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Section II: Analysis of Program Activities by Strategic Outcome

The following section describes the Secretariat's program activities and identifies the expected results, performance indicators, and targets for each of them. This section also explains how the Secretariat plans to achieve the expected results and presents the financial and non-financial resources that will be dedicated to each program activity.

The discussion will focus on the following program activities:

1. Management Policy Development and Oversight

2. Expenditure Management and Financial Oversight

3. Government-wide Funds and Public Service Employer Payments

4. Internal Services

Strategic Outcome: Government is well managed and accountable, and resources are allocated to achieve results.

Program Activity 1: Management Policy Development
and Oversight

1.1 Policy Coordination, Management Assessment, and GC Oversight

1.2 HR and Compensation Management

1.3 Service Technology and Information Management

1.4 Assets and Acquired Services

1.5 Financial Management and Internal Audit

Through this program activity, the Secretariat provides support to the Treasury Board in its role as management board. This includes the promotion of improved management performance and the development of policies that support the prudent and effective management of the government's assets and its human, financial, information, and technology resources.

Program Activity 1: Management Policy Development and Oversight
Human Resources (FTEs) and Planned Spending ($ thousands)
2009–10		2010–11		2011–12
FTEs	Planned Spending	FTEs	Planned Spending	FTEs	Planned Spending
783	112,497	742	113,347	742	113,504

Expected Results1	Performance Indicators
Expectations are established to improve public service management.	Evolution of departmental MAF ratings and assessments (including those related to the employer role) over time.
Functional communities are provided with the appropriate knowledge and tools to comply with Treasury Board policies.	Recruitment levels measured against the Secretariat's set targets Assessment of capacity in key management areas (internal audit, financial management, procurement, evaluation, information management and information technology (IM/IT), labour relations, compensation, and occupational health and safety) Tools developed and used, and training delivered
Treasury Board policies and Secretariat advice are clear, relevant, and well communicated from the standpoint of departments and agencies.	Quality of advice provided to departments and agencies Implementation of policies sequenced and phased in depending on departmental capacity Extent to which Treasury Board policies achieve intended results
1. The Secretariat is in the process of identifying targets at the program activity level. Targets presented in this report relate to expected results at the program sub-subactivity level and are taken from the PMF.

Planning highlights

In order to achieve the expected results outlined above, the Secretariat plans to undertake the following activities:

Policy Suite Renewal

In 2009–10, the Secretariat will continue streamlining the Treasury Board policy suite. By
March 31, 2010, most of the 44 policies slated for renewal are expected to be renewed. Much of the work on directives, standards, and guidelines is also expected to be complete by the end of March 2010; however, owing to the complexity of certain policy areas and the need for a staggered approach, the work will continue in this fiscal year.

Expected Result	Performance Indicator	Target for 2009–10
A streamlined Treasury Board policy suite that clarifies the responsibilities of deputy heads and is consistent with other key management initiatives at the Secretariat.	Number of policies streamlined	90 per cent complete

Strengthening government-wide risk management

The Secretariat will provide departments and agencies with continued support and advice for managing risks. In 2009–10, a Centre of Excellence for Risk Management will be established to provide risk management guidance and tools to departments and agencies, foster a risk-smart culture across government, set expectations for effective risk management, and actively support departments and agencies in meeting these expectations.

Expected Result	Performance Indicator	Target for 2009–10
Departments and agencies implement good practices for corporate risk management.	Federal organizations keep their corporate risks current.	Majority of organizations have updated their corporate risk profile.

Results-based management

The Secretariat will continue to provide departments and agencies with training, outreach, and guidance for consolidating PAAs and improving on their quality. Departmental PAAs together represent an inventory of government programs and are increasingly used in all aspects of the Expenditure Management System and in reporting. The Secretariat aims to ensure that PAAs are well developed, detailed, and consistent to allow for historical data analysis.

Expected Result	Performance Indicator	Target for 2009–10
Departments develop quality PAAs and performance measurement information for use in decision making and reporting.	Percentage of departmental PAAs rated acceptable in accordance with MRRS Policy requirements1	80 per cent rated as acceptable
1. This performance indicator only covers the PAA component of the expected result.

