Travel

Refer to additional TRU travel policy.

For further information, see Supporting Evidence on the NSERC web site at http://www.nserc.ca/professors_e.asp?nav=profnav&lbi=f4 )

TRU provides advance funds to enable travel, professional development, research, and a variety of other expenses a week to ten days prior to the identified need. Please check with Accounts Payable prior to departure if you have not received your advance. If you wish to be reimbursed for conference registration or airfare prior to this point, please indicate this on your advance.

We normally require that employees make their own reservations, registrations and pre-payments, and then apply for reimbursement. The employee is responsible for his/her own expenses so that, in the event of a cancellation or change of plan, the employee will make the proper arrangements. Due to the size of our organization and internal control requirements, we are unable to make payments directly to a travel agent, hotel, etc. Please do not arrange for billing of expenses direct to TRU, as TRU will not be responsible for direct billings from travel agencies. Purchase Orders will not be issued for any travel expenditures.

Travel expenses shall normally be claimed using a travel expense form, available on-line at http://www.tru.ca/finance/forms.html.

The grant holder's supervisor (chair or dean) must approve any payment chargeable to a research grant. All receipts must be retained and submitted along with a completed authorized expense claim within one week of your return. Claims for less than the allowable amount are permitted.

Travel expenses and meal allowances will not normally be paid for local travel in and around the city where you are an employee of TRU.

Per Diem Rate

The rate is currently $45 per day. This amount is to cover out-of-pocket travel expenses such as gratuities, porterage, dry cleaning, etc. as well as meals. For meal costs that are directly covered by a third party (e.g. supervisor, business associate, conference, airline), or if your trip does not require overnight accommodation, the per diem rate should be prorated accordingly. That is, if some meals are provided at a conference, please do not claim your full per diem. In such cases the Accounts Payable department may adjust your claim.

If you are not claiming the per diem rate, original receipts for meals are required. The suggested breakdown is: $8.00 for breakfast; $12.00 for lunch; $20.00 for dinner.

Accommodation

When staying with a relative, or other non-commercial lodging, the reimbursement rate will be $20 per night. No receipts are required. Hotel accommodation requires an original hotel folio as the receipt. The room rate, tax, etc. must be shown in detail. A credit card receipt is not considered adequate. Individuals will normally only be reimbursed for single rate room charge, tax and parking. All other charges are normally not covered. The traveler is advised to review the room invoice carefully for accuracy upon checking out.

Mileage

University vehicles are available for employee use. If a vehicle is unavailable, and if your personal vehicle is used for the trip, mileage will be reimbursed at the maximum rates of 0.45 per kilometre, which applies to travel on paved or gravel roads.

It is the responsibility of each employee to keep track of his/her mileage. The Finance Division maintains a list of average mileage to commonly traveled destinations. On long distance trips, the lesser of $0.45 per kilometre traveled or airfare equivalent is paid.

In order to facilitate travel claims processing and ease of employee tracking, fixed rates for travel to Vancouver/Lower Mainland and Victoria have been established. The rates INCLUDE TOLLS, and FERRY charges, in the case of travel to Victoria. Any significant business travel around each area should be shown separately on the expense report, and will be reimbursed at the $0.45/km rate.

The vehicle operator is responsible for paying parking fines, traffic violation fines (including photo radar), and impoundment / towing fees when driving a leased, rented, personal vehicle, or TRU vehicle on TRU business.

From Kamloops to:

Location	Km	Location	Km	Location	Km
Abbotsford	320	Edmonton	800	Osoyoos	288
Anahim Lake	608	Falkland	77	Peachland	188
Armstrong	116	Golden	357	Pentiction	231
Ashcroft	95	Gold Bridge	260	Princeton	175
Banff	492	Hanceville	377	Prince George	529
Barriere	63	Hope	204	Quesnel	409
Blue River	274	Jasper	439	Redstone	465
Boston Bar	217	Kelowna **	163	Revelstoke	209
340
Calgary	620	little Fort	93	Salmon Arm	107
Campbell River	512	Logan Lake	68	Seattle	464
Castlegar	453	Lytton	169	Spences Bridge	137
Chase	57	Merritt **	87	Summerland	213
Chilliwack	248	Nanaimo **	363	Trail	472
Clearwater	124	100 Mile House	198	Vancouver **	355
Clinton	113	108 MIle	211	Vernon	116
Cranbrook	607	150 MIle	290	Victoria **	393
Creston	518	Nelson	454	Williams Lake **	289
Dawson Creek	931	Nimpo Lake	585

