Backgrounder - Human Resources Governance

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today announced changes in the governance structure for the management of human resources in the Public Service of Canada. The changes will focus and streamline the organizational structure for human resources management and provide Deputy Ministers with the primary responsibility for managing the people in their own departments and agencies.

The Prime Minister's Advisory Committee on the Public Service provided clear advice on the need for a restructuring of how the Public Service manages human resources in its February 2008 report. The Committee found that the existing human resources governance regime is "overly complex, with multiple players and a resulting burden of duplicative and often unnecessary rules". The Committee recommended changes in the human resources governance structure to make it simpler, more streamlined and more coherent. Today's announcement responds directly to these recommendations and fulfills a commitment in the 2008-2009 Public Service Renewal Action Plan.

Effective March 2, 2009, the Canada Public Service Agency and the parts of the Treasury Board Secretariat that deal with pensions and benefits, labour relations and compensation will be consolidated into a new Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer, with a mandate to make human resources management across the Public Service more effective and reduce overlap and duplication of roles. It will be housed within the Treasury Board Secretariat, similar to the Office of the Comptroller General.

Deputy Ministers are responsible for leading the achievement of business goals and they should be the fully responsible managers of the people working in their departments. The new human resources governance structure will achieve this by providing Deputy Ministers, their management teams and human resources professionals with the clear responsibility to manage their people fully and effectively, and the flexibility to do so.

These changes will result in better delivery of policies and services and more effective human resources management by:

enabling Deputy Ministers to take effective responsibility for human resources management in their own departments; and
simplifying and streamlining the roles of central human resources agencies.

The impact on central human resources agencies

As a consequence of these changes, the central agencies will focus on those activities that must be carried out corporately:

The Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) will represent the Government of Canada as the "employer" on human resources issues and provide strategic enterprise-wide leadership on human resources management. The CHRO will chair a restructured Human Resources Management Advisory Committee, become the chair of the Canada School of Public Service Board of Governors and provide leadership to the human resources community;
The Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer will be responsible for all aspects of compensation. It will now develop broad framework policies with clear indicators of performance, conduct analysis of basic data on the Public Service and support cohesive senior leadership development;
The Canada School of Public Service will focus solely on learning and leadership development services to the Public Service; it will no longer have a policy role;
Support for the Prime Minister's Advisory Committee on the Public Service and the Deputy Minister Committee on Public Service Renewal will be consolidated in the Privy Council Office; and
There will be no change in the mandates of the Public Service Staffing Tribunal, the Public Service Labour Relations Board and the Public Service Commission. The Public Service Commission will continue its role as guardian of merit and non‑partisanship in the Public Service of Canada.

Strategic Review

The Government of Canada has introduced a new expenditure management system to better manage government spending. The system ensures value for money for all government spending. A key pillar is the ongoing assessment of all direct program spending, known as strategic reviews.

The strategic review of the six central human resources agencies was undertaken to better align roles and responsibilities to ensure that investments in human resources management activities are effective and efficient and that Deputy Ministers have the flexibility they need to better manage, attract and develop their employees. Through this exercise, over $250 million in funding dedicated to central human resources management functions was reviewed. Implementing the strategic review recommendations will support the streamlining of central agencies and the realignment of their activities to better deliver effective human resources management.