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President's Message

L'honorable [Tapez le nom du ministre]

I am pleased to present the 2010–11 Departmental Performance Report of the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.

Last year, the Secretariat continued its efforts to modernize the management of the government while reducing government expenditures.

The Secretariat continued to contribute to Canada's Economic Action Plan by leading Budget 2010 initiatives to balance the budget by 2014–15, including a freeze on the government's operating budget and a directive to reduce government travel, hospitality and conferences costs. In addition, to increase transparency in government spending, the Secretariat made the transition to quarterly financial reporting to Parliament. Going forward, the Secretariat will lead the government-wide review that is intended to find $4 billion in annual savings.

Other activities led by the Secretariat include:

  • Fostering innovation and risk management across the public service;
  • Supporting the work of the Red Tape Reduction Commission to reduce irritants that stem from federal regulatory requirements; and
  • Launching the Open Government initiative to increase access to public information and make it easier for Canadians to provide their views on government activities.
  • These efforts to modernize the public service and reduce spending are aimed at making government more efficient and putting tax dollars to work where they matter most—growing the economy and creating jobs.

The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat continues to be driven by its vision of "better government, with partners, for Canadians." I invite you to read this report to see the progress that the Secretariat is making toward this goal.

The Honourable Tony Clement
President of the Treasury Board



Section I: Organizational Overview

Raison d'être

The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (the Secretariat) is the administrative arm of the Treasury Board. It supports Treasury Board ministers and strengthens the way government is managed to ensure value for money in government spending and results for Canadians.

Responsibilities

Treasury Board Roles

The Treasury Board is a Cabinet committee of ministers that was established in 1867 to oversee the government's financial, human resources and administrative responsibilities, and establish policies that govern each of these areas. In addition, the Prime Minister has designated the Treasury Board to act as the committee of the Queen's Privy Council with respect to the consideration and approval of regulations and most Orders in Council. The Treasury Board, as the Management Board for the government, has three principle roles:

  • It acts as the government's Management Office by promoting improved management performance and approving policies to support the prudent and effective management of the government's assets and financial, information and technology resources.
  • It acts as the government's Budget Office by examining and approving the proposed spending plans of government departments and reviewing the development of approved programs.
  • It acts as the human resources office and employer or People Management Office by managing compensation and setting people management policies, including determining the terms and conditions of employment, to ensure coherence and consistency where needed.

The Secretariat makes recommendations and supports the Treasury Board in each of its roles (see text box "Treasury Board Roles") by providing advice on policies, directives, regulations and program spending to promote sound management of government resources. The Secretariat also provides leadership and guidance on management functions within departments and agencies, while respecting the primary responsibility of deputy heads[1] in managing their organizations and their roles as accounting officers to Parliament.

Within the Secretariat, the Comptroller General of Canada provides government-wide leadership, direction, oversight and capacity building for financial management, internal audit, and acquired services and assets management. The Chief Human Resources Officer leads people management across the core public administration by developing workplace and workforce policies and programs; centrally managing labour relations, compensation, and pension and benefit plans; and developing executive leadership. The Chief Information Officer provides government-wide strategic direction and leadership for information management (IM) and information technology (IT), including identity management, security, and access to information and privacy.

The Treasury Board Portfolio consists of the Secretariat and the Canada School of Public Service. The Public Service Pension Investment Board, the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada and the Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner of Canada are arm's length organizations that report to Parliament through the President of the Treasury Board.

The Secretariat is guided by the vision, Better government: with partners, for Canadians. When working with federal departments, agencies and Crown corporations, the Secretariat plays three central agency roles:

  • An enabling role to help organizations improve management performance;
  • An oversight role that includes developing policies and standards, and reporting on the government's overall management and budgetary performance; and
  • A leadership role in driving and modelling excellence in public sector management.

In recent years, through legislation such as the Federal Accountability Act as well as through the renewal of the Treasury Board policy suite, greater emphasis has been placed on the Secretariat's enabling role—helping deputy heads maximize their flexibility to achieve management excellence within their organizations.

The following diagram depicts how the Secretariat works with organizations to fulfill its three central agency roles and how it supports the Treasury Board.

Our Vision
Better government: with partners, for Canadians

How the Secretariat Works with Organizations

[text version]

Strategic Outcome(s) and Program Activity Architecture (PAA)

The following diagram outlines all the Secretariat's program activities that contribute to the achievement of its strategic outcome. The program activities collectively make up the Secretariat's Program Activity Architecture. The diagram also aligns the program activities of the Secretariat with the three main roles of the Treasury Board. The Secretariat's strategic outcome and each of its program activities are presented in greater detail in Section II.

