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Section II: Analysis of Program Activities by Strategic Outcome

Strategic Outcome

PWGSC’s strategic outcome is to achieve high-quality, central programs and services that ensure sound stewardship on behalf of Canadians and meet the program needs of federal institutions.

Program Activities

The following section describes PWGSC’s nine program activities and the expected results, performance indicators and targets for each program activity. It also includes an overview of the financial and human resources, planning highlights, and benefits to Canadians of each program activity. Additional information is available on our departmental website at www.pwgsc-tpsgc.gc.ca.

Program Activity 1: Acquisitions

Program Activity Descriptions

This program activity shows PWGSC as the government’s primary procurement service provider offering federal organizations a broad base of procurement solutions such as: specialized contracts, standing offers and supply arrangements. The role of PWGSC in this area is to provide timely, value-added acquisitions and related common services to the federal government on behalf of Canadians.

2010-11 Financial Resources ($ millions)

Financial Resources	Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending
Gross Expenditures	269.7	288.9	285.0
Less Respendable Revenue	(150.5)	(141.5)	(140.7)
Net Expenditures	119.2	(141.5)	144.3

Totals may not add up due to rounding

Note: Actual net expenditures were lower than total authorities for the Operating Budget mainly due to lower than planned expenditures under the Canadian Innovation Commercialization Program.

Actual net expenditures were lower than total authorities for the Optional Services Revolving Fund included above due in part to higher than anticipated refunds of airline commissions in the Traffic Management Program. The variance is also due to receipts from provincial governments for outstanding accounts receivable, a lower than expected business volume and refund of costs from a supplier for the Vaccine Program.

2010-11 Human Resources (FTEs)

Planned	Actual	Difference
2,116	1,812	(304)

Note: The difference between planned and actual FTEs is due to a previous double-counting of FTEs under two program activities (Acquisitions and Specialized Programs and Services). This situation has been corrected in the 2011-2012 RPP since FTEs all fall under the Acquisitions Program Activity.

Expected Results	Performance Indicators	Targets	Performance Status
Federal organizations receive responsive and cost-effective access to goods and services that meet specifications, are timely, and provide value for money to support the delivery of their programs.	Percentage of federal organizations satisfied with timeliness, quality and value of acquisition services provided.	85% or 10% above baseline by March 31, 2011	Status: Exceeded A 49% improvement relative to the baseline result as measured in 2009. This represents 76% of clients satisfied or very satisfied with overall level of procurement services received from PWGSC.
Prudent use of federal resources, effective and efficient acquisition practices, and fair access to government business.	Number of individuals and small and medium enterprise representatives directly assisted by Office of Small and Medium Enterprises.	16,000 by March 31, 2011	Status: Exceeded 41,143 individuals and small and medium enterprise representatives directly assisted by the Office of Small and Medium Enterprise.
Federal organizations are provided with a broad base of procurement solutions including contracts, standing offers, supply arrangements and procurement tools that are timely and provide value for money to support the delivery of their programs.	Percentage increase in use of standing offer and supply arrangements by federal organizations.	5% by March 31, 2011	Status: Exceeded $1.722B in reported usage of PWGSC procurement instruments in calendar year 2010 by federal organizations. This represents a 9.7% increase over the 2008 baseline result of $1.57B. Note: reported value is based on data provided by 76 federal organizations and does not fully represent the total value of business managed through PWGSC procurement instruments during calendar year 2010.

Performance Summary and Analysis of Program Activity

Major Achievements

Accelerated Infrastructure Program (AIP)

PWGSC continued to offer critical contracting support services to the Accelerated Infrastructure Program, an important component of Canada’s Economic Action Plan. In 2010-2011, over 230 procurement instruments were issued with a value of contracts of over $301M. For real property related EAP procurement instruments issued during the fiscal year, 83% of files valued at over $250K and up to $1M were issued within 70 days. This exceeded the 75% target that was established.

As quoted in the OAG’s report on Canada’s Economic Action Plan, Public Works and Government Services Canada accelerated its existing plans for repair and renovation of federal buildings.

Military and Major Procurement

Military procurement has doubled in Canada over the past ten years. This coupled with urgencies associated with the Canadian Forces requirements in Afghanistan created pressures to ensure greater efficiencies in procurement, safeguard the integrity of the process, obtain best value, and meet pressing needs quickly.

Despite these pressures, PWGSC continued to lead the government’s efforts to improve military procurement efficiencies by developing and implementing procurement strategies for military and major procurement in collaboration with the Department of National Defence (DND), Industry Canada (IC) and the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS).

Specific examples of improvements:

• PWGSC worked actively with DND and IC to implement procurement strategies that would improve defence procurement. Following receipt of the report produced by the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI), all three federal organizations worked with CADSI representatives to determine potential ways of improving defence procurement. In preparation for the 2011 Budget, high-level opportunities to leverage military procurement were developed using the CADSI’s report. As a result, Budget 2011 included a commitment to the development, in consultation with industry, of a procurement strategy for military acquisitions in order to maximize job creation and support Canadian manufacturing capabilities and innovation.

• PWGSC worked actively with DND and IC to implement procurement strategies that would improve defence procurement. Following receipt of the report produced by the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI), all three federal organizations worked with CADSI representatives to determine potential ways of improving defence procurement. In preparation for the 2011 Budget, high-level opportunities to leverage military procurement were developed using the CADSI’s report. As a result, Budget 2011 included a commitment to the development, in consultation with industry, of a procurement strategy for military acquisitions in order to maximize job creation and support Canadian manufacturing capabilities and innovation.

• Since 2006, the average cycle time for major military procurements, from identification of Client’s requirements to contract award, has been reduced from 107 months to 48 months.

National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS)

Through the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy, announced in June 2010, PWGSC engaged and worked with the Canadian Navy, the Canadian Coast Guard and marine and shipbuilding industry stakeholders to fulfill the commitments made in the Canada First Defence Strategy. We have also enabled sustainable development of a robust domestic shipbuilding industry through a long-term approach to federal procurement.

In 2010, work commenced towards the establishment of a strategic relationship with two Canadian shipyards to build 28 large combat and non-combat vessels, valued at $33B. Through a Solicitation of Interest and Qualification process, five Canadian shipyards have been short-listed to build these large vessels. A Request for Proposal was developed in close consultation with these shipyards and released in February 2011.

To ensure fairness, openness and transparency of the procurement process, the NSPS Secretariat met five times since October 2010 with the short-listed shipyards to discuss the procurement strategy. A Fairness Monitor participated in the selection process and an internationally recognized third-party expert benchmarked the capability and performance of the short-listed Canadian shipyards. Finally, a leading consulting firm provided expert advice on the procurement process.

Small and Medium Enterprises and Procurement Renewal

With respect to the supplier community, PWGSC recognizes that Canada’s 2.3 million small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are critical to the economy and it is committed to ensuring that SMEs have fair and open access to government procurement opportunities.

• In September 2010, the Government launched the Canadian Innovation Commercialization Program (CICP), a $40 million 2-year pilot project to help Canadian businesses demonstrate their innovative products and services by meeting needs identified by federal departments and agencies. Proposals related to the opportunity to test innovative products and services were accepted through competitive Calls for Proposals in the fall 2010. Nineteen innovation proposals from Canadian companies were pre-qualified for the first round of the CICP to be matched to federal department testers.

• PWGSC’s Office of Small and Medium Enterprises (OSME) assisted SMEs in navigating through the government procurement system. OSME is strengthening access to government business for SMEs through collaboration with industry associations and individual businesses on training, information sharing, development of support tools, and by recommending procurement policy changes.

