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Section II – Analysis of Program Activities

Strategic Outcome

PWGSC’s strategic outcome is to achieve high-quality, central programs and services that ensure sound stewardship on behalf of Canadians and meet the program needs of federal institutions.

Program Activities

The following section describes PWGSC’s nine program activities and the expected results, performance indicators and targets for each program activity. It also includes an overview of the financial and human resources, planning highlights, and benefits to Canadians of each program activity. Additional information is available on our departmental website at www.pwgsc-tpsgc.gc.ca.

1. Acquisitions

This program activity shows PWGSC as the government’s primary procurement service provider offering federal organizations a broad base of procurement solutions such as specialized contracts, standing offers and supply arrangements. The role of PWGSC in this area is to provide timely, value-added acquisitions and related common services to Canadians and the federal government.

Benefits for Canadians

On average, PWGSC facilitates the procurement of goods and services worth approximately $14 billion annually through some 60,000 procurement-related transactions. This program activity also provides targeted economic stimulus by identifying and removing barriers to the participation of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in federal procurement opportunities, facilitating the participation of Aboriginal-owned businesses, and by collaborating with Industry Canada for the implementation of the Industrial and Regional Benefits program. Also, environmental performance enhancements to the procurement process have contributed to the reduction of the negative environmental impacts of government operations.

PWGSC plays a key role in supporting the men and women of Canada’s Armed Forces, in partnership with the Department of National Defence, by ensuring they have the equipment they need to fulfill their duties, particularly for our mission in Afghanistan.

Major Achievements

PWGSC continues to lead the government’s efforts to improve military procurement in collaboration with the Departments of National Defence (DND), Industry Canada (IC) and the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS). In 2009, the Government of Canada launched a number of initiatives to engage industry directly and seek feedback and advice on improving the process for procuring military equipment.

In Fall 2009, in collaboration with DND and IC, PWGSC engaged the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI), a not-for-profit organization, to conduct consultations on military procurement with the defence and security industries. As a reflection of the transparency of government, the report has been made public to industry and Canadians through CADSI at the following link: https://www.defenceandsecurity.ca/UserFiles/File/IE/IE2.html. The Government is considering the recommendations of the report.

In collaboration with DND, the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) and IC, PWGSC held the National Shipbuilding Forum on July 27 and 28, 2009 in Ottawa. In response to the Government’s call for proposals related to the establishment of a National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy, 46 submissions were received from a broad spectrum of the industry and were considered in the development of the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy announced in June 2010.

In 2009, PWGSC held a series of meetings with the marine industry and other government departments to examine rebalancing procurement risks in marine contracts. The meetings focused on better understanding issues related to liability caps, economic price adjustments, foreign exchange allowances and other variables that are beyond the control of contractors. The Government is considering the results of the discussions.

On July 14, 2009, in collaboration with the DND and IC, PWGSC held an industry briefing on the Fixed Wing Search and Rescue (FWSAR) project with the participation of 115 Representatives from the aerospace sector. In the fall of 2009, following receipt of participants' feedback, the government engaged the National Research Council (NRC) to conduct an independent review of DND’s FWSAR Statement of Operational Requirements. It is anticipated that once DND finalizes its requirements (currently planned for the Fall 2010), a procurement strategy for the project will be developed.

The rapid action taken over the past few years to acquire major new assets demonstrates that PWGSC has the ability to act quickly. Since 2006, the average procurement time from the identification of the needs for major procurements up to contract award was reduced from 107 months to 48 months.

Like other federal organizations, PWGSC faced the challenge in 2009 when rising numbers of employee retirements led to a loss of experience and capacity. At the same time, PWGSC experienced a significant demand for its procurement services resulting mainly from Canada’s Economic Action Plan, the Canada First Defence Strategy and from National Defence requirements. The Department faced the additional challenge of balancing Government objectives, such as value for money and sound stewardship in program delivery, with the requirement to urgently acquire new equipment for Canadian Forces’ immediate operational requirements and streamline the acquisition processes for military and major procurements. These challenges placed an overall pressure on PWGSC procurement services in 2009.

In addition, further elements of PWGSC’s Procurement Modernization Agenda were put in place. These included strategies and tools (standing offers, supply arrangements and electronic tools) that allow government departments to easily access and maximize the use of their authorities when purchasing low dollar value items and other goods and services. This also allows PWGSC to focus its resources on larger, more complex and higher-risk procurements, and the effective management of supply for government overall.

The implementation of PWGSC’s Low Dollar Action Plan continued, promoting and enabling departments to assume increased contracting activities within their delegated authorities. A new framework responding to clients seeking a higher goods delegation was developed and a higher delegation was approved for the RCMP.

PWGSC also focused on improving existing tools and increasing the accessibility of both client departments and suppliers to procurement information. For example, an improved Spend Management system enables departments and PWGSC to better plan future procurements based on historical procurement data and patterns. An updated Standing Offer Index, with quick reference guides, makes it easier for government purchasers to locate, access, and use PWGSC procurement instruments.

In order to validate these strategies and tools, six departments were engaged in a series of procurement pilot projects.

A new Commodity Management Policy and a three-year plan for all major commodities was launched to improve the consistency in how instruments are developed by PWGSC and used by client departments from coast to coast. These tools will also help provide predictability to private industry on how the Government of Canada deals with specific commodities. Extensive work was also done to develop the Buy and Sell Web site (buyandsell.gc.ca), which, following implementation, will provide for the first time a single customer touch-point for both buyers and suppliers into the federal procurement system. Also, in collaboration with Industry Canada, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and TBS, PWGSC obtained seed funding for a common registration number for suppliers, that will enable them to do business more easily with the Government of Canada by registering once to obtain a unique procurement business number.

In 2009, PWGSC launched its Client Service Initiative. A Client Barometer was developed to measure the client relationship, and a comprehensive Client Satisfaction Survey was also carried out to establish a baseline and determine client procurement service priorities. In support of the survey findings, a detailed action plan has been developed and is being implemented. We recognize that additional work is required to develop concrete, measurable and meaningful client-focused procurement service standards.

We led the Government Response to the Standing Committee report on Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) access to federal procurement and also made progress in reducing barriers and increasing the outreach activities of our Office of Small and Medium Enterprises (e.g., new guide for doing business with the government) https://www.achatsetventes-buyandsell.gc.ca/eng.

Budget 2010 provided the PWGSC with $40M to launch a new pilot project, the Canadian Innovation Commercialization Program, to encourage modernization in Canadian industry, and showcase innovative products and services through which the federal government will procure and test new products and services.

2009-2010 Spending — Acquisitions

Financial Resources (in millions of dollars)	Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending
Gross Expenditures	242.3	298.7	296.8
Less Respendable Revenue	(131.9)	(153.1)	(161.1)
Net Expenditures	110.4	145.6	135.7
The difference between total authorities and actual expenditures is mainly due to additional unexpected revenues collected from different clients, mainly from the Department of National Defence throughout the various sectors of Acquisition Branch as negotiations were completed only at year-end. The Production Assets Management Program also contributed to these unexpected revenues. The Optional Services Revolving Fund variance between the total authorities and actuals is due to higher than anticipated airline commissions in the Traffic Management Program and to receipts from provincial governments for outstanding accounts receivable for the Vaccine Program.

2009-2010 Human Resources	Planned	Actual	Difference
Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs)*	2,114	1,769	(345)
The difference between the planned and actual expenditures is due to a change in the Program Activity Architecture in 2009-2010 resulting in some components of the Program Activities under PA 1.1, Acquisitions Services, being moved to a new Program Activity, 1.7, Specialized Programs and Services. This resulted in approximately 250 FTEs being double-counted under PA 1.1 as well as PA 1.7. Commencing in the 2009-2010 Estimates cycle, the resources for the Internal Services program activity are displayed separately from other program activities; they are no longer distributed among the remaining program activities, as was the case in previous Main Estimates. This has affected the comparability of spending and FTE information by program activity between fiscal years.

