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President's Message

I am pleased to present the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (the Secretariat) Departmental Performance Report for 2007–08. Each year, the Secretariat issues this report to inform parliamentarians and Canadians about its progress in achieving the objectives outlined in its annual report on plans and priorities.

The advice that the Secretariat provides to Treasury Board ministers and departments on programs, policies, and expenditures has real-life impact. From the testing of consumer products to the settlement of Aboriginal land claims to biofuels funding and incentives, the Secretariat is at the centre of responsible government spending decisions on behalf of Canadians.

A key element of this mandate is ensuring management excellence across the government, for which the Secretariat identified three key priorities for 2007–08: strengthening governance, accountability, and management practices; strengthening results-based expenditure management; and strengthening internal management. By promoting management excellence throughout government, the Secretariat strives to ensure a more efficient and effective public service that meets the evolving needs of Canadians while providing value for taxpayers' dollars.

This year, the Secretariat has made significant progress in each of the three priorities. For example, during this year the final provisions of the Federal Accountability Act, including the amendments to the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act, were brought into force. This was followed, in July 2008, by the Lobbying Act, the last element. The Secretariat continued to move forward on the renewal of the Treasury Board policy suite, which will result in clearer and streamlined Treasury Board policies, ensure consistent approaches, and promote management excellence, while allowing for flexibility and innovation.

As part of the government's new Expenditure Management System, the Secretariat launched and completed the first round of strategic reviews in 17 federal organizations. This important initiative requires each organization to assess 100 per cent of all of its direct program spending and identify savings from its lowest performing, lowest priority programs. As outlined in Budget 2008, the savings identified are then available to be reinvested in areas of higher priority for Canadians. As a result of this thorough process, departments are transforming their operations, delivering better programs, and ensuring better results for Canadians.

In 2007–08, the Secretariat embarked on a Change Initiative that will help position the Secretariat to better deliver on the Government of Canada Management Agenda by strengthening internal management. This initiative will transform how the Secretariat interacts with its clients by focussing more on strategic leadership and embracing collaboration and risk management. This will enable the Secretariat to better help departments improve their own management performance and ensure better value-for-money for Canadians.

By promoting management excellence, the Secretariat is making government work better for Canada's citizens. In the year ahead, I look forward to continuing our efforts with the dedicated and committed men and women of the Secretariat.

The paper version was signed by

The Honourable Vic Toews, P.C., Q.C., M.P.
President of the Treasury Board

Section I: Departmental Overview

1.1 Raison d'être

The role of the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (the Secretariat) is to support the Treasury Board in ensuring that government is well managed and accountable and that its resources are allocated to achieve results. The Secretariat has a direct impact on governance, on accountability and the quality of federal public sector management, and on the efficiency and effectiveness with which the government's programs and services are delivered.

1.2 Responsibilities

The Secretariat supports the Treasury Board by providing advice to Treasury Board ministers on all of its responsibilities. The Secretariat's mandate includes management performance across government, expenditure and financial management, and management of compensation, pensions, benefits, terms and conditions of employment, and labour relations. Other organizations that support the Treasury Board are the Canada Public Service Agency and the Canada School of Public Service. These three organizations, together with the Office of the Registrar of Lobbyists, form the Treasury Board portfolio.

The Secretariat plays three key central agency roles in relation to other federal departments, agencies, and Crown corporations:

• an oversight role, including policy development, monitoring, and reporting on management and budgetary performance within government;
• an enabling role in helping departments and agencies improve their performance in these areas; and
• a leadership role in driving and modelling the management agenda.

Related to these roles, the Secretariat provides human resources management support to the Treasury Board in its role as employer of the core public administration by conducting labour-management relations and compensation operations and by managing pension and benefit policies and programs.

1.3 Operating environment

Like other large public and private sector organizations, the federal public service is also facing significant challenges as it adapts to key trends shaping Canadian society, the economy, the labour market, and service delivery. The rapid pace of technological change is fuelling fundamental changes in the way we live, the way we work, and the way organizations collaborate to deliver goods and services. Demographic changes are creating pressures to improve recruitment to the public service and enable mobility between the public and private sectors. This poses particular challenges for the Secretariat, in its role as employer, to find the balance between public sector interest in retaining a highly qualified workforce in a competitive environment and the flexibility required for skilled workers to leave and return to the public service.