• In 2010-2011, OSME assisted over 41,000 individuals and suppliers, exceeding its target of 16,000. Excluding military procurement, 43% of PWGSC’s total value of contractual documents (such as contracts, Standing Offers, Supply Arrangements and amendments) was awarded to SMEs located in Canada.

• OSME fulfilled PWGSC’s commitment to the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates by integrating a Small and Medium Enterprise ADM Level Committee within the existing ADM Advisory Committee on Procurement Modernization. In doing so, SME issues are now a central part of the discourse at this federal government forum on procurement and many federal departments are being engaged on SME issues related to procurement.

• OSME also improved the ability of Canadian suppliers that do business with the federal government, by raising awareness of the requirements of the Official Languages Act to ensure that suppliers receive bidding documents in the official language of their choice.

In 2010-2011, further elements of PWGSC’s Procurement Renewal Agenda were put in place.

• PWGSC continued decentralizing routine procurement to clients, including Low Dollar Value (LDV) transactions nationally. We reduced LDV transactions by 26% (reduction of 2,983 transactions for original documents and amendments) as compared to the 2008-2009 baseline, allowing PWGSC to move-up the value-chain and focus our expertise on more complex procurements. The reduction in LDV transactions was achieved by encouraging departments to better exercise their delegated authorities and the use of our pre-competed self-serve instruments.

• In fall 2010, the mapping and streamlining of processes for basic and standard procurements were completed. A pilot for these new processes was successfully launched in December 2010 with full implementation to follow once the pilot is concluded.

• PWGSC also put in place the new delegation instruments for the Minister of Public Safety and the Minister of National Defence for the civilian agencies under its portfolio.

• In 2010, client relations and engagement continued to be improved via a number of vehicles such as the Client Advisory Panel, client engagement plans, and the Client Service Barometer. In addition, Departmental Service Agreements were signed or negotiated with 4 federal entities and a first set of procurement-specific service standards was developed and implemented.

• PWGSC continued improving and standardizing a variety of e-tools to support government procurement and commodity-level purchasing. Examples include: the development of the GC-wide Common Business Registration number for suppliers; the Standing Offer Index; the Computer Acquisition Guide and the Task-based Informatics Professional Services.

• PWGSC successfully launched “Buyandsell.gc.ca” which is a big step forward in helping smaller firms get an opportunity at government procurement. Servicing on average over 20,000 visitors per month, this web site has helped lower barriers for small and medium enterprises and won praise from the business community.

Commodity Management

PWGSC implemented year one of a three-year Commodity Management Plan aimed at providing more consistent methods of supply by putting into effect similar procurement processes coast-to-coast, on a commodity basis. During the reporting period, 14 commodities were reviewed. PWGSC has fully integrated small and medium enterprise input, market studies, procurement analysis and green procurement plans into the Commodity Management Framework. Innovative supplier consultations were introduced using “fluid” technology, resulting in over 1,000 suppliers being consulted and information integrated into new commodity management strategies.

Lessons Learned

Engagement of industry and other government departments is key to ensuring that procurement tools and instruments put in place by PWGSC meet their needs, while providing best value to the Crown. Our work in the area of military procurement has demonstrated that early engagement in defining requirements is particularly critical for large, complex procurements. It enables longer-term planning, risk assessment and mitigation strategies resulting in a more efficient procurement process.

Engagement activities, such as embedding industry engagement in all major military procurement processes, sharing of information at the outset of projects and conducting Industry Days, have been key to identifying and addressing issues of importance to industry and to our clients, and in gaining their support for initiatives such as the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy.

Program Activity 2: Accommodation and Real Property Assets Management

Program Activity Descriptions

Through this program activity PWGSC provides departments and agencies with office and common use accommodation and acts as stewards for various public works such as buildings, bridges and dams, and national treasures such as the Parliamentary Precinct and other heritage assets across Canada. PWGSC also provides other federal departments and agencies with expert professional and technical real property services.

2010-11 Financial Resources ($ millions)

Financial Resources	Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending
Gross Expenditures	4,522.5	5,278.9	4,987.4
Less Respendable Revenue	(2,459.0)	(2,879.3)	(2,770.8)
Net Expenditures	2,063.5	2,399.6	2,216.6

Totals may not add up due to rounding

Note: Real Property: Actual net expenditures were lower than total authorities by $159.9 million.

• Of the $145 million variance related to the Appropriation, $28 million relates to reduced funding levels as a result of revised delivery plans. The balance, including Employee Benefit Plans, is due for the most part to the uncontrollable and unpredictable nature of the real property activities such as the fluctuations in the price of commodities and consumption of utilities; volatility of the real estate market, weather conditions and revised project delivery schedules.

• Most of the remaining $14.9 million variance is related to the Professional and Technical Services Revolving Fund, due to a higher mark-up and greater than planned recoveries.

G8/G20: Actual expenditures were lower than total authorities by $23 million mainly due to changes and savings realized in event coordination and contingencies that were not utilized.

2010-11 Human Resources (FTEs)

Planned	Actual	Difference
3,672	3,688	16

Expected Results	Performance Indicators	Targets	Performance Status
Accommodation and Real Property Assets Management
Federal organizations have safe, healthy and affordable facilities that support the effective delivery of their programs and services, through prudent investment and management of federal real property assets in the custody of PWGSC.	Number of critical accommodation-related health and safety incidents per year	Number of critical accommodation-related health and safety incidents per year	Status: Met all With our current result of 4, the trend has remained under 5 incidents per year since 2006.
	Percentage of vacant marketable crown-owned office inventory (Marketable vacancy rate)	<= 3.5% by March 31, 2011	Status: Exceeded Actual results is 2.5%. The decline in marketable vacancy over the 2009-2010 result of 4.7% is largely attributed to the removal of a large, vacant building that has been deemed unsuitable for occupancy and scheduled for demolition.
	Percentage of actual recapitalization relative to funded recapitalization	*90% by March 31, 2011 *Target adjusted to 80% due to Capital carry-forward authority increase to 20%. (100%-20%= 80%)	Status: Exceeded Actual results: 90.7% The performance achieved in 2010-2011 has improved over the previous fiscal year due to increased efforts in forecasting the capacity to deliver projects. (Results 2009-2010 were 88.8%).
Federal organizations receive responsive and cost-effective real property services in support of the effective delivery of their programs and services.	Percentage of Real Property projects > $1 million that are on-time, on-scope, on-budget	90% by March 31, 2011	Status: Exceeded At 96%, we have consistently been above target throughout the year. Since 2007, we have met or exceeded our target every quarter except one. Our current result is the highest we have achieved to date.
	Percentage of Long-Term Vision and Plan projects that are on-time, on-scope, on-budget	100% by March 31, 2011	Status: Mostly met At 95%, PPB has achieved a high level of success in the delivery of the Long-Term Vision and Plan projects.
Accelerated Infrastructure Program
PWGSC makes prudent investments to extend the useful life of our infrastructure by accelerating repair and renovation projects in PWGSC buildings and bridges.	Percentage of Accelerated Infrastructure Program projects completed, based on priority ranking as of September 30th, 2010.	> 95% by March 31, 2011	Status: Exceeded Based on the September 30th, 2010 ranking, 97.6% of AIP funds were utilized.
Federal organizations receive real property management services that support Economic Action Plan commitments.	Percentage of Economic Action Plan funds spent to deliver real property services	> 95% by March 31, 2011	Status: Exceeded EAP-OGD funding spent: 97.4%.

Performance Summary and Analysis of Program Activity

Major Achievements

In 2010-2011, PWGSC continued to play an important role in delivering Canada’s Economic Action Plan. It invested close to $193 million in its buildings and bridges, as well as advanced work on the restoration of the Manège Militaire in Quebec City, and helped remediate federal contaminated sites. Over the two year-period of the Economic Action Plan, the department accelerated the repairs and renovations in 300 buildings, made 194 buildings more accessible to Canadians, rehabilitated 4 bridges and improved the condition of the Alaska Highway.