Expected Results	Performance Indicators	Targets	Performance Summary
Federal organizations receive responsive and cost-effective access to goods and services that meet specifications, are timely, and provide value for money to support the delivery of their programs.	Percentage of federal organizations satisfied with timeliness, quality and value of acquisition services provided.	85% or 10% above baseline by March 31, 2012	Status: No data available Baseline Client Satisfaction Survey completed in September 2009 and Action Plan developed. The target result is against the baseline that was established in 2009-2010. Going forward, results will be measured on a sampling basis annually with a complete client survey being conducted every three years.
Prudent use of federal resources, effective and efficient acquisition practices, and fair access to government business.	Number of individuals and small and medium enterprise representatives directly assisted by Office of Small and Medium Enterprises.	16,000 by March 31, 2010;	Status: Exceeded 35,598 individuals and Small and Medium Enterprises assisted in 2009-2010.
Federal organizations are provided with a broad base of procurement solutions including contracts, standing offers, supply arrangements and procurement tools that are timely and provide value for money to support the delivery of their programs.	Percentage increase in standing offer and supply arrangement usage by federal organizations.	5% by March 31, 2010	Status: Exceeded As a result of improved procurement instruments and enhanced reporting, federal organizations reported call-up volumes exceeding 188,000 transactions in calendar year 2009. This accounts for a total reported value of $2.26B in goods and services procured through the use of PWGSC standing offers and supply arrangements. The reported sum represents a 44% increase in total reported spend managed through PWGSC procurement instruments over CY2008.

Lessons Learned

Engagement of industry and other government departments is key to ensuring that the procurement tools and instruments put in place by PWGSC meet their needs, while providing best value to the Crown. As is evident by initiatives in the area of military procurement, early engagement in defining requirements is particularly critical for large, complex procurements as it enables longer-term planning, risk assessment and mitigation strategies resulting in a more efficient procurement process.

Engagement activities have been key to identifying and addressing issues of importance to industry and to our clients, and in gaining their support for initiatives such as the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy announced on June 3^rd, 2010.

2. Accommodation and Real Property Assets Management

Through this program activity PWGSC provides departments and agencies with office and common use accommodation and acts as stewards for various public works such as buildings, bridges and dams, and national treasures such as the Parliamentary Precinct and other heritage assets across Canada. PWGSC also provides other federal departments and agencies with expert professional and technical real property services.

Benefits for Canadians

PWGSC manages a diverse portfolio of real estate that accommodates some 255,000 federal public servants in more than 1,800 locations, directly supporting the programs and services delivered by the Government of Canada to Canadians across the country.

Public Works and Government Services Canada plays an important role in the implementation of Canada’s Economic Action Plan. As a major custodian, the Department has accelerated repairs and renovations of its Crown-owned infrastructure by delivering its Accelerated Infrastructure Program. By prudently investing in its assets, PWGSC not only stimulated the economy to ease the effects of the global recession on Canadians but also ensured that taxpayers received the expected value for money for these investments, relieving downstream pressures in years to come. As a common service provider, PWGSC also supported other government departments in advancing their infrastructure projects and delivering on the Canada’s Economic Action Plan.

Our management of our real estate portfolio reflects our commitment to introduce sustainable development practices into all new federal building projects and to support government priorities in the areas of accessibility, official languages and federal presence, delivering best value for Canadians.

PWGSC also contributes to local communities across Canada through our Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) Program. In 2009-2010, we distributed $468 million to 1,241 taxing authorities where federal property is located. This includes municipalities, provinces, school boards, local services boards and First Nations. PWGSC also enables Parliamentarians and their staff to carry out the democratic responsibilities of Parliament by preserving the Parliamentary Precinct’s architectural integrity and heritage, providing functional accommodations, and exercising due diligence in regard to the health and safety of all those who work in these heritage buildings.

Major Achievements

PWGSC is implementing a modern corporate real estate organization through a number of major initiatives.

By updating existing tools and delivering training to real property employees, PWGSC made significant progress in improving its portfolio management tools. In order to continue to develop processes to improve asset integrity, PWGSC updated the Asset Performance Monitoring Policy and initiated the development of an implementation plan. A draft departmental Integrated Investment Plan was also submitted to the Treasury Board Secretariat.

To improve PWGSC’s ability to deliver responsive and cost-effective real property services, the National Service Management Strategy was launched on April 1^st 2009. The strategy increases the Department’s capacity and agility as a real property service provider by strategically out-tasking service delivery activities to the private sector and strengthening internal management capabilities. As part of the National Service Management Strategy, service delivery mechanisms, strategies and tools were developed which will help PWGSC enhance its business performance. The department continues to work on a business and systems transformation project with the ultimate goal of implementing industry-standard real estate business processes supported by a fully integrated information technology system. PWGSC also improved its client engagement and communication through the implementation of the new Client Relationship Management Framework.

In addition, the department developed a comprehensive quality management framework and has been testing it on some projects. This approach will eventually better position PWGSC to manage government accommodations more efficiently and effectively, and will improve the overall quality of services to client departments, and increase client satisfaction.

In 2009-2010, PWGSC undertook projects to fit up facilities to accommodate the relocation of Parliamentarians, staff and operational support services in preparation for the rehabilitation of the West Block. This work included: completion of an off-site food production facility; construction of the Rideau Committee Rooms, which was funded through the Accelerated Infrastructure Program and was implemented ahead of schedule by using a construction management delivery methodology; and fit up of interim Parliamentary offices and committee rooms at La Promenade. In addition, a contract was awarded to begin the rehabilitation of the Wellington Building, which when fully restored, will enable the East Block to be emptied and rehabilitated (http://www.parliamenthill.gc.ca).

The Auditor General's 2010 report noted PWGSC's generally sound project management practices with respect to projects undertaken within the Parliamentary Precinct, and in particular noted the due importance placed on protecting heritage character, collecting information on building conditions and client needs, considering impacts on the environment, and using a sound costing methodology

Notwithstanding progress made on our business and human resources strategies, increased volumes, business complexities and demographics impacted our ability to deliver. Our modernization and portfolio management initiatives were driven on parallel and overlapping time frames. PWGSC addressed this by accelerating and prioritizing key initiatives, streamlining and making best use of our business practice, and leveraging existing contracting mechanisms.

2009-2010 Spending — Accommodation and Real Property Assets Management

Financial Resources (in millions of dollars)	Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending
Gross Expenditures	4,078.5	4,531.7	4,479.5
Less Respendable Revenue	(1,921.2)	(2,325.9)	(2,604.0)
Net Expenditures	2,157.3	2,205.8	1,875.5
The difference between total authorities and actual expenditures is mainly due to a variance of $307.2 million related to the Appropriation (distributed between sub activities such as: Federal Accommodation, Federal Holdings, Payment in lieu of taxes and Parliamentary Precinct) and $23.2 million belonging to the Revolving Funds (Professional and Technical services and the Disposition incentives). From the $307.2 million variance, $129.0 million relates to frozen funding (Capital, Special Purpose Allotment – Real Property Services and G8/G20 Summit) as the result of reprofiling to future fiscal years in order to align projects approved cash flows with revised delivery schedules. It also includes the obligation of contributing to Employee Benefit Plans and the authorized capital carry forward. The balance is due, for the most part, to the uncontrollable and unpredictable nature of the real property activities impacted by the fluctuations in the price of commodities; volatility of the real estate market, weather conditions and related consumption of utilities as well as delays in the delivery of projects. On the Revolving Funds side, the variance reflects an $18 million surplus in the Real Property Services Revolving Fund due to price being slightly above budget, salaries and benefits being slightly lower than those budgeted. Also, the Fund had budgeted $10 million drawdown on its authority, which was not required. The $5.2 million balance accounts for the Disposition Incentives (RPDRF).

2009-2010 Human Resources	Planned	Actual	Difference
Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs)*	3,671	3,454	(217)
A realignment of staff to other Program Activities within the regions accounts for the difference between the planned and actual FTEs. As well, there was a realignment of staff to other Program Activities within the Regions. This accounts for the difference between the planned and actual FTEs. Commencing in the 2009-2010 Estimates cycle, the resources for the Internal Services program activity are displayed separately from other program activities; they are no longer distributed among the remaining program activities, as was the case in previous main Estimates. This has affected the comparability of spending and FTE information by program activity between fiscal years.

