Departmental Financial Statements of Environment Canada

Financial statements provide an accounting of the department’s administration of its public financial affairs and resources to a variety of users both within the government and external to it. As such, they serve the needs of many varied users whose needs may be different. Since external readers of the financial statements do not have access to specialized financial reports on the department, the primary focus of these financial statements is geared toward them.

The objectives of departmental financial statements are the following:

To provide an accounting of the full nature and extent of the activities of the department.

To present information to describe the department’s financial position at the end of the accounting period. Such information should be useful in evaluating:

• the liabilities and contractual obligations of the department arising from its activities and the department’s ability to meet these liabilities and contractual obligations; and
• the financial and non-financial assets that the department has stewardship responsibility for.

To present information to describe the changes in a department’s financial position in the accounting period. Such information should be useful in evaluating:

• the allocation and consumption of economic resources in the accounting period; and
• how the department met its cash requirements.

To demonstrate the accountability of the department for the resources, obligations and financial affairs for which it is responsible by providing information useful in:

• evaluating the financial results of the department’s management of its resources, obligations and financial affairs in the accounting period; and
• assessing whether resources were administered by the department in accordance with limits established by the appropriate legislative authorities.

Responsibility for the integrity and objectivity of the financial statements and the financial reporting process that produces such statements rests with senior management of the department. The Deputy Head and Chief Financial Officer acknowledge this responsibility in the statement of responsibility, which prefaces the financial statements.

Date modified:

2013-11-05