only on the financially-related data interfaces between LEX and IFMS. A full process level assessment of Legal Service Revenue is scheduled for 2023-24.

The assessment of the Travel, Hospitality, Conferences, and Event Expenditures business process has been initiated and will be completed in the 2023-24 fiscal year.

The majority of key controls that were tested performed as intended, with remediation required as follows:

Where necessary, process owners have taken action and developed management action plans to address the recommendations stated above. In the case of the Legal Service Revenues LEX-IFMS interfaces, the assessment framework results concluded that the overall and aggregate risk level was low due to existing compensatory controls already in place.

4. Departmental action plan for the next fiscal year and subsequent fiscal years

Given that the Department has completed a full assessment of the whole departmental system of ICFR in the past, it is at a state of ongoing monitoring. Building on progress to date, the Department will continue its broader assessment of Internal Controls over Financial Management (ICFM), which commenced during the 2019-20 fiscal year.

As part of the new three-year plan, the Department conducted a detailed risk assessment in order to establish the scope of ICFM monitoring that will be conducted over fiscal years 2022-23 to 2024-25.

The rotational schedule is shown in the following table.

Annual environmental scans are conducted to validate high-risk processes, applications and controls and adjustments to the ongoing monitoring plan and its rotational schedule are made as required. The plan is comprehensive of ICFM elements to meet the Treasury Board Policy on Financial Management requirements.

5. Departmental assessment results for common services during the 2022-23 fiscal year

The Department of Justice Canada, as a common service provider of legal services, uses a risk-based approach when conducting assessments of the internal controls related to the legal services it provides.

Given that a number of Management Action Plans are still being implemented specifically related to the LSR business process, a full assessment was not conducted and 2022-23 activities focused on only the financially-related data interfaces between the Legal Case Management System (LEX) and the Integrated Financial and Material System (IFMS). A full process level assessment of Legal Service Revenues (LSR) is scheduled for 2023-24.