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Section I – overview

President's Message

I am pleased to present the 2007-2008 Departmental Performance Report (DPR) of the Public Service Commission (PSC) of Canada.

This report provides an overview of the PSC's progress on the objectives specified in our 2007-2008 Report on Plans and Priorities (RPP).

As part of a more streamlined approach, this year's DPR has been drafted to deal primarily with the critical aspects of the PSC's performance over the past year.

More detailed information is available on the PSC's Web site at www.psc-cfp.gc.ca in the publications section.

The PSC is an independent agency reporting to Parliament that is mandated to safeguard the integrity of the public service staffing system and the political neutrality of the public service.

Our strategic outcome is to provide Canadians with a highly competent, non-partisan and representative public service, able to provide service in both official languages, in which appointments are based on the values of fairness, access, representativeness and transparency. 

In support of that outcome, the PSC identified the following five priorities:

• to fully implement the Public Service Employment Act (PSEA);
• to reinforce the PSC's role in support of Parliament;
• to ensure proper oversight and accountability to Parliament;
• to provide staffing and assessment services that respond to the needs of delegated managers and Canadians; and
• to become a model organization.

The PSC has made considerable progress on all of its priorities. This document highlights our key accomplishments over the last year, as well as some of the work that remains.

This year marks the 100^th year anniversary of the PSC. Since 1908, the PSC has been responsible for protecting merit as the basis for staffing and the political impartiality of the federal public service. Upholding this mandate has allowed for the development of a professional and non-partisan public service which has contributed greatly to our democratic system of government.

As an organization, the PSC has undergone significant changes as part of the modernization of human resource management in the federal public service. Our achievements during 2007-2008 demonstrate the capacity of the PSC to respond to key challenges and adapt to changing times while staying true to its mandate. I would like to thank our employees for their dedication in carrying on the important work that has inspired generations of public servants.

Maria Barrados, PhD
President
August 26, 2008

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Summary Information

Raison d'être

The PSC is dedicated to building a public service that strives for excellence. We protect merit, non-partisanship, representativeness and the use of both official languages.

We safeguard the integrity of staffing in the public service and the political impartiality of public servants. We develop policies and provide guidance for public service managers and hold them accountable for their staffing decisions. We conduct audits and investigations to confirm the effectiveness of the staffing system and to make improvements. As an independent agency, we report our results to Parliament.

We recruit talented Canadians to the public service, drawn from across the country. We continually renew our recruitment services to meet the needs of a modern and innovative public service.

Financial resources 2007-2008 ($ thousands)

Planned Spending	Total Budget Authorities*	Actual Spending
103,420	111,006	102,881

*Note: The increase from Planned Spending to Total Budget Authorities is mainly due to the operating budget carry forward and the compensation for salary adjustments.

Human resources 2007-2008 (Full-Time Equivalents)

Planned	Actual	Difference
1,015	993	22

Financial performance highlights

The PSC has spent $102,881K of the Total Budget Authorities of $111,006K, resulting in a lapse of $8,125K appearing in the 2007-2008 Public Accounts of Canada.

The lapse is mainly due to:

• additional revenues earned from cost recovery activities as a result of an increase in the authority granted to the PSC in the last quarter of the fiscal year
• contract delays on various projects of which the implementation of PeopleSoft is a major one
• delays in completing the project definition work on a major information technology project- Public Service Staffing Modernization Project
• staffing delays resulting from staff turnover in general and recruitment challenges in the case  of the Audit, Evaluation and Studies Branch
• unspent amount in earmarked funds received for translation of appeal cases (no longer a PSC program in the current year)

A total of $4,800K of the lapse was carried forward to 2008-2009.

PSC's priorities

Through the accomplishments of each program activity the PSC made significant progress in achieving its strategic outcome and meeting the five priorities identified in the 2007-2008 Report on Plans and Priorities.

Priorities	Program Activity (Note 1)	Performance Status
I. Fully implement the new PSEA	Appointment Integrity and Political Neutrality	In Progress
II. Reinforce the PSC's role in support of Parliament	All Program Activities	In Progress
III. Ensure proper oversight and accountability to Parliament	Oversight of Integrity of Staffing and Political Neutrality	In Progress
IV. Provide PSC staffing and assessment services that respond to the needs of delegated managers and Canadians	Staffing Services and Assessment	In Progress
V. Become a model organization	All Program Activities	In Progress

Note 1: Information by Program Activity is provided in Section II.

