Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I just want to correct something, for the record. Mr. Macaulay is the assistant commissioner of human resources. He left the RCMP to join us, and for us that was a tremendous win. So I try not to remind him of his RCMP background too much so that he would want to go back there.
Anyway, good morning, Mr. Chair and committee members. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the measures the Correctional Service of Canada is taking to adjust our operations in light of the departmental budget freeze.
As you may recall, I first appeared before the committee last October to discuss this issue. At that time I laid out for you some of the measures Correctional Service Canada was taking to ensure that we could continue to produce positive public safety results for Canadians in an environment of fiscal restraint. Today I would like to provide you with some more detailed information about our efforts. I will also address the issue of the Parliamentary Budget Officer's most recent report. Finally, I'd like to provide you with more information about our recruitment efforts in light of an anticipated growth in our offender population.
With respect to Correctional Service Canada's annual budget, personnel costs represent our largest expenditure. For fiscal year 2010-11, Correctional Service Canada's overall budget is $2.46 billion. Personnel expenditures, including salaries and benefits, represent 61.2% of the budget, or $1.5 billion. The rest is dedicated to operating costs, which represent 25.4% of our budget, or $625 million, and capital investments, which is 13.4%, or $329 million, of our total financial expenditures.
One final figure will be of interest to you. For CSC, the reduction identified as part of the containment measures in this fiscal year 2010-11, $4.8 million, is the figure that has been identified for our reduction target, which excludes the employee benefit plan and Public Works and Government Services costs.
You may remember from my appearance last fall that the vast majority, about 90%, of CSC's operating budget is non-discretionary and quasi-statutory. This includes fixed costs that we must fund on a continuous basis, such as the provision of food to offenders, utilities, staff uniforms, and payment in lieu of taxes to municipalities. The remaining 10% provides us with some opportunity and flexibility in seeking out ways for us to meet the freeze on operating costs. In addition, we have undertaken rigorous efforts to reduce our overtime costs by implementing new staff deployment standards for correctional officers and by utilizing a computerized roster system to ensure that we are efficiently staffed on a 24-hour, seven-day-per-week basis.
I'm proud to say that between 2008-09 and 2009-10, we were able to reduce our overtime costs from $83 million annually to $52 million. This year we targeted further reductions in our overtime budget, and we are well on track toward achieving our goals. As of December 2010, our overtime expenditures were at $31 million, compared to $36 million in December 2009. As you can see, we've already realized an additional $5 million in efficiencies.
In addition, we have achieved over $5 million in savings from a more rigorous approach to managing travel and hospitality expenditures. Furthermore, we are studying efficiencies in programming by piloting an innovative integrated correctional program model in the Pacific region.