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Section II – Analysis of Program Activities

Strategic Outcome

The Canada School has a single Strategic Outcome:

The Canada School's raison d'être of ensuring that public servants have the common knowledge and skills required to serve Canadians is accomplished by providing a variety of learning activities at all levels and in all parts of the country.

The Canada School monitors the number of its learners and the number of learning activities that address leadership development, management competencies and common knowledge. In addition, it tracks the percentage of public servants who have attended its learning activities and indicate that the training provided responded to their learning needs.

The Canada School's Strategic Outcome is supported by four program activities:

• Foundational Learning;
• Organizational Leadership Development;
• Public Sector Management Innovation; and
• Internal Services (which supports the other three program activities).

Benefits for Canadians

Through the delivery of its Strategic Outcome, the Canada School provides long-term benefits for Canadians by ensuring that public servants across the country have access to the learning they need to acquire the knowledge and competencies required to serve Canadians with excellence now and into the future.

Program Activities for the Strategic Outcome

Foundational Learning

Program Activity: Foundational Learning: Public servants are able to perform in their current job, take on the challenges of the next job in a dynamic, bilingual environment.

2008-09 Financial Resources ($ thousands)			2008-09 Human Resources (FTEs)
Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending	Planned	Actual	Difference
68,828	113,545	99,091	687	622	65

Expected Results	Performance Indicators	Targets	Performance Status	Performance Summary
Public servants are able to apply the foundational knowledge provided by the Canada School in their workplace.	The Canada School will identify the percentage of participants who intend to apply, are able to apply, and/or have applied the knowledge acquired in foundational knowledge learning activities to their current or future workplace.	The target level of participants able to apply their acquired knowledge is 80 percent.	Unable to determine9	Questionnaires were issued to learners to collect data which will be used to measure this performance indicator. Progress is being made to implement processes to analyze and aggregate the data. The Canada School is implementing an ILMS which will allow for measuring of these indicators in future years.

Performance Analysis

In support of its strategic outcome, the Canada School provided training, developed strategies and furthered its use of technology to ensure that public servants have access to the learning they need to perform in their current job and take on the challenges of the next job in a dynamic, bilingual environment. These activities are aligned with Government of Canada and public service management priorities.

The program Orientation to the Public Service (OPS) is training for all new public servants within the core public administration (as identified in Schedules I and IV of the Financial Administration Act). In 2008-09, it was successfully redesigned from a two-day to a one-day program with the objectives of achieving greater operational efficiencies, enhancing the overall participant experience, and ensuring timely access to the training. Participants are now required to complete two online modules prior to registering for an in-class session. Over 10,400 participants completed the program in 2008-09. Evaluation results indicate that during 2008-09 the program had a knowledge gain of 14 percentage points, as calculated by comparing pre- and post-course test results.

Authority Delegation Training (ADT) is a program that allows managers to acquire the knowledge required to exercise their delegated authorities. The Canada School created a blended learning vision in 2008-09 that presents the manner in which the increased demand for this training would be met by online learning tools. The ADT Blended Learning Initiative was launched by a steering committee in early 2009.

As a result of operational efficiencies, the Canada School was able to meet the particularly high demand for OPS and ADT in 2008-09. The below tables demonstrate a break down of the number of offerings and employee participants on a national, regional and National Capital Region (NCR) scale.

Breakdown of OPS Offerings

Fiscal Year	Courses Delivered in the National Capital Region		Courses Delivered Regionally		Courses Delivered Nationally
	# of Sessions	# of Employees	# of Sessions	# of Employees	# of Sessions	# of Employees
2007-08	40	4,804	22	2,456	62	7,260
2008-09	55	5,568	47	4,916	102	10,484

Breakdown of ADT Offerings

Fiscal Year	Courses Delivered in the National Capital Region		Courses Delivered Regionally		Courses Delivered Nationally
	# of Sessions	# of Employees	# of Sessions	# of Employees	# of Sessions	# of Employees
2007-08	181	3,992	120	2,675	301	6,667
2008-09	235	5,260	138	2,931	373	8,191

Functional Communities exist where public servants share common work purposes and professional interests. In 2008-09, the Canada School initiated the development of a strategic framework for a systematic approach to working with these communities to address strategic issues, priorities identified through Public Service Renewal, and key functional community priorities.

