ARCHIVED - RPP 2007-2008
Canadian Transportation Agency

• Previous Page
• Table of Contents
• Next Page

This page has been archived.

Section I – Overview

1.1 Chairman's Message

I am pleased to present the Canadian Transportation Agency's Report on Plans and Priorities which sets out the strategic objectives of the organization. These objectives are shaped by the environment in which the Agency operates.

The transportation industry is one of the most dynamic sectors of our economy and has a significant impact on the lives of individuals and businesses across Canada. Over the past several years, there has also been a renewed focus on demonstrating the value of government services to Canadians. Within this environment, the Agency fulfills its mandate as an economic regulator in a manner that is responsive, efficient and transparent.

In 2007–2008, the Agency will focus on maintaining a fair and transparent economic regulatory regime to help achieve a viable and accessible national transportation system. To achieve this outcome, its efforts will concentrate on three priorities: addressing the workload resource challenge, succession planning, and improving the dispute resolution system.

The challenge facing the Agency is to address, with its available resources, a workload that is simultaneously increasing in terms of sheer volume and complexity. Making this challenge more difficult has been the elimination of funding for the Air Travel Complaints Program while maintaining Agency responsibility in this area. At the same time, proposed changes to legislation will increase the mandate of the Agency. To address this issue, over the past few months, the Agency undertook an intensive resource review in order to realign its financial and human resources while maintaining the integrity of its programs and the expertise and morale of its workforce.

The Agency will succeed in its mandate in large part due to the strength of its people. Faced with a significant number of departures of Members, senior management and subject-matter experts, the Agency will continue to implement its action plan to attract and retain the level of competency and capacity needed to support its quasi-judicial mandate.

Efforts will also continue to improve efficiency in processes and ensure Agency capacity to manage its caseload. Mediation as an alternative to the Agency's formal processes will assist parties in resolving disputes faster and in a less resource intensive manner. Continued improvement on the Agency performance measurement framework will allow the Agency to improve its management practices and make better use of its resources for improved results for Canadians.

We are committed to completing actions to achieve the specific directions set out in this 2007–2008 Report on Plans and Priorities. Delivering on our priorities will ensure the Agency is well positioned to carry out its role in ensuring an effective and accessible Canadian transportation system.

Geoffrey C. Hare
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

1.2 Management Representation Statement

I submit for tabling in Parliament, the 2007–2008 Report on Plans and Priorities (RPP) for the Canadian Transportation Agency.

This document has been prepared based on the reporting principles contained in the Guide to the Preparation of Part III of the 2007–2008 Estimates: Reports on Plans and Priorities and Departmental Performance Reports:

• It adheres to the specific reporting requirements outlined in the Treasury Board Secretariat guidance;

• It is based on the Agency's Strategic Outcome and Program Activity Architecture that were approved by the Treasury Board;

• It presents consistent, comprehensive, balanced and reliable information;

• It provides a basis of accountability for the results achieved with the resources and authorities entrusted to the Agency; and

• It reports finances based on approved planned spending numbers from the Treasury Board Secretariat.

Geoffrey C. Hare
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
February 12, 2007

1.3 Agency Overview

1.3.1 Summary Information

1.3.2 Financial Resources (thousands of dollars)

2007–2008	2008–2009	2009–2010
27,214	26,301	26,301

1.3.3 Human Resources (full-time equivalents/FTE)

2007–2008	2008–2009	2009–2010
255	242	242

1.3.4 Agency Priorities

Name	Type
1. Addressing Agency workload and resources challenges	Previously committed to
2. Succession planning	Previously committed to
3. Improving the dispute resolution system	Previously committed to

1.3.5 Program Activity by Strategic Outcome

Strategic Outcome:    A fair and transparent economic regulatory regime that helps achieve a viable and accessible national transportation system.