2010–11 Program Activity Architecture[2]

Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat's 2010-11 Program Activity Architecture

[text version]

Year in Review

The following provides an overview of the Secretariat's key accomplishments this year and the operating environment in which they were carried out. Further detail on the Secretariat's accomplishments and lessons learned can be found in Section I: Organizational Overview under "Organizational Priorities" and "Risk Analysis," and in Section II: Analysis of Program Activities by Strategic Outcome.

Operating environment

Even though Canada emerged from the global economic downturn ahead of other G7 countries, 2010–11 was marked by ongoing economic uncertainty. The government remained focused on securing Canada's still fragile recovery by delivering the second year of economic stimulus through Canada's Economic Action Plan (EAP).

At the same time, the government began to shift its attention toward cost containment, its goal being to return to a balanced budget in the medium term. Budget 2010 contained important measures such as freezing departmental operating budgets and maintaining the cap on departmental spending on travel, hospitality and conferences announced in Budget 2009. The government also tightened the objective of Strategic Reviews in order to eliminate reinvestment proposals and harvest 5 per cent in "hard" savings from departments and agencies subject to the 2010–11 review.

Balancing the impacts of both an aging workforce moving to retirement and the needs of new or recently recruited public service employees continued to be a priority for the core public administration. The government continued to modernize its approach to people management and renewing the workforce so that it will have the skills and capacity to deliver quality programs and services to Canadians over the long term. It also continued to strengthen the tools for deputy heads to fulfill their obligations relating to people management.

The need for increased efficiency, along with demographic pressures, is challenging government to rethink how it delivers programs and services. This includes looking at ways to reduce administrative overhead and costs, consolidate internal and external services, and standardize government business processes and technologies. The Administrative Services Review, announced in Budget 2010 and led by the Privy Council Office, is a key initiative to identify opportunities for additional savings and improved service delivery.

Reducing the administrative burden on business that is created through regulatory compliance and reporting requirements also continued to be an important issue. Budget 2010 established the Red Tape Reduction Commission to identify areas where reform is most needed and to provide recommendations to the government for improvement.

Canada's Economic Action Plan—Year two

As the EAP entered its second year, the Secretariat continued to provide guidance to departments and agencies and advice to Treasury Board ministers to support timely funding approvals, while ensuring due diligence. It also implemented year two of the EAP youth employment initiative, which created over 1,100 additional jobs for students through existing public service student programs.

The Secretariat provided support for reporting on EAP initiatives to Canadians, led by the Department of Finance Canada, by collecting financial and non-financial information from departments and agencies. Overall, the Secretariat's advice and guidance to organizations was instrumental in their implementation of the EAP. In its effort to accelerate the provision of advice on EAP projects, the Secretariat proactively engaged external authorities such as the Office of the Auditor General of Canada in designing and implementing its processes and procedures so that due diligence would be maintained. This careful attention to due diligence contributed directly to the successful outcome of the Auditor General's first audit in 2010 of the EAP.

Cost containment

The Secretariat completed the fourth round of Strategic Reviews[3] for 13 organizations covering approximately $35 billion in direct program spending. This identified savings of close to $1.6 billion in 2013–14, amounting to 4.9 per cent of the review base on an ongoing basis for reallocation to higher government priorities. This round marks the end of the four-year cycle of Strategic Reviews, which covered 67 organizations (i.e., roughly 98 per cent of direct program spending) and will result in approximately $2.8 billion in annual ongoing savings by 2013–14.

Significant progress was made this year to control the cost of government in line with the expenditure restraint measures set out in Budget 2010. The Secretariat led cost containment across the federal government through the ongoing implementation of the operating budget freeze. This included issuing a directive for spending on travel, hospitality and conferences.

The Secretariat itself underwent a Strategic Review in 2010 to assess its spending and ensure that its activities are aligned with government priorities and are achieving their intended results. The Secretariat identified ways to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of its operations and identified savings representing 6 per cent of its budget. This exceeded the review target of 5 per cent. Implementation of the results of the review will take place over a three-year period.

The Secretariat also strengthened its internal and corporate services by introducing three-year integrated planning processes (including financial, human resources (HR), IM and IT, and business continuity planning) that helped develop a three-year budget plan, renew internal HR policies and create a new internal IT strategy. These integrated processes enabled the Secretariat to better forecast and manage its budget this year.

Sound financial management

The Secretariat strengthened financial management within the federal government by releasing the Policy on Financial Resource Management, Information and Reporting and the supporting Standard on Quarterly Financial Reports for Crown Corporations. As a result, departments, agencies and Crown corporations are expected to produce their first quarterly financial reports in August 2011. This will provide more detailed and timely information for Canadians and parliamentarians, and improve the transparency of financial management in the public service.

Modernizing people management

Employee Innovation Pilot Program

The Secretariat is one of several departments participating in a two-year pilot Employee Innovation Program. The program encourages employees to identify creative ways to save money through increased efficiency. Employees whose proposals are adopted will be given an award in recognition of their innovations.