Curricula for identified priority areas such as Information Management (IM), Internal Audit (IA), Human Resources (HR), Finance and Procurement, Materiel Management and Real Property are under development and progress is being made on curricula for emerging communities such as corporate planners, science and technology, and evaluators:

• A review of the IM curriculum was made in keeping with the development of new policies and directives in this area. For example, work was begun in 2008-09 to redesign the course on Access to Information and Privacy in light of new related policies promulgated in April 2008;
• Two new courses were added to the IA series of courses;
• An HR core curriculum was completed, HR planning courses were redesigned and the compensation curriculum is in development;
• A new curriculum for Finance specialists is under development;
• Three new online courses for the Procurement, Materiel Management and Real Property functional community are in development, bringing this curriculum closer to completion;
• Courses were developed for professionals in integrated planning and science and technology; and
• Work was undertaken to analyze the learning needs of the community of evaluators.

Through professional development programming, the Canada School aims to ensure that common management and professional learning needs are identified and met. During the 2008-09 fiscal year:

• More than 200 courses were delivered to over 4,600 public servants; and
• Approximately 150 management and leadership development courses were delivered to nearly 2,600 supervisors and managers.

Leadership Programs for Managers – two-year overview

Total Offerings		Total Participants
2007-08	2008-09	2007-08	2008-09
84	78	1,447	1,306

Management Development Programs for Managers – two-year overview

Total Offerings		Total Participants
2007-08	2008-09	2007-08	2008-09
51	72	918	1,358

Furthermore, in 2008-09, approximately 150 memoranda of understanding (MOUs) were signed with government departments and agencies: 140 of these MOUs were for professional development courses and 10 were for a combination of leadership and functional community courses.

The Canada School facilitates official languages training in order to assist public servants in acquiring and maintaining second official language skills needed to work in a bilingual environment. During 2008-09, second official language learning plans were provided to 1,266 public servants in the NCR. Language training services were delivered by the Canada School to 41 students with learning disabilities.

Approximately 80 language training groups were formed and 389,000 training hours were delivered by pre-qualified external providers. As well, approximately 70 qualified on-site teachers were supplied in the NCR, providing language training service (full time and part time) to between 2,500 and 3000¹⁰ public servants, and 15 train-the-trainer sessions were offered to more than 300 qualified external teachers.

The Canada School initiated the development of a national standing offer for language training services in order to create a national framework to standardize the quality of second official language instruction. Standardized quality assurance tools for language training were implemented.

Significant progress was made in the regions to share and implement leading practices in second official language acquisition and maintenance. On-site language teachers were provided at departments in the regions. In 2008-09, approximately 6,250 learner days¹¹ of official second language instruction were delivered by pre-qualified providers.

The Canada School promoted the adoption of virtual classroom delivery by providing demonstrations and developing a suite of training and advisory services relating to virtual classroom practices. Furthermore, the online tool, Language Acquisition and Maintenance Cycle, was created for second language maintenance and acquisition and is available to all public servants. This tool offers numerous self-learning products, best practices for improving and maintaining language skills, as well as tools to measure language competencies and to find a language coach. This product guides users in creating a second official language learning plan and helps them to optimize their second language skills.

Lessons Learned

As a good practice, the Canada School conducts quality assurance with its service providers. In 2008-09, this process allowed the Canada School to determine the need to develop measurable evaluations of classroom instruction. Thus, the Canada School refined its agreements with external providers, ensuring that consistent, measurable evaluation criteria on adult education instruction were included.