Summary of results by priority

I. Fully implement the Public Service Employment Act (PSEA)

The PSC worked with departments and agencies to more effectively utilize this highly delegated, values-based approach to staffing. Key policies and guidelines were updated to assist hiring managers and human resources practitioners in realizing additional flexibilities available under the legislation. Further support was provided at workshops organized across the country.

II. Reinforce the PSC's role in support of Parliament

PSC representatives met with parliamentary committees a number of times to discuss emerging issues and the finding of the Annual Report. Four audit reports and three statistical studies completed during this year.

III. Ensure proper oversight and accountability to Parliament

Monitoring initiatives were effective in providing more timely feedback and assessment as well as reducing the reporting burden on delegated organizations by some 60%. The PSC achieved substantial progress in the conduct of PSEA-mandated investigations and of corrective actions. Four audits and three statistical studies were completed during the year. The PSC also enhanced its capacity to conduct audits, studies and investigations. An evaluation framework for the five-year review of the PSEA was also developed.

IV. Provide staffing and assessment services that respond to the needs of delegated managers and Canadians

The PSC continued to enhance services including automated staffing systems and volume management tools. In April of 2007, the PSC expanded the requirements of the National Area of Selection (NAOS) for external advertised officer-level jobs from the National Capital Region to all regions of the country. The result was an increase in access for Canadians to federal public service jobs from 19% to approximately 55%. As part of modernizing its second language evaluation, the PSC unveiled a new written expression test this year. Wait times for oral interaction tests were reduced by more than 50%.

V. Becoming a model organization

In its effort to become a model organization, the PSC conducted the first in a series of regular electronic surveys for PSC employees. The PSC continued to focus on building capacity in key areas of its mandate and strengthening its management practices.

More detailed information can be found in the electronic version of this document on the Public Service Commission of Canada's website at www.psc-cfp.gc.ca in the publications section.

Summary of performance in relation to PSC Strategic Outcome and Program Activities

To help measure the progress and contribution made toward the PSC's strategic outcome, the PSC has identified five medium-term expected results (intermediate outcomes) under each program activity as indicated below. Information on the achievement of each expected result as well as performance analysis by program activity, are outlined in Section II.
 

Strategic Outcome: To provide Canadians with a highly competent, non-partisan and representative public service, able to provide service in both official languages, in which appointments are based on the values of fairness, access, representativeness and transparency.

Program Activity	Medium-Term Expected Results	Performance Status (Medium-Term Results)	Planned Spending 2007-2008 ($ thousands)	Actual Spending 2007-2008 ($ thousands)	Alignment to Government of Canada Outcomes
Appointment Integrity and Political Neutrality	Recruitment strategies and staffing practices, consistent with the new PSEA and PSC strategic outcome, are implemented across the public service	Partially Met	17,051	16,993	Government Affairs Safeguarding and fostering the integrity and political neutrality of public servants
Oversight of Integrity of Staffing and Political Neutrality	1. Organizations have implemented PSC monitoring and audit recommendations, and corrective action as a result of investigations, which contributes to safeguarding the integrity of staffing and political neutrality (updated)	Partially Met	28,860	28,490
	2. Enhanced risk-based oversight of the integrity of public service staffing	Partially Met
Staffing Services and Assessment	Staffing and assessment services and products meet the business needs of clients and are consistent with the PSEA and the PSC's strategic outcome	Partially Met	57,509	57,398

PSC Operating Environment

In 2008, the PSC began celebrating its 100th anniversary as well as its long tradition in protecting merit and non‑partisanship in the public service on behalf of Parliament. Merit-based hiring and non‑partisanship in the public service are key elements for ensuring a professional and permanent public service that supports a democratic government.

Working with departments and agencies

The Public Service Employment Act (PSEA) encourages the PSC to delegate its appointment authorities to deputy heads and, through them, to their managers. The intention is to give managers significant opportunities to hire, manage and lead their employees to meet the needs of Canadians within the legislative framework.

The changes brought about by the PSEA (implemented in December 2005) were broad, affecting the people, policies, processes and accountability requirements. Change of this magnitude takes time. After more than two years of operating under the PSEA, the environment continues to be transitional in nature. Dealing with the high number of staffing transactions and the high mobility rate of employees has been an added challenge in making the transition. The PSC's assessment of staffing in 2007-2008 determined that the federal staffing system can be described as functionally operating under a fully delegated regime within the PSC's accountability framework. The overall picture of performance is assessed as acceptable, with very few examples of excellence. While departments have made improvements to their planning of staffing strategies, further progress is required to achieve the longer-term objectives of PSEA implementation. Further progress is also needed in the areas of departmental accountability systems and human resources support systems, including the support provided by the HR community.