Building on previous work to strengthen HR management, the Secretariat implemented a new Policy Framework for People Management. The framework clarifies the roles and responsibilities of the Secretariat, deputy heads and other parties within the HR community in shaping people management. Numerous tools were launched to support deputy heads in this capacity, including the Common Human Resources Business Process, supporting HR information systems, the Public Service Management Dashboard and a new electronic talent management system for executives. These services are enabling the systematic sharing of HR data, the identification of demographic trends and the improvement of succession planning. They are bringing overall improvements to people management across government based on common processes and requirements.

The Secretariat participated as one of the review partners in the five-year statutory review of the Public Service Modernization Act, which was led by the Privy Council Office. The final report is expected to be tabled in Parliament in 2011–12. In addition, the Secretariat led the proactive engagement of bargaining agents to conclude new collective agreements based on a compensation strategy that supports cost containment, improves predictability and better aligns government compensation with the Canadian marketplace. For example, the accumulation of severance pay benefits for retirement and resignation will cease for five collective agreements signed during the year. This will provide wage stability and predictability for three years of the duration of the operating budget freeze.

The Secretariat also signed a new contract for the administration of the Public Service Health Care Plan. The agreement included a new direct payment drug card for plan members that allows for immediate reimbursement of covered benefits, while helping to contain future plan costs and leveraging industry best practices.

Cutting red tape

The Secretariat continued to make progress on eliminating duplication and reducing the administrative burden associated with government rules and processes. For example, the Management Accountability Framework (MAF)—a tool used across the federal government to support the management accountability of deputy heads and improve management practices—was streamlined to focus on core areas of management, reducing the areas assessed from 19 to 15. These changes lowered the reporting burden and documentation submitted by departments and agencies this year by a further 9 per cent, for a total cumulative reduction in the number of documents submitted of 74 per cent over three years. As part of an initiative to reduce the "web of rules" within government, the Secretariat engaged 39 departments and agencies in the development of action plans that identified a number of additional commitments to streamline their internal processes.

The Secretariat also provided support for the Red Tape Reduction Commission, which will provide advice on addressing the regulatory compliance burden that irritates businesses and hinders innovation and competitiveness. The Commission will also recommend lasting reforms to prevent red tape from creeping back once it has been reduced.

Modernizing government processes

The Secretariat made important progress this year on initiatives for modernizing government back-office functions, which will help the government implement the results of the Administrative Services Review. For example, work was initiated on a strategy for increasing the interoperability and security of financial and IT systems across federal organizations. The Secretariat also engaged with departments and agencies to improve planning for the renewal of aging IT infrastructure.

Embedding the Secretariat's enabling role

This year the Secretariat developed a new vision to provide a renewed sense of purpose to its own employees as enablers of departments and agencies. To strengthen its enabling role as a central agency, the Secretariat conducted two surveys, one with deputy heads and one with employees, to test how well it has embedded the enabler role in its day-to-day operations. The results of the deputy head survey demonstrated a high degree of satisfaction from departments and agencies on progress to date. The surveys also identified key areas where the Secretariat could focus its efforts and further improve, including greater use of risk-based approaches and more consistency in interactions and increased information sharing with departments and agencies.

Additional Accomplishments

In addition to the achievements that have been described, the Secretariat also responded to a number of unanticipated opportunities and challenges to support emerging government priorities, as well as ensure the integrity of the Secretariat's operations. The following highlights those accomplishments.

The Secretariat undertook a number of initiatives to increase access to government information. It piloted an open data portal, making over 260,000 government data sets available to the public to meet an increasing demand for information. It also developed standards to ensure that Government of Canada websites are usable and accessible to the public, which will be launched in 2011. It continued to support new ways to manage and share knowledge within government, including the use of GCPEDIA, an internal Web-based collaborative tool (i.e., a wiki) where public service employees can upload and edit information.

The Secretariat provided support for the establishment of the United States–Canada Regulatory Cooperation Council, following a joint announcement by the governments of both countries in February 2011. The Council brings together senior regulatory, trade and foreign affairs officials with a two-year mandate to work together to promote economic growth, job creation, and benefits to consumers and businesses through increased regulatory transparency and coordination.

The unanticipated dissolution of Parliament on March 26, 2011, precluded the opportunity for Parliament to vote on supply for the 2010–11 Supplementary Estimates C, which represented about $920 million in budgetary expenditures. In response, the Secretariat sought authorities from the Treasury Board to provide for the most effective use of funds available in Treasury Board central votes and departmental reference levels. By working closely with departments, it was possible to identify all critical year-end requirements and to address them with existing appropriations, as well as to defer the use of Governor General Special Warrants until the following fiscal year.