The department also provided over $550 million worth of real property services to other government departments and agencies and helped them advance their Economic Action Plan infrastructure projects ($208 million in 2009-2010 and $343 million in 2010-2011).

To enhance our business performance, the department completed a competitive Request for Proposal (RFP) for the acquisition of industry standard real estate processes supported by a fully integrated real estate solution, known as the Real Property Business and Systems Transformation (RPBST) project. This integrated solution, which will replace 22 legacy systems, will reduce operational costs, improve business reporting, and result in better decision-making. The integrated real estate solution, to be known as NOVUS, will also be made available to other departments to facilitate the modernization of their real property processes and systems. On March 22, 2011, after an extensive evaluation process, a contract was put in place to provide the services necessary to implement NOVUS. This project is now in its Definition Phase, during which PWGSC will work with the contractor to define its business transformation complexities, reduce the risks associated with implementing NOVUS and to ensure that the project is delivered on time and on budget. PWGSC will then seek Treasury Board Secretariat’s approval to implement the NOVUS solution.

Construction and redevelopment contracts for buildings across the country include:

• Three build-to-lease office buildings underway in the National Capital Area (NCA), more specifically in Gatineau, which are set to allow PWGSC to meet its commitment of a 75:25 split in NCA accommodation between Ontario and Quebec by 2013. This will also decrease the demand for office space in Ottawa’s downtown core, enable the department to accelerate major redevelopment and renovation projects, consolidate employees of departments spread across several locations and accommodate as many departments as possible that need to be close to Ottawa’s downtown core, while paying competitive lease rates.

• Other projects underway in the NCA, including the construction of a new building at the Ottawa Train Yards, the acquisition and redevelopment of the Carling Campus for the DND Headquarters in Ottawa, and the redevelopment of the Lorne Building on Elgin Street in Ottawa.

• Approval and construction underway of a new federal building in Quebec City, as well as the RCMP E and H Division Headquarters buildings in Surrey, British Columbia and Dartmouth, Nova Scotia respectively.

Mechanisms to improve our service delivery capacity through third party delivery arrangements were explored and investment tools were developed and continue to be refined. Vesting of these tools in the Real Property Policy Framework will be finalized in the 2011-2012 Fiscal Year.

A detailed three-year Integrated Human Resources Plan has been developed to address internal capacity, as well as to improve employee retention, encourage a learning culture and implement succession planning.

Improvements in client relationship management have been gained by employing a pro-active client engagement model, which involves regular meetings with clients to discuss strategic priorities, issues and overall program delivery. Additional initiatives, such as the development of service standards, and improved client reporting will further strengthen this function.

PWGSC has continued to implement the Long-Term Vision and Plan for the rehabilitation of the Parliament Buildings on-time and on-budget. The fit up of facilities, such as La Promenade and 1 Wellington, were completed to accommodate the relocation of Parliamentarians, staff and operational support services from the West Block. In January 2011, the West Block was vacated, permitting PWGSC to begin major rehabilitation, including the construction of a courtyard infill that will add an additional 50 per cent more space to the existing building. Construction has also begun on 180 Wellington, which will facilitate the emptying of East Block so it can be restored. Planning and design work for the permanent relocation of the West Block Confederation Room to 144 Wellington (former Bank of Montreal) was also completed. Work to stabilize the East Block, Centre Block and the Confederation Building also continued on-time and on-budget.

Within the Parliamentary Precinct, repairs completed on the North Towers of the West Block have provided valuable insight about seismic stability, masonry cleaning and water shedding. This information will be used as more extensive rehabilitation is undertaken.

Lessons Learned

Creating and maintaining a strong national team, including representatives from all branches and regions, has been key to ensuring the department succeeded in implementing its commitment under Canada’s Economic Action Plan (EAP). The team was able to break down the barriers between the branches, sectors and regions, create synergy and strategic alliances and by doing so, ensure a national approach to the delivery of the EAP. Due to its success, this approach will be used as a model to manage future national real property programs.

A business segment approach with cross-regional collaboration, gives PWGSC the opportunity to focus on specific business lines (or categories of real property assets like laboratories or secure facilities) across all departments, providing the Government of Canada with a consistent means of delivering and reporting within these different business lines. Through this approach, in 2010-2011 the department saw an opportunity to gain efficiencies in delivering laboratory projects across Canada, sharing best practices as well as resources. This enabled PWGSC to increase its efficiencies in delivering projects by employing a common design-build approach, sharing its capacity between regions, and offering the corresponding cost-savings to its clients.

Through its delivery of Canada’s Economic Action Plan, the department was able to demonstrate the value of coordinated project planning across government at the departmental level. The further refinement of this coordinated project planning, which best occurs prior to the beginning of the next fiscal year, will allow the department to be more strategic by ensuring it can allocate the resources required and to better plan how and when work will be undertaken. This will result in improved service delivery for the government as a whole.

Valuable experience was also gained from two other Major Crown Projects completed this year. The use of Construction Management on the Rideau Committee Rooms demonstrated the value of leveraging private sector expertise in a way that is now being applied to the West Block Rehabilitation, Wellington Building, Bank of Montreal, and East Block projects. The move of Parliamentarians from the West Block into the newly renovated La Promenade Building will similarly inform the future moves from the East and Centre Blocks.

Program Activity 3: Receiver General for Canada

Program Activity Descriptions

This program activity manages the operations of the federal treasury and the preparation of the Accounts of Canada. It provides optional financial management system and document imaging and bill payment services.

2010-11 Financial Resources ($ millions)

Financial Resources	Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending
Gross Expenditures	142.3	154.4	148.3
Less Respendable Revenue	(13.1)	(28.5)	(28.5)
Net Expenditures	129.2	126.0	119.9

Totals may not add up due to rounding

Note: Actual expenditures were lower than total authorities mainly due to efficiencies as a result of higher than anticipated enrolment in direct deposit and delays in staffing and system initiatives.

2010-11 Human Resources (FTEs)

Planned	Actual	Difference
552	410.5	(141.5)

Note: 2010-2011 RPP Receiver General’s number of FTE’s were erroneous (Planned number should have been 437 FTEs, not 552 FTEs as reported). This problem has been corrected in the 2011-2012 RPP. The actual difference is 26 instead of 141.5.

Expected Results	Performance Indicators	Targets	Performance Status
Timely issuance of all government payments, provision of deposit detail reports, and central accounting reports.	Percentage of reconciliation of deposits to the credit of the Receiver General within two business days.	95% by March 31, 2011	Status: Exceeded 98.8% of all deposits to the credit of the Receiver General were reconciled within 2 business days.
	Percentage of Receiver General payments issued within established timeframes.	99.99% by March 31, 2011	Status: Mostly met Of the 297 million payments issued in 2010-2011, incidents involving 77,000 payments were reported, for a result of 99.97%.
The integrity of the Consolidated Revenue Fund and the Accounts of Canada is preserved on behalf of Canadians.	Number of Public Accounts audit issues raised by the Office of the Auditor General relating to the Receiver General’s Consolidated Revenue Fund and the Accounts of Canada functions.	0 by March 31, 2011	Status: Met all No issues were raised by the Office of the Auditor General with respect to the Consolidated Revenue Fund or the Accounts of Canada.