Program Activity:    Economic regulation of the federal transportion system

Expected Results:	Planned Spending (thousands of dollars)			Contributes to the following priority
	2007–2008	2008–2009	2009–2010
1. The fair, effective and efficient resolution of federal transportation issues. 2. The removal of undue obstacles for persons with disabilities from federally-regulated transportation. 3. The protection of the economic and other interests of transportation users, carriers and other affected parties.				The Agency's single program activity contributes to all priorities.
Total	27,214	26,301	26,301

1.4 Agency Plans and Priorities

1.4.1 Operating Environment and Strategic Context

The Agency's mission is to administer transportation legislation and government policies to help achieve an efficient and accessible transportation system by education, consultation and essential regulation.

The Agency performs the functions vested in it by the Canada Transportation Act and related legislation (refer to section 4.1.4 for a list of legislation and regulations that the Agency administers in whole or in part). The Agency's program is funded by Parliament through an operating expenditures vote. It operates within the context of the very large and complex Canadian transportation system (for details, refer to Transport Canada's Web site at www.tc.gc.ca).

Education and consultation are integral to the Agency's effectiveness in carrying out its mandate. The Agency works closely with those who use and provide transportation services in Canada and others directly affected by them. It helps travellers, shippers, carriers, municipalities and others to fully understand not only their rights and obligations under the Canada Transportation Act, but also the Agency's roles and responsibilities. When appropriate, the Agency encourages parties to resolve disputes informally before issues escalate and affect the efficient functioning of the transportation system. The Agency consults as widely as possible on issues that are important to the transportation industry. By remaining open and by listening to all affected parties, the Agency strives to ensure that its decisions are both responsive and responsible.

As an independent, quasi-judicial tribunal, the Agency makes decisions on a wide range of matters involving federally-regulated modes of transportation (air, rail and marine). Most of the Agency's activities and workload are generated by demand from users and operators of the federal transportation system. The tribunal's decisions are rendered by Agency Members who are appointed by the Governor in Council. This includes the Chairman, who also acts as the Chief Executive Officer, and the Vice-Chairman who are both members of the Executive Committee. The Agency's tribunal decision-making process is governed by its General Rules, entrenching the rules of fairness, which ensure that all parties to a complaint or an application are dealt with fairly and equitably. More information about this process can be found at www.cta.gc.ca/about-nous/decision_process-eng.html.

A number of factors will influence the delivery of the Agency's programs during the planning period, notably:

1. Potential legislative changes

During 2006–2007, certain legislative proposals were made which will affect the mandate of the Agency. The first of these proposals is Bill C-11, An Act to amend the Canada Transportation Act and the Railway Safety Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts, which received Second Reading in the House of Commons on September 21, 2006, and was referred to the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities. The Committee provided its report to Parliament on December 13, 2006. The second legislative proposal which will affect the Agency is Bill C-20, the Canada Airports Act, which was tabled in the House of Commons on June 15, 2006.

The Agency will establish a strategy for the administration of new or modified mandates that may fall under its jurisdiction, and will take the necessary measures to administer any such new responsibilities once any of these bills are adopted.

2. Outcome of an appeal to the Supreme Court on a key Agency decision

The Agency awaits the decision of the Supreme Court on an appeal of an Agency decision related to accessible transportation. As a result, the Agency has adjourned a number of cases until the Supreme Court issues its decision, at which time these cases will be reactivated. While this stay of proceedings will delay the processing of these cases, it is expected that the court will provide the Agency with some direction on what it is to consider when resolving accessibility complaints. This direction may have an impact on the reactivated cases, as well as on other cases that are presently before the Agency.

3. Managing with fewer resources

The Agency faces a number of challenges related to balancing workload and resources, in order to continue to deliver its parliamentary mandate and maintain the necessary stewardship and comptrollership capacity to meet central agency and legislative requirements.

A major challenge arises from the implementation of reductions and changes resulting from the expenditure review exercise in 2006. As part of this exercise, funding for the Air Travel Complaints Program was eliminated. This funding had been provided through annual transfers from Transport Canada since the program's inception in 2000. However, since the Agency will retain the mandate for the program, a plan needed to be created to address the program's workload within existing base resource levels for 2007–2008.