The redesigning of the OPS from a two-day to a one-day program and the incorporation of online modules have resulted in direct delivery costs per session decreasing by approximately 50 percent. The efficiencies gained from the new delivery model and the investment in online content clearly indicate that the $2.5 million funding reduction arising from the 2008 Strategic Review exercise will be managed with an ongoing delivery capacity of 8,000 participants.

Organizational Leadership Development

Program Activity: Organizational Leadership Development: Public Service has strong leaders delivering results for Canadians.

2008-09 Financial Resources ($ thousands)			2008-09 Human Resources (FTEs)
Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending	Planned	Actual	Difference
13,133	21,207	20,382	106	121	(15)12

Expected Results	Performance Indicators	Targets	Performance Status	Performance Summary
Public service managers, executives and senior leaders are satisfied with the leadership development courses, programs and activities received.	The Canada School will measure the degree of satisfaction of public servants with the leadership activities provided.	The target is that leadership activities receive an average rating of 4 on a 5-point scale on overall satisfaction.	Exceeded	Overall satisfaction received a rating of 4.49 on a 5-point scale. The performance status is based on the average results of each leadership course. Progress is being made, with the implementation of the ILMS, to account for each delivery of every course which would result in a weighted and more precise score. ILMS will make this possible in future years.
Public service managers, executives and senior leaders are able to apply their leadership competencies in the workplace.	The Canada School will determine the percentage of public servants who intend to apply, are able to apply and/or have applied the knowledge acquired through leadership development activities in their workplace.	The target level of participants able to apply their acquired knowledge is 80 percent.	Not applicable	Level 3 and Program Evaluations are conducted on select activities across the Canada School as per the Evaluation Plan. None were conducted for this result in 2008-09.

Performance Analysis

The Canada School contributes to Public Service Renewal by building strong leadership competencies for existing and emerging leaders through the provision of leadership development activities. It actively supports departments and agencies in their capacity to develop and retain leadership talent among managers, supervisors, executives and senior leaders across Canada.

In 2008-09 leadership development expanded its reach by doubling its offerings to over 300 and increasing the number of learner days by approximately 8,500. In addition, longstanding and well-established courses, Leadership: Reflection and Action (G305) and Leading Transitions (S208), experienced a 20 percent increase in registration in 2008-09, confirming the value of these courses for leadership development.

A new guide, Talent Management: Leadership Development at a Glance, was developed in 2008-09 to identify key leadership development programs available at the Canada School or through other learning institution partners of the public service. This guide supports deputy ministers in managing succession planning at senior levels in their organizations.

In 2008-09 the Canada School developed a suite of diverse learning interventions, including a series of coaching workshops, with the objective of supporting executives and managers at all levels in effectively fulfilling their human resources management responsibilities. These offerings were designed based on participant feedback results. The high level of satisfaction expressed by participants indicates a need to secure the development of managerial competencies through relevant and high quality learning activities.

The Canada School provided opportunities to executives and managers to develop engagement skills and competencies that promote the implementation of mobilizing practices for people, organizations and partners. Additional learning activities were offered that provide senior leaders with developmental opportunities on management trends and approaches.

The Advanced Leadership Program (ALP) targets high-potential leaders, mostly at the assistant deputy minister level. The program was first introduced in 2008-09, and the two first cohorts have each comprised approximately 25 participants. Feedback from participants, senior officials and faculty are taken into consideration to enhance the program for subsequent cohorts.

Living Leadership: The Executive Excellence Program was re-designed to:

• Strengthen the program while reducing costs;
• Increase the blended component of the program;
• Clearly address the four key leadership competencies; and
• Align it with leading practices.

The Canada School continues to offer the educational component of the Accelerated Executive Development Program, consulting participants and the Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer on their respective needs, and engaging participants in the design of events to ensure the program meets their needs and those of the public service as a whole.

A new leadership development program entitled ileadership was designed, developed and launched in 2008-09. This new program, which targets front-line supervisors and employees at the EX minus 3 and 4 levels, aims to develop core management and leadership development skills for the next generation of managers.