Performance Summary and Analysis of Program Activity

Major Achievements

PWGSC carried out mission critical functions by: managing the operations of the federal treasury through the issuance and settlement of more than 297 million payments and the collection of revenue for all government departments, amounting to over $2.18 trillion in cash flow; maintaining the Accounts of Canada; producing the government’s Monthly Statements of Financial Operations and preparing the annual Public Accounts of Canada. In addition, we continued to provide departments with an optional financial management system, the Common Departmental Financial System (CDFS), and an image-based bill-payment service. A partnership was formed to develop and implement three new modules in the CDFS – materiel management, asset management and salary management. Bill Payment Services managed the collection of funds on behalf of four large departments, with an estimated volume of 1.5 million transactions valued at $649 million.

PWGSC reviewed business requirements and assessed enhanced service opportunities for all major departments for a series of key banking services ranging from foreign banking, Interac Online to Electronic Data Interchange payments and the Receiver General Buy Button service. We also launched the Receiver General Receipts Redesign project which will critically assess the manner in which the Receiver General collects public money on behalf of the Government. The aim is to streamline operations and enhance efficiencies for the decade to come. As part of this project, feedback was sought from the banking industry to assess whether our approach to modernize receipt collection processes is in line with industry trends and best practices. Finally, in partnership with the Department of Finance, we finalized a Memorandum of Understanding with Canada’s direct clearing financial institutions to return approximately $7 million in annual savings to the Government during a time of fiscal restraint.

PWGSC completed the first year of a three-year initiative to streamline and automate the Receiver General’s redemption, settlement and reconciliation business processes and consolidate functionality into the central treasury systems. To date, we have identified, assessed and begun implementing new reconciliation processes, taking advantage of automation capabilities, where feasible.

As part of our goal to review and enhance the security architecture supporting the Receiver General systems, PWGSC completed an internal review. This study has allowed the Receiver General to identify opportunities to strengthen system security and begin the development of a long-term strategy for enhancing system controls, as appropriate.

As a result of a third party review of the Receiver General central systems’ internal controls conducted in 2009-2010, PWGSC continued implementation of its action plan to address minor system and process improvements and documentation shortfalls.

Lessons Learned

In light of the complexities of implementation of our foreign banking arrangement and in an effort to better explain the process of expanding service coverage around the globe for our Canadian embassies, missions and staff, it was determined that future success criteria will require an enhanced engagement strategy, which begins earlier and continues throughout the process. Business requirements must be clearly documented and understood by all stakeholders and stronger risk mitigation strategies developed to address potential changes in the operating environment.

A number of issues arose during the implementation of a new method for the delivery of Government of Canada paper cheques which was piloted between May 2010 and February 2011, requiring adjustments to the process to ensure that delivery schedules would be met for time-sensitive payments. Any future plan with potential impact on other government departments and Canadians will include engagement and communications aspects to avoid unexpected issues and ensure a coordinated response by the Government of Canada.

Program Activity 4: Information Technology Infrastructure Services

Program Activity Descriptions

This program activity provides leadership in supporting government-wide IT transformation initiatives. It works closely with client federal organizations to understand and respond to their IT requirements, while delivering secure IT services and solutions. It includes the brokering, developing and/or managing of products and services for distributed computing services, data centre services, telecommunications services and Information Technology Security Services.

2010-11 Financial Resources ($ millions)

Financial Resources	Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending
Gross Expenditures	410.5	430.9	433.5
Less Respendable Revenue	(400.4)	(393.4)	(399.8)
Net Expenditures	10.1	37.5	33.7

Totals may not add up due to rounding

Note: Actual net expenditures were lower than total authorities for the appropriation portion mainly due to forecasted revenues within the branch that did not materialize as expected, creating a shortfall in the Information Technology Infrastructure Services program activity and creating a surplus in the Internal Services program activity.

Actual net expenditures were lower than total authorities for the revolving fund due to the utilization of only $1.1 million of the authorized deficit of $5.7 million (unused portion of $4.6 million). The authority used was lower than the estimate due to increased business volume.

2010-11 Human Resources (FTEs)

Planned	Actual	Difference
1,104	1,085.5	(18.5)

Note: The difference between planned and actual FTEs is mainly due to delays in staffing.

Expected Results	Performance Indicators	Targets	Performance Status
Federal organizations have access to reliable and innovative services for: managing desktop and help desks; hosting applications, managing storage and providing Web services; enterprise-wide telecommunications solutions. Federal organizations, Canadians, and businesses, through secure and reliable high-speed on-line services, can also efficiently access government programs, services and information.	Average percentage of service levels met in terms of operational availability for four lines of business (distributed computing services, data centre services, IT security and telecommunications).	95% by March 31, 2011	Status: Exceeded The average percentage of service levels met for four lines of business for 2010-2011 was 99.9%.

Performance Summary and Analysis of Program Activity

Major Achievements

The combination of reduced supplier costs, introduction of new technologies, and implementation of price reductions, has led to the increased usage of shared infrastructure services. A significant portion of this growth has been observed in the areas of Satellite Services and Teleconferencing, while we achieved significant price reductions in areas such as Government Cellular Services, Toll-Free Services, Secure Channel Network Services and the Government Managed Cabling Service.

We worked collaboratively with Citizenship and Immigration Canada and Human Resources and Skills Development Canada on the Government Enterprise Network Services (GENS), a major telecommunications transformation project. We have qualified a number of suppliers and will be completing the procurement process in 2011-2012.

A Data Centre Feasibility Study was completed in April 2011 with participation of more than 20 departments. The 17-month study, the most comprehensive analysis of data centre services conducted by the Government of Canada, recommended opportunities and approaches to consolidate data centres and to determine the optimal service delivery model for maximum efficiency.

We awarded a contract in December 2010 to acquire new data centre capacity from the private sector by 2013. This completed a year-long solicitation process collaboratively conducted with PWGSC, the Canada Revenue Agency and the Bank of Canada. The augmentation of data centre space in the National Capital Region will provide the foundation for future consolidation initiatives.

The Cyber Authentication Renewal initiative, lead by the Treasury Board Secretariat, Chief Information Officer Branch, outlines a phased approach for the replacement of the current epass service for online authentication. The first phase of this initiative, completed in 2010-2011, replaced the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) service with a more cost efficient interim service called Access Key, based on industry recognized standards. All epass client departmental programs have successfully migrated to this new service.

The Internal Credential Management (ICM) service, an Online Registration and Credential Administration tool, providing self service to employees for the issuance and management of their identity-based credential designated as MyKey has been implemented across almost all departments and organisations. Throughout the fiscal year, we actively engaged and supported TBS-CIOB in the development of the government-wide strategy for a secure infrastructure framework. This framework will address areas such as secure information exchange, perimeter defence and cyber security.

We completed a study on the preliminary desktop strategy and pursued industry engagement with industry associations.

We have also successfully completed several pilot projects for the desktop environment of the future, including: the e-Discovery for GCDOCS 2.0 (Government of Canada’s Electronic Document and Records Management Solution) with Health Canada; the Software as a Service (SAAS) for GCDOCS 2.0 in partnership with the Canada School of the Public Service, Treasury Board Secretariat, and the Department of Justice; and the Secure Platform for Application Delivery (SPAD) for the Department of National Defence. SPAD was also deployed in Public Safety Canada.

Lessons Learned

A successful government IT agenda is dependant upon close collaboration with Treasury Board Secretariat, Chief Information Officer Branch (CIOB) and other Government Departments. This collaboration across government is important to assure that IT shared services remains aligned with government priorities and objectives. Long term planning which is supported by a sound financial plan and policy is crucial to the successful implementation of IT Common Services.

With a rapidly evolving technological IT environment, it is necessary to have a strong IT investment strategy and an innovation plan, in order to capitalize on technological advances to optimize government IT.

Program Activity 5: Federal Pay and Pension Administration

Program Activity Descriptions

This program activity administers the government’s pay and pension processes.