Expected Results	Performance Indicators	Targets	Performance Summary
Federal organizations have safe, healthy and affordable facilities that support the effective delivery of their programs and services, through prudent investment and management of federal real property assets in the custody of PWGSC.	Number of critical accommodation-related health and safety incidents per year.	< 5 by March 31, 2010	Status: Met all Three incidents were reported: an explosion, a fuel spill and an oil and refrigerant leak.
	Relative difference between PWGSC operating expenses and the average operating expenses indexed by the Canadian Building Owner and Managers Association (BOMA-Canada).	< 15% by March 31, 2010	Status: Data not available Due to various shortcomings as comparables, PWGSC is no longer evaluating its performance against Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) data. In 2008-2009, BOMA data was only available for buildings in Ottawa. Based on available information, PWGSC operating costs (National Capital Area only) were 6.5% lower than BOMA.
Federal organizations receive responsive and cost-effective real property services in support of the effective delivery of their programs and services.	Percentage of federal organizations satisfied with real property services.*	85% by March 31, 2012	Status: Mostly met Based on the client barometer, the average level of overall satisfaction for the top 25 clients is estimated at 72%. To improve client satisfaction, PWGSC will further drive its Client Service Strategy as described in Section I – Performance Summary.

* This indicator was changed to better reflect client satisfaction by measuring level of satisfaction rather than percentage satisfied. The new title is "Level of federal organizations´ satisfaction with real property mandatory and optional services" and the new target is 80% by March 31, 2012.

Lessons Learned

Research conducted in collaboration with the private sector and university partners has produced detailed information on seismic upgrading that will be captured as a best practice to be applied to all renovation projects in the Parliamentary Precinct. As well, the use of construction management delivery methodology for the Rideau Committee Rooms project has allowed for minimal changes in the construction phase, resulting in accelerated project completion.

In helping other departments deliver their projects under Canada’s Economic Action Plan our early consultations with provincial counterparts and the private sector paid significant dividends in the quick launch of projects and their timely completion.

The department was able to rapidly respond to the Economic Action Plan and stimulate the economy, while ensuring value for money, thanks to its strong business model which includes portfolio and building management plans identifying project priorities as well as shelf-ready projects.

The two-year Infrastructure Program Agreements signed with the department’s major clients has proved to be an effective instrument in obtaining timely real property planned work. This approach has provided greater assurance that projects would be delivered on time, on budget and within scope. It has also enabled the department to examine more effective delivery approaches as well as timing tendering activities to take advantage of local market conditions.

Industry engagement and consultation has enabled the department to effectively communicate and work with industry to ensure effective and timely delivery of both the Economic Action Plan projects and the regular programs of work of the department and its clients.

3. Receiver General for Canada

This program activity manages the operations of the federal treasury and the preparation of the Public Accounts of Canada. It provides an optional financial management system offering, document imaging, and bill payment services.

Benefits for Canadians

Through sound management of the Consolidated Revenue Fund and the Public Accounts of Canada, PWGSC ensures accuracy and timeliness, without exception, to maintain their integrity and provide sound financial management and transparent financial reporting to Canadian taxpayers. In addition, PWGSC is continuing to promote direct deposit and electronic transfers of monies to contribute to the efficiency of our services and further limit our environmental impact by reducing paper-based transactions. Finally, by maintaining a disaster recovery program, PWGSC is enhancing the financial security and protecting the incomes of Canadians by being ready to deliver payments and collect revenues on an ongoing basis in the event of an emergency.

Major Achievements

Through the Receiver General, PWGSC carried out mission critical functions by: managing the operations of the federal treasury through the issuance and settlement of more than 273 million annual payments and the collection of revenue for all government departments, amounting to over $1.99 trillion in cash flow; maintaining the Public Accounts of Canada; producing the government’s Monthly Statements of Financial Operations; and, preparing the annual Public Accounts of Canada. In addition, we continued to provide departments with an optional financial management system, and an image-based bill-payment service. The optional financial management system supported 18 small departments and agencies in fulfilling their financial management obligations; two system releases were completed on time and on budget. Bill Payment Services managed the collection of funds on behalf of four large departments, with an estimated volume of 1.5 million transactions.

PWGSC examined its banking and payment processes in an effort to streamline and standardize them. It has been determined that several of these processes can be greatly improved through automation. Development work is scheduled to begin in 2010-2011.

PWGSC enhanced the system used to produce the Public Accounts of Canada by enabling departments to input information directly in the system through modules. The new system will be used for the first time to produce the 2009-2010 Public Accounts of Canada.

Following the analysis of various disaster recovery solutions, PWGSC has determined that the existing solution is the most efficient and cost effective in meeting the payments, revenue collection, pension and pay administration business needs.

2009-2010 Spending — Receiver General for Canada

Financial Resources (in millions of dollars)	Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending
Gross Expenditures	145.8	147.2	128.7
Less Respendable Revenue	(14.6)	(14.8)	(14.8)
Net Expenditures	131.2	132.4	113.9
The difference between total authorities and actual expenditures is mainly due to the department’s expected increase in the Triennial Memorandum of Understanding with the banking industry when in fact the contracts were more competitive which generated better pricing. Cost efficiencies were made as a result of higher than anticipated enrolment in direct deposit. The variance is also attributable to delays in staffing and system initiatives. Reallocation activities were made to optimise the use of the financial resources, but the projects did not materialize.

2009-2010 Human Resources	Planned	Actual	Difference
Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs)*	551	359	(192)
A high vacancy rate in 2009-2010 has resulted in a large difference between planned and actuals FTEs. Commencing in the 2009-2010 Estimates cycle, the resources for the Internal Services program activity are displayed separately from other program activities; they are no longer distributed among the remaining program activities, as was the case in previous Main Estimates. This has affected the comparability of spending and FTE information by program activity between fiscal years.

Expected Results	Performance Indicators	Targets	Performance Summary
The government and federal organizations benefit from timely issuance of all government payments, receipt of money owed to government and central accounting and reporting.	Percentage of time Receiver General meets its established service levels.	100% by March 31, 2010	Status: Met all The Receiver General has met its established service levels 100% of the time.
The integrity of the Consolidated Revenue Fund and the Accounts of Canada is preserved on behalf of Canadians	Number of issues raised based on the public accounts audits with respect to the Consolidated Revenue Fund and the Public Accounts of Canada.	0 by March 31, 2010	Status: Met all No issues were raised with respect to the Consolidated Revenue Fund or the Public Accounts of Canada.

Lessons Learned

To ensure that the operations of the Receiver General remain relevant, effective, efficient and compliant with government policies, PWGSC has increased its audits and independent reviews as part of ongoing management and external oversight.

Considerable emphasis has been placed on a strong governance model, supported by Memoranda of Understanding, to ensure effective service delivery.

4. Information Technology Infrastructure Services

This program activity provides leadership in supporting government-wide IT transformation initiatives. It works closely with client federal organizations to understand and responds to their IT requirements, while delivering secure IT services and solutions. It includes the brokering, developing and/or managing of products and services for distributed computing services, data centre services, telecommunications services and Information Technology Security Services.

Benefits for Canadians

PWGSC provides optional Information Technology (IT) infrastructure services to 130 federal departments and agencies helping them deliver their essential programs and services across the country. These include Telecommunications Networks, Data Centres, Computing and Desktops, and IT Security. So far, Canadians and Canadian businesses have benefited from more than seven million online secure user accounts to access government services through the Secure Channel. Moreover, based on recent departmental forecasts, the Secure Channel authentication service will provide secure access controls for over 25 million transactions in 2010-2011 for some 25 departments and 84 Government of Canada programs.

PWGSC is continuously improving the IT infrastructure throughout the federal government in order to deliver increased cost savings, as well as more secure and enhanced services to Canadians. Through our efforts, Canada has become a recognized leader for its government centres of expertise and best practices for IT infrastructure management.

