ARCHIVED - Tabling of the 2008-09 Departmental Performance Reports and Canada's Performance 2008-09

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November 5, 2009

Backgrounder - The 2008-09 Departmental Performance Reports and Canada's Performance 2008-09

OTTAWA – The Honourable Vic Toews, President of the Treasury Board of Canada, today tabled in the House of Commons 92 Departmental Performance Reports on behalf of federal departments and agencies. The President also tabled Canada's Performance 2008‑09.

"The Government of Canada is committed to delivering programs that meet the changing needs of Canadians in the most effective and efficient way possible. The Departmental Performance Reports provide information about departmental performance and spending, reflecting our commitment to accountability, transparency and delivering results for Canadians," said Minister Toews.

Departments and agencies prepare Departmental Performance Reports at the end of the fiscal year to inform parliamentarians and Canadians of their performance against the plans and expected results articulated in their annual departmental Reports on Plans and Priorities.

The federal government's overall contribution to Canada's progress as a nation is outlined in Canada's Performance 2008-09. This report provides an overview of government performance and spending in the areas of economic, social, international and government affairs.

This year's report also contains information on the implementation of Canada's Economic Action Plan during the 2008-09 fiscal year.  For more information please consult the reports to Canadians on Canada's Economic Action Plan website.

All reports and supporting documents are available on the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat website.

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For more information, contact:

Christine Csversko
Director of Communications
Office of the President of the Treasury Board
(613) 957-2666

Robert Makichuk
Chief, Media Relations
Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
(613) 957-2391

If there is a discrepancy between any printed version and the electronic version of this news release, the electronic version will prevail.

TTY (Telecommunications device for the hearing impaired) - (613) 957-9090

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Backgrounder - The 2008-09 Departmental Performance Reports and Canada's Performance 2008-09

Reporting to Parliament through Departmental Performance Reports is the primary means of informing parliamentarians and Canadians of departmental performance. The 2008-09 Departmental Performance Reports are based on the plans and expected results set out in the 2008-09 Reports on Plans and Priorities, tabled in Parliament on March 31, 2008.

Departmental Performance Reports have gone through several improvements over the last few years to ensure parliamentarians receive more strategic information to help them hold the Government of Canada accountable. In particular, the Government has:

• Increased the focus on the progress of organizations toward achieving their strategic outcome(s) by improving alignment between resources and results, and improving how information on results links to the organization's plans and priorities;
• Reduced the reporting burden by introducing a streamlined reporting approach. The streamlined format encourages departments to hyperlink to additional details, allowing the documents to be strategic and results-focused; and
• Issued an updated Performance Reporting: Good Practices Handbook as a practical resource on reporting standards for departments.

The Estimates Process

It is important for parliamentarians—and by extension all Canadians—to understand what the Government is doing, why it is doing it, and what results are being achieved. That is why the Government of Canada tables in Parliament a number of key documents that explain the Government's objectives and then reports on progress against those stated aims. This is known as the Estimates process.

Each year, the Government prepares Estimates in support of its request to Parliament for authority to spend public funds. The Estimates consist of three parts:

Part I – The Government Expense Plan provides an overview of federal spending and summarizes the relationship of the key elements of the Main Estimates to the current Expense Plan.

Part II – The Main Estimates identify the spending authorities (votes) and amounts at the departmental levels to be included in subsequent appropriation bills. In the normal cycle, Part I and II of the Estimates are tabled concurrently on or before March 1.

In addition, Supplementary Estimates can be tabled during the fiscal year in support of an Appropriation Act seeking new spending authorities or adjustments to appropriations previously approved by Parliament.

Part III – Departmental Expenditure Plans are divided into two components:

1)  Reports on Plans and Priorities (RPP) are individual expenditure plans for each department and agency (excluding Crown corporations). They describe departmental priorities, expected results and the associated resource requirements covering a three-year period. These documents are normally tabled in the spring.

2)  Departmental Performance Reports (DPR) are individual department and agency accounts of accomplishments against plans and expected results set out in their Report on Plans and Priorities. DPRs provide information on how the department or agency is progressing towards its strategic goals—also known as strategic outcomes. The DPRs cover the most recently completed fiscal year and are normally tabled in the fall.

Canada's Performance is produced every year and serves as a companion piece to the DPRs. It describes the federal government's contribution to Canada's performance as a nation and details how departments and agencies have contributed to the Government's goals in four spending areas (economic, social, international and government affairs) and 13 Government of Canada outcome areas.

Canada's Performance outlines actual Government spending for each outcome area, and compares actual and planned spending. The report provides an overview of the whole-of-Government performance that helps parliamentarians and Canadians understand the information of interest to them on federal government policies and programs. Major federal organizations contribute examples of results achieved relevant to the four spending areas and 13 outcome areas. These results are then highlighted in the report to provide an understanding of how the performance of individual departments and agencies contributes to the broader, Government-wide outcomes.