2010-11 Financial Resources ($ millions)

Financial Resources	Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending
Gross Expenditures	148.2	161.5	156.7
Less Respendable Revenue	(103.8)	(109.7)	(109.7)
Net Expenditures	44.4	51.8	46.9

Totals may not add up due to rounding

Note: Actual expenditures were lower than total authorities mainly due to delays in the award of a major contract in the Pay Modernization project and complexity faced during the implementation of the Government of Canada Pension Modernization project.

2010-11 Human Resources (FTEs)

Planned	Actual	Difference
1,009	1,309	300

Note: The difference between planned and actual FTEs is mainly due to increased capacity required for the implementation of two Major Crown Projects, Pay Modernization Project and Pension Modernization Project.

Expected Results	Performance Indicators	Targets	Performance Status
Reliable central systems and processes for pay and pension administration and expert support through compensation training and advice	Percentage of pay transactions processed within established timeframes.	95% by March 31, 2011	Status: Exceeded Pay transactions were processed within established timeframes 95.7% of the time in 2010-2011.
	Unit cost per pay account.	<=$101.59 by March 31, 2011	Status: Exceeded The unit cost per account for fiscal year 2010-2011 was $97.91.
	Percentage of PSSA and CFSA pension transactions processed within established timeframes.	95.5% by March 31, 2011	Status: Mostly met PSSA and CFSA pension transactions were processed within established timeframes 86.1% of the time in 2010-2011. The major contributing factor was operational delays due to pension transformation activities.
	Unit cost per pension account.	<=$140.51 by March 31, 2011	Status: Exceeded The unit cost per pension account was $123.06. Through stringent cost control and oversight, the target of $140.51 was exceeded.
Pay system reliability.	Number of system operational incidents that affect pay payments.	0 by March 31, 2011	Status: Mostly met There were 3 system operational incidents affecting pay payments, however these did not affect a large number of payments and were all resolved expeditiously.
Public Service Superannuation Act (PSSA) and Canadian Forces Superannuation Account (CFSA) annuitants systems reliability.	Number of system operational incidents that affect pension payments.	0 by March 31, 2011	Status: Met all There were no system operational incidents affecting pension payments during the 2010-2011 fiscal year.

Performance Summary and Analysis of Program Activity

Major Achievements

In 2010-2011, PWGSC implemented 105 collective agreements and updated the pay system as a result of 14 policy changes and four insurance rate changes, all within the legislated timeframes. Over the course of the fiscal year, we continued to execute key transformation initiatives to evolve and modernize our operations, while successfully ensuring reliable and stable operations.

The Pay Modernization Project completed a number of key activities as part of the project definition phase that will assist in the eventual achievement of pay system reliability. Key components of the procurement process to acquire a System Integrator and a commercial-off-the-shelf pay solution, including the Request for Proposal process and proposal evaluation were completed. In addition, stakeholder engagement with respect to business transformation was initiated. The Consolidation of Pay Services Project undertook key transformation activities in 2010-2011. Staffing processes for positions in the Centre of Expertise in Miramichi, New Brunswick were initiated, the Request for Information process for office space for the first phase of the project has been completed, and a service delivery model for the Centre of Expertise has been defined. Governing committees for both projects have been established. Government-wide planning and staffing strategies to ensure the sustainability of pay services, have been developed and implemented.

In 2010-2011, PWGSC continued the testing of the largest and most complex component of the new pension system – the new core functionality for active member (contributor) services, as part of the Pension Modernization Project. Due to delays in the delivery of a stable solution by the vendor, we deferred implementation of this component until April 2011. Consequently, the overall project completion was deferred by 12 months. Strategies are in place to reduce the delay by 8 months to fall 2012. In addition, as a result of certain activities being rescheduled and the development of alternate solutions delivering the same end results, we expect to complete implementation of the project within budget.

PWGSC was scheduled to centralize three services in 2009-2010 – Pension Benefit Entitlements, Survivor Pension Benefits and Employer Support Services – as part of the Centralization of Pension Services. As these were contingent on the delivery of the new core functionality for contributors, we deferred centralization of these services until April 2011.

Through our Data Quality Improvement Initiative, 5,177 accounts were reviewed and corrected out of the 21,107 in scope for the initiative. Our target was 4,900 thus exceeding it by 5.65%. This ongoing initiative continues to increase the integrity of pay data and ensures the accuracy of pension contributions credited to the Public Service Pension Funds.

In 2010-2011, the human resources implications of managing change continued to be the focus of our transformation activities. A number of change management activities took place within the Public Service Pension Centre in Shediac, New Brunswick. Employee focus group sessions and surveys were conducted twice a month to assess the extent to which the organization has adopted and is becoming more proficient with the new technology, and to assess the level of stress and change readiness in the organization. Health Check activities were conducted to help identify and address any gaps, and to help support the success of employees and the organization. In addition, an updated change management action plan has been developed.

The 2010-2011 Report on Plans and Priorities erroneously noted that the Compensation Web Applications would reduce the use of paper by approximately 155 metric tonnes during 2010-2011. The actual target for paper reduction was 62.5 metric tonnes, and our result was a reduction of 57.3 metric tonnes.

Lessons Learned

The Centralization of Pension Services project identified that active stakeholder engagement is essential to the overall success of the centralization of the remaining services. Comprehensive efforts to manage stakeholder engagement continued as focus groups were conducted, the vision and plan for each new service were frequently communicated, and roles and responsibilities of all parties were clearly identified.

Additionally, upfront investment with a concrete savings payback schedule, clearly defined accountabilities, robust planning with clearly established outcomes, a phased implementation approach, and realistic timelines are critical for project success.

Program Activity 6: Linguistic Management and Services

Program Activity Descriptions

This program activity reflects the Translation Bureau’s role as the manager of the government’s terminology and linguistic authority mandated with the development, standardization and distribution of terminology. It also ensures that there is a sustainable, qualified and secure supply of linguistic resources available to support linguistic requirements of the government and to support Canada’s economic and social agenda. The Translation Bureau is the sole internal linguistic services provider offering federal organizations a broad base of linguistic solutions such as translation, interpretation and terminology. This program is mandated under the Translation Bureau Act.

2010-11 Financial Resources ($ millions)

Financial Resources	Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending
Gross Expenditures	294.3	295.2	289.2
Less Respendable Revenue	(221.9)	(214.1)	(214.9)
Net Expenditures	72.5	81.1	74.3

Totals may not add up due to rounding

Note: Actual net expenditures were lower than total authorities by $6.8 million due mainly to the following:

1. The revolving fund only utilized $0.4 million of its authorized deficit of $3.9 million (unused portion $3.5 million). Investments were reduced or cancelled in line with revised revenue projections, to reduce total expenditures. However, revenues increased towards the end of the year resulting in a smaller deficit;
2. Contribution payments for the Language Sector Enhancement Program were not paid in full due to delays in program delivery associated with recipients readiness to receive and start their initiative, resulting in lower than planned expenditures (unused portion of $0.7 million);
3. The balance is explained by funding set aside to cover the obligation for Employee Benefit Plans (EBP).

2010-11 Human Resources (FTEs)

Planned	Actual	Difference
1,700	1,708	8

Expected Results	Performance Indicators	Targets	Performance Status
Parliament and federal organizations are able to ensure equality to status for both official languages, meet their official languages obligations and function in non-official languages as required.	Percentage of sampled communications meeting quality standards	Baseline will be established by March 31, 2010	Status: Not met The project involving the development of a methodology for determining the quality of communications within the federal government did not come to fruition because of a change in organizational priorities. The Translation Bureau has a number of different quality assurance processes in place. However, the move to standardize to one methodology was differed due to a change in organizational priorities.
	Level of client satisfaction with translation services	85% by March 31, 2011	Status: Exceeded Every two years, the Translation Bureau conducts a survey to measure the degree of satisfaction of federal departments and agencies with respect to its translation services. The latest survey revealed a satisfaction rate of 87%. The next satisfaction survey for all clients will be conducted in fall 2011.
	Percentage of documents translated within the time allotted by Parliament	Percentage of documents translated within the time allotted by Parliament	Status: Mostly met In 2010-2011, the Translation Bureau met the agreed translation delivery deadlines for 93.3% of parliamentary documents.