Managers, in particular, are key to making the transition to the new regime; however, they need to be equipped with a range of support that includes training tools, information, and support from their HR advisors. Similar to previous years' assessments, the instability of the HR community – brought about by increased workloads, high rates of mobility and loss of corporate memory – continues to hinder progress in implementing the PSEA.

Over the last year, the PSC worked in collaboration with the Canada Public Service Agency and the Canada School of Public Service to provide training, support and guidance to human resources professionals and managers across the public service on understanding the new requirements under the PSEA. The PSC is also offering discretionary staffing and assessment services to departments and agencies as they take on their new responsibilities under the PSEA.

Overseeing the integrity of the system

At the same time as it works closely with departments and agencies, the PSC must fulfill its responsibilities to Parliament. 

The Commission is charged with ensuring that deputy heads exercise their delegated staffing authorities appropriately, and adhere to the values and principles in the new legislation. A variety of accountability mechanisms and oversight tools are in place to accomplish this including audits and investigations. The PSC conducts independent audits, studies and evaluations and reports to Parliament on the integrity of the appointment process, including the protection of merit and political neutrality. Investigations, which may include early intervention processes, provide oversight of concerns raised about appointments. Investigations are also conducted into allegations of improper political activities of public servants.

When the PSC identifies risks to the appointment system, it recommends changes. It can also sanction organizations, or impose conditions on how they exercise delegated authorities. In exceptional cases, the PSC can withdraw those authorities. 

The PSC also monitors whether the overall appointment system is operating effectively, and safeguards the non-partisanship of the public service. It reports annually to Parliament on the
integrity of the system, and may make special reports to Parliament on urgent or important matters.

Safeguarding non-partisanship

Protecting a non-partisan public service has been the tradition and mandate of the Commission since its inception in 1908. Under the new PSEA, a strengthened political activities regime has been established to balance the right of public servants to participate in the political process with the need to preserve the impartiality of the public service.

In 2007-2008, the PSC found that there were public servants who remain unaware or unclear about the requirements for political activities and the PSC's role in preserving the political impartiality of the public service. This indicates a need for the PSC to increase its efforts to inform employees of their rights and obligations under the current political activities regime.

A complex environment

Growth of the public service coupled with the cumulative number of retirements over the past 11 years, influenced movement patterns experienced in the public service. The overall indeterminate workforce grew by 36% between March 1999 and March 2008. At the same time, retirements almost quadrupled over that period. As a result, hiring activities continued to increase over this period of time. In 2007-2008, the public service made 21,838 appointments to indeterminate and term positions, up from 17,699 appointments in 2006-2007. Interest in the public service also remained high. In 2007-2008, approximately 1 million applications were received from more than 279,000 individual job seekers in response to more than 5,000 job advertisements posted on the PSC's recruitment Web site (www.jobs.gc.ca), general recruitment activities and the PSC's specialized recruitment programs. These trends have also put a greater emphasis on the need for tools and supporting systems, including the Public Service Resourcing System provided by the PSC.
 
In 2007-2008, the Government placed a priority on renewing the public service. In his Fourteenth Annual Report to the Prime Minister on the Public Service of Canada, the Clerk of the Privy Council set out four priority areas for action: planning, recruitment, employee development, and enabling infrastructure. Specifically, the Clerk set out an objective for departments to hire 3,000 new indeterminate employees. The PSC assisted many departments and agencies in meeting their objectives through the post-secondary recruitment campaign, by advertising opportunities at university and college campuses providing testing services across the country, and by creating pools of pre-qualified candidates.

Also in 2008, the Second Report of the Prime Minister's Advisory Committee on the Public Service provided recommendations for the governance structure for HR management in the public service. The report reaffirmed the essential role of the PSC in safeguarding merit in appointments and the non-partisan character of the public service. It recommended that the recruitment and related services provided by the PSC be operated on a full cost-recovery basis, with appropriate involvement by deputy ministers in the governance of those services. It concluded that deputy heads should have the prime responsibility and accountability for managing their employees, a conclusion reiterated in the Clerk's Fifteenth Annual Report to the Prime Minister on the Public Service of Canada.

In 2007-2008, the PSC also dealt with its own internal challenges, including building capacities in key areas of its mandate, introducing essential technology, continuously strengthening management practices, engaging employees and ensuring stable funding.

Key PSC challenges and risks

The PSC has identified the primary challenges and risks emerging from the complex environment in which it operates and adopted strategies to address them. They are detailed in the 2008-2009 PSC Report on Plans and Priorities.

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