Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
www.tbs-sct.gc.ca
The Web of Rules Action Plan for 2008-09
Tackling the Web of Rules
Objective
The objective of this initiative is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of government programs by establishing a principles-based, risk-sensitive, results-focussed management regime to better serve Canadians.
Attaining this objective requires the elimination of unnecessary and ineffective rules, reporting requirements, and administrative processes within the government that stifle innovation and impair the ability of the public service to deliver services to Canadians.
Context
The Government of Canada is a key enabler of the country's overall competitiveness and prosperity. The way government is managed, the quality and quantity of the public goods and services it provides, and the regulatory environment it imposes all have consequences for Canada's productivity and, ultimately, the standard of living of Canadians.
Government uses rules to protect the environment, the economy, and the health and safety of Canadians by regulating the private sector, setting and enforcing standards, and, in some cases, requiring the private sector to obtain pre-approvals from the government before performing some actions.
The Treasury Board, similarly, regulates departments and agencies by setting rules that impose management standards and expectations, including the need for pre-approvals from the Board in areas such as contracting, financial management, and information technology (IT) investments.
Treasury Board plays this role to help ensure that government is well managed and that spending is effective, efficient, and economical.
In recent years, much has been said about the burden imposed on the private sector by Canada's regulatory framework, and the government has consequently taken steps to reduce "red tape."
To this end, the Government of Canada is scrutinizing the burden imposed on departments and agencies by the Treasury Board. Unlike the regulatory burden imposed on the private sector, the web of rules emanates not only from the "regulator," i.e. the Treasury Board, but also from the departments and agencies, which each imposes its own rules, reporting requirements, and processes. The web of rules is the totality of these prescriptive, overlapping, and opaque rules and reporting requirements, coupled with outdated and inefficient administrative processes and systems.
Addressing the web of rules requires both immediate action and long-term solutions to support the cultural shift necessary to foster innovation and intelligent risk taking.
The Government of Canada is taking action to focus efforts and provide accountability in three areas:
- eliminating ineffective and unnecessary rules;
- reducing the reporting burden; and
- modernizing administrative processes and systems.
In each of these three areas specific actions are highlighted, including initiatives related to the delivery of grants and contributions.
1. Eliminating ineffective and unnecessary rules
1.1 Problem
Rules (e.g. policies, directives, and standards) are necessary to ensure the safe, fair, stable, and accountable functioning of government. The efficiency and effectiveness of government programs and services, however, is diminished by the accumulation of rules emanating from the Treasury Board and other departments and agencies over the years.
1.2 Immediate action
The Treasury Board and other government departments and agencies are eliminating unneeded and ineffective rules in the following ways:
- streamlining rules for recipients of grants and contributions, project management, and investment planning;
Changing internal rules to enable a risk-based approach to audits will have the following results:
- Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC) will save 2,800 audit days and reduce by 30 to 50 per cent the number of audits for selected programs; and
- The Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec will reduce wait times for payment by 30 per cent through post-payment audit.
Under the new Treasury Board policies on investment planning and the management of projects, the proportion of National Defence projects submitted to Treasury Board for approval will be reduced from 50 per cent in 2008–09 to 10 per cent by the end of 2009–10 through the increased focus of Treasury Board oversight on higher-risk and more complex projects.
- eliminating unnecessary Treasury Board approvals in the delivery of grants and contributions programs;
The new Treasury Board Policy on Transfer Payments will reduce the number of Treasury Board submissions required by 10 per cent (or 80 submissions) per year, leading to greater efficiency in departments and an increased focus on priorities.
- clarifying the rules that guide human resources and financial management across government;
The Treasury Board will reduce the number of human resources and financial management (FM) policies by 50 per cent by eliminating 30 such policies, removing constraints on HR authorities, and clarifying deputy head responsibilities for people management.
- adopting rules that are proportional to the risks they are intended to address.