Performance Summary and Analysis of Program Activity

Major Achievements

In 2010-2011, the Translation Bureau translated more than 1.7 million pages in all areas of federal government activity. In this way, it supported federal departments and agencies, including the Prime Minister’s Office and the judiciary, in their communications with the federal public service, the Canadian public and parties abroad. The Translation Bureau also provided 24/7 translation and revision services for major projects such as the Air India Commission, the Cohen Commission, the G8 and G20 summits and the Marine Atlantic project. The Translation Bureau also provided translation and interpretation services for 2,078 parliamentary sittings and parliamentary committee meetings.

In order to provide quality services, the Translation Bureau has focused on building closer client relationships. To that end, 78 translators are working on-site with their client and 653 translators are assigned as dedicated translators for specific client departments. The Translation Bureau also continued with the implementation of an integrated client service strategy through which it negotiated agreements with over 90% of its clients and met agreed-upon deadlines more than 90% of the time.

Furthermore, the Translation Bureau carried out a variety of activities to promote its services to clients in the past year. In particular, it promoted best practices; and, developed a visibility kit for all current and future on-site translators to offer consistent and quality services to client departments. As part of its client outreach activities, the Translation Bureau regularly participated at events to promote its products and services, and to showcase best practices.

The Translation Bureau also enhanced its quality management system. A significant part of this project involved developing new quality standards, which will take effect in 2011-2012.

To improve its practices, the Translation Bureau keeps attuned to developments in language technology. For example, it continued its partnership with the National Research Council of Canada with respect to automated translation tools. It also introduced ways to optimize use of the translation memory in order to meet increased demand for service. In addition, it continued its machine translation testing.

In order to guarantee delivery of translation and interpretation services to meet the needs of Parliament and federal institutions, the Translation Bureau also continued with the implementation of the Canadian Language Sector Enhancement Program (an initiative arising from the (Roadmap for Canada’s Linguistic Duality) 2008-2013: Acting for the Future), which has two components: University Scholarships in Translation and the Language Industry Initiative.

Further to a call for proposals launched on July 3, 2009, the Canadian Language Sector Enhancement Program is funding 16 projects supporting the training of a skilled workforce and strengthening the capacity of the language sector across Canada. Funded activities are:

• seven university scholarships in translation;
• a project involving paid translation internships in private firms;
• two industry promotion projects;
• five innovation projects; and
• one language technologies integration project.

As part of the Roadmap for Canada’s Linguistic Duality, the Translation Bureau also continued to manage and add content to the Language Portal of Canada. In 2010-2011, over 600 new items (articles, headlines, games, etc.) were added to the Language Portal of Canada, as well as two new writing tools.

Interactive features were also added to the Portal (page sharing, e-mail notifications) to ensure wider distribution of its content. In the fall of 2010, an advertising campaign for the Language Portal focusing on the most popular medium, the Internet, was launched. In addition, a number of promotional events were held involving various target audiences in the educational field and among government employees. All this visibility contributed to a marked increase in monthly visits to the Portal (200,000 hits monthly) and TERMIUM®, the Government of Canada’s terminology and linguistic data bank, which is available, free of charge, to the Canadian public via the Portal.

Lastly, on an ongoing basis, the Translation Bureau worked to standardize terminology within the federal government and demonstrate the collective wealth of Canada’s terminology and linguistic knowledge. It also started to establish, throughout the federal government, a network of professionals specializing in clear and effective communication. In addition, the Translation Bureau continued to co-ordinate or participates in 37 terminology co-ordination or standardization networks or committees at the federal, national and international levels.

Lessons Learned

The Translation Bureau provides quality linguistic services to federal organizations on a cost-recovery basis. In a context of budgetary restraint, the Translation Bureau must consolidate its market share by effectively managing the translation function within the Government of Canada. To do this, the Bureau must streamline its spending while maximizing its investments in new technologies (translation memories, machine translation, wikis, etc.) and reviewing its business and service delivery models to achieve efficiencies and savings. The Translation Bureau must as well engage the language industry in an effort to distribute capacity to the private sector and strengthen the viability of language service suppliers across the country. The Translation Bureau must also develop approaches to demonstrate to its clients greater transparency when establishing service agreements and/or preparing invoices.

The Government of Canada’s ability to communicate effectively across Canada and abroad is dependent on the existence of a critical mass of qualified language professionals. To strengthen the capacity of the language sector, the Translation Bureau must provide the Government of Canada with official languages support. To this end, the Translation Bureau must work with Canadian Heritage to renew the Canadian Language Sector Enhancement Program, a Translation Bureau initiative under the Roadmap for Canada’s Linguistic Duality, which expires on March 31, 2013.

Program Activity 7: Specialized Programs and Services

Program Activity Descriptions

This program activity ensures high quality, timely and accessible specialized services and programs to federal institutions in support of sound, prudent and ethical management and operations.

2010-11 Financial Resources ($ millions)

Financial Resources	Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending
Gross Expenditures	190.5	218.0	210.1
Less Respendable Revenue	(95.7)	(102.3)	(105.9)
Net Expenditures	94.8	115.7	104.2

Totals may not add up due to rounding

Note: Specialized Programs and Services includes: Consulting Information and Shared Services 647; Departmental Oversight 182 ; Corporate Services and Strategic Policy 59; Acquisitions 221; Regions 58.

2010-11 Human Resources (FTEs)

Planned	Actual	Difference
1,340	1,134	(206)

Note: Variances between planned and actual FTEs were influenced by a number of factors including the freeze on department’s operational budgets, more efficient processes, and staffing delays as a result of the department slowing down its recruitment in anticipation of Strategic Review Implementation in order to reduce the human resources impact and build flexibility to place affected employees rapidly.

Expected Results	Performance Indicators	Targets	Performance Status
Federal organizations have access to quality services to improve the management, delivery and safeguarding of selected government operations and/or assets while minimizing their impact on the environment.	Percentage of clients satisfied with quality of services.	85% by March 31, 2011	Status: Exceeded Results: 86.5% Increased from last year, this result was calculated based on even distribution of overall percentage of client satisfaction for two of our sub-activity programs, namely Government Consulting services and Shared Services integration, by using client satisfaction instruments.
Classified/protected Government of Canada information and assets are safeguarded, and controlled goods are protected while in the custody of private sector companies.	Percentage of industrial security services meeting established performance targets.	80% by March 31, 2011	Status: Exceeded Results: 82% At 82%, PWGSC exceeded the targeted level of performance on this priority. Continued streamlining and strengthening efforts resulted in improved service delivery to ISP clients requiring industrial security services.
Federal organizations receive audit services that meet their needs.	Percentage of clients indicating that audit services meet their needs (quality, timeliness and value of service).	85% by March 31, 2011	Status: Exceeded Results: 88% Continued focus on quality and adherence to generally accepted audit standards are key two elements that allowed PWGSC to surpass its targeted level of providing service that consistently meets client needs.
Federal organizations obtain the best value for seized property declared forfeited by the courts.	Percentage of seized property sales obtaining 90% of appraised asset value.	90% by March 31, 2011	Status: Exceeded Results: 90.6%
SCNet-based travel services and travel information is available to federal workers and program managers.	Percentage of time that services are available.	99% by March 31, 2011	Status: Met all Results: 99%
Canadians have access to centralized Government of Canada information and federal organizations receive advice to improve delivery of selected government communications activities.	Percentage of information services that are meeting established performance targets.	85% by March 31, 2011	Status: Mostly met Results: 63% 5 of the 8 indicators were fully achieved, which leads to an actual result of 63%. However, the 3 indicators that did not meet their target achieved over 90% of their stated objectives.

