This page has been archived.
Information identified as archived on the Web is for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It has not been altered or updated after the date of archiving. Web pages that are archived on the Web are not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards. As per the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada, you can request alternate formats on the "Contact Us" page.
The original version was signed by
The Honourable Robert Nicholson
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Message from the Director of Public Prosecutions
Section I: Organizational Overview
Section II: Analysis of Program Activities by Strategic Outcome
Section III: Supplementary Information
Section IV: Other Items of Interest
I am pleased to present the 2012-13 Report on Plans and Priorities for the Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC).
The PPSC’s core function is the prosecution of offences under federal jurisdiction in a fair, impartial, and objective manner. This report describes the PPSC’s plans for the coming year and sets out the organizational priorities that the PPSC has identified in support of that mandate. In addition to our ongoing priorities of security, engagement and employee development, and resourcing and performance measurement, the PPSC will focus on advancing its relationship with investigative agencies, including the implementation of service standards.
Although the PPSC faces a number of challenges, including expected workload increases arising from the implementation of legislative amendments and ongoing fiscal restraint, it is well-placed to meet these challenges thanks to the hard work and dedication of PPSC staff across the country, who exemplify our key values of respect, integrity, excellence, and leadership.
Brian Saunders
Director of Public Prosecutions
The Public Prosecution Service of Canada1 (PPSC) is an independent prosecution service mandated to prosecute offences under federal jurisdiction. Its sole strategic outcome is the prosecution of criminal and regulatory offences under federal law in a manner that is independent, impartial and fair.
The benefits to Canadians from the work carried out by the PPSC include:
The PPSC undertakes key duties on behalf of the Attorney General of Canada. These key duties, to be carried out in an objective and non-partisan manner, are:
The PPSC prosecutes cases under federal statutes that are referred to it by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), other federal investigative agencies, as well as provincial and municipal police forces.
It is responsible for the prosecution of all drug offences under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, regardless of whether a federal, provincial, or municipal police agency lays the charges, in all provinces except Quebec and New Brunswick. In the latter two provinces, the PPSC is responsible for drug charges laid by the RCMP only.
In all provinces and territories, the PPSC prosecutes offences under federal statutes aimed at protecting the environment and natural resources as well as the country’s economic and social health (e.g., Fisheries Act, Income Tax Act, Copyright Act, Canada Elections Act, Canadian Environmental Protection Act, Competition Act, Customs Act, Excise Act, and Excise Tax Act), offences involving fraud against the government, capital market fraud offences, along with conspiracies and attempts to violate any of these statutes. In total, over 250 federal statutes contain offences that fall under the PPSC’s jurisdiction to prosecute. However, the PPSC is called upon to regularly provide prosecution services under approximately 60 of those statutes.
In the three territories, the PPSC prosecutes all Criminal Code offences as well as offences under all other federal legislation and certain territorial statutes. In the provinces, the PPSC has jurisdiction to prosecute a limited number of Criminal Code offences, including those related to terrorism, criminal organizations, money laundering, proceeds of crime, and fraud. Under arrangements with the provinces, the PPSC may prosecute Criminal Code offences that are otherwise within provincial jurisdiction when the accused also faces charges within federal jurisdiction.
Where required, the PPSC also provides prosecution-related advice to investigators for all types of prosecutions. Such advice continues to be crucial to ensure that investigative techniques and procedures are consistent with evolving rules of evidence and protections under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The advantage of early prosecutorial advice is that it reduces the risk that operational decisions, such as those about methods of obtaining evidence, will detrimentally affect the admissibility of evidence at trial or the constitutional rights of Canadians.
The PPSC is a national prosecution service with a network of offices across Canada. As of March 31, 2011, the PPSC had 958 employees, the overwhelming majority of whom were staff prosecutors, paralegals, Crown Witness Coordinators2 in its northern offices and the support staff who assist them. The remainder included senior managers, administrators and corporate services staff.
