ARCHIVED - Audit of the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat's Management Control Framework of the Public Service Pension Plan

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Appendix 3—Management Action Plan

Recommendation 1:

It is recommended that the Secretariat continue to formally define its roles and responsibilities, with particular emphasis on the Secretariat's oversight and financial advisory roles. Specifically:

1. The Secretariat should develop a formal definition of its oversight role over the Public Service Pension Plan and/or over the organizations that support this plan. Once approved, the definition should be communicated to the appropriate stakeholders. Priority ranking: High
2. The Secretariat should clarify the appropriate financial advisory roles within the Secretariat to ensure that appropriate financial advice is provided to support the Secretary's approval of the pension plan's financial statements. Priority ranking: High

Management Action	Completion Date	Office of Primary Interest (OPI)
The Secretariat agrees with the recommendation and will proceed to develop a formal definition of its oversight role with respect to the Public Service Pension Plan. The action plan to address this recommendation is as follows: The Corporate Services Sector, with the support of the Office of the Comptroller General and the Pensions and Benefits Sector, will undertake a formal review of the governance structure of the Public Service Pension Plan with particular focus on the oversight and financial advisory roles. This review will clarify and document the Secretariat's oversight role related to the Public Service Pension Plan. (Recommendation 1 a.) The review will also clarify the financial advisory roles within the Secretariat related to the Secretary's approval of the pension plan's financial statements. (Recommendation 1 b.) The Corporate Services Sector will submit a formal report to the Secretary by December 31, 2012, on the Secretariat's roles and responsibilities related to the governance of the Public Service Pension Plan. An interim report will be submitted to the Secretary by June 30, 2012.	December 2012	Corporate Services Sector

Recommendation 2:

It is recommended that the Assistant Deputy Minister, Pensions and Benefits Sector, address the following operational issues:

1. Ensure that a responsible manager and a schedule are assigned to each of the mitigation strategies identified in the Pensions and Benefits Sector Business Plan for 2011–14. Priority ranking: High
2. Develop succession plans for key positions at levels below the senior management team. Priority ranking: Medium
3. Develop a training and development road map. Priority ranking: Medium
4. Approve, resource and assign responsibility for implementing the methods and tools identified in the Knowledge Transfer and Succession Planning presentation. Priority ranking: Medium

Management Action	Completion Date	Office of Primary Interest (OPI)
To address the first of the four recommendations: Develop and monitor an action plan for the mitigation strategies identified in the Pensions and Benefits Sector Business Plan on a yearly basis. Establish responsible managers, deliverables and timelines for all mitigation strategies. Conduct a review of the progress of the mitigation strategies with the Sector's management team at the middle and end of the fiscal year.	March 2012	Pensions and Benefits Sector
To jointly address the last three recommendations: Draw on available resources and assign responsibility within the Pensions and Benefits Sector to: Implement the draft “Knowledge Transfer and Succession Planning” proposal. Develop a list of proposed training by type and level of position within the pensions area of the Pensions and Benefits Sector, and use it when developing employees' performance management agreements. Develop a succession plan for senior analysts in the Sector. Consider staffing approaches that would respond to the Sector's unique skill requirements.	March 2012	Pensions and Benefits Sector

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Footnotes

[1]. Source: Report on the Public Service Pension Plan for the Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2010.

[2]. Other organizations, such as the Department of Finance Canada and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board Nominating Committee, also support the plan, but their involvement is on an intermittent or as-required basis.

[3]. The original name of the audit in the Risk-Based Audit Plan was “Audit of Governance of the Public Service Pension Plan.” The name was changed following work done during the preliminary survey phase to better reflect the focus of the audit. The new name also recognizes the Secretariat's shared rather than overall responsibility for governance of the plan.

[4]. Stakeholders' understanding of these roles and responsibilities is included in this assertion and is reflected in the audit program procedures.

[5]. Retirement Compensation Arrangements Regulations (RCA) No. 1 and No. 2 were established under the Special Retirement Arrangements Act to provide supplementary pension benefits to employees. RCA 1 provides for benefits in excess of those permitted under the Income Tax Act, and RCA 2 provides pension benefits to employees declared surplus under a specific program that ended in 1998.

[6]. The pension enabling legislation examined was the Public Service Superannuation Act, the Public Pensions Reporting Act and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board Act.

[7]. The Treasury Board policy that was examined was the Policy on the Administration of the Public Service Pension Plan and Group Insurance and Other Benefit Programs.

[8]. They are also signed by the Deputy Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada.

[9]. The Chief Human Resources Officer, the Comptroller General of Canada and the Assistant Deputy Minister, Pensions and Benefits Sector, approve the financial statements prior to the Secretary's sign-off. Independently from this approval, the Office of the Auditor General of Canada audits the financial statements each year for the purpose of providing an audit opinion.

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