Major Achievements

ITSB revised the approach to its Government Enterprise Network Services (GENS) initiative. In response to lessons learned from industry consultations, GENS will now constitute a pathfinder implementation of telecommunications services for Human Resources and Skills Development Canada and Citizenship and Immigration Canada. In line with the commitment to service renewal, ITSB will leverage the lessons learned from GENS in the development of future telecommunications services that it offers its client departments and agencies.

We have obtained signed letters of intent from committed pathfinder clients – Human Resources and Skills Development Canada and Citizenship and Immigration Canada. We have received management approvals for the GENS procurement strategy and subsequently posted the GENS Solicitation of Interest and Qualification (SOIQ) on MERX. Evaluation of the GENS SOIQ responses has commenced.

We have developed a Distributed Computing Environment Strategy and action plan, for which we have received Deputy Minister approval. We have also engaged the Department of National Defence in a joint pilot initiative, including a secure workstation solution. We have established a secure remote access pilot at PWGSC and engaged the Canada Revenue Agency to establish a community of practice for desktop virtualization.

We have commenced development of the business case and strategic service delivery roadmap for Desktop Computing Services with a third party and released a Request for Proposal for IT Service Desk services for which the evaluation phase has been completed. The contract phase is anticipated to be completed in 2010-2011. This contract will support PWGSC’s objective of a shared services approach to common desktop services. It will also support the departmental objective of providing capacity for increased collaboration with existing clients and the development of new partnerships with other government departments and agencies. These efforts will aid in overcoming the service renewal challenge faced by PWGSC with regards to engaging client department and agencies.

ITSB continues to implement server and storage virtualization, enabling the reduction of devices while maintaining the original operating environment for business applications. The intended result of this process is reduced power and cooling consumption at data centres. The Data Centre Services Optimization program continues to evaluate and implement actions which make more efficient use of resources and consolidate work to fewer machines. The new Business Data Centre network architecture contributed to improved operational management, service delivery and the overall security of information holdings by integrating industry best practices and security measures into the fundamental design of the data centre. The new design reduces duplication and contains more energy efficient components.

We launched the Data Centre Feasibility Study (DCFS) to determine the best options to improve operational management, service delivery, and the overall security of the government’s data centres and information holdings, while enhancing government’s business continuity services. We completed Track 1 of the DCFS, which produced a number of recommendations to address current urgent data centre problems. Track 2 of the study was launched on January 4, 2010, and is being conducted by a third party with completion anticipated in 2010-2011. Through this major initiative, PWGSC will advance its service renewal commitment of offering more relevant and cost effective services.

2009-2010 Spending — Information Technology Infrastructure Services

Financial Resources (in millions of dollars)	Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending
Gross Expenditures	442.7	414.1	414.0
Less Respendable Revenue	(428.3)	(385.7)	(407.4)
Net Expenditures	14.4	28.4	6.6
The difference between total authorities and actual expenditures in the vote portion is due in part to the reprofiling of $1.5 million for the submission on Data Centre Feasibility Study, and that gross expenditures were also lower than expected due to expenditure restraint measures put in place in the previous year and continued throughout fiscal year 2009-2010. Training, travel, some contracts and purchases were delayed to the next fiscal year. The revolving fund variance of $14.9 million between the Authorities and Actual Expenditures can be explained by the increase in business volume for some products such as: Satellite Services, Government-managed Cabling Services, Network Equipment Maintenance Services, Epass and Perimeter Defence Services, and the expenditure restraint measures put in place.

2009-2010 Human Resources	Planned	Actual	Difference
Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs)*	1,102	1,028	(74)
The difference between planned and actual FTEs is mainly due to the transfer of print centre services (83 positions) from IT Infrastructure Services to Information Management and IT Internal Services. Commencing in the 2009-2010 Estimates cycle, the resources for the Internal Services program activity are displayed separately from other program activities; they are no longer distributed among the remaining program activities, as was the case in previous Main Estimates. This has affected the comparability of spending and FTE information by program activity between fiscal years.

Expected Results	Performance Indicators	Targets	Performance Summary
Federal organizations benefit from reliable shared information technology infrastructure products and services.	Percentage of Service Level Agreements met as a measure of client satisfaction in terms of operational availability.	95% by March 31, 2010	Status: Exceeded For 2009-2010, the percentage of SLAs met was 99.4%.

Lessons Learned

Obtaining and including industry feedback on solicitation has proven to be instrumental in obtaining management approval for the GENS procurement approach and obtaining necessary approvals to post GENS solicitation to MERX.

Early industry consultations have provided significant benefits in helping us to identify potential impacts and determine optimal sourcing strategies to successfully launch new initiatives.

Using an incremental delivery and step-by-step approach has increased the effectiveness of the development of a strategy for the delivery of Desktop Services.

5. Federal Pay and Pension Administration

This program activity administers the government’s pay and pension processes.

Benefits for Canadians

Through our Pay and Pension Services, PWGSC ensures that federal government employees and pensioners are paid accurately and on time.

We administer payroll services for 110 departments, separate employers and other federal organizations, as well as the pension accounts for approximately 231,900 former public servants, 111,400 former members of the Canadian Forces and 1,375 former Members of Parliament and judges. This involves payments of about $27.9 billion annually.

By streamlining the operations through the Pension Transformation Initiative, we expect to generate approximately $29 million annually in government-wide savings. In addition, the Compensation Web Applications, a suite of pay and pension tools provided to government employees through their departmental Web infrastructure, will reduce the use of paper by approximately 155 metric tonnes during 2010-2011.

Major Achievements

In 2009-2010, PWGSC implemented 131 Treasury Board and separate employer collective agreements and updated the pay system as a result of 21 policy changes. Pension operations were not negatively impacted by the additional resources allocated to the pension modernization initiative and the implementation of major transformation components, partly due to PWGSC’s invested efforts in human resources staffing and training.

In 2009-2010, PWGSC added case management and document imaging capabilities to the new pension solution’s client relationship management component. The project also completed the design and development of the new core pension functionality for contributor accounts while ensuring that the Pension Modernization Project remains within 60 days of the planned completion date.

PWGSC successfully centralized two services in 2009-2010: Plan Enrolment and Orientation, bringing the total to eight. Four services remain to be centralized as part of our aim to improve and standardize centralized services in the Public Service Pension Centre.

Through the efforts of the pension data correction projects within PWGSC, the correction of close to 5,500 pension accounts was completed in 2009-2010 to ensure the appropriate pension contributions were credited to the Public Service Pension Fund on behalf of plan members. In addition, 311,078 accounts were corrected to ensure that PWGSC’s legacy systems contain accurate data prior to conversion to the new pension solution.

In 2009-2010, PWGSC completed a business case for the transformation of the government’s pay administration, determined estimated costs and defined project activities, and received project approval. The project, launched in October, conducted a Request for Information procurement process and completed the documentation for a Request for Proposals. Business processes have been reviewed to take full advantage of technology, and a concept of operations has been defined, which will require full collaboration across the public service. As a result, bilateral consultation with a number of departments took place. The goal is to transform the government’s pay administration by increasing automation and self-service while reducing the need for assistance from departmental compensation advisors, as the government will face high attrition rates in the next few years.

Finally, to counter staff turnover, and the loss of experienced staff due to retirements, PWGSC continued to implement aggressive recruitment and retention strategies to ensure sufficient human resource capacity and knowledge. We also established and used succession planning and knowledge transfer strategies to strengthen capacity. As well, we provided a learning program for employees on change management and monitored readiness and acceptance throughout the organization by implementing additional feedback mechanisms.

2009-2010 Spending — Federal Pay and Pension Administration

Financial Resources (in millions of dollars)	Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending
Gross Expenditures	133.6	157.2	154.7
Less Respendable Revenue	(102.0)	(111.1)	(111.1)
Net Expenditures	31.6	46.1	43.6
The variance between the total authorities and actuals is mainly due to recruitment delays, Pay Modernization Project approval obtained later than planned and schedule changes in the Government of Canada Pension Modernization Project.