In supporting the government, it is vital for the Secretariat to understand these trends and adapt policies and guidance to respond to these changes, while ensuring that government priorities and public expectations are met. Canadians expect spending to be aligned with federal government priorities. They demand an accountable government that manages their tax dollars by finding cost-effective ways to address public policy issues and provides services to Canadians. The challenge for the Secretariat is to find ways to ensure that the need for enhanced accountability does not prevent change or innovation across government. It is doing this in part by working to reduce the web of rules that has grown over the years and constrains intelligent risk-taking. An effective, high-performing public service is essential to meeting the expectations of Canadians. The Secretariat must work to ensure that the public service strives for excellence and remains connected to the needs and expectations of Canadians.

1.4 Strategic outcome and program activities

The work of the Secretariat is focussed on the following strategic outcome:

The Government of Canada outcomes form part of the Whole-of-Government Framework, which maps the contributions of departments, agencies, and Crown corporations to a set of four high-level spending areas and thirteen government outcome areas. The alignment of departmental strategic outcomes to the governmental outcomes makes it possible to calculate and assess government spending by outcome area. The Secretariat's strategic outcome is aligned to the Government Affairs spending area and thus supports all of the government's outcome areas by helping departments, agencies, and Crown corporations meet their responsibilities, deliver their mandates, and serve Canadians.

The chart above illustrates the Secretariat's framework of program activities and program sub-activities, which together contribute progress toward achieving the strategic outcome.

The Secretariat had established the three following priority areas for 2007–08:

• Strengthening governance, accountability, and management practices
  • Improving accountability and fiscal responsibility through implementation of the Federal Accountability Act
• Strengthening results-based expenditure management
  • Providing better advice, including clear expenditure information, to Cabinet and the Treasury Board on the allocation of resources
• Strengthening internal management
  • Transforming the Secretariat to support the Government of Canada in moving forward with its management excellence agenda

Each priority corresponds to a specific program activity, as shown below:

1.5 Achievements this year

In addition to the accomplishments profiled in section 1.6, the Secretariat had a number of significant achievements in 2007–08. For example, the Secretariat:

• Refined the Management Accountability Framework (MAF) and continued to promote it as the government's key management tool. The MAF assessment is now a key element for evaluating the management accountability of deputy ministers.
• Developed the Federal Accountability Action Plan to respond to the recommendations of the Independent Blue Ribbon Panel on Grants and Contributions and to reduce the administrative burden associated with related Treasury Board policies.
• Reviewed the government's financial oversight and control regime as input for renewal of the financial management framework and related policy instruments.
• Developed a renewed approach to the Expenditure Management System that fundamentally changes the way the government is managed. A key element of this was the first round of strategic reviews of 17 federal organizations, which identified $386 million per year that will be reallocated to higher priorities.
• Managed a full negotiation schedule with 26 of 27 active collective bargaining tables.
• Developed an integrated government-wide human resources plan for information management (IM) and information technology (IT) to assist federal departments and agencies in ensuring that they will have the required skills within the IM and IT area.

1.6 Summary of performance

Note: Some figures in this document may not add up to totals shown or some totals may differ from one table to another due to rounding off.

1.7 Risk analysis

As part of their work in 2007–08 on the next business planning cycle, Secretariat sectors were asked to identify risks that could potentially affect the achievement of their expected results and link them to the associated program activities. The exercise included rating the likelihood and impact of the identified risks, as well as the development of mitigation strategies.

The identification of risks within the business planning cycle and the development of a corporate risk profile (CRP) are the first steps toward managing risk within the Secretariat. To understand and reduce risks, the Secretariat will be building upon the progress made in 2007–08. This includes validating and updating its risk inventory on an ongoing basis, which will, in turn, support corporate understanding of the risks affecting the Secretariat's business activities.

Lessons learned by the Secretariat in developing its first CRP include the following:

• Identifying corporate risks is challenging, so stakeholders from across the department must be involved;
  
  
• The probability and impact of risks fluctuate, so risks and their associated mitigation strategies need to be monitored regularly;
  
  
• There are various levels of risks, so there need to be mechanisms to manage the various types and levels of risks; and
  
  
• Resources need to be dedicated to manage risks, so risks cannot be managed without coordinated effort, including communications and training.
  