Streamlining regulation

The Cabinet Directive on Streamlining Regulation (CDSR) is the Government of Canada's regulatory policy. It establishes how the federal government should make regulations and ensures that those regulations protect the economy, public, and environment, use the right regulatory instrument, minimize administrative burden, facilitate trade, are made transparently, and deliver results. As a result of CDSR implementation, which is beginning its third year, a Centre of Regulatory Expertise is directly assisting departments to improve regulatory quality, guidelines have been issued on cost-benefit analysis and international regulatory cooperation, and a new Regulatory Impact Assessment Statement (RIAS) gives the public a clearer picture of regulatory impacts. Over the next three years, work to improve regulatory quality will progress by setting CDSR performance goals with major regulatory departments.

Expected Result	Performance Indicator	Target for 2009–10
The quality of regulatory submissions improves in the areas of cost-benefit analysis, regulatory cooperation, consultation, and performance measurement, while administrative burden is minimized.	Administrative burden associated with RIASs is lessened and they show cost-benefit analysis of high quality, regulatory cooperation, consultation, and performance measurement.	By April 2010, administrative burden related to RIASs is reduced and 66 per cent of the medium- and high-impact RIASs assessed (approximately 103 per year) contain cost-benefit analysis, regulatory cooperation, consultation, and/or performance measurement.

The Secretariat will work to strengthen management performance across government by:

• Providing support and leadership to departments and agencies with respect to financial management and internal audit;
• Eliminating barriers and leading horizontal initiatives to improve the management and oversight of information, technology, and service transformation initiatives;
• Providing support to regulatory departments to implement a modern approach to regulatory reform; and
• Establishing a strong evaluation function across government that is focussed on value for money and accountability.

Budget 2009 calls for timely government action to support the Economic Action Plan. To ensure funds flow quickly, the Secretariat is developing new procedures to accelerate approvals while maintaining government accountability. Measures include the creation of a new, fixed-term central Vote, and a risk-based process for Treasury Board submissions. The Secretariat is also creating a robust monitoring and reporting framework to ensure Parliament and Canadians are informed of Economic Action Plan implementation.

Benefits for Canadians: Management policy development and oversight activities will increase the government's capacity to enable change and help create an improved operating environment. Removal of barriers and inefficiencies will allow departments to deliver on priorities that serve the needs of Canadians while ensuring accountability and transparency.

Program Activity 2: Expenditure Management and Financial Oversight

2.1 Financial Oversight and Reporting

2.2 GC Expenditure Management and Oversight

2.3 Departmental Expenditure Oversight

The Treasury Board is often referred to as “the budget office” because of the important role it plays, along with the minister of Finance and the prime minister, in managing and overseeing government expenditures. The Secretariat's role is to provide advice and recommendations to Treasury Board on the allocation and reallocation of resources to ensure that they are aligned with the government's priorities and responsibilities and that federal programs are effective, efficient, and provide value for money.

Program Activity 2: Expenditure Management and Financial Oversight
Human Resources (FTEs) and Planned Spending ($ thousands)
2009–10		2010–11		2011–12
FTEs	Planned Spending	FTEs	Planned Spending	FTEs	Planned Spending
283	37,027	269	35,248	270	35,275

Expected Results	Performance Indicators
Resources are allocated to achieve results.	All direct program spending reviewed over four years Funds reallocated from low to high priorities Compensation aligned with approved compensation framework
Results-based information increasingly informs expenditure management decisions.	Percentage of departments on track with MRRS Policy implementation Improvement of overall quality of evaluation reports
Reporting to Parliament on government spending is accurate; financial performance and stewardship is complete and timely.	Timely tabling of Estimates and Public Accounts Assessment of the quality of financial and non-financial information Extent to which public reports (e.g. departmental performance reports (DPR), RPPs, Public Accounts) are consistent and integrated

Planning highlights

In order to achieve the expected results outlined above, the Secretariat plans to undertake the following activities:

Strategic reviews

The objective of strategic reviews is to assess all direct program spending and performance over a four-year period to ensure management excellence and fiscal credibility. Through the comprehensive review of their programming, organizations identify opportunities to redirect funding from lower priority, lower performing programs to higher priority, higher performing programs. The goal is to provide better value for money by investing savings in more effective programs that better meet the needs of Canadians and are aligned with federal responsibilities.

Expected Result	Performance Indicator	Target for 2009–10
All direct program spending is reviewed over a four-year cycle to ensure it is consistent with federal roles, responsibilities, and priorities as well as provides value for money.	Percentage of direct program spending reviewed each year	25 per cent

Estimates and supply

This activity involves managing the process for obtaining parliamentary approval of Appropriation Acts by preparing the government's Main and Supplementary Estimates for tabling in the House of Commons. In addition, allotment controls over approved expenditures are established and maintained and ongoing direction and strategic advice is provided to departments and agencies for the preparation of their RPPs.