2009-2010 Human Resources	Planned	Actual	Difference
Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs)*	1,091	1,257	166
The implementation of two Major Crown Projects has resulted in an increase of staff in 2009-2010. Commencing in the 2009-10 Estimates cycle, the resources for the Internal Services program activity are displayed separately from other program activities; they are no longer distributed among the remaining program activities, as was the case in previous Main Estimates. This has affected the comparability of spending and FTE information by program activity between fiscal years.

Expected Results	Performance Indicators	Targets	Performance Summary
The government benefits from reliable central systems and processes for pay and pension administration and expert support through compensation training and advice.	Percentage of pay and pension transactions delivered within established standards.	95.5% by March 31, 2010	Status: Mostly met The percentage of pay and pension transactions were delivered within established standards 94.4% of the time. Ongoing staff turnover, resulting in a shortage of experienced staff and an increase in the number and complexity of pay transactions were contributing factors, along with operational delays due to pension transformation activities.
Pay system reliability.	Number of system operational incidents that affect pay payments.	0 by March 31, 2010	Status: Mostly met Three minor system operational incidents were reported in 2009-2010 that impacted pay payments. Solutions were immediately put in place to address the issues and eliminate any financial impact to employees.
Public Service Superannuation Act and Canadian Forces Superannuation Account annuitants systems reliability.	Number of system operational incidents that affect pension payments.	0 by March 31, 2010	Status: Mostly met One minor system operational incident was reported in 2009-2010 that impacted pension payments. Solutions were immediately put in place to address the issues and eliminate any financial impact to pensioners.

Lessons Learned

Based on best practices learned from other projects, the Pay Modernization Project team worked in collaboration with other Branch partners to ensure that improved procurement processes were put in place to meet objectives.

The Centralization of Pension Services project identified that active stakeholder engagement is essential to the overall success of the project, as well as for the centralization of the remaining services. A comprehensive effort to manage stakeholder engagement was initiated by conducting focus groups; by frequently communicating plans and the vision for each new service; by clearly identifying roles and responsibilities of all parties; and by conducting surveys after centralizing each service.

Learning from the experiences of the pension transformation initiative, PWGSC will undertake a careful consideration of all requests for pay system changes in anticipation of a new pay system; requests will be carefully analyzed and assessed to ensure that the changes result in good value for cost to the taxpayer.

6. Linguistic Management and Services

This program activity reflects the Translation Bureau’s role as the manager of the government’s terminology and linguistic authority mandated with the development, standardization and distribution of Terminology. It also ensures that there is a sustainable, qualified and secure supply of linguistic resources available to support any linguistic requirements of the government and to support Canada’s economic and social agenda. The Translation Bureau is the sole internal linguistic services provider offering federal organizations a broad base of linguistic solutions such as translation, interpretation and terminology. This program is mandated under the Translation Bureau Act.

Benefits for Canadians

PWGSC’s Translation Bureau helps the government communicate high-quality and timely information to Canadians in the two official languages and in over 100 Aboriginal and foreign languages so that all citizens, regardless of their cultural background or language, may access programs and services provided by the federal government.

Its participation in the initiatives of the Roadmap for Canada’s Linguistic Duality will help emphasize the value of linguistic duality among all Canadians; assist Canadian translation and language-technology companies to become increasingly recognized in Canadian and international markets; and provide better opportunities to train the next generation of translators and interpreters.

Major Achievements

Through the Translation Bureau, PWGSC provided quality linguistic services to federal organizations on a cost-recovery basis, thereby allowing them to function in both official languages and in various Aboriginal and foreign languages. In order to provide these quality services, it continued the implementation of its model focussed on closer client relationships. To that end, 77 translators were seconded and 643 translators were assigned as dedicated translators for specific clients. The Bureau also continued with the implementation of an integrated client service strategy through which it negotiated agreements with over 95% of its clients and met agreed-upon deadlines more than 90% of the time.

In addition to translating 1.75 million pages for federal departments and agencies at some 60 points of service across the country, the Translation Bureau also provided translation and interpretation services for 1,720 sessions of the House of Commons, the Senate and parliamentary committees.

In order to meet new requirements for Parliament, the Translation Bureau worked to implement service in Inuktitut in the Senate. It also created a partnership agreement with the National Research Council of Canada (NRCC) on machine translation tools.

In addition, the Translation Bureau is using automated translation tools to increase productivity in order to meet increased demand. Since language technologies are changing rapidly, the Translation Bureau also launched a new horizontal machine translation initiative, thereby consolidating all its current and anticipated machine translation projects and initiatives.

In view of the importance of providing quality services, the Translation Bureau undertook a review of its quality management system. Furthermore, a comparative analysis of Translation Bureau processes against the new translation services standard was completed. Although this standard applies solely to translation service providers in the private sector, the Bureau compares favourably. The Translation Bureau’s expertise also elicited interest from various international organizations, notably during the discussions and round tables organized with the European Commission and the United Nations (UN).

In July 2009, PWGSC’s Canadian Language Sector Enhancement Program ($18 million) solicited project proposals for university scholarships in translation ($8 million) and language industry initiatives ($10 million) to support the government’s official languages strategy, the Roadmap for Canada’s Linguistic Duality 2008-2013: Acting for the Future.

The purpose of the Canadian Language Sector Enhancement Program is to support the training of a skilled workforce and to strengthen the capacity of the language industry through contribution agreements. In total, 13 contribution agreements were signed and announced, which helped post-secondary educational institutions attract more students to their translation and interpretation programs and will promote the training of a skilled workforce and the integration of language technologies.

On an ongoing basis, PWGSC also worked to standardize terminology within the federal government and demonstrate the collective wealth of Canada’s terminology and linguistic knowledge. PWGSC’s Translation Bureau organized and presided over important terminology-related events and participated, as a representative of the Government of Canada, in more than 30 international forums and standardization committees at the national and federal levels. It also helped produce technical specifications for the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) on parameters to be considered before beginning a translation project.

PWGSC also developed the Language Portal of Canada, which was launched online in October 2009. This initiative of the Roadmap for Canada’s Linguistic Duality gives Canadians free access to a wide range of resources and writings tools, including TERMIUM®, the Government of Canada’s terminology and linguistic data bank.

2009-2010 Spending — Linguistic Management and Services

Financial Resources (in millions of dollars)	Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending
Gross Expenditures	298.7	307.7	281.6
Less Respendable Revenue	(228.4)	(228.4)	(216.1)
Net Expenditures	70.3	79.3	65.5
The variance of $13.9 million between total authorities and actuals can be explained as follows: 1) The authorized deficit was $5.1 million but the revolving fund utilized only $1.1 million (unused portion $4 million). Investments had to be reduced or cancelled as a result of revised revenue projections; 2) Contribution payments for the Language Sector Enhancement Program were not paid in full and since some contribution agreements were not signed at year-end, a $0.5 million lapse resulted. Translation Bureau asked and received approval from Treasury Board to reprofile $1.5 million via the 2010-2011 Annual Reference Level Update (ARLU) process; 3) The Special Purpose Allotment’s (SPA) unused balance of $8.2 million can be explained in part by the fact that Translation Bureau had a forced lapse of $3.0 million to cover the obligation of contributing to the Employee Benefit Plans (EBP). Furthermore, expenses were lower than authorities allotted to the Special Purpose Allotment for Translation and Interpretation to Parliament because there was a prorogation of the House of Commons and because the uncertainty of additional permanent funding prevented the implementation of long-term solutions (e.g. hiring) to deliver our services.

2009-2010 Human Resources	Planned	Actual	Difference
Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs)*	1,700	1,746	46
The difference between the planned and actual number of full-time equivalents is explained by an increase in the number of translators recruited to deliver services (which are cost recovered) to departments and agencies versus the target set at the beginning of the fiscal years in order to address current and future operational requirements.