By adopting a new risk-based approach, Infrastructure Canada and Transport Canada will reduce the number of Treasury Board submissions that the department must prepare under the Building Canada Fund by 70 to 80 per cent (35 submissions).
1.3 Impact on Canadians
Eliminating unnecessary and ineffective rules will clarify accountabilities, give departments and agencies more control over their decisions, and focus Treasury Board oversight on higher-risk, more complex projects. This will ensure that resources are directed at improving program effectiveness and achieving better results for Canadians.
2. Streamlining the reporting burden
2.1 Problem
Reporting is essential to help decision makers make sound policy choices and demonstrate value for money and transparency. Unclear or overlapping rules and inefficient administrative processes drive a heavy reporting burden that is ill-suited to meeting the needs of decision makers. As this reporting burden has grown, resources are being diverted away from delivering the programs and services that benefit Canadians towards producing unnecessary reports that add little to decision making.
2.2 Immediate action
The following elements of the reporting burden, especially in the area of human resources and grants and contributions, will be reduced:
- unnecessary reporting by recipients of grants and contributions;
Indian and Northern Affairs Canada has launched a Smart Reporting Initiative to reduce the reporting burden on First Nations by 50 to 60 per cent (from approximately 60,000 reports).
Western Economic Diversification Canada is reducing the time needed to compile a claim for low-risk projects by 50 to 60 per cent by minimizing the required documentation.
- Treasury Board–driven reporting and HR reporting;
The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat and the former Canada Public Service Agency will minimize the reporting effort required of departments by reducing the following:
- the reporting requirements of Treasury Board policies, by 25 per cent;
- the documents submitted for management performance assessments (under the Management Accountability Framework), by 50 per cent;
- the online HR portal reporting burden, by over 85 per cent.
The Public Service Commission of Canada is reducing by 60% the staffing-related reporting required of departments in its annual monitoring exercise.
- reporting by the private sector and millions of Canadians.
Service Canada is using e-solutions to:
- reduce the reporting burden on a further 20,000 employers (to a total of 120,000) through e-Records of Employment; and
- pilot the Newborn Registration Service in Alberta to reduce processing times for birth-related documents from three months to three weeks, building on the existing pilot in Ontario and British Columbia.
2.3 Impact on Canadians
Eliminating unnecessary and ineffective reporting will permit departments to focus more resources on higher-value work to improve program effectiveness, enabling Canadians to enjoy more efficient services.
3. Modernizing administrative processes and systems
3.1 Problem
Administrative processes and systems have a direct effect on the ability of public service employees to perform their duties. Many of the processes and systems that the Government of Canada relies on, however, are antiquated, perform poorly, and are not conducive to building high-performance organizations.
There are constraints on the recruitment, deployment, and mobility of public service talent due to staffing delays and inefficiencies.
3.2 Immediate action
The immediate focus is on the following:
- streamlining the process for delivering grants and contributions;
Health Canada is moving to provide stable, multi-year funding to recipients to enable better health service delivery in 634 First Nation and Inuit communities, reducing the number of agreements from 1,700 to 1,300.
- introducing innovative and modernized HR systems and processes;
The Canada Public Service Agency is implementing a Web-based tool to reduce the time needed for the secure electronic transfer of HR records across up to 16 departments from six months to two days.
Up to 13 departments will adopt the "Fast-Track" staffing model developed by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to reduce staffing time by 60 per cent for selected processes (e.g. casual hires).
- improving administrative processes in departments.
The Canadian International Development Agency will re-engineer project approval and management processes to reduce approval time for project design funding from 26 weeks to 1 week and the average time to design and implement projects from 43 months to 12 months (by end of 2010).
The Canada Revenue Agency will implement an online procurement tool to reduce purchasing time by 10 to 20 days.
3.3 Impact on Canadians
A modernized approach to providing HR and other administrative services will help build a high-performing workplace of choice. Re-engineering administrative processes will ensure that resources are optimally and effectively deployed, delivering greater value to Canadians.