The Agency faces an additional challenge in balancing workload and resources related to managing retirements through succession planning. As well, proposed legislation would grant the Agency new mandates and responsibilities, while providing for only limited associated resources.

4. Government-wide initiatives

During the planning period, the Agency will need to respond to a number of government-wide initiatives.

Like other similarly sized public sector organizations, the Agency has expended significant effort to fully participate in and respond to numerous government horizontal reviews, audits, reporting requirements and policy initiatives (e.g. shared corporate services, procurement reform, reclassifications, proactive disclosure, etc.).

The Agency will continue to develop more detailed financial and performance information in order to enhance its reporting to Parliament and Canadians. Although work accomplished to date in establishing a performance measurement framework has significantly assisted in achieving this objective, the Agency will continue to work with the Treasury Board Secretariat to improve and refine this framework. This will allow the Agency to better demonstrate its contribution to Canadians in its future Departmental Performance Reports and to better manage results.

Similar to other Public Service organizations, the Agency's aging workforce requires continued effort in human resources planning to ensure the organization sustains the internal expertise and capacity to effectively support the quasi-judicial tribunal's mandate. The implementation of the staffing reforms from the Public Service Modernization Act provides the Agency with the means to facilitate the creation of qualified candidate pools to address vital succession issues at all levels. The Agency has implemented an integrated business and human resources planning capacity that is geared to the early identification of human resources issues and their link to business delivery, as well as being structured to determine strategic priorities to address any vulnerabilities. Integrated in such strategies is the implementation of the government's new learning, training and development policy, which focuses on ensuring that managers at all levels are educated and/or trained to effectively conduct their responsibilities.

5. Key partners

The Agency is one of many players involved in transportation and maintains close ties with its various co-delivery partners, including Transport Canada, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, the Canada Border Services Agency, the Canadian Human Rights Commission, and a number of provincial governments. For details on these relationships, refer to the Agency's Web site at www.cta.gc.ca/about-nous/partners-eng.html.

1.4.2 Link to the Government of Canada Outcome Areas

The Agency's strategic outcome and program activity are directly aligned with the broader Government of Canada outcome of "a fair and secure marketplace". The regulatory programs which the Agency implements resolve economic issues, remove transportation barriers and protect the rights of consumers, carriers and others. These programs also help improve the overall quality of life in Canada, as an efficient and accessible transportation system benefits all Canadians.

1.4.3 Agency Priorities

Like other government bodies mandated to administer laws, the Agency's priorities and the actions it can take are dictated to a large degree by statutes. For the planning period, the Agency's activities will continue to be focused on the attainment of one strategic outcome:

The Agency is committed to the achievement of this strategic outcome through the delivery of its ongoing activities, which are focused on:

• resolving transportation disputes fairly, effectively and efficiently by making sound decisions or through mediation and other informal processes;

• improving the accessibility of the federal transportation system for persons with disabilities; and

• performing its other administrative roles and legislative responsibilities that protect the economic and other interests of the federal transportation users, carriers and other affected parties.

More information about the expected results of the Agency's ongoing activities can be found under Section II of this report.

Based on the risks and challenges facing the Agency, three priorities previously identified in 2006–2007 continue to be priorities for 2007–2008:

1. addressing Agency workload and resources challenges;

2. succession planning; and

3. improving the dispute resolution system.

1.4.4 Agency Plans

The Agency has developed and updated its implementation plan, which describes its management and program priorities in detail. Resources are allocated to specific initiatives as required, responsibilities are clearly defined and expected results and time lines are established.

Implementation plan progress will be monitored and reported to the Agency's Executive Committee on a regular basis and results will be included in the Departmental Performance Report.

Priority 1: Addressing Agency workload and resources challenges

Over the past few years, the Agency has taken important steps to ensure that it uses the funds allocated by Parliament in a way that allows it to attain better results for Canadians. Internal resources are allocated annually following a review process in which requests for existing and new resources are challenged and risk principles are used as a key basis for resource allocation decisions. In addition, a results chain was developed along with a performance measurement framework and a detailed Performance Measurement Plan.