The Secretariat also responded to unexpected challenges when its IT systems were targeted in a cyber attack. Through an immediate and focused response, the Secretariat was able to stop the attack and secure its network. It then began implementing a plan to strengthen its IT security for the long term, including accelerating existing plans to upgrade its data storage capacity and facilities (see "Risk Analysis").

Organizational Priorities

The Secretariat identified five priorities for 2010–11 in areas where it expected to make significant progress during the fiscal year. Key accomplishments for each priority are presented here. A performance status is assigned to the results of each priority based on the following criteria:

Performance/Priority Status Legend

Exceeded: More than 100 per cent of the expected level of performance (as evidenced by the indicator and target or planned activities and outputs) for the expected result or priority identified in the corresponding Report on Plans and Priorities (RPP) was achieved during the fiscal year.

Met all: 100 per cent of the expected level of performance (as evidenced by the indicator and target or planned activities and outputs) for the expected result or priority identified in the corresponding RPP was achieved during the fiscal year.

Mostly met: 80 to 99 per cent of the expected level of performance (as evidenced by the indicator and target or planned activities and outputs) for the expected result or priority identified in the corresponding RPP was achieved during the fiscal year.

Somewhat met: 60 to 79 per cent of the expected level of performance (as evidenced by the indicator and target or planned activities and outputs) for the expected result or priority identified in the corresponding RPP was achieved during the fiscal year.

Not met: Less than 60 per cent of the expected level of performance (as evidenced by the indicator and target or planned activities and outputs) for the expected result or priority identified in the corresponding RPP was achieved during the fiscal year.



Priority Type[4] Program Activity
Priority 1: Management regime operates effectively, provides opportunities for risk-based decision making, and enables innovation.

(RPP Operational Priority 1)
Ongoing Management Frameworks
Status: Mostly met

The Secretariat advanced this priority through three key initiatives:

i) Web of Rules initiative, including Policy Suite Renewal

Status: Met all

The Secretariat continued to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of government operations by further streamlining rules, simplifying reporting requirements, consolidating business processes and infrastructure, and modernizing internal management practices. In particular, the Secretariat:

  • Solicited commitments from 39 departments and agencies to simplify their rules and processes, bringing the cumulative number of government-wide commitments to over 120 in three years.
  • Advanced the renewal of the Treasury Board policy suite through the approval of 7 policy instruments and the rescission of 2, which contributed to the target of reducing the overall Treasury Board policy suite by 48 per cent. These efforts have reduced the anticipated number of policies from 44 to 37. In addition, work began to develop a policy implementation maturity model that will facilitate departmental implementation of Treasury Board policies.
  • In response to the five-year evaluation of MAF, the Secretariat streamlined its assessment process and reduced the number of areas of management assessed from 19 to 15. These changes lowered the reporting burden and documentation submitted by departments and agencies this year by a further 9 per cent, for a total cumulative reduction in the number of documents submitted of 74 per cent over three years. This reduction was achieved by better targeting Secretariat information requests, reducing multiple demands to departments and agencies for the same documents and using triennial reporting for certain areas.

ii) Risk management

Status: Met all

The Secretariat continued to provide leadership and advice on approaches to risk management across government so that organizations are able to improve their management decisions based on a thorough understanding of the risks they face. In particular, this year the Secretariat:

  • Completed and brought into effect the Framework for the Management of Risk, which is a government-wide internationally recognized approach to risk management that is principles-based and can be tailored to the needs of departments and agencies.
  • Developed resources to support the successful implementation of the new framework, including a Risk Management Capability Model and guides on Corporate Risk Profiles and risk management for deputy heads.
  • Facilitated three forums on risk management, which each assembled over 200 practitioners from 50 government organizations to share lessons learned and build risk capacity.
  • Used Web 2.0 tools such as GCPEDIA and GCForums to build and strengthen risk management communities of practice within the federal government.
  • Worked with the Canada School of Public Service to update the core risk management curriculum for the public service and piloted an academic risk management course in partnership with Dalhousie University.
  • Developed a risk assessment guide in consultation with federal departments and agencies to support the development of regulatory proposals.

iii) Enterprise-wide governance for core business processes and systems

Status: Mostly met

Following the announcement of the Administrative Services Review in Budget 2010, the Secretariat expanded the scope of this priority as identified in its 2010–11 Report on Plans and Priorities. Through research and analysis, the Secretariat explored strategic government-wide approaches in the areas of IM, IT, HR and finance to improve internal and external service delivery. This year, the Secretariat:

  • Established a new standard for people management through the deputy heads' endorsement of the Common Human Resources Business Process. The process will be fully implemented by 2013–14.
  • Led the creation of a pilot project for five departments and agencies to share a single IT application of the Common Human Resources Business Process to increase efficiency in people management. Five departments and agencies contributed resources and, while preparatory activities are well advanced, project implementation is contingent upon receiving required funding and authority from Treasury Board; the submission was deferred pending the completion of Phase 1 of the Administrative Services Review (ASR), which confirmed that the objectives and overall project approach were aligned with ASR.
  • Established the Interoperability Centre of Excellence to develop ways to standardize technology projects to enable departments and agencies to share information and leverage existing or planned projects.
  • Completed a major strategic study of all Government of Canada data centres that assessed the feasibility of consolidating over 300 data facilities and of outsourcing related services. This study provided significant input to the business case for a data centre consolidation initiative under the Administrative Services Review. The Secretariat also facilitated the joint procurement of an outsourced data centre to be shared by Public Works and Government Services Canada, the Canada Revenue Agency and the Bank of Canada to provide relief for aging data centres in the National Capital area.
  • Completed the very first inventory of IT applications systems across government in response to the Auditor General of Canada's report on aging IT. The inventory identified over 16,000 Government of Canada systems, critical and other, in order to assess the degree of obsolescence and inform the government's future strategy for the renewal of its application portfolio and systems.
  • Established a new IT Costing Services Profile to be implemented by all departments and agencies, which will facilitate the reporting of all IT-related costs according to standard IT cost components for assets, services and personnel. The new model will facilitate the analysis and comparison of expenditures in IT across the Government of Canada and support the development of business cases under the Administrative Services Review.
  • Made significant progress on the definition of core financial and materials management business processes, which will serve to position the Government of Canada for the subsequent adoption and implementation of a standard departmental chart of accounts. These new processes will also enable the standardization of financial systems in support of robust, common processes across the government.
  • Established a shared services liaison to work with small departments and agencies to identify common business requirements and solutions. It also advanced the Human Resources Information System, which will become the new HR system for small departments and agencies.


Priority Type Program Activity

Priority 2: Program spending is focused on results, provides value for taxpayers' money, and is aligned with the government's priorities and responsibilities.

(RPP Operational Priority 2)
Ongoing Expenditure Management and Financial Management
Status: Met all

The Secretariat advanced this priority through two key initiatives:

i) Enhanced departmental financial reporting

Status: Met all

The Secretariat implemented the Policy on Financial Resource Management, Information, and Reporting and the supporting Standard on Quarterly Financial Reports for Crown Corporations to strengthen financial oversight and accountability across government. A considerable part of this work involved assisting departments and agencies in the transition to quarterly financial reporting beginning in fiscal year 2011–12, sustaining a controls-based audit of their financial statements and implementing relevant Treasury Board accounting standards to support the new policy. In particular, the Secretariat:

  •  Collaborated with departments and agencies to develop illustrative models of quarterly financial reports, as well as frequently asked questions to support implementation of the new requirements. The Secretariat also reviewed drafts of organizations' quarterly financial reports and provided feedback.

ii) Strategic Reviews—Round IV

Status: Met all

The Secretariat continued to lead the Strategic Reviews of federal organizations' direct program spending. Its objective was to identify the lowest priority and the lowest performing programs to free up at least 5 per cent of funding for higher government priorities. This year, the Secretariat:

  • Reviewed 13 organizations, completing a four-year cycle of Strategic Reviews that covered 67 organizations and approximately 98 per cent of direct program spending (see "Year in Review" in Section I and "Program Activity 3: Expenditure Management" in Section II).
  • Reported the results of the fourth round of Strategic Reviews in the federal budget of March 22, 2011, which did not pass due to the dissolution of Parliament. The results of the three earlier Strategic Reviews were included in the three preceding budgets.
  • Conducted analysis and provided advice to government on approaches for future spending reviews.


Priority Type Program Activity

Priority 3: A dynamic public service that is well equipped to address, in a fiscally responsible manner, challenges raised by a complex and unpredictable environment.

(RPP Operational Priority 3)
Ongoing People Management and Expenditure Management
Status: Met all

The Secretariat advanced this priority through two key initiatives:

i) New people management policy framework and governance structure

Status: Met all

The Secretariat continued to focus on building a culture of excellence among public service employees in areas such as leadership, values and ethics, and workforce and workplace following the recommendations of the 2008 Human Resources Agency Horizontal Strategic Review. The Secretariat:

  • Made progress on standardizing people management across the core public administration through the Common Human Resources Business Process and by creating and bringing into effect the new Policy Framework for People Management. The new framework provides the foundation for an integrated approach to policy and governance, and clarifies the roles and responsibilities of the Secretariat, deputy heads and other parties for people management. Progress was also made in reviewing the people management suite of policy instruments; this will lead to a number of instruments being renewed, replaced or rescinded.
  • Continued to implement the review of the Occupational Group Structure. This is a multi-year exercise to improve workforce organization and classification, and modernize the way work is defined within the core public administration. The new work models will enable better HR planning. Consultations were completed for the Program and Administrative Services occupational group, and a new occupational group for Law Management was established.
  • Achieved a milestone by introducing the Executive Talent Management System (ETMS) in 2010–11. For the first time, senior federal government executives completed their Talent Management Questionnaires through a secure online database that enables greater efficiency in collecting, accessing and analyzing information on the government's senior executive population. ETMS was populated with data from 334 senior executives, representing 54 organizations.