The PPSC also employs the services of private sector legal agents in locations where it does not have an office or where it is impractical or otherwise not cost-effective for staff counsel to handle cases. The work of agents is overseen by the PPSC’s Agent Affairs Program. The Program includes a centralized support unit at headquarters, as well as agent supervision units located in each regional office, which are responsible for the day-to-day management of agents. The PPSC currently retains some 224 standing agent firms across Canada, representing approximately 535 individually appointed counsel. In 2008-09, the PPSC introduced fixed-term agreements for agents, replacing indeterminate appointments. Under this regime, any law firm or lawyer interested in becoming an agent can apply for a five-year term when an opening occurs.
The PPSC has one strategic outcome as illustrated in its PAA below. It includes two broad prosecution program activities, as well as Internal Services.
The PPSC’s organizational priorities are linked to its single strategic outcome, and apply to Internal Services, except for the first priority below, which applies to both prosecution program activities.
Priority | Type3 |
---|---|
Advancing the PPSC’s relationships with investigative agencies | New |
Why is this a priority?
Plans for meeting the priority
|
Priority | Type |
---|---|
Engagement and employee development | New |
Description | |
Why is this a priority?
Plans for meeting the priority
|
Priority | Type |
---|---|
Resourcing and performance measurement | Ongoing |
Description | |
Why is this a priority?
Plans for meeting the priority
|
Priority | Type |
---|---|
Security | Ongoing |
Description | |
Why is this a priority?
Plans for meeting the priority
|
Based on the total volume of files handled as of February 29, 2012, including estimates to year-end, the PPSC’s estimated total number of litigation files for 2011-12 is 79,3654 compared to 78,717 files handled in 2010-11.
In 2011-12, including estimated new files to fiscal year-end, the PPSC will have opened 50,586 new files and carried over 28,770 files from previous years. The average annual percentage increase in the PPSC’s caseload of new files since its establishment in December 2006 is approximately 2.5%.
Approximately 87.5% of all litigation files were within the Drug, Criminal Code and terrorism offences prosecution program, whereas approximately 12.5% involved files within the regulatory offences and economic crime prosecution program.
The PPSC does not control the number or type of cases referred to it for prosecution by the police and investigative agencies that lay charges under federal statutes. Its workload is largely based on these agencies’ decisions regarding investigative priorities, tactics and resource allocations. As a result, increases in enforcement resources affect the nature and volume of the PPSC’s caseload. Similarly, changes in police tactics to focus on the upper echelons of organized crime groups rather than on individuals in the lower ranks will affect the complexity, duration and cost of prosecutions.
The PPSC uses a risk assessment grid based on the complexity of litigation files. The analysis of files handled from 2007-08 to 2010-11 reveals that files in the Low
and Moderate
category increased by 12.6%, while files in the High
and Mega
category increased by 77.4%. High complexity and mega cases absorb a disproportionate share of the PPSC’s resources. In many instances, a single mega case can absorb more prosecutorial resources than several hundred low complexity cases. For example, drug mega cases and drug cases of high complexity handled by staff prosecutors
represented only 2.13% of the drug litigation caseload in 2011-12 but 35.5% of the time recorded by PPSC staff counsel and paralegals for drug-related litigation activities. This demonstrates how a small increase in the number of organized crime cases in response to strengthened law enforcement efforts
across Canada can lead to a significant increase in the demand for prosecutorial resources.
The PPSC has undertaken the development of a corporate risk profile, to be finalized during 2012-13. In 2011-12, managers throughout the PPSC were consulted on key risk factors affecting the organization. The next steps will be the confirmation and ranking of these risk factors, with the corporate risk profile expected to be finalized and approved by fall 2012.
The PPSC is subject to a variety of external and internal influences, described below.
International crime networks: The globalization of crime networks poses significant dangers to national and global security. These networks engage in such activities as drug trafficking, money laundering, trafficking in human beings, terrorism, and telemarketing fraud. This global reality makes it imperative for the PPSC and investigative agencies to work effectively with international partners to address the serious threats posed by international crime networks.
The PPSC will continue to work with international bodies such as the International Association of Prosecutors, the Heads of Prosecuting Agencies Conference, the International Network to Promote the Rule of Law, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the Centro de Estudios de Justicia de las Americas (based in Santiago, Chile).