Performance Summary and Analysis of Program Activity

Major Achievements

PWGSC continued to offer government-wide, automated shared travel services to departments and agencies in order to increase transparency of government travel spending and modernize operations. In fall 2010, a new reporting module was implemented which provides additional insight for clients into their travel expenses. The level of client satisfaction and adoption of the Shared Travel Services tools have continued to increase while the Government of Canada support for the next generation travel management services remains high. After a renewed governance and extensive consultations, a Request for Proposal for the next generation travel management services was posted on MERX in spring 2011.

The Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB) has provided standardization services, through its comprehensive standards development and maintenance and conformity assessment programs which, in turn, provide direct benefits and support to the economic, regulatory, procurement, health, safety and environmental well-being of Canadians.

In 2010-2011, the CGSB continued rationalization of its Standards Collection, intended to better manage its portfolio of Standards through their life-cycle to ensure relevance to current industry practices. The rationalization of 150 standards was completed during the fiscal year. The CGSB also continued to provide product registration and audit services. An example of this is the implementation and maintenance of a qualification program for screening and security at airports.

Results obtained from clients’ surveys in 2010-2011 demonstrated an overall performance rating of 94.75% for good/excellent asset management services. During the fiscal year, for 96% of all assets disposed, the Seized Property Management Directorate (SPMD) successfully obtained 90% or more of the fair market value. The department also mitigated costs for both itself and its partners by promptly disposing of assets under its management.

Lessons Learned

Client engagement and long-term planning are important when developing strategies to provide best value and quality services to departments, agencies and other stakeholders.

Program Activity 8: Procurement Ombudsman

Program Activity Descriptions

This program activity, operating at an arms length from government, reviews procurement practices across federal departments and agencies, investigates complaints from potential suppliers with respect to awards of contracts for goods and services below certain thresholds, and complaints concerning the administration of contracts; and ensures the provision of an alternative dispute resolution program for contracts. This activity helps to promote fairness, openness and transparency of the procurement process.

2010-11 Financial Resources ($ millions)

Financial Resources	Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending
Gross Expenditures	4.3	4.5	3.6
Less Respendable Revenue	–	–	–
Net Expenditures	4.3	4.5	3.6

Totals may not add up due to rounding

Note: Actual expenditures were lower than total authorities mainly due to delays in staffing of management positions, including the replacement of the Ombudsman, and delays in projects and initiatives.

2010-11 Human Resources (FTEs)

Planned	Actual	Difference
14	22.5	8.5

Note: There was an error in the planned FTEs reported in the 2010-2011 Report on Plans and Priorities. The planned FTEs for 2010-2011 should have been displayed as 28, which compared against actuals would have yielded a difference of 5.5 FTEs, instead of 8.5 FTEs.

Expected Results	Performance Indicators	Targets	Performance Status
Canadians have increased confidence in federal procurement practices.	Percentage of suppliers whose confidence in federal procurement has increased.	90% by March 31, 2012	Status: Somewhat met The Office will be conducting a formative evaluation which will attempt to address the substance of these initial indicators and future annual reports will provide an indication of the results of these performance indicators.
	Percentages of Procurement Officials who recognize that OPO’s efforts have resulted in an increase in procurement community professionalism (training, tools, knowledge of best practices).	90% by March 31, 2012	Status: Somewhat met The Office will be conducting a formative evaluation which will attempt to address the substance of these initial indicators and future annual reports will provide an indication of the results of these performance indicators.
	Percentage of senior officials and parliamentarians attesting to the usefulness of the Procurement Ombudsman Report to Parliament in helping them arrive at a meaningful assessment of the performance of the federal procurement process.	90% by March 31, 2012	Status: Somewhat met The Office will be conducting a formative evaluation which will attempt to address the substance of these initial indicators and future annual reports will provide an indication of the results of these performance indicators.
	Percentage of suppliers attesting to the simplification of the procurement process and reduction of paper burden.	90% by March 31, 2012	Status: Somewhat met The Office will be conducting a formative evaluation which will attempt to address the substance of these initial indicators and future annual reports will provide an indication of the results of these performance indicators.

Performance Summary and Analysis of Program Activity

Major Achievements

2010-2011 Annual Report will be submitted to the Minister, Public Works and Government Services Canada, by July 31st in accordance with the Procurement Ombudsman Regulations. The Report will provide Parliamentarians and Canadians with information on the mandate and objectives of the Office as well as the results of its work and other accomplishments throughout the 2010-2011 fiscal year.

It should be noted that for a period of approximately six months during 2010-2011, the Office was without a Procurement Ombudsman. The Procurement Ombudsman Regulations do not allow for the delegation of authority to launch any investigations, or release any reports, on contract award or contract administration complaints that meet the requirements of the Procurement Ombudsman Regulations. As a result, the release of one completed investigation report and the launch of two investigations were delayed until January 2011 when a new Procurement Ombudsman was appointed. The two investigations are ongoing.

Notwithstanding the above, in keeping with the Office’s business model, complaints continued to be addressed in a neutral and independent manner by listening to supplier concerns, giving the department an opportunity to provide their perspective, and then facilitating dialogue between the two parties to resolve issues. This collaborative, informal process has been very well received and had positive results without investing significant time and effort that would be required of an investigation.

The Office received a number of requests for Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) services in 2010-2011. The majority of requests originated from suppliers, even though departments can also make a request. All parties must agree to participate.

In keeping with the Office’s business model, when a request for ADR was received, the Office first attempted to resolve issues through a collaborative, informal process. If this was not successful, an ADR process was offered.

In 2010-2011, the Office launched three Procurement Practice Reviews. All of these reviews are in various stages of completion. One review of procurement practices was completed and published in 2010-2011. It was a risk-based study and, while it did not include recommendations for improvement of fairness, openness and transparency, it did identify areas of concern as well as effective practices.

In 2010-2011, the Office updated its Web presence and supplier complaint form to make both more user-friendly, and produced articles on its work for procurement magazines.

The Office developed and implemented an Outreach and Awareness Plan which was geared primarily to stakeholders with an interest in the federal procurement process. Our target audience was divided into the following groups: national procurement associations, industry associations, other ombudsmen offices and federal government departments. The Office also met with the House of Commons Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates during their study on the awarding of contracts for the renovation of the Parliamentary Buildings.

The Office also welcomed foreign delegations from Russia, China, Ethiopia and the European Union who wanted to learn more about oversight in government procurement and our day-to-day operations.

Lessons Learned

The Office’s collegial approach to procurement disputes has been very well received, and the results are impressive. Most of the complaints brought to us have been resolved without our resorting to detailed investigations, saving time and effort on the part of both suppliers and government officials.

However, improvements are needed in some areas in order to strengthen the confidence of Canadians in public procurement. For example, in our work this year, we noted two recurring problems that have existed for a long time but now require the immediate attention of senior government officials: poor communication and insufficient training.

Communications

Increased sharing of information and keeping an open and clear dialogue between parties could avoid some of the issues brought to the attention of the Office. Whether the issue stems from a department’s reluctance to reveal “too much” information in its zeal to protect the integrity of the procurement process, or something as routine as the common courtesy of returning a telephone call, promoting increased communication is a goal for the Office moving forward.

Training

While significant strides have been made in professionalizing the function through training, some of the cases of the Office has handled suggest that more is needed. Particularly in the training of existing – and up and coming – program managers who are often responsible for articulating the requirements in critical procurement documents, such as statements of work and bidder evaluation criteria.