  

Key Risks Identified in 2007–08	2007–08 RPP Subcommitments Associated with Key Risks Identified in 2007–08	Summary of Progress	Associated Initiatives
Stakeholder: Departmental capacity to fully accept and implement the Secretariat management agenda.	Policies are supported by sound implementation plans as well as communications and training to support departments in meeting requirements.	Nearing Completion	Change Management Action Plan Policy suite renewal Improvements to the Management Accountability Framework
	Directives, standards, and other guidance are developed and issued, and implementation of policy changes is commenced in the areas of grants and contributions and financial management.	In Progress
	Forums are created to promote leadership of service transformation and facilitate the sharing of leading practices among deputy ministers, assistant deputy ministers, and management communities.	Completed
	Management expectations are clarified and guidance is strengthened in the oversight of IM, IT, and service transformation projects.	Ongoing
People: Government employees need the right skills and competencies to deliver on the government's priorities.	Implementation of a comprehensive multi-year HR Strategy for the financial management and internal audit communities is realized through the development of methodologies and tools that support enhanced professional capacity and community-based approaches.	Completed	Secretariat HR Strategy ES Development Program (targeted university recruitment campaign) Business planning exercise AS Competency-Based Management Framework and Learning Strategy Official Languages Policy and Secretariat Action Plan Talent Management Program for EX-02s and EX-03s
	Services and products are developed to support the growth and development of leadership and HR capacity in key service transformation communities.	Completed
	Core evaluation competencies are developed in collaboration with stakeholders and delivery agents.	Completed
	Certification process is developed and a professional development program for government evaluators is launched.	Rescheduled for 2011
People: The Secretariat needs the right people in order to deliver on its vision and mandate.	An HR plan is completed in accordance with the Public Service Modernization Act.	Completed
	A corporate resourcing and recruitment plan that is aligned with the Secretariat's business requirements is developed, implemented, and integrated within the business planning process.	In Progress
	The Secretariat's career development programs for key communities are strengthened and expanded.	In Progress
Compliance: Non-compliance consequences for departments must be appropriate and consistent.	Compliance framework, which includes consequences for non-compliance, is developed for consideration by Treasury Board ministers.	In Progress	Change Management Action Plan Development of Compliance Framework Policy suite renewal
	Mechanisms are established to monitor compliance and an appropriate range of measures is identified to address instances of poor management.	Completed
	A broad approach to the management of compliance, including discipline, is supported by a committee of deputy ministers to ensure fair, equitable, and consistent practices.	In Place

Supplementary information on the subcommitments identified is available on the Secretariat's website at
/dpr-rmr/st-ts-eng.asp.

1.8 Expenditure profile

Departmental Expenditure Profile
($ thousands)

Expenditure	2005–06 Actual	2006–07 Actual	2007–08 Actual
Management Policy Development and Oversight
Secretariat Operations	103,557	119,465	135,196
Expenditure Management and Financial Oversight
Secretariat Operations	50,903	51,912	59,401
Centrally Managed Funds	1,423,799	1,537,987	1,662,001
Revitalization of the Toronto Waterfront1		35,049	–
Total	1,578,260	1,744,413	1,856,598

1. In accordance with the January 2007 changes in the minister's responsibilities, this authority was transferred from the Secretariat to Environment Canada through the 2007–08 Supplementary Estimates.

The Secretariat spent a total of $1.85 billion in providing its services in the 2007–08 fiscal year. It is important to note that only 10 per cent of this spending represents expenditures for the Secretariat's operations. The remainder relates to funds managed centrally on behalf of the government as a whole.

The largest part of actual expenditures (about 99 per cent) of the Centrally Managed Funds is Vote 20–Public Service Insurance. This vote covers the payment of the employer's share of health, income maintenance, and life insurance premiums; payments to or in respect of provincial health insurance plans; provincial payroll taxes; pension, benefit, and insurance plans for employees engaged locally outside Canada; and payments to certain employees for their share of the employment insurance premium reduction.

 

The major increase in expenditures over the last two years (2006–07; 2007–08) falls within Vote 20–Public Service Insurance. The increase is mainly due to increases in the number of members, costs, and use of the health care and dental plans, as well as non-discretionary tax increases, which are mostly related to provincial payroll taxes.

 

The Secretariat Operations reflects the people and organizations that support the Secretariat's central agency role of ensuring that government is well managed and accountable and that resources are allocated to achieve results. The increase over the last two years in Secretariat Operations results mainly from funding received for the following:

• The increased personnel costs of collective agreements between the Treasury Board and collective bargaining units representing public service employees;
• Support in implementing the Public Service Modernization Act;
• Implementation of the Cabinet Directive on Streamlining Regulations;
• Initiatives to implement the Federal Accountability Action Plan;
• The Budget Office Systems Renewal (BOSR) project; and
• A transfer of functions from the Privy Council Office in 2006–07 for Regulatory Affairs and Regional Communications.

Departmental Human Resources Profile (Full-Time Equivalent, FTE)

2005­-06	2006-07	2007-08
1,048	1,179	1,332

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