In 2008-09, the Canada School's first cohort successfully completed Leadership Across Borders, a four-country joint venture designed to build enhanced leadership skills in dealing with complex issues by comparing best practices across jurisdictions. The Canada School is now engaged in a series of new projects that support the development of international leadership capacity.

The Canada School consolidated existing products, including a seminar series for leaders and senior leaders to improve understanding of key public service issues. It designed new learning interventions and upgraded its services to strengthen leadership and management capacities for executives, Crown corporations and heads of federal agencies.

In an effort to use technology to build and sustain communities of practice and networks for information sharing and the dissemination of leading practices, a Web-based collaborative workspace for the development of the ileadership program and for internal use was created. The Canada School also leads various aspects of the Web 2.0 expansion and utilization across the public sector for the development and sharing of leading practices, such as on GCPEDIA, a wiki that is easily accessible government-wide and creates a collaborative workspace for public servants.

Lessons Learned

Several regions had to cancel or reschedule leadership courses offered on their calendars, as enrolment was too low to cover the costs of the offering. The Canada School is exploring the reasons for low enrolment in regionally-based leadership offerings in order to more efficiently serve leadership development needs in regional locations and plan its offerings accordingly.

The Canada School needs to market the leadership development activities earlier to better target promotional activities using various means (i.e. testimonies from participants, kiosks in departments, etc). Also, the Canada School is looking into analyzing the value of alumni feedback and participation in marketing and networking activities.

Federal agencies and departments have expressed a greater interest in targeted interventions for teams to learn together. This is particularly true in areas such as coaching. The Canada School has observed that it needs to be flexible and responsive to meet the demands of departments. Likewise in the regions, the Canada School has learned that senior levels need to work to deliver courses when it is known that there is a critical mass interested in pursuing a specific course.

Public Sector Management Innovation

Program Activity: Public Sector Management Innovation: Public Service organizations innovate to achieve excellence in delivering results for Canadians.

2008-09 Financial Resources ($ thousands)			2008-09 Human Resources (FTEs)
Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending	Planned	Actual	Difference
14,640	23,157	20,256	147	138	9

Expected Results	Performance Indicators	Targets	Performance Status	Performance Summary
Public service organizations have access to the tools and services to help them integrate learning, manage change and innovate.	The Canada School will track the number of organizations provided with public sector management innovation services.	The target is 25 departments and agencies.	Met	The Canada School provided services and tools to over 50 departments and agencies including organizational change management services, Integrated Planning Roundtables and the Manion lecture on Public Sector innovation.
Public service organizations integrate learning, manage change and innovate by adapting leading practices.	The Canada School will measure the degree of satisfaction of public service organizations with the Canada School's public sector management innovation services.	The target is an 80 percent satisfaction rate.	Met	The Canada School's change management services have received an overall satisfaction level of over 80 percent and the Manion lecture received an overall satisfaction level of 96 percent.

Performance Analysis

The Canada School conducted a formal national Learning Needs Analysis (LNA) with selected departments in the fall of 2008. The intelligence gathered through the LNA is used to better understand emerging client needs and priorities, as a key input to decision-making, priority setting, and curriculum review processes, in order to better align the Canada School's suite of offerings to the emerging needs and priorities of its clientele. Recognizing that the interdepartmental learning community is a key forum for exchanges regarding leading practices, learning priorities, and ongoing change, the Canada School also engaged in and supported several key interdepartmental learning networks at a variety of levels. In particular, the Canada School:

• Chaired the Required Training Coordinators (RTC) Network, a key contributor to  the redesign of the Orientation to the Public Service program, and established a Communications Working Group for RTCs to address communication issues and challenges related to required training;
• Chaired the Heads of Learning Forum (HOLF), which discusses issues of common interest to the learning community. In 2008-09, HOLF established a strategic working group to analyze issues, develop positions and recommend approaches to the broader learning community;
• Chaired the Network of Learning and Development Institutes (NLDI). A key achievement for NLDI during the reporting period was the establishment of a horizontal inventory of leadership and management development opportunities within departments and agencies;
• Provided monthly updates to the Human Resources Council (HRC) on key learning issues and initiatives; and
• Provided leadership support to the Learning Coordinators Network, in collaboration with, for instance, the Manitoba Human Resources Council, to develop strategic learning support in the Central Prairies region.

