ISSN 2562-0932
Table of Contents
Chair's Message
On behalf of the Veterans Review and Appeal Board, I am pleased to present the 2017 to 2018 Report on Fees.
On June 22, 2017, the Service Fees Act received royal assent, thereby repealing the User Fees Act.
The Service Fees Act introduces a modern legislative framework that enables cost-effective delivery of services and, through enhanced reporting to Parliament, improved transparency and oversight. The act provides for:
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a streamlined approach to consultation and the approval of new or modified fees
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a requirement for services to have service standards and reporting against these standards, along with a policy to remit fees to fee payers when standards are not met
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an automatic annual fee adjustment by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to ensure that fees keep pace with inflation
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annual detailed reporting to Parliament in order to increase transparency
This 2017 to 2018 Fees Report is the first report to be prepared under the Service Fees Act. The report includes new information such as a detailed listing of all fees along with future year fee amounts. Additional fee information will be included starting next fiscal year, once the Veterans Review and Appeal Board fully transitions to the Service Fees Act regime.
Christopher J. McNeil
Chair, Veterans Review and Appeal Board
General fees information
The tables that follow provide information on each category of fees, including:
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the name of the fee category
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the date that the fee (or fee category) was introduced and last amended (if applicable)
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service standards
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performance results against these standards
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financial information regarding total costs, total revenues and remissions
In addition to the information presented by fee category, there is a summary of the financial information for all fees as well as a listing of fees under the department’s authority. This listing includes the existing fee dollar amounts and the adjusted dollar fee amount for a future year.
General and financial information by fee category
General information
| Fee category | Fees for processing requests filed under the Access to Information Act |
| Fee-setting authority | Access to Information Act |
| Year introduced | 1985 |
| Year last amended | 2018 |
| Service standard | A response is provided within 30 days following receipt of a request; the response time may be extended under section 9 of the Access to Information Act. |
| Performance results | The institution responded within 30 days for 11 of the 12 requests. The remaining request was completed within 115 days. |
| Other information | Under the Access to Information Act, fees under $25 may be waived when deemed to be in the public interest. Fees waived during 2017–18 totalled $55. |
Financial information (dollars)
| 2016 to 2017 Revenue | 2017 to 2018 Revenue | 2017 to 2018 Cost* | 2017 to 2018 Remissions† |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | Not applicable |
* The amount includes direct and indirect costs, where such costs are identifiable and material.
† A remission is a partial or full return of a fee paid. Under the Service Fees Act, departments are required to develop policies that determine when fees will be remitted to fee payers should service standards not be met. The requirement for departments to remit is anticipated to come into effect on March 31, 2020. This effective date allows departments time to develop remissions policies and adjust service standard tracking and remittance systems. During fiscal year 2017 to 2018, some departments may have issued remissions, in accordance with the authority of their enabling legislation or regulation, as opposed to the authority given by the Service Fees Act. It is remissions issued under enabling legislations or regulations that are shown above.