The clarity, precision and accuracy of these documents found in the procurement process are paramount, as they influence other “downstream” procurement activities and decisions.

Program Activity 9: Internal Services

Program Activity Descriptions

Internal Services are groups of related activities and resources that are administered to support the needs of programs and other corporate obligations of an organization. Internal Services include only those activities and resources that apply across an organization and not those provided specifically to a program.

2010-11 Financial Resources ($ millions)

Financial Resources	Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending
Gross Expenditures	441.5	511.4	490.3
Less Respendable Revenue	(101.2)	(153.3)	(153.3)
Net Expenditures	340.3	358.1	337.0

Totals may not add up due to rounding

Note: Actual expenditures were lower than total authorities in the various Internal Services organizations mainly due to deferral of projects and staffing, efficiencies realized and lower than planned use of consulting services.

2010-11 Human Resources (FTEs)

Planned	Actual	Difference
3,032	3,095	63

Note: The variance between planned and actual FTEs was influenced by the efforts to revitalize branches to meet new legislative and policy requirements.

Performance Summary and Analysis of Program Activity

Major Achievements

PWGSC has continued to advance its Human Resources (HR) agenda through the implementation of the departmental Integrated Human Resources Management Plan, Renewal Action Plan, and a number of supporting plans, such as employment equity and official languages. We have made significant progress in the areas of recruitment and employee development, as demonstrated by our increased departmental population and the number of employees who receive training. PWGSC was also successful in eliminating employment gaps related to all four employment Equity groups: women, aboriginals, persons with disabilities, and visible minorities. Succession planning initiatives continue to be implemented across the department to ensure HR capacity is maintained and to facilitate knowledge transfer.

The Human Resources Branch is actively involved in the departmental Client Service Strategy, which aims to better engage clients and improve service delivery. Departmental service standards are also in place for key HR services and are monitored regularly to assess performance.

PWGSC’s Departmental Oversight Branch supports PWGSC in its sound stewardship of public funds. Expert functional advice and guidance and departmental support in the areas quality management, risk management, conflict management, fairness monitoring, audit and evaluation, disclosure and special investigation ensure the Department acts with integrity, accountability and transparency in its business of complex, multi-billion dollar transactions.

Quality Management and Risk Management are complimentary programs that ensure the Department “gets it right the first time” and identifies uncertainties that could have positive or negative impacts on business. This year, the Department refreshed its Corporate Risk Profile. The senior executive reviewed and approved key risks in the following areas: implementation of the Strategic Review results; ongoing compliance in changing legislative framework; financial sustainability in an era of fiscal restraint; service delivery against prescribed measurable service standards; and delivery of high level projects and initiatives.

The Conflict Management and Fairness Monitoring programs ensure integrity, accountability and transparency in PWGSC’s transactions. Conflict in the form of a business dispute is managed as early as possible between the Department and third parties in an effort to assist parties to resolve the dispute. External fairness monitors are employed to assure departmental activities are conducted in fair, open and transparent manner.

The Internal Audit and Evaluation program provides independent assurance through risk-based audits and strategic evaluations. The Program’s commitment to delivering quality internal audits and evaluations and efforts to build a best-in-class organization has earned PWGSC a strong rating for two consecutive years in the Treasury Board Secretariat’s annual Management Accountability Framework assessment. In addition this year the Program completed a review and update of quality control and quality assurance processes, including policies, procedures and audit tools. Over the past year, the Audit and Evaluation Committee has evolved into an active challenge role. In its new capacity, the Committee has supported the Department in improving its performance indicators and achieving its management action plan outcomes.

The Office of the Senior Disclosure Officer and the Special Investigations program serve to protect the Department’s integrity and maintain the government’s and public’s confidence by leading complex investigations in potential cases of wrongdoing in the workplace. This year these areas co-championed the development and approval-in-principle of the Investigation Management Framework.

Furthermore, DOB worked collegially with the Offices of the Auditor General and the Procurement Ombudsman – oversight authorities external to PWGSC. In managing this relationship, the Department responded efficiency and effectively to disputes, which could have potentially had a negative impact on the Department and the Government.

During this time of fiscal restraint, PWGSC enhanced Financial Management on many fronts which allowed the department to achieve robust financial results. The following actions have strengthened PWGSC’s contribution to the achievement of the Government’s agenda, resulting in increased fiscal prudence in a post-economic stimulus environment:

• PWGSC’s Finance Branch has led the identification of departmental savings with support from Branches and provided critical support to departmental management. More specifically, PWGSC has implemented for the first time a Three-Year Strategic Financial Plan that ensures allocation decisions are better informed and clearly aligned to department’s operational priorities.

• Over the last few years, PWGSC has been strengthening the Financial Management Policy Framework and has made solid progress in implementing a system of internal controls over financial reporting (ICFR), financial management governance and its financial management system. As a result, the department has made progress in modernizing the CFO role and strengthened support to the Deputy Minister as Accounting Officer.

In 2010-2011, we implemented the core component of an integrated action plan for our Client Service Strategy. Among these, the department:

• completed 4 DM-level Departmental Service Agreements with client departments;

• published the first annual consolidated guide to main services and associated standards;

• launched several innovative services and introduced new departmental branding;

• increased integration between business lines for client engagement;

• piloted a Client Barometer to be used to measure and monitor client satisfaction; and

• initiated work on the development of a client service competency and piloted a client service courses.

PWGSC improved its stewardship of Information Technology through the implementation of a departmental-wide IT Portfolio Management approach, and the use of a common value assessment methodology to determine priorities for investment. PWGSC has developed a plan to address aging IT systems following an assessment of all assets based on a combination of business value and technical integrity. PWGSC continues to take a long term view to its IT strategic planning, incorporating an evolving business service delivery model, and advances in technology.

PWGSC’s Corporate Services and Strategic Policy Branch worked closely with other government departments on Theme IV of the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy and also developed and implemented a Federal Electronic Waste Strategy to support the government’s environmental agenda. The department supported bilateral meetings with the U.S. General Service Administration (GSA), the annual general meeting of federal-provincial-territorial Deputy Heads, and two Deputy Minister level Federal Provincial and Territorial (FPT) teleconferences.

PWGSC achieved excellent Management Accountability Framework Round VIII results (all Strong and Acceptable) and maintained a 95% compliance rate on meeting the legislative deadline to respond to ATIP requests for the third year in a row. The department also opened 3 Minister Regional Offices: Charlottetown, Kitchener, and a temporary office in Iqaluit.

Lessons Learned

Given the aging workforce and the current context of fiscal restraint, effective workforce planning will be increasingly important for PWGSC to build and maintain the capacity required to meet future needs.

The successful delivery of PWGSC’s portion of the Economic Action Plan (EAP) made use of an innovative audit approach, in which “real-time” feedback was provided on all of the key areas of the administration of the EAP/AIP over the course of the audit. Specifically, we modified our process for conducting internal audits by focusing on the timely communication of findings as they were identified. We communicated these findings in regular meetings with Departmental program managers, enabling immediate course correction to the administration of the EAP/AIP when it was required. As part of this, we expedited our reporting process by communicating key findings and recommendations to the senior level EAP/AIP steering committees, as well as the Departmental Audit and Evaluation Committee throughout the duration of the program. This approach differs from our regular process of communicating findings and recommendations at the conclusion of a project through a formal report.

This approach enabled the provision of ongoing assurance and timely information for decision-making, and was noted in the Auditor General’s Fall 2010 Report. The Office of Audit and Evaluation learned important lessons from this “real-time” auditing approach, and will ensure that it is utilized for any similar initiatives implemented in the future.

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