Expected Results	Performance Indicators	Targets	Performance Summary
Canadians have access to quality and bilingual communications from the Government of Canada.	Percentage of sampled communications meeting quality standards.	Quality baseline established by March 31, 2010; First results by March 31, 2011	Status: Data not available The project to develop a methodology for determining the quality of communications within the federal government had to be postponed until next fiscal year because of a change in operational priorities driven by the requirement for translation and interpretation services for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver.
Deliver quality services at a reasonable cost to departments and agencies.	Percentage of clients satisfied with translation services.	Segmentation of sample, survey of Spring 2009 will provide baseline by March 31, 2011	Status: Met all Internal analysis enabled the Translation Bureau to establish the target at 85%. In 2009-2010, a survey was conducted to measure federal departments’ and agencies’ satisfaction with the translation services offered by the Translation Bureau. According to the survey results, the overall rate of client satisfaction stood at 87%.
A generally accepted standardized terminology is used within Government of Canada.	Annual growth rate of searches in TERMIUM (Online linguistic tool).	1% by March 31, 2010	Status: Exceeded The annual rate of increase in the number of searches in TERMIUM®, the federal government’s terminology and linguistic databank, has increased (6.6% as of March 31, 2010). This increase is primarily attributable to the launch of the Language Portal of Canada, which now provides Canadians with free access to a wide range of terminological and linguistic tools and resources, including TERMIUM®.

Lessons Learned

PWGSC will require long-term funding in order to continue providing linguistic services to Parliament and to recruit the highly skilled human resources needed to handle the workload and meet the new operational requirements of this institution. In doing so, it will ensure that Canadians have the best possible access to the work of both Houses of Parliament and parliamentary committees.

To renew its workforce, PWGSC’s Translation Bureau will continue the work it has done over the past several years by offering practicums to university students (University Partnership Program and co-op programs) and continuing to carry out post-secondary recruitment activities and operate its in-house learning program. Specifically regarding the recruitment in interpretation, the Translation Bureau will have to explore new opportunities to address the low rate of graduates in this field.

In addition, in order to manage retirements and address increasing pressure to deliver best value to its clients, PWGSC must be able to adapt to language technologies that are changing rapidly. To overcome these challenges, PWGSC will identify current and anticipated language technology initiatives and incorporate them into its operating procedures to increase productivity and optimize operating costs. To take full advantage of these new technologies, we will need a commitment from all parties.

7. Specialized Programs and Services

This program activity ensures high quality, timely and accessible specialized services and programs to federal institutions in support of sound, prudent and ethical management and operations.

Benefits for Canadians

PWGSC offers a number of specialized programs and services to other federal departments and agencies. These include audit and forensic accounting services, and activities to accelerate the greening of government operations. Services that support the acquisitions functions include Marine Inspection and Technical Services, Shared Travel Services, and the Canadian General Standards Board, which provides expertise and information on standardization, both nationally and internationally. Crown Assets Distribution supports the disposal of surplus moveable assets on behalf of the federal government.

PWGSC also provides management services to other federal government departments and agencies through Government Consulting Services, and Shared Services Integration functions aimed at supporting more effective, efficient and sustainable programs and services to Canadians. We also undertake various activities related to the security of Canada and its government assets in conjunction with various law enforcement agencies. These include such areas as industrial security, forensic accounting and seized property. Finally, to meet Canadians’ information needs regarding government legislation, policies, programs and services, PWGSC provides various access channels—from face-to-face to online—through Government Information Services.

Major Achievements

PWGSC continues to streamline the Audit Services Canada (ASC) Special Operating Agency. Ongoing emphasis was placed on delivering high quality audit and audit-related services by highly qualified audit professionals, and adhering to professionally accepted standards. ASC remains committed to a learning culture and ensuring that audit professionals maintain professional development.

ASC placed special emphasis on promoting awareness of its services, engaging senior PWGSC managers in marketing its services and capabilities.

Financial performance improved in 2009-2010, and the Department is committed to continue this improvement.

PWGSC increased our human resources capacity in the Industrial Security Program (ISP), enabling us to establish a core team of employees to provide support for the Government’s Economic Action Plan through the Accelerated Infrastructure Program (AIP). This included processing Security Requirements Checklists, security clearing contractor organizations and security screening their employees within agreed-upon processing times, despite the delays in implementing system changes to allow for easy identification of AIP screening requests.

PWGSC exceeded its performance target in certain areas through streamlined processes such as using procurement business numbers for security clearances, which eliminated time-consuming steps.

Since April 2009, to support a more robust stakeholder outreach and education program for Industrial Security, PWGSC delivered 60 information sessions to more than 800 companies including 265 Designated Organizations, and provided 1,100 Reliability Status screenings. PWGSC Outreach attended numerous conferences and trade shows and developed and distributed a company Security Officer Guide and an instruction guide on how to complete security clearance forms. Over the year, 1,099 the Controlled Goods Directorate registered organizations were inspected and provided with a detailed overview of the program through direct coaching. Inspection targets were all met for high risk sites and exceeded for medium and low risk sites.

The Industrial Security Program met all targets even though the Program introduced an alternate format for inspections for the Controlled Goods Program to remain within the travel cap. Other efforts to minimize travel had a negative impact on the timeliness of Outreach delivery and also resulted in delays of company security inspections in areas outside the National Capital Region.

Results obtained from client surveys distributed to law enforcement agencies across Canada for the period of April 1^st, 2009 to March 31^st, 2010, demonstrate an overall performance approval rating of 91.8% for the services provided by the Seized Property Management Directorate (SPMD). During this fiscal year the SPMD successfully obtained 90% or more of an asset’s appraised value, 92.9% of the time. The SPMD also mitigated costs for both itself and its partners by promptly disposing of assets under management.

The Department continued to provide high quality and timely forensic accounting services to law enforcement agencies and prosecution services across Canada on criminal investigations with financial components in the areas of white collar crimes, proceeds of crime, commercial crimes, money laundering, securities market frauds, organized crime, illicit drugs, and terrorist financing activities. In 2009-2010, the Forensic Accounting Management Group (FAMG) of the Departmental Oversight Branch provided direct assistance on nearly 35 new criminal investigations across Canada while continuing work on nearly 75 ongoing investigations. Forensic accountants from the organization also testified as expert witnesses in over a dozen court proceedings. The support, services and expert forensic accounting advice provided by FAMG was instrumental in assisting in a number of successful plea bargains or prosecutions.

PWGSC worked closely with other government departments to develop a framework of greening government operations targets, performance measures, and accountabilities in the areas of greenhouse gas emissions reductions, green procurement, sustainable buildings, disposal of electronic waste, managed print, paper consumption and green meetings. For a more comprehensive account of our Sustainable Development Strategy performance, please see http://www.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca/dd-sd/index-eng.html.

PWGSC continued to offer government-wide, automated shared travel services to departments and agencies in order to increase transparency of government travel spending and modernizing operations.

A three-year plan was developed for the Shared Travel Service Initiative. A renewed governance process and extensive consultations were initiated leading to the re-procurement strategy for the outsourced services. A Request for Proposal (RFP) is anticipated by March 2011.

PWGSC reviewed government information services and the program components aligned to it. For example, in April 2009, the Consulting, Information and Shared Services Branch consolidated five of its programs within the newly created Government Information Services (GIS) Sector. This reorganization was part of the Branch’s efforts to improve integration and communications among these five programs; facilitate the identification of synergies; and enable the Sector to speak to central agencies and departments with one voice on government information-related matters. The development of the 2010-2011 Calendar of GIS Events and Activities is one example of integrated synergy within the Sector. The calendar promotes the Sector’s offerings and its lineup of capacity building activities and events on a government-wide basis. In 2009-2010, GIS held 36 information sessions with just over 850 participants.

Challenges with this newly restructured organization included the need to increase employee awareness of all GIS business lines to further facilitate the identification of potential synergies, adopt best practices used within the sector, and ultimately enhance internal capacity. To this end, GIS developed a strategy involving employee information sessions on each of its programs. Information provided included details such as organizational structure, roles and responsibilities, accomplishments, best practices, as well as potential recruitment attributes sought by each of the programs.

PWGSC reviewed its service delivery model for publishing and developed a triennial technology plan in collaboration with ITSB to improve the delivery of government information services programs. A three-year system vision and architecture plan to enhance e-services to Canadians and other international stakeholders was developed. In addition, GIS formalized service delivery agreements with over 700 libraries in Canada and the Library of Congress in the United States PWGSC invested in the acquisition and development of the government publications e-collection to increase access by Canadians to government information in line with the GC Communications Policy.