Challenging conditions in the North: PPSC prosecutors and Crown Witness Coordinators assigned to the North face a unique set of challenges. These include frequent travel to small isolated communities and extended absences from their homes and families; routine exposure to the traumatic experiences of victims and witnesses due to high rates of violent crime and victimization; and communication difficulties with victims and witnesses, stemming from language and cultural barriers. Despite these challenges, work in the North offers many professional and personal opportunities for staff prosecutors.
Resourcing issues: Federal organizations must fund salary increases and other costs from reallocations within their current budget levels. Accordingly, the PPSC has realigned budgetary resources to cover its total salary requirements. In addition, the PPSC relies on the Department of Justice to provide transactional services to its regional offices, and to maintain systems infrastructure and operations, under the terms of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the two organizations. In late 2011-12, a third party was retained by both organizations to conduct an assessment of the corporate services provided under this MOU, document the costs of providing these services, and develop recommendations. Preliminary results indicate that the costs of Justice’s services to the PPSC will increase in 2012-13 given the increased levels of service required.
Security and business continuity: Due to the nature of their work, PPSC employees may be exposed to threats and intimidation. The PPSC is establishing an Employee Protection Program to help prevent and respond to threats and incidents of intimidation against employees. In addition, Business Continuity Plans have been developed for each office to ensure the continued delivery of services in the event of a disruption of operations due to an emergency.
The following tables provide a summary of the total planned spending for the PPSC for the next three fiscal years.
2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 |
---|---|---|
178.0 | 165.4 | 165.4 |
2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 |
---|---|---|
1000 | 1000 | 1000 |
Performance Indicators | Targets | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
||||
Program Activity | Forecast Spending ($ millions) | Planned Spending ($ millions) |
Alignment to Government of Canada Outcomes | ||
2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | ||
Program Activity #1: Drug, Criminal Code, and terrorism prosecution program |
121.6 | 129.6 | 126.7 | 126.7 | Social Affairs: A safe and secure Canada |
Program Activity #2: Regulatory offences and economic crime prosecution program |
18.0 | 19.8 | 16.0 | 16.0 | |
Total | 139.6 | 149.4 | 142.7 | 142.7 |
Program Activity | Forecast Spending ($ millions) |
Planned Spending ($ millions) |
||
---|---|---|---|---|
2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | |
Internal Services | 23.8 | 28.6 | 22.7 | 22.7 |
Total Planned Spending | 178.0 | 165.4 | 165.4 |
As noted in the financial resources summary presented above, the PPSC plans to spend $178 million in 2012-13 to achieve the expected results of its program activities and to contribute to its strategic outcome. The following chart illustrates the PPSC’s spending trends from 2010-11 to 2014-15.
The increase of $17.1M in 2011-12 expenditures is due to:
The increase of $14.6M in 2012-13 expenditures is due to:
The decrease of $12.6M in 2013-14 expenditures is due to:
For information on our organizational appropriations, please see the 2012-13 Main Estimates, available at: http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/est-pre/20122013/p2-eng.asp.
The PPSC has one Strategic Outcome: Criminal and regulatory offences under federal law are prosecuted in an independent, impartial and fair manner.
2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
FTEs | Planned Spending | FTEs | Planned Spending* | FTEs | Planned Spending |
635 | 129.6 | 635 | 126.7 | 635 | 126.7 |
Program Activity Expected Results | Performance Indicators | Targets |
---|---|---|
Litigation files that are prosecuted are decided on merit5 Disposition of cases that are not decided on merit6 |
|
|
This program supports the protection of society against crime through the provision of legal advice and litigation support during police investigations, and the prosecution of:
This program activity also involves the promotion of federal/provincial/territorial cooperation on criminal justice issues of mutual concern.
Within this program activity, two ongoing priorities relate to organized crime and terrorism-related offences.
The focus on organized crime reflects the priority given to this issue by the federal police and other law enforcement authorities. The PPSC will continue to emphasize inter-jurisdictional cooperation within the prosecutorial community and with investigative agencies both federally, nationally and internationally; provide advice and litigation support during the investigative stage, especially on highly complex cases; prosecute organized crime cases on behalf of the Crown; and pursue proceeds of crime and offence-related property. While all PPSC regional offices prosecute organized crime cases, a number of them are involved in highly complex and resource-intensive cases that will continue through 2012-13, and will require dedicated teams of experienced counsel.
