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Minister’s Message

As President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada, I am pleased to table the Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat’s Report on Plans and Priorities for the fiscal year 2012-13.

The Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat (CICS) provides professional services in organizing senior level federal-provincial-territorial and provincial-territorial meetings throughout Canada.

The Secretariat offers governments increasingly important cost efficiencies and economies of scale. In addition, CICS also offers the clear advantages of confidentiality, continuity, neutrality and expertise when organizing these intergovernmental conferences.

During fiscal year 2012-13, CICS will continue to pursue strategies surrounding the enhancement of partnerships with governments, the improvement of their service delivery model and strengthening management practices by means of modernizing activities, enhancing stewardship and shared services opportunities.

 

Section I: Organizational Overview

Raison d’être

The Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat (CICS), established pursuant to an agreement reached at the May 1973 First Ministers’ Conference, is an agency of the federal, provincial and territorial governments. Its one program mandate is to provide administrative services for the planning and conduct of First Ministers, Ministers and Deputy Ministers level federal-provincial-territorial and provincial-territorial conferences.

Intergovernmental conferences are a key instrument for consultation and negotiation among the different orders of government and assist the development of national and/or provincial/territorial policies. They are a critical component of the workings of the Canadian federation and represent a core principle of our democratic society.

By skilfully executing the logistical planning and delivery of these meetings, CICS not only relieves federal, provincial and territorial governments of the administrative process burden but also allows them to greatly benefit from significant cost efficiencies and economies of scale which is particularly relevant in the current economic environment.

Responsibilities

Even though CICS was designated as a department of the federal government a few months after its establishment in 1973, its intergovernmental character and impartiality are guaranteed by the fact that its budget is supported by both orders of government and its staff is made up of public servants from federal, provincial and territorial governments. The Secretary reports to all governments annually. The operations are reviewed by federal and provincial senior officials designated by their respective First Ministers. CICS reports to Parliament through the President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada.

The mandate of the Secretariat is to provide continuous, effective and impartial administrative services to client departments who have been called upon to convene an intergovernmental meeting. These client departments span virtually every major sector of intergovernmental activity. CICS’ primary objective is to relieve clients and meeting participants of the administrative process tasks, thereby enabling them to concentrate on substantive policy issues.

Strategic Outcome and Program Activity Architecture (PAA)

In order to effectively pursue its mandate, CICS aims to achieve the following strategic outcome:

Multilateral meetings of First Ministers, Ministers and Deputy Ministers are planned and conducted flawlessly

CICS is a micro agency with a single program mandate. Its Program Activity Architecture is presented below.

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Organizational Priorities

Priority	Type	Strategic Outcome
Maintain and enhance partnerships with clients.	Ongoing	Multilateral meetings of First Ministers, Ministers and Deputy Ministers are planned and conducted flawlessly.
Description
Why is this a priority? It allows CICS to build on a solid foundation with its well established client base; It ensures that communication with clients is open and on-going; It provides opportunities to enhance the Secretariat’s visibility; and It allows CICS to be keenly aware of clients’ needs and interests. Plans for meeting the priority Implement newly developed marketing tools for the Secretariat; Develop additional tools to further support the marketing strategy; Continued communication and consultations with current and potential federal, provincial and territorial clients; and Improve and expand CICS’ corporate and program performance measurement tools.

Priority	Type	Strategic Outcome
Select and adopt new instruments in order to continue to improve CICS’ delivery model so that it remains viable and relevant to clients.	Ongoing	Multilateral meetings of First Ministers, Ministers and Deputy Ministers are planned and conducted flawlessly.
Description
Why is this a priority? It recognizes that the needs of governments are continually evolving; It recognizes the current fiscal environment in which departments operate; and It allows CICS to develop a more modern and pertinent array of services that incorporate new technologies. Plans for meeting the priority Develop on-line tools for use by the Secretariat’s clients; Offer enhanced technology to delegates on conference site; Assess a variety of new technologies such as tablets, videoconferencing and WebEx to determine their usefulness in a conference setting; and Conduct pilot projects related to these new technologies.