In June 2009, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat released new Procedures for Planning and Contracting of Public Opinion Research. To help departments adjust to the new planning requirements, the Public Opinion Research Directorate held courses on Government of Canada policy, procedures and standards for public opinion research. The Directorate also developed new reporting tools to track and report on government-wide POR plans and contract values. To improve its reporting function, the Public Opinion Research Directorate and Advertising Coordination and Partnerships Directorate examined the production process for the POR and advertised annual reports. By identifying common elements, a single contract was developed to cover the graphic design of the annual reports, resulting in cost savings. Both Directorates also exchanged resources such as communication tools to harmonize information for intended audiences and shared best practices in the approval process of these reports.

2009-2010 Spending — Specialized Programs and Services

Financial Resources (in millions of dollars)	Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending
Gross Expenditures	184.0	227.9	199.1
Less Respendable Revenue	(96.7)	(118.8)	(99.2)
Net Expenditures	87.3	109.1	99.9
A large portion of the variance between the total authorities and actuals can be explained by the following organizations: The surplus in Consulting, Information and Shared Services is mainly due to higher than anticipated revenues in the Publishing Program, the delay of planned information technology (IT) projects to upgrade business systems and staffing delays. There were also delays and postponements of projects and initiatives for the Exhibitions Program and Industrial Security Program as a result of the spending restriction on travel. Sydney Tar Ponds reprofiled $6.9 million from 2009-2010 to future years. The actual result of Audit Services Canada (ASC) were lower than anticipated due to a reduction in discretionary spending across the government because of the recession, and the loss of business as the result of a shift in client priorities due to expenditure restraints. These external factors had a severe impact on revenues as clients reassessed their auditing needs and therefore ASC could not achieve initially planned profit of $2.882 million and finished the year with an actual deficit of $ 3.978 million. This deficit was covered by Government Consulting Services and the Operating Vote. A favourable variance in Forensic Accounting is attributable to the recovery of additional funds that were not forecasted.

2009-2010 Human Resources	Planned	Actual	Difference
Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs)*	1,338	981	(357)
Commencing in the 2009-2010 Estimates cycle, the resources for the Internal Services program activity are displayed separately from other program activities; they are no longer distributed among the remaining program activities, as was the case in previous Main Estimates. This has affected the comparability of spending and FTE information by program activity between fiscal years.

Expected Results	Performance Indicators	Targets	Performance Summary
Federal organizations have access to quality services to improve the management, delivery and safeguard of selected government operations and/or assets while minimizing their impact on the environment.	Percentage of clients satisfied with quality of services.	85% by March 31, 2012	Status: Mostly Met Results: 83.75% Results were calculated using data available from two of sub activities that report on client satisfaction under this Program Activity. PWGSC is moving towards the adoption of service standards to replace client satisfaction as a preferred means of assessing performance.
Classified/protected Government of Canada information and assets are safeguarded, and controlled goods are protected while in the custody of private sector companies.	Percentage of industrial security services delivered within established service standards.	80% by March 31, 2010	Status: Exceeded At 81.69%, PWGSC exceeded the targeted level of performance on this priority. Efforts that commenced this year to strengthen the capacity of the Industrial Security Program and streamline processes are expected to lead to improved service delivery.
Federal organizations receive audit services that meet their needs.	Percentage of clients indicating that audit services meet their needs (quality, timeliness and value of service).	85% by March 31, 2010	Status: Met all (100%)
Federal organizations obtain the best value for seized property declared forfeited by the Courts.	Percentage of time when 90% of appraised asset value is achieved.	90% by March 31, 2010	Status: Exceeded Results: 92.9%
Secure Channel Network based travel services and travel information is available to federal workers and program managers.	Percentage of time that services are available.	99% by March 31, 2010	Status: Exceeded Results: 99.5% 87.5% of information services were delivered within the established performance target of 85%.
Canadians have access to centralized Government of Canada information and federal organizations receive advice to improve delivery of selected Government of Canada communications activities.	Percentage of information services that are delivered within established performance standards.	85% by March 31, 2010	Status: Exceeded At 87.5%, PWGSC exceeded the expected level of performance on seven of the eight indicators. For the eighth indicator, GIS reached 96% of the stated target (*achieved 430,368 instead of the target of 450,000).

Lessons Learned

Client engagement and long-term planning are important when developing strategies to provide best value and quality, integrated services to departments, agencies and other stakeholders.

8. Procurement Ombudsman

This program activity, operating at an arms length from government, reviews procurement practices across federal departments and agencies, investigates complaints from potential suppliers with respect to awards of contracts for goods and services below certain thresholds, and complaints concerning the administration of contracts; and ensures the provision of an alternative dispute resolution program for contracts. This activity helps to promote fairness and transparency of the procurement process.

Benefits for Canadians

In accordance with the Federal Accountability Act, the Department of Public Works and Government Services Act was amended to create the position of the Procurement Ombudsman, which was filled in May 2008. The activities of the Procurement Ombudsman benefit Canadians by: improving fairness, openness and transparency in the federal procurement process; promoting the simplification of procurement processes and making it easier for Canadian businesses to provide products and services to government; and improving knowledge and understanding by Canadian suppliers of the federal procurement process.

Major Achievements

The Office of the Procurement Ombudsman’s 2009-2010 Annual Report was submitted to the Minister, Public Works and Government Services Canada on May 25, 2010. This year’s Annual Report was the first one submitted following a complete year of operation for the office. The Report supplied Parliamentarians and Canadians with information on the mandate and objectives of the Office as well as the results of its work and other accomplishments throughout the 2009-2010 fiscal year.

The Office responded to 519 inquiries in 2009-2010, an increase of 46 percent over the previous year. Only 33 percent of the 519 contacts were nonprocurement related. Specifically, 347 of the 519 inquiries were procurement-related. Concerning the procurement-related complaints, 74 percent were about contract awards while the remaining 26 percent of the complaints were on contract administration. Initially, the Office used informal means to resolve complaints from suppliers. When informal means do not succeed, the Office uses the process set out in the Procurement Ombudsman Regulations. This year, two formal investigations on contract awards were completed and three investigations were ongoing at year-end. There were no formal investigations of contract administration complaints.

Three options for Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) services are offered by the Office. The services offered are facilitation, mediation and neutral evaluation. In 2009, over 35 presentations to various departments and agencies of the government were made with a specific focus on how ADR could help them in a contractual dispute. Two ADR cases were closed this year, and several new cases for ADR services were initiated, an increase over 2008-2009.

In 2009-2010 the Office conducted six reviews involving 26 departments in:

• Construction Contract Amendments
• Departmental Verification of Suppliers’ Records to Validate Contract Payments
• Procurement Strategies (Bid Evaluation and Selection Methods)
• Environment Canada – Review of Procurement Practices Related to Management Consulting and Other Professional Services
• Methods of Supply (Standing Offers and Supply Arrangements)
• A Management Approach to Vendor Performance

The last two procurement practice reviews identified above were conducted as studies. Unlike our standard reviews, studies do not involve detailed examination of individual procurement files and are similar to a research project.

The Office Procurement Practices Reviews identified areas for improvement as well as good initiatives and best practices.

This year, we focused our outreach on both government and supplier communities. The Procurement Ombudsman made presentations on more than thirty occasions, at a variety of industry and procurement-related conferences. The Ombudsman met with national procurement associations, industry associations, other ombudsman offices and regional offices of government departments to discuss areas of interest. The Office also hosted international delegations from Kenya, Ukraine, and China. Our outreach program includes a Web site and written media such as our corporate brochure and annual report. We also produced articles for specialized magazines.

2009-2010 Spending — Procurement Ombudsman

Financial Resources (in millions of dollars)	Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending
Gross Expenditures	4.3	4.7	4.0
Less Respendable Revenue	—	—	—
Net Expenditures	4.3	4.7	4.0
The difference between total authorities and actual expenditures is due to Information Technology expenditures which were lower than anticipated; the delays in the Public Opinion Research project as well as in the staffing process.