Expected Result	Performance Indicator	Target for 2009–10
Clear, timely, and accurate Estimates information is tabled in Parliament to support annual appropriations from the Consolidated Revenue Fund in support of federal priorities.	Tabling of clear, timely, and accurate Main Estimates and Supplementary Estimates	Main Estimates and Supplementary Estimates tabled in accordance with the times set out in the parliamentary calendar

Accrual accounting in departmental budgeting

The Government of Canada has committed to extending accrual accounting to departmental budgeting. Accrual budgeting involves the preparation and presentation of the following future-oriented financial information: a forecast statement of operations, a forecast statement of cash flow, and a forecast statement of financial position. A three-phased approach was developed to extend accrual accounting to departmental budgeting, and phase one is now underway. Phase one consists of a pilot projectin which ten departments will report future-oriented financial information on an accrual basis in their RPPs.

Expected Result	Performance Indicator	Target for 2009–10
Extending accrual accounting to departmental budgeting supports fiscal discipline through improved accountability, transparency, and financial management.	All departments table future-oriented financial statements in their RPPs.	The departments participating in the pilot project include a forecast financial statement of operations in their RPP.

The Secretariat will work with departments and agencies to strengthen expenditure management and financial oversight across government by:

• Continuing to implement the renewed EMS, which includes improvements to the Estimates process;
• Fully implementing the new Expenditure Management Information System (EMIS), which supports integration and production of Estimates information;
• Improving the quality of program performance information through continued implementation of the MRRS Policy;
• Renewing and implementing the Evaluation Policy, including the development of tools to support evaluation competencies and capacity across government;
• Continuing work on the pilot project to extend accrual accounting to departmental budgeting and appropriations; and
• Providing sound evidence-based analysis and advice to senior officials to support compensation decisions.

Benefits for Canadians: Expenditure management and financial oversight activities will ensure that the best possible information on government spending and resource allocation is available for decision making. Canadians benefit from government programs that are effective and efficient, are focussed on results, and provide value for taxpayers' money.

Program Activity 3: Government-wide Funds and Public Service Employer Payments

3.1 Government-wide Contingencies and Management Initiatives

3.2 Compensation Adjustments, Operating Budget Carry Forward, and Paylist Requirements

3.3 Public Service Employer Payments

The Secretariat is responsible for managing access to the central funds and administering them in accordance with applicable legislation and Treasury Board policies and standards. The human resources associated with this program activity are included in other program subactivities, predominantly in human resources and compensation management and Government of Canada expenditure management and oversight.

Program Activity 3: Government-wide Funds and Public Service Employer Payments
Human Resources (FTEs) and Planned Spending ($ thousands)
2009–10		2010–11		2011–12
FTEs	Planned Spending	FTEs	Planned Spending	FTEs	Planned Spending
—	2,103,064	—	2,282,220	—	2,282,220

Planned spending in this program activity relates mainly to the following vote:

• Vote 20—Public Service Insurance

  This vote, which supports the Treasury Board's role as employer, is used for the following: public service pension, benefits, and insurance, including payment of the employer's share of health, income maintenance, and life insurance premiums; payments to or in respect of provincial health insurance plans; payment of provincial payroll taxes and Quebec sales tax on insurance premiums; costs associated with the pension, benefit, and insurance plans for employees engaged locally outside Canada; and the return to certain employees of their share of the employment insurance premium reduction.

Other contingency funds are available to other government departments if required and expenditures will be identified under their program activities. The following votes are therefore excluded from the Secretariat's planned spending:

• Vote 5—Government Contingencies

  This vote provides the government with the authority and flexibility to meet unforeseen or urgent expenditures until parliamentary approval can be obtained. Most of the items in this vote are considered temporary advances to cover items that will be included in subsequent Supplementary Estimates for other departments and agencies and reimbursed when the associated appropriation act is passed.

• Vote 10—Government-Wide Initiatives

  This vote supplements other departments and agencies' appropriations that support the implementation of strategic management initiatives across the public service. Historically, this vote has been used to support such initiatives as Government-On-Line, comptrollership innovation and modernization, the Financial Information Strategy (FIS), employment equity, and program evaluation and internal audit.