The Canada School worked on the development of an integrated approach to the incorporation of leading practice research on integrated planning, employee engagement, collective staffing, and the growing usage of Web 2.0 tools into the Canada School's courses and programs. Research was conducted with leading practitioners in key functional communities to identify emerging and leading practices and support further community building and capacity development. The research results were incorporated in courses and learning programs, guides, reports, online community sites and conferences. Ongoing research on new learning and teaching methodologies was also undertaken, leading to the development of an innovative approach to building executive judgment capacity using card-based dialogue methodology.

With respect to partnerships with academic institutions, the annual Canada School of Public Service University Seminar was held in May 2008 and was attended by over 50 academics and senior officials. Current public management issues were debated, such as the optimal balance between innovation, risk and control. This seminar had a satisfaction rate of 87 percent. Also, the John L. Manion Lecture was held on May 7, 2008, on the subject of "Taking Public Sector Innovation Seriously." It was attended by 366 people and received a 96 percent satisfaction rate. Under the Public Servant-in-Residence Program, five public servants were approved, or conditionally approved, to proceed with an assignment involving teaching and/or research at a Canadian university. Under the Fulbright-Government of Canada Mid-career Professional Program, two applicants from 2007-08 received final approval in 2008-09 to study at an American university. In 2008-09, three more applications were received.

In order to better support the expanded Deputy Minister University Champion Program which works to build a stronger relationship between the public service and universities on issues of common concern, 10 additional Champions and 12 universities were added to the program, increasing the program's size to a total of 23 champions of 29 institutions. In addition:

• Two all-Champion meetings and one Ontario-only meeting were held;
• A network was created composed of staff who support Deputy Ministers in their Champion role; and
• A dedicated section on the Canada School's external Web site was launched to share information, best practices and tools among that support network.

In 2008-09, the organizational change group worked with 22 departments to continue to build its client base and work with intact teams to improve organizational leadership.

Lessons Learned

The Canada School found that there was limited sharing or reporting on client intelligence gathering (which includes LNA and client feedback). Developing and implementing more systematic reporting on intelligence is a key priority for 2009-10. In particular, it will be critical to ensure that intelligence reporting is well-aligned with the Canada School's planning, design and decision-making processes.

Given the significant interest on the part of universities to engage the Public Service through the Deputy Minister University Champion and Public Servant-in-Residence Programs, the Canada School has found it increasingly important to promote regional representation in these programs, and will continue to do so.

Internal Services

Program Activity: Internal Services: Effective decision-making is supported through integrated advice and information strategies and the provision of high quality corporate services.

2008-09 Financial Resources ($ thousands)			2008-09 Human Resources (FTEs)
Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending	Planned	Actual	Difference
15,870	36,254	36,228	304	288	16

Performance Analysis

Internal Services support the Canada School's progress and achievement of its strategic outcome.

Corporate Policy, Governance and Planning

• In light of Public Service Renewal, an Addendum to the Five-year Report to Parliament was produced in 2008-09, setting the Canada School's direction for the next five years and outlining an evaluation framework against which progress could be assessed.
• A new corporate policy on memoranda of understandings was developed for the Canada School for implementation in 2009-10.
• The Canada School created an automated integrated planning tool in 2008-09 to streamline the planning process and facilitate the collection and analysis of data, contributing to more effective decision-making and program delivery.
• In 2008-09, the Canada School's Management Accountability Framework ratings increased in key management areas, demonstrating that the amalgamation of three legacy organizations to create the Canada School has progressed successfully.