ii) HR legislative requirements

Status: Met all

The Secretariat is responsible for a number of legislated activities including monitoring and reporting progress on the state of people management in the public service to the President of the Treasury Board. In support of these roles, the Secretariat:

  • Consulted with stakeholders and continued to develop policy directions for regulations required to bring into force the Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act. A website is being developed to facilitate further rounds of consultation.
  • Participated as part of an interdepartmental review team in the five-year statutory review of the Public Service Modernization Act, led by the Privy Council Office. For its part, the Secretariat provided the review team with research and analysis. The Secretariat will consider and address the results of this legislative review upon its tabling in Parliament in 2011–12.


Priority Type Strategic Outcome

Priority 4: Embed the role of enabler into the Secretariat's business.

(RPP Management Priority 1)
Ongoing Government is well managed and accountable, and resources are allocated to achieve results.
Status: Met all

The Secretariat has been placing greater emphasis on its enabling role by improving support to deputy heads and simplifying its challenge and oversight functions to promote greater management flexibility and accountability. The Secretariat advanced this priority through four initiatives:

i) Strengthened engagement with departments and agencies through outreach activities and sharing best practices

Status: Met all

The Secretariat:

  • Promoted the use of Web 2.0 collaborative tools and facilitated working groups to support a whole-of-government approach to Web 2.0 strategy and common IT solutions.
  • Created a Government of Canada forum for internal auditors and held a series of audit workshops.
  • Supported the government's official languages community by facilitating, for example, six meetings of advisory committees responsible for the 200 institutions covered by the Official Languages Act, an annual conference of official languages champions, a best practices forum for over 300 participants and information sessions on social media and official languages for over 150 participants.
  • Released in June 2010 the Guide to Real Property Management: Aboriginal Context. The Guide outlines best practices for consulting with Aboriginal groups throughout the life cycle of an organization's property, including the disposal process. It provides useful links to Treasury Board policy instruments, to Aboriginal treaty-based documents and to federal guidance on the Crown's legal obligations to consult and accommodate Aboriginal groups.
  • Developed and hosted the first annual Corporate Secretary Workshop for Crown corporations to facilitate information sharing on governance issues and relevant tools, thereby promoting effective board management in Crown corporations.
  • Coordinated the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade information sessions and liaison activities for Crown corporations to support ongoing Canada–European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement negotiations.
  • Worked with departments and agencies to send 514 submissions to the Treasury Board for approval.
  • Shared toolkits for managers and employees on "Becoming a Better Enabler" on the Secretariat's intranet. Departmental success stories were circulated regularly through the Secretariat's newsletter.
  • Conducted two surveys to assess how well employees perceive themselves to be demonstrating enabling behaviours and how the Secretariat is performing as an enabling organization (see "Embedding the Secretariat's enabling role" in Section I).

ii) Identified new opportunities to support departments and agencies in meeting their management objectives

Status: Met all

The Secretariat:

  • Conducted MAF assessments and provided advice to departments and agencies to help strengthen their management performance.
  • Launched the Public Service Management Dashboard to better enable decision making in people management across departments and agencies.
  • Enhanced government-wide sharing of effective evaluation practices by regularly engaging with departmental heads of evaluation and by leading interdepartmental working groups in developing guidance on tailored evaluation approaches.
  • Developed guidance on the use of Web 2.0 tools and services in collaboration with Government of Canada partners. This guidance will be issued to departments and agencies in 2011.
  • Created a Green IT Maturity Scorecard—a questionnaire that enables departments and agencies to self-assess their progress in reducing the environmental impact of their IT operations and to achieve energy and cost savings.
  • Completed a successful pilot for a shared Electronic Document and Records Management System for the Government of Canada. This harmonized information management system is in development for a 2011 launch.
  • Developed a new Capital Budget Carry Forward regime that will include an increased capital carry-forward allowance and the creation of a new central vote. This promotes better capital project management by giving departments and agencies more predictability and flexibility in budgeting and project schedules.
  • Developed an approach and obtained interdepartmental endorsement to transition to risk- and capacity-based transaction approval limits to assist in the effective management of federal real property.
  • Developed the Indemnification and Advances Regulations for Directors and Officers of Crown Corporations to clarify the process for requests for indemnification or advances under the Financial Administration Act. The regulations are enhancing the ability of Crown corporations to attract experienced individuals as directors and officers, and to eliminate or reduce their purchase of private director and officer liability insurance. This promotes a more efficient use of public funds.

iii) Ensured that in-house training and orientation sessions for Secretariat employees focus on the enabling role of the Secretariat

Status: Met all

The Secretariat:

  • Offered eight orientation "boot camps" in 2010–11 that included sections on the enabler role. Over 380 employees attended, an increase from 318 in 2009–10.
  • Engaged employees in a series of workshops on sustainable development in the workplace. The results will be presented to senior management in 2011.
  • Developed and implemented the TBS Survival Guide, an orientation package for all new employees that explains the basics of the Treasury Board and the Secretariat's enabling role.


