2023-2024 Financial statements

The Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada

Statement of Management Responsibility Including Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
Statement of Financial Position (Unaudited)
Statement of Operations and Departmental Net Financial Position (Unaudited)
Statement of Change in Departmental Net Debt (Unaudited)
Statement of Cash Flows (Unaudited)
Notes to the Financial Statements (Unaudited)
Annex to the Statement of Management Responsibility Including Internal Control Over Financial Reporting of the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada for Fiscal Year 2023-2024 (Unaudited)

Statement of Management Responsibility Including Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

Responsibility for the integrity and objectivity of the accompanying financial statements for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024, as well as for all information contained in these statements, rests with the management of the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (ORSCC). 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 ORSCC’s financial transactions. Financial information submitted for the preparation of the Public Accounts of Canada, and included in the ORSCC’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 ORSCC, as well as by 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 necessary adjustments. A risk-based assessment of the system of ICFR for the year ended March 31, 2024 was completed in accordance with the Treasury Board Policy on Financial Management, and the results and action plan are summarized in the annex.

The financial statements of the ORSCC have not been audited.

Chantal Carbonneau, Registrar
Catherine Laforce, Chief Financial Officer

Ottawa, Canada
September 6, 2024

Statement of Financial Position (Unaudited)

Contractual obligations (note 11)

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

Chantal Carbonneau, Registrar
Catherine Laforce, Chief Financial Officer

Ottawa, Canada
September 6, 2024

Statement of Operations and Departmental Net Financial Position (Unaudited)

Segmented information (note 13)

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

Statement of Change in Departmental Net Debt (Unaudited)

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

Statement of Cash Flows (Unaudited)

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

Created by the Supreme Court Act in 1875, the Supreme Court of Canada is Canada’s final court of appeal. It serves Canadians by deciding legal issues of public importance, thereby contributing to the development of all branches of law applicable within Canada. The independence of the Court, the quality of its work and the esteem in which it is held both in Canada and abroad contribute significantly as foundations for a secure, strong and democratic country founded on the Rule of Law. The Supreme Court of Canada is an important national institution, positioned at the pinnacle of the judicial branch of government in Canada, separate from and independent of the executive and legislative branches of government.

The Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (ORSCC) provides all necessary services and support for the Court to process, hear and decide cases. It also serves as the interface between litigants and the Court.

The ORSCC has a single Core Responsibility: The administration of Canada’s final court of appeal. This Core Responsibility is supported by two programs: Court Administration and Administration of the Judges Act for the Judges of the Supreme Court of Canada. In addition, the ORSCC is further supported by its Internal Services, which are services in support of programs and/or required to meet corporate obligations of the ORSCC.

2. Summary of significant accounting policies

These financial statements have been prepared using the ORSCC’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:

3. Parliamentary authorities

The ORSCC 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 ORSCC 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. Reconciliation of net cost of operations to current year authorities used

b. Authorities provided and used

4. Accounts payable and accrued liabilities

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

5. Deferred revenues

Deferred revenues represent the balance at year-end of unearned revenues stemming from amounts received from external parties for annual subscriptions to Canada Supreme Court Reports. Revenues are recognized on a monthly basis in the fiscal year covered by the annual subscription. Details of the transactions related to this account are as follows:

6. Employee future benefits

a. Pension benefits

The ORSCC’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 Plans benefits and they are indexed to inflation.

Both the employees and the ORSCC contribute to the cost of the Plan. Due to the amendment of the Public Service Superannuation Act following the implementation of provisions related to 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 2023-2024 expense amounts to $2,264,048 ($2,090,018 in 2022-2023). For Group 1 members, the expense represents approximately 1.02 times (1.02 times in 2022-2023) the employee contributions and, for Group 2 members, approximately 1.00 time (1.00 time in 2022-2023) the employee contributions.

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

b. Severance benefits

Severance benefits provided to the ORSCC’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, 2024, 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 change in the obligations during the year were as follows:

7. Security Deposit Trust Account

The following table presents details of the ORSCC’s Trust Account liability:

The Security Deposit Account was established to record security to the value of $500 deposited by an Appellant with the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada in accordance with paragraph 60(1)(b) of the Supreme Court Act. As per section 87 of the Rules of the Supreme Court of Canada, interest is paid on money deposited as security.

8. Judges’ Supplementary Retirement Benefits Account (SRBA)

The following table presents details of the ORSCC’s SRBA liability:

The Judges’ Supplementary Retirement Benefits Account records contributions made by judges of the Supreme Court of Canada and the matching contributions made by the ORSCC in accordance with the Supplementary Retirement Benefits Act and the Judges Act.

9. Accounts receivable and advances

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

10. Tangible capital assets

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

11. Contractual obligations

The nature of the ORSCC’s activities may result in some large multi-year contracts and obligations whereby the ORSCC will be obligated to make future payments when the services/goods are received. Significant contractual obligations that can be reasonably estimated are summarized as follows:

12. Related party transactions

The ORSCC is related as a result of common ownership to all government departments, agencies, and Crown corporations.

The ORSCC 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 ORSCC received services without charge from certain common service organizations, related to accommodation, the employer’s contribution to the health and dental insurance plans, security services and interpretation services. These services provided without charge have been recorded in the ORSCC’s Statement of Operations and Departmental Net Financial Position as follows:

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 ORSCC’s Statement of Operations and Departmental Net Financial Position.

b. Other transactions with other government departments and agencies

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

13. Segmented information

Presentation by segment is based on the ORSCC’s core responsibility. 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 main core responsibilities, by major object of expense and by major type of revenue. The segment results for the period are as follows:

Annex to the Statement of Management Responsibility Including Internal Control Over Financial Reporting of the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada for Fiscal Year 2023-2024 (Unaudited)

1. Introduction

In support of an effective system of internal control, the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada conducted self-assessments of key control areas that were identified to be assessed in the 2023 to 2024 fiscal year. A summary of the assessment results and action plan is provided in subsection 2.

The Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada will assess all key control areas over a 5-year cycle. The assessment plan is provided in subsection 3.

2. Assessment results for the 2023 to 2024 fiscal year

The Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada completed the assessment of key control areas as indicated in the following table. A summary of the results, action plans, and additional details are also provided.

Key control areas for contracting, year-end payables and receivables are functioning as intended and form an adequate basis for the ORSCC’s system of internal control. Some issues were identified and addressed during the fiscal year.

3. Assessment plan

The Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada is assessing the performance of its system of internal control by focusing on key control areas over a cycle of 5 years as shown in the following table.