** see fixed rates

The fixed rates are as follows:

From the Kamloops campus to:

Location	Fixed Rate ($) Return
Kelowna	140
Lillooet	140
Merritt	70
Nanaimo	440
100 Mile House	170
Vancouver	340
Victoria	440
Williams Lake	260

The fixed rates are as follows:

From the Williams Lake campus to:

Location	Fixed Rate ($) Return
Kamloops	260
100 Mile House	90
Nanaimo	585
Vancouver	485
Victoria	585

Airfare

Where air travel is required, the most economical airfare shall be obtained. Airfare should be arranged and paid for by each employee. Airfare for employee travel must not be billed directly to TRU. Air travel expenses must be supported by the receipt copy (back) of your airline ticket. The travel agent's bill is not considered adequate for audit purposes. Cancellation insurance on an airline ticket is not normally reimbursed by TRU. TRU will assume the risk of either having someone replace the employee on the trip or, if a replacement cannot be found, of forfeiting the costs of the travel.

• Airport Improvement Fees

Kamloops, Vancouver, and other airports have introduced airport improvement fees. This means users of the facilities directly contribute to financing improvements to airport facilities. All departing passengers are required to purchase an airport improvement fee (AIF) ticket and present it to security prior to boarding their flight. Arriving and connecting passengers do not pay. Please retain your AIF receipt for submission and reimbursement.

• Travel Agency Service Fees

As a result of airlines reducing their commissions paid to travel agencies, travel agencies levy a 4% service fee (to a maximum per flight of $40.00) on most airline tickets. This fee will be reimbursed by TRU upon supporting documentation.

Other Expenses

Taxi fare, bus tickets, conference registrations and other miscellaneous items must have proper original receipts. Sundry items for which a receipt is not issued must be clearly documented.

Car Rental

Rental rates/preferred companies are negotiated yearly by the provincial government, and a memo is issued in approximately February of each year. On line, go to Daily Vehicle Rentals to check out the lower rates. Employees do not face financial liability as a result of operating a rental vehicle while on TRU business, as TRU self-insures collision and personal accident insurance. It is important to remember that you should decline the purchase of Personal Accident Insurance (PAI) and the liability Damage Waiver (LDW) when renting from one of the preferred companies WIthIN B.C. If you are renting outside of the province, LDW is required but PAI is not. Any coverage contracted for by the employee outside these guidelines will not normally be reimbursed.

Telephone Charges

Telephone charges, whether long distance or local, are not normally reimbursed unless specifically approved, i.e. telephone calls to TRU should be made collect. If you incur other telephone charges that are University-related, please identify them separately on your expense report.

Travel to Destinations Outside Canada

Any travel outside Canada is considered INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL and must have the prior approval of the appropriate Vice President. If necessary, travel advances can be given in U.S. funds. The TRU U.S. buying rate will normally be more cost-effective than the general bank rate. Please ensure you indicate currency required on your travel advance request. Otherwise, the Accounts Payable will convert your U.S. receipts at the current TRU U.S. buying rate. TRU carries excess out-of-country medical insurance for employees on work related business. Coverage does not apply for pre-existing conditions.

Refund Owing to TRU

In the event that your actual expenses are less than the advance you received, please attach a cheque made payable to TRU to your Travel Expense Report. Please do not send cash via the interdepartmental mail system. Cash should be brought personally to a Finance cashier.

Timing of Cheques - Travel Advances or Expenses

Cheques for advances or expenses are produced weekly, i.e. all requisitions should be received, properly approved, in the Finance Division by Tuesday each week to get into our weekly cheque run. Advance cheques will be produced approximately one week prior to your departure unless otherwise requested.

As U.S. cheques are processed monthly, please submit U.S. travel advances at least two weeks prior to departure. Emergency travel requiring manual cheque advances should be brought to the Accounting Manager with proper explanation, and we will process them as soon as possible.