Priority Type Strategic Outcome

Priority 5: Strengthen risk management capacity and adopt risk-based approaches in daily business.

(RPP Management Priority 2)
Ongoing Government is well managed and accountable, and resources are allocated to achieve results.
Status: Mostly Met

The Secretariat advanced this priority through three initiatives:

i) Aligned risk management practices across the Secretariat to ensure an integrated approach

Status: Met all

The Secretariat:

  • Increased its capacity by providing guidance to employees on newly developed risk management tools and by promoting them through the Secretariat's internal management committees (see Priority 1, initiative ii, for details).
  • Developed and implemented a risk-based approach for Treasury Board submissions to reduce the paperwork associated with low-risk cases.

ii) Communicated risk management approaches to Secretariat employees

Status: Met all

  • The Secretariat held regular Risk Management Community of Practice meetings to share risk management information and obtain advice on tools and guidance documents.

iii) Used a risk-based business continuity planning approach to bolster the Secretariat's capacity to support delivery of critical government services

Status: Mostly met

  • A corporate-level business continuity plan was finalized that describes roles and responsibilities for the Secretariat in the event that an emergency incident arises. It will be tested in 2011–12 to ensure that it facilitates delivering critical operations during an emergency. In addition, each sector of the Secretariat began developing individual business continuity plans to further strengthen service delivery during business interruptions.

Risk Analysis

The Secretariat actively monitors its operating environment in order to identify and manage risks that could affect progress toward its strategic outcome (see "Operating environment" under "Year in Review"). Key risks are captured in the Secretariat's Corporate Risk Profile, which is updated at least once per year. In 2010–11, the Secretariat identified eight risks in its Corporate Risk Profile and made significant progress in eliminating two that were highlighted in its 2010–11 Report on Plans and Priorities.

The first of these was the risk of not having sufficient staff to meet operational requirements. The Secretariat addressed this by strengthening recruitment, development and talent management practices. It implemented the first year of a three-year recruitment and staffing strategy and a three-year integrated HR and business plan, and continues to monitor capacity through an annual integrated business planning process.

The second was the risk that the Secretariat would not successfully integrate all aspects of its new organization. This was mitigated by achieving greater organizational cohesion through successful transition processes, including the move of corporate services functions from the Department of Finance Canada to the Secretariat and progress on the integration of the Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer (OCHRO), which was created within the Secretariat in 2009–10. These successful transitions were enabled by an internal change management agenda, the engagement of all Secretariat employees in renewing the departmental vision and mission, and the strengthening of governance committees.

The Secretariat also faced challenges related to operational risks. The risk that IM and IT security measures may be inadequate was realized following a cyber attack on the Secretariat. The Secretariat responded immediately by introducing measures to secure its network (e.g., limiting Internet access at all workstations) and began implementing a plan to strengthen its IT security for the long term. This included accelerating the Secretariat's plans to upgrade data storage capacity and facilities. These departmental risks relate to the Internal Services program activity (see "Program Activity 6: Internal Services" in Section II).

Summary of Performance

2010-11 Financial Resources ($ millions)


Planned Spending Total Authorities Actual Spending
2,490,075 3,063,322 2,253,980

The Secretariat spent approximately $2.3 billion in 2010–11. Most of the variance between planned spending, total authorities and actual spending can be attributed to the requirement to report the central government-wide funds of $809 million that remained unallocated at year-end under total authorities. (For more details, please refer to the "Expenditure profile" section.)

2010-11 Human Resources (FTEs)


Planned Actual Difference
2,113 2,160 47

Actual FTEs exceeded planned FTEs mainly due to new initiatives that were approved subsequent to the Main Estimates, such as litigation management and management of the classification program for the core public administration.

Strategic Outcome: Government is well managed and accountable, and resources are allocated to achieve results.
Performance Indicators Targets 2010-11 Performance
Canada's ranking in The World Bank's Worldwide Governance Indicators, indicator three, "Government Effectiveness." Top 10 in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The World Bank's Worldwide Governance Indicators ranks Canada sixth among OECD countries for government effectiveness.