The coming into force of amendments flowing from the Safe Streets and Communities Act can be expected to increase the number of cases that go to trial as well as the length and complexity of those trials. The reduced availability of conditional sentences, as well as changes to the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA), which will result in more young persons being subject to custodial sentences upon a guilty finding, can also be expected to result in fewer guilty pleas and more persons choosing to proceed to trial. The YCJA changes will have the greatest impact on the three PPSC offices in the North, which handle the majority of cases involving young offenders. Finally, the advent of new or tougher minimum mandatory penalties in the Criminal Code for sexual offences involving children, as well as the reduced availability of conditional sentences, can also be expected to particularly affect Northern prosecutions because of the number of such prosecutions conducted by the PPSC.
The priority given to terrorism-related offences reflects the gravity with which national security matters are viewed. These cases are usually resource-intensive. The PPSC is currently prosecuting two cases in Ontario which are expected to carry over to 2012-13.
A prosecution relating to charges laid under the Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes Act is also under way in Ontario. This file involves allegations of genocide in Rwanda and is scheduled for trial in April 2012. Given the complexity of such files, the current estimate for the trial’s duration is four months.
As in previous years, the PPSC will work closely with federal/provincial/territorial heads of prosecution on issues and challenges of common interest. As part of this work, the PPSC will continue to co-chair, and provide secretarial and administrative support to, the FPT Heads of Prosecution Committee and to ensure ongoing linkages between the Committee and partners from outside the prosecution community such as the Canadian Bar Association and the Federation of Law Societies of Canada. The PPSC will also continue to participate in the work of the Heads of Prosecuting Agencies Conference and the International Association of Prosecutors.
During 2012-13, the PPSC again expects to receive foreign delegations interested in criminal justice and seeking to deepen their understanding of the Canadian justice system and Canadian prosecution approaches, particularly in relation to drug and terrorism prosecutions, and with respect to areas of the Criminal Code.
2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
FTEs | Gross Spen- ding |
Reve- nue |
Net Planned Spending | FTEs | Gross Spen- ding |
Reve- nue |
Net Planned Spending* | FTEs | Gross Spen- ding |
Reve- nue | Net Planned Spending |
216 | 33.5 | -13.7 | 19.8 | 216 | 29.7 | -13.7 | 16.0 | 216 | 29.7 | -13.7 | 16.0 |
Program Activity Expected Results | Performance Indicators | Targets |
---|---|---|
Litigation files that are prosecuted are decided on merit Disposition of cases that are not decided on merit |
|
|
This program supports the protection of society against crime through the provision of legal advice and litigation support to police and federal investigative agencies, and the prosecution of:
This program also includes the recovery of outstanding federal fines and the promotion of federal/provincial/territorial cooperation on criminal justice issues of mutual concern.
The further development and implementation of various elements of the PPSC’s vision for Law Practice Management are planned for 2012-13. This will include the ongoing work on the major revision of the Federal Prosecution Service (FPS) Deskbook7, the provision of customized advanced and basic training through its School for Prosecutors, as well as supplementing the PPSC’s knowledge management Intranet site with additional training and legal resources for prosecutors and paralegals.
In addition, the PPSC will continue to work closely with federal-provincial-territorial heads of prosecution on issues and challenges of common interest in the areas of regulatory offences and economic crime. The Securities Fraud and Economic Crime Prosecutors Affiliation will be focusing on the training of prosecutors who handle capital market offences cases and the development of best practices in areas such as information sharing and immunity agreements. The PPSC is contributing to the development of a shared website on economic crime that will be accessible by prosecutors and other members of the Affiliation.
The PPSC will also continue to actively participate in symposia and conferences which focus on regulatory offences and economic crime prosecutions, and to host delegations interested in regulatory prosecutions.
The PPSC’s Agent Affairs Program will continue to implement fixed-term agreements for agents, replacing indeterminate appointments which were subject to termination without notice. This multi-year transition began in 2009; fixed-term agreements will be in place in all jurisdictions across Canada by 2014. Under the new regime, any law firm or lawyer interested in becoming a federal prosecution agent can apply for a five-year term when an opening occurs in a jurisdiction. Agents are selected pursuant to a competitive process that includes screening and reference checks. Further information about the fixed-term regime is available on the PPSC’s website at http://www.ppsc-sppc.gc.ca/eng/pub/tcfa-cetf/index.html.