The challenge of addressing workload with existing resource levels will become more pronounced in the upcoming fiscal year for two reasons. First, proposed changes to legislation would grant the Agency new mandates and responsibilities with limited associated resources. Second, and more importantly, as a result of the decision to eliminate the funding provided by Transport Canada for the Air Travel Complaints Program, while maintaining the Agency's responsibility to resolve complaints from air travellers, the Agency will be required to fully absorb the workload and resources associated with the program into its base resource levels in 2007–2008. Given the number of complaints received on an annual basis through this program, the integration of this activity within base levels poses a significant challenge to the Agency.

In order to address this situation, the Agency undertook an organization-wide review of its resources. This review identified some areas of the Agency where savings might be generated in order to absorb the associated workload and costs of the Air Travel Complaints Program, as well as potential new responsibilities, within the Agency's resource base. The Agency's challenge will be to generate the necessary savings while maintaining the integrity of its programs and the expertise and morale of its workforce.

Given the extent of the impact that these events will have in the foreseeable future, the Agency will continue to make efforts to improve its efficiency and ensure its capacity to manage a caseload that is increasing, both in terms of volume and the complexity of issues to be resolved, with fewer resources. To pursue this priority the Agency will:

• continue to implement streamlined and more effective work processes, to further improve its organizational effectiveness and better use its resources;

• continue to develop meaningful performance indicators and better integrate resources with results (refer to Item 4.1.1 under Section IV for the Agency's results chain);

• take measures to ensure the Agency can quickly reallocate human resources to meet temporary workload pressures; and

• implement any necessary restructuring or other administrative processes necessary to generate savings and reallocate such savings to ensure efficient and effective operation of all mandated programs.

Priority 2: Succession planning

Like the majority of federal government departments and agencies, the Agency continues to compete with other public organizations and the private sector in the recruitment of knowledge workers. The majority of employers foresee a loss of corporate memory and expertise because of the predicted retirements and departures of the baby boom generation which make up part of today's work force.

The Agency is now experiencing significant challenges as a number of key senior officials and senior subject-matter experts have retired or will be retiring over the next few years. In this regard, the organization continues to sustain its action plan to ensure that it retains the level of competency and capacity needed to support its quasi-judicial mandate and role.

Based on the five-year Succession Plan, implemented in 2002 and which is revised on an annual basis, as well as through integrated business and human resource planning processes, the Agency continues to focus on strategic workforce management approaches designed to address potential vulnerabilities in key positions and areas of critical expertise. With the coming into force of the Public Service Employment Act on December 31, 2005, the Agency broadened its strategic approaches to benefit from a more flexible staffing regime that more effectively supports its succession strategies. The Agency also relies on a comprehensive, integrated human resource planning framework that focusses on corporate priorities in human resource management, and reflects the objective of more strategic staffing and recruitment. During the planning period, the following measures will be taken to address key succession issues identified within the Agency:

• continue to ensure a sufficient pool of qualified candidates through internal and external language training;

• sustain the implementation of the three-Year Strategic Human Resources Plan. This plan integrates the human resources management priorities stemming from the Human Resources Modernization initiative and the Agency's own planning needs; and

• continue to enhance the Agency's human resources corporate planning capacity through actions such as streamlining appointment processes by creating pools of pre-qualified candidates.

Priority 3: Improving the dispute resolution system

A significant portion of the Agency's workload is externally generated and can be difficult to predict. With limited resource flexibility, backlogs can result.

The objective of this priority is to improve the timeliness with which dispute files are resolved by the Agency. During 2007–2008, the Agency will:

• implement the planned activities that were identified and developed during 2006–2007 to improve service levels;

• implement the performance indicators that were identified, developed and accepted during 2006–2007; and

• establish meaningful performance targets for upcoming years.

• Previous Page
• Table of Contents
• Next Page