2010–11 Performance Summary Table: Financial Data by Program Activity
* 2009–10 Actual Spending figures have been restated to reflect the new PAA structure. Any minor differences are due to rounding.
Program Activity 2009-10
Actual
Spending
($ millions)
2010-11[5] ($ millions) Alignment to Government of Canada Outcomes
Main
Estimates
Planned
Spending
Total
Authorities
Actual
Spending
Management Frameworks 62,108 60,412  60,412 65,806 65,382

Government Affairs:

Well-managed and efficient government operations.[6]

People Management 58,658 57,056 57,056 63,453 64,923
Expenditure Management 31,280 30,426 30,426 33,392 30,167
Financial Management 28,834 28,247 28,247 33,789 29,201
Government-Wide Funds and Public Service Employer Payments 2,068,107 4,680,029 2,223,814 2,770,122 1,968,478
Total 2,248,988 4,856,170 2,399,955 2,966,562 2,158,151  


* 2009–10 Actual Spending figures have been restated to reflect the new PAA structure. Any minor differences are due to rounding.
Program Activity 2009-10
Actual
Spending
($ millions)
2010-11 ($ millions)
Main
Estimates
Planned
Spending
Total
Authorities
Actual
Spending
Internal Services 92,569 90,120 90,120 96,760 95,829

This table provides a performance summary of all six program activities for 2010–11. For an analysis of significant variances between planned spending, total authorities and actual spending, refer to "Section II: Analysis of Program Activities by Strategic Outcome."

Expenditure Profile

Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat 2010–11 Actual Spending ($ millions)

Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat 2010-11 Actual Spending

[text version]

The Secretariat spent a total of $2.25 billion toward achieving its strategic outcome. Only 13 per cent of total spending represents expenditures for the Secretariat's operations. The remainder relates to funds for public service employer payments that the Secretariat manages centrally on the government's behalf.

Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat Government-Wide Funds and Public Service Employer PaymenGovernment-Wide Funds and Public Service Employer Payments 2010-11 Vote 20 Actual Spendingts 2010–11 Vote 20 Actual Spending ($ millions)

[text version]

Total spending on Government-Wide Funds and Public Service Employer Payments was $1.97 billion in 2010–11. Actual spending includes payments under 17 public service insurance plans, such as the Public Service Health Care Plan, the public service and pensioners' dental care plans, payroll taxes and provincial health plans.

Canada's Economic Action Plan (CEAP)

The Secretariat was directly responsible for one EAP initiative—coordinating the distribution of $20 million over the two fiscal years of the EAP, which was designed to enhance student employment across the public service. For more details, see Canada's Economic Action Plan (EAP) in Section II under Program Activity II: People Management.

Departmental Spending Trend


The Secretariat's actual program spending for Program Activities 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 increased from 2007–08 to 2009–10 for the following reasons: the reconstitution of the Office of the Comptroller General; the enhancement of the Chief Information Officer Branch; the establishment of a sector to provide leadership to departments and agencies on internal and external service delivery, and grants and contributions reform; transfers to the Secretariat of programs from other departments (e.g., Regulatory Affairs and Regional Communications from the Privy Council Office and the Canada Public Service Agency); new program funding to implement the Federal Accountability Act and the new Policy on Internal Audit; and increases in collective agreement rates of pay to the Secretariat's employees.

The Secretariat's spending increased from 2009–10 to 2010–11 by $12 million in Program Activities 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6. The primary reasons were the funding for litigation management ($ 5.3 million), funding to improve financial systems and to support financial decision making in the Government of Canada ($3.4 million), funding for the ongoing management of the classification program for the core public administration ($1.9 million), and funding for the ongoing management of the Treasury Board's employer obligations under the Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act ($1.3 million). The Secretariat's spending will decrease between 2011–12 and 2013–14 due to Strategic Reviews and cost containment measures announced in previous federal budgets and the sunsetting of funds for various initiatives within the Secretariat.

Expenditures for public service insurance include the payment of the employer's share of insurance plans, employment insurance and other related expenses. Public service employer payments decreased from 2009–10 to 2010–11 mainly due to the premium holidays under several plans, including disability insurance, and the reduced provincial payroll taxes incurred. Planned spending amounts for 2012–13 and 2013–14 reflect currently approved funding that has yet to reflect forecasted spending. The expenditures under Treasury Board central Vote 20, which reflect the cost of public service insurance plans, are projected to increase as a result of continued demographic pressures, the increased usage of services and prescription drugs, as well as the growing per-unit cost of drugs and services. Treasury Board approval to increase planned spending for these years will be sought by 2012–13.

Estimates by Vote

For information on our organizational Votes and/or statutory expenditures, please see the 2010–11 Public Accounts of Canada (Volume II) publication. An electronic version of the Public Accounts is available on the Public Works and Government Services Canada website.[7]