2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
FTEs | Gross Spen- ding |
Reve- nue |
Net Planned Spending | FTEs | Gross Spen- ding |
Reve- nue |
Net Planned Spending* | FTEs | Gross Spen- ding |
Reve- nue |
Net Planned Spending |
149 | 30.2 | -1.6 | 28.6 | 149 | 24.3 | -1.6 | 22.7 | 149 | 24.3 | -1.6 | 22.7 |
Internal Services comprise groups of related activities that support the above two program activities and other corporate accountabilities. Three of the PPSC’s organizational priorities (under Section I) support internal services (i.e., Engagement and Employee Development, Resourcing and Performance Measurement, and Security). Additional planning highlights for internal services are described below.
% Change | Future-Oriented 2012-13 | Future-Oriented 2011-12 | |
---|---|---|---|
Total Expenses* | 4.8% | 203.7 | 194.4 |
Total Revenues | 1.2% | 17.0 | 16.8 |
Net Cost of Operations | 5.1% | 186.7 | 177.6 |
% Change | Future-Oriented 2012-13 |
Future-Oriented 2011-12 |
|
---|---|---|---|
Total assets | 6.1% | 24.2 | 22.8 |
Total liabilities | 7.7% | 43.4 | 40.3 |
Equity | 9.7% | -19.2 | -17.5 |
Total | 6.1% | 24.2 | 22.8 |
The PPSC’s financial statements can be found on its website at:
http://www.ppsc-sppc.gc.ca/eng/pub/index.html
All electronic supplementary information tables can be found in the 2012-13 Reports on Plans and Priorities on the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat website at: http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/rpp/2012-2013/index-eng.asp.
Public Prosecution Service of Canada
284 Wellington Street – 2nd Floor
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H8
613-957-7772
1-877-505-7772
info@ppsc.gc.ca
The following publications are available at the PPSC’s website at:
http://www.ppsc-sppc.gc.ca/eng/pub/index.html
Public Prosecution Service of Canada Annual Report 2010-2011
The Federal Prosecution Service Deskbook
Public Prosecution Service of Canada Annual Report on the Access to Information Act 2010-2011
Public Prosecution Service of Canada Annual Report on the Privacy Act 2010-2011
1 The PPSC was created on December 12, 2006 with the coming into force of the Director of Public Prosecutions Act. Its applied title is the Public Prosecution Service of Canada whereas its legal title is the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
2 The role of Crown Witness Coordinators is to explain the criminal justice process to victims and witnesses, prepare them to testify in court and, where required, bridge the cultural gap between prosecutors, who are generally from southern Canada, and victims and witnesses from the North.
3 Type is defined as follows: previously committed to—committed to in the first or second fiscal year prior to the subject year of the report; ongoing—committed to at least three fiscal years prior to the subject year of the report; and new—newly committed to in the reporting year of the RPP or DPR.
4 The pie chart indicates percentage of files by offence type, based on the total number of files handled in 2011-12 as of February 29, 2012, and not including estimates to year-end. Individual litigation files often include multiple offences falling under more than one offence type. As a result, files may be counted more than once.
5 A case is decided on its merits when a judge or jury determines the guilt or innocence of an accused person after a trial. A case is also considered to be decided on its merits where a judge determines after a guilty plea that a conviction is appropriate, or where a Crown prosecutor stays or withdraws a charge as a result of an assessment that the case does not meet the test for prosecution or as result of a plea of guilty being entered to a serious charge rendering proceedings on a less serious charge redundant.
6 Cases not decided on merit are those that are stayed or quashed by the Court, and for which, as a result, there is no outcome decided by a judge or jury based on the evidence of guilt or innocence. A judicially imposed stay will generally mean discontinuance or permanent suspension of the proceedings.
7 The Federal Prosecution Service (FPS) Deskbook is a policy manual governing all PPSC staff prosecutors and legal agents.