Internal Communications

• A new corporate intranet site was launched, in 2008-09, as the primary internal communications vehicle for the Canada School.

Registration and Learner Reporting

• Implementation of ILMS began in 2008-09 to enable the Canada School to more effectively and efficiently provide employees' learning reports to deputy heads, respond to needs for increased operational efficiency, and facilitate the exchange of information on employee learning with departments and central agencies.
• With the cooperation of other departments and agencies, ILMS is being designed to be utilized as a standard learning management system across the government, and has been acknowledged by the Chief Information Officer of the Government of Canada as a shared system or "clustering" opportunity.

Learning and Program Evaluation

• The Canada School's five-year Evaluation Plan was revised to reflect current priorities and to provide information for decision-making and improvement of program delivery. Progress was made in 2008-09 to start implementing a performance measurement framework that is aligned with the Program Activity Architecture.

Integrated Regional Services

• In 2008-09, the Canada School continued to make progress in extending the reach of its offerings in the regions outside the NCR to bring greater alignment with the demographics of the public service.

Financial Services

• The Expense Management Tool was implemented, allowing for an improved travel claim reimbursement process by reducing the time for processing travel claims from 4-6 weeks to approximately 5 days. This tool is a key example of the Canada School's contribution to the Web of Rules initiative, which aims to streamline processes and encourage efficiency. This initiative balanced the need for financial controls with client satisfaction.
• The Canada School successfully negotiated a new financial systems support hosting partnership with another federal government department that uses SAP. The conversion to the new SAP environment was completed during 2008-09 to go live as of April 1, 2009.
• The Canada School refined its costing model in accordance with the Treasury Board's new guidelines. The implementation of the model resulted in costing over 240 products and services across the Canada School.
• Monthly Variance Reports strengthened accountability, transparency and reporting, and have improved decision-making.

Administrative Services

• A new mandate and terms of reference were approved by the Canada School's Management Committee for the Contract Review Committee, resulting in improved governance and processes. A new contract reference guide was disseminated to administration officers and managers, which included a section on green procurement.

Information Management and Information Technology (IM/IT)

• The Canada School focused its IM/IT efforts on the continued development and support of its unique Web and applications portfolio, IT governance and compliance with policies and directives.
• In 2008-09, the Canada School's data base system was further improved to include blended learning data from ILMS to facilitate data exchange among various registration legacy systems and to ensure data integrity.
• To enhance the Canada School's IM capacity, an Information Management Improvement Program Strategy was developed and a new Information Classification System was rolled out.

Human Resources

• In 2008-09, the Canada School began using an innovative staffing process called "Just-in-Time Staffing" to create a continuous inventory of partially-assessed candidates, which reduces the need for individual advertised processes.
• Internal Workplace Well-Being surveys were conducted in May and October 2008. Branch heads developed action plans to address areas that the surveys concluded needed improvement. Exit interviews were also conducted to better identify work place issues.
• Executive performance management agreements were posted on the intranet to promote transparency and to ensure that employees understand how their responsibilities contribute to the Canada School's objectives.
• Progress was made in regards to career development and advancement programs. For example, an HR Specialist Program was launched and the Learning Specialist Program is under development and is planned to be launched in the fall of 2009. Also, the Canada School intends to develop and implement an Administrative Support Group Program for its Client Contact Centre.

Internal Audit

• The Canada School became fully compliant with the requirements of the new Treasury Board (TB) Internal Audit Policy, as the newly established Departmental Audit Committee with external members met twice in 2008-09.
• Continued to establish an independent Chief Audit Executive's Office with appropriate resource planning, staffing and recruitment of audit professionals.
• Established appropriate policies and procedures to guide the Internal Audit function, including the development of the Internal Audit Quality Assurance Improvement Process (QAIP) to ensure compliance with the TB Internal Audit Policy and standards and the Institute of Internal Auditors' professional practices.
• Developed and began implementing an approved three-year risk-based audit plan fully aligned with the Program Activity Architecture.

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