• Vote 25—Operating Budget Carry Forward

  This vote allows for routine operating budget carry-forward (OBCF) amounts, as established under the OBCF policy, to be transferred directly to departments and agencies, in a timely manner, once eligible amounts have been confirmed by the Secretariat and approved by Treasury Board ministers. The $1.2 billion in this vote, which represents no additional cost to the government, corresponds to the approximate amount of potential requirements that would otherwise have been presented in multiple Supplementary Estimates by departments and agencies.

• Vote 30—Paylist Requirements

  This vote covers departments and agencies' paylist shortfalls related to parental benefits, severance, and other allowances. To avoid discrimination in hiring practices, paylist costs related to these expenditures have been provided for centrally since the introduction of the Operating Budget regime in 1993. This vote provides relief from cash management challenges departments and agencies face for these legal obligations.

• Vote 35—Budget Implementation Initiatives

  This new Treasury Board Central Vote is for the implementation of certain programs included in Budget 2009. For the period commencing April 1, 2009, and ending June 30, 2009, Vote 35 will supplement other appropriations and provide applicable government organizations with appropriations for initiatives announced in Budget 2009. The appropriations will cover expenditures that are within the organizations' legal mandates but are not otherwise provided for, including new grants and increases in grant amounts listed in the Estimates.

Program Activity 4: Internal Services

4.1 Corporate Priorities and Planning

4.2 Public Affairs / Communications Services

4.3 Corporate Services

4.4 Legal Services

The Internal Services program activity includes the following key functions and costs that support Treasury Board and the internal management of the Secretariat: Minister's office operations, senior departmental management, strategic planning, communications, legal services, finances, HR, accommodation, security, IM/IT support, as well as some centrally administered services (e.g. translation).

Financial Resources ($ thousands)

2009–10	2010–11	2011–12
62,640	58,347	58,389

Human Resources (FTEs)

2009–10	2010–11	2011–12
648	645	645

Note: Beginning in 2009–10, FTE levels will be increased as a result of a change in the machinery of government, which involves the transfer of employees from the Department of Finance Canada to the Secretariat for the provision of Corporate Services and Internal Audit and Evaluation. The Secretariat will now have a dedicated Corporate Services function and will provide shared systems and services to the Privy Council Office (PCO) and the Department of Finance Canada.

Planning highlights

The Secretariat plans to undertake the following activities:

• Implementation of its Integrated Business Plan, which brings together the HR, finance, IM/IT, and communications functions to provide the necessary information for decision making and risk management. This will enable the Secretariat to align resources to priorities and program activities more effectively.
• Delivery of tailored risk management training to program analysts and policy centres to enhance the integration of best practices into daily business activities.
• Development and implementation of change-enabling strategies and associated initiatives to support the government's Management Agenda and Treasury Board operations. Implementation of the Secretariat's Change Agenda will target three distinct audiences (senior management, executives, and all staff) and will focus on three key elements: employee engagement, capacity building, and updating processes to reinforce change-enabling strategies.
• Ongoing implementation of the HR Strategy 2008–11, which articulates the important changes the Secretariat is making to its workforce and work environment to make it a workplace of choice. Implementation of the HR Strategy will focus on senior management's commitment to developing and implementing a robust resourcing strategy, improving HR infrastructure, supporting Secretariat employees through community management renewal strategies, and improving internal communications.
• Implementation of a new shared corporate services model that will effectively support the Secretariat as well as the Department of Finance Canada and other partners. The Department of Finance Canada and the Secretariat have maintained a fully shared corporate services function for many years. With recent organizational changes and a focus on strengthening accountability, departmental management practices need to be integrated into departmental operations to ensure priorities are supported and risks mitigated. Both departments have jointly reviewed their long-standing shared arrangements and have recommended changes that would involve each having some dedicated resources to support their respective businesses. A significant number of services will remain shared but where resources are too minimal to allot separately, common business practices across government would be proposed. This change will help clarify accountabilities, ensure better compliance with legislation and policy, and improve the Secretariat's ability to meet the specialized and operational needs of its clients, while managing the risks associated with ongoing shared service provision. The transition work begun in 2008–09 will continue through 2009–10.

The Secretariat's Change Agenda is an internal initiative that will better position the Secretariat to deliver on the government's Management Agenda. This will be done by refocussing how the Secretariat does business and by being more strategic and proactive in the support and advice it provides to clients, colleagues, employees, and superiors. The Agenda does not change what the Secretariat does, but how it does it.

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