2009-2010 Human Resources	Planned	Actual	Difference
Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs)*	14	23.5	9.5
The difference between planned and actual expenditures is mainly due to an error in the planned FTEs reported in the 2009-2010 Report on Plans and Priorities. The planned FTEs for 2009-2010 should have been displayed as 28, which compared against actuals would have yielded a difference of 4.5 FTEs, instead of 9.5.

Expected Results	Performance Indicators	Targets	Performance Summary
The Procurement Ombudsman will increase the confidence of Canadians in federal procurement by communicating with supplier and procurement communities to enhance knowledge and understanding of federal procurement and by publishing an annual report which outlines Procurement Ombudsman activities and findings related to practices, reviews, inquiries and investigations and Alternative Dispute Resolution.	Percentage of suppliers whose confidence in federal procurement has increased.	90% by March 31, 2012	Status: Data not available Survey is expected to be completed by March 2011.
	Percentage of Procurement Officials who recognize that the Procurement Ombudsman’s efforts have resulted in an increase in procurement community professionalism (training, tools, knowledge of best practices).	90% by March 31, 2012	Status: Data not available Survey is expected to be completed by March 2011. Preliminary feedback received from the procurement community indicates that they read the procurement practices review reports and implement best practices from other government departments in their own department when applicable. A formal follow-up on 2008-2009 recommendations should confirm an increase in procurement community professionalism.
	Percentage of senior officials and parliamentarians attesting to the usefulness of the Procurement Ombudsman Report to Parliament in helping them arrive at a meaningful assessment of the performance of the federal procurement process.	90% by March 31, 2012	Status: Data not available Survey is expected to be completed by March 2011. Preliminary feedback received from parliamentarians indicates that they find the Procurement Ombudsman Annual Report useful to them.
	Percentage of suppliers attesting to the simplification of the procurement process and reduction of paper burden.	90% by March 31, 2012	Status: Data not available Survey is expected to be completed by March 2011.

Lessons Learned

The Office’s collegial approach to procurement disputes has been very well received, and the results are impressive. Most of the complaints brought to us have been resolved without our resorting to detailed investigations, saving time and effort on the part of both suppliers and government officials.

We are greatly encouraged by the results of our efforts. Formal follow-up on recommendations normally occurs after two years, but informal inquiries indicate that stakeholders have found our interventions to be very helpful and significant actions have already been taken on recommendations made to departments and agencies. However, improvements are needed in some areas in order to strengthen the confidence of Canadians in public procurement. For example, in our work this year, we noted two recurring problems that have existed for a long time but now require the immediate attention of senior government officials: incomplete file documentation and poor communication between the government and the supplier community. Both impede the transparency of the federal government procurement processes. More information on these topics and on the accomplishments of the Office of the Procurement Ombudsman can be found in the Procurement Ombudsman Annual Report available at: http://opo-boa.gc.ca/.

The Office of the Procurement Ombudsman will continue to work with all the procurement stakeholders namely government officials, suppliers and Parliamentarians in order to further improve the fairness, openness and transparency of the federal procurement.

9. Internal Services

Internal Services are groups of related activities and resources that are administered to support the needs of programs and other corporate obligations of an organization. Internal Services include only those activities and resources that apply across an organization and not those provided specifically to a program.

Major Achievements

PWGSC has continued to advance its human resources agenda. In 2009-2010, PWGSC’s recruitment efforts were very successful and the department met ambitious targets for student employment. PWGSC is currently implementing its Framework for the Development of Leadership and Management Excellence, which supports leadership at all levels. Service standards have been established and implemented in the areas of classification, compensation and staffing to ensure efficient service delivery. For instance, we have eliminated the compensation backlog and have improved the timeliness of our services, processing over 100,000 transactions per year. The department has also continued to engage employees through increased communications, including employee roundtable discussions with senior management focussing on priorities from the 2008 Public Service Employee Survey.

High quality internal audits and evaluations were delivered as reflected by the strong Management Accountability Framework rating for both functions. Management action plans were developed to respond to the recommendations in these reports and their implementation is being tracked. The 2009-2010 Annual Assurance Report provides a summary of lessons learned from this year’s internal audits and evaluations that can be used to enhance the probity and transparency of PWGSC operations.

PWGSC provided conflict management services where requested to support dispute resolution, and delivered fairness monitoring services, assuring that significant, complex or sensitive departmental activities were carried out fairly, openly, and transparently.

PWGSC continued to advance a new SIGMA-SAP financial system and delivered critical statutory reporting for 2009-2010 within the prescribed Treasury Board and Receiver General timelines and quality expectations. In addition, it introduced new automated financial controls and training courses to meet the needs of PWGSC users. From a technical perspective, the Finance Branch successfully developed, tested and delivered SIGMA functionality changes in one major and two minor releases. It also revitalized SIGMA governance to meet departmental priorities and strengthen financial reporting.

To support better business decisions, PWGSC strengthened budget management discipline via enhanced monthly financial monitoring, a renewed budget management framework, and stronger accountabilities. Similarly, PWGSC made significant progress in the development of a Departmental Integrated Investment Plan and an Information Technology Investment Plan that are designed to enhance the financial management of PWGSC’s procurement and capital funds.

The 2009-2010 CFO Model Plan projects were advanced in accordance with the PWGSC rollout strategy. Significant enhancements were made in the areas of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting and the renewal of the departmental Financial Management Framework. In alignment with the CFO accountabilities and in support of the Deputy Minister as Accounting Officer, the modernization of the Finance Branch organization structure (Phase 1) was also completed.

These efforts reinforce budget management excellence and provide assurance that the management of public funds is supported by effective financial planning, budgeting, monitoring and reporting, and is based on sound analysis and reliable information. In addition, clear accountabilities and incentives promote resource optimization and alignment to priorities.

Furthermore, progress was made on the alignment of Financial Management Policy Framework (FMPF) to the recently approved TB core policies and the associated guidelines and policy instruments.

2009-2010 Spending — Internal Services

Financial Resources (in millions of dollars)	Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending
Gross Expenditures	392.2	491.8	461.2
Less Respendable Revenue	(122.6)	(138.7)	(138.7)
Net Expenditures	269.6	353.1	322.5
The variance between the total authorities and actuals in the various internal services organizations is mainly attributable to delays in staffing and delays to projects due to time constraints. Also, as the department is highly dependant on revenue, contingencies were established to mitigate potential risk and these were not required.

2009-2010 Human Resources	Planned	Actual	Difference
Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs)*	1,338	981	(357)
To calculate FTEs for this program activity, a pro-rata formula was used which yielded 2,347 planned FTEs for Internal Services for 2009-2010. This figure served as a baseline for planned FTEs in RPP 2009-2010. For RPP 2010-2011, a new methodology was used which more accurately calculated 3,032 planned FTEs for 2010-2011. Had this new methodology been used in RPP 2009-2010, slightly more than 3,000 planned FTEs would have been reported for 2009-2010, resulting in a significantly smaller difference than the one reported. Fluctuations in FTEs do not necessarily align with fluctuations in spending due to variances in program demand. Commencing in the 2009-2010 Estimates cycle, the resources for the Internal Services program activity are displayed separately from other program activities; they are no longer distributed among the remaining program activities, as was the case in previous Main Estimates. This has affected the comparability of spending and FTE information by program activity between fiscal years.

Lessons Learned

PWGSC results in the Treasury Board Secretariat’s annual Management Accountability Framework (MAF) assessment process demonstrate the progress that can be made in improving the management fundamentals of a large diverse and complex organization, when a sustained commitment on the part of the senior management is brought to bear.

As a result of the introduction of performance standards in human resources management, we have been able to improve our efficiency and effectiveness by reducing duplication and wait times for staffing actions and compensation payments. In the area of finance, the focus on improving management fundamentals has resulted in better financial information sharing. Challenges still exist in forecasting, and the department has taken steps to address the situation by initiating a review. Our adherence to the new TB Evaluation policy Framework as well as the Audit Framework has also helped to maintain and improve our work on these areas.

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