Priority	Type	Strategic Outcome
Strengthen internal management practices by means of modernizing activities, enhancing stewardship and pursue shared services opportunities.	Ongoing	Multilateral meetings of First Ministers, Ministers and Deputy Ministers are planned and conducted flawlessly.
Description
Why is this a priority? It contributes to achieving excellence in management practices; It results in the effective and efficient use of resources in support of CICS’ mandate; It ensures transparency and accountability with regards to both financial and non-financial practices; It acknowledges the importance of productive shared services and cost-efficiencies in light of the current economic environment; and It recognizes the importance of investing in technology so that CICS remains efficient, relevant and progressive. Plans for meeting the priority Enhance budgeting and financial systems and develop business intelligence to support management decisions; Implement new performance measurement tools throughout the organization to ensure efficient utilisation of resources; Explore the use of new technologies to enhance communication, service delivery and improve management practices; Explore and evaluate various shared services opportunities through partnerships and/or other means; and Deliver cost efficiencies.

Risk Analysis

The Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat (CICS) is an organization whose sole program is to serve senior level intergovernmental conference activities undertaken by 14 governments and their respective departments. The Secretariat reports to all governments annually, and thus, must ensure that its services not only remain pertinent, impartial, confidential and equitable to all clients but, more importantly, that they are perceived as such in an environment that can be highly political. The Secretariat is funded annually at a level sufficient to support approximately 100 conferences per year. However, the economic and political environments and significant budget reductions pertaining to all orders of government in recent years have led to a decline in senior level intergovernmental conference activity.

Budgetary restraints and economic pressures also impact on the level of services that CICS provides to its clients. While the Secretariat is actively involved in creating new program efficiencies, it also understands how reductions to governmental budgets represent a critical risk to the sole program mandate of the agency. Being expected to maintain the same level of services with fewer resources could potentially affect the Secretariat’s ability to deliver its mandate. To counter-act and reduce its vulnerability, CICS has been placing greater emphasis on the utilization of new technologies (such as videoconferencing) in order to implement greater efficiency in its operations. Since the introduction of its new website in 2011, CICS has developed and piloted, with great success, new applications that directly serve the intergovernmental community. Although such initiatives require investment in the necessary infrastructure and the training of its personnel, CICS believes that the potential savings over time for all stakeholders far outweighs the initial investment.

The other major risk affecting the Secretariat is the retention of corporate memory, intergovernmental conference protocols and practices. The Secretariat is a micro agency that relies heavily on the expertise and know-how of its personnel. Conference Services staff with the knowledge of intergovernmental machinery and experience they possess are fundamental to the success of CICS in carrying out its mandate. Knowledge management is particularly critical at the present time due to high turnover rates and the significant number of public servants exiting the workforce. In an effort to overcome these challenges, CICS has established a succession plan for key positions within the agency and is in the process of developing a comprehensive internal protocol manual for serving senior level intergovernmental meetings. The Secretariat will also enhance and modernize its information and archival holdings to accurately reflect the evolution of intergovernmental machinery and more specifically the senior level conference environment it has served over the years!

The Secretariat has always been cognizant of the importance of risk management issues. In addition to the threats mentioned above, the agency consistently mitigates the following risks at the executive and operational levels:

1. Maintaining the credibility of the agency as a neutral senior level conference service provider;
2. Maintaining CICS' conference services capability and supporting infrastructure;
3. Maintaining due diligence and reporting on appropriate controls, given the increased emphasis on accountability, delegated authority and resources management;
4. Accessing qualified personnel; and
5. Reacting and adjusting to both increases and decreases of requests for CICS services.

By recognizing and addressing these challenges, the Secretariat continues to make steady progress towards the effective implementation of an integrated risk management plan.

Planning Summary

Financial Resources ($ millions)

2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
6.6	6.6	6.6

Human Resources (Full-Time Equivalent—FTE)

2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
36	36	36

Strategic Outcome: Multilateral meetings of First Ministers, Ministers and Deputy Ministers are planned and conducted flawlessly

Performance Indicators	Targets
Extent to which senior government officials are satisfied with various CICS services in the planning and conduct of multilateral meetings of First Ministers, Ministers and Deputy Ministers.	90% satisfaction - High degree of stakeholder trust and confidence in CICS’ institutional independent role and high degree of satisfaction with CICS services.

Planning Summary Table
($ millions)

Program Activity	Forecast Spending 2011-12	Planned Spending			Alignment to Government of Canada Outcomes
		2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
Conference Services	3.6	4.5	4.5	4.5	Well-managed and efficient government operations.
Total Planned Spending		4.5	4.5	4.5

Planning Summary Table
($ millions)

Program Activity	Forecast Spending 2011-12	Planned Spending
		2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
Internal Services	1.9	2.1	2.1	2.1
Total Planned Spending		2.1	2.1	2.1

Expenditure Profile

Departmental Spending Trend

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Estimates by Vote

For information on our organizational appropriations, please see the 2012–13 Main Estimates publication.

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