ARCHIVED - RPP 2006-2007
Canada Industrial Relations Board

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SECTION III – Plans and Priorities

3.1 Summary

The main strategic outcome of the Board, already stated earlier, is to contribute to and promote a harmonious industrial relations climate in the federally regulated sector through the impartial, effective and appropriate administration of the rules of conduct that govern labour and management in their representational and bargaining activities. In achieving this strategic outcome, the CIRB provides effective industrial relations solutions for the Canadian labour relations community in a fair and timely manner.

Public transparency of and accountability for decision-making has always been a priority of the Board in attaining its goal, and will remain so. However, the foremost priority for the Board in the upcoming years will be to improve upon the timeliness of its decisions, and in particular, to significantly reduce the number of backlog cases that has persisted over the last few years.

To deliver on this priority, the Board will continue to focus its efforts on reviewing the broad issues of current organizational effectiveness, and in particular, its operational processes, in delivering its services. The aim of these reviews is to simplify and/or shorten case processing measures in order to increase the number of matters that can be disposed of with a given adjudicative capacity.

The activities that the CIRB will undertake in the next few years in support of its strategic outcome and to meet its priority are varied.

3.2 Program Priorities

A number of process review activities have been, or will be, undertaken to assess whether the CIRB's internal case management procedures are as efficient as they can be, and to uncover any improvements that can be adopted with the goal of reducing the total processing time of cases. Processing time is essentially composed of two parts: the time it takes the Board's staff to open, investigate, mediate and prepare a file to be given to a Vice-Chairperson or panel for decision; and the time it takes the Vice-Chairperson or panel to render a decision.

The Board will be completing the restructuring of the Case Management Secretariat that began last year in order to gain operational effenciencies, and will then concentrate its efforts on improving the processing of three types of cases: applications for certification, duty of fair representation complaints and applications for reconsideration. The reason these particular types of cases were selected for review is that they represent a large portion of the CIRB's workload (more than one-third) and are matters that have significant potential for industrial relations problems if there is a delay in their resolution.

Applications for Certification

Following consultations with major client groups and stakeholders, the CIRB established a committee in 2004-05 to review its case processing practices with respect to certification applications and to recommend ways in which the Board could expedite the disposition of these matters. New procedures were developed and tested as a pilot project in late 2004-05, and the new procedures were refined and adopted in early 2005-06. The main objective of the new procedures is to process and dispose standard certification applications (those that do not include abnormal situations involving complex issues of law or jurisdiction) in 50 days. By comparison, the processing time for certification applications for the 2000-01 to 2004-05 five fiscal years averaged 179 days.

The CIRB is now at the stage of monitoring the effectiveness of the new measures and looking at making any final adjustments where required in order to meet the objective. While it is still too early to accurately determine the efficacy of the new measures, information available to date indicates that the processing time for certification applications received since the new measures were implemented has been dramatically reduced to an average of 54 days.

Duty of Fair Representation Complaints

Duty of fair representation (DFR) complaints – complaints by union members against their union, or its representatives, for neglecting to properly represent them with respect to their rights under the collective agreement – continue to comprise a significant percentage of the CIRB's caseload. More than 20% of the Board's matters in 2005-06 were related to this type of case, a percentage that is equally representative of the average over the last five fiscal years.

In addition to comprising a significant percentage of the CIRB's workload, DFR complaints are also among the lengthiest to process. Not because they take so much time to process per se, but because they are usually deferred in favour of more urgent matters, as mentioned previously, unless they involve serious disciplinary measures against the complainant. Any measure that would reduce the processing time would not only be welcomed by the client, but would also have a significant impact on the CIRB's overall performance. Furthermore, since DFR complaints are more likely to be deferred than other types of matters, they represent an ever-increasing percentage of backlog cases – from 17.5% in 2000-01 to 37% in 2005-06.

As a result, the CIRB created a DFR Process Review Committee, which looked at various best practices used by provincial labour tribunals as well as other measures that could simplify and reduce the paper burden associated with these complaints, which in turn should shorten the length of their disposition. Recommendations and new processing procedures were discussed with the Client Consultation Committee and have only been recently implemented. The next steps, similar to those in the new certification procedures, are to closely monitor the effectiveness of the new measures and to make adjustments where warranted.

Reconsiderations

Applications for the reconsideration of prior Board decisions represent another significant portion of the CIRB's workload. Approximately 7% of its average caseload over the last few years involves this type of matter, and regrettably, the Board is even receiving an increasing number of applications for the reconsideration of matters that have already been reconsidered. Many of the applications simply seek an appeal to an earlier decision, without providing any additional facts or grounds to support the demand and thereby delay the implementation of prior Board decisions. The Regulations are quite clear on the reasons for requesting a reconsideration of Board decisions, and the CIRB needs to find ways to quickly dismiss applications that to not meet some minimum conditions, or that are clearly without merit. Towards this end, the Board plans to initiate a review process of reconsideration applications and disposition by mid-2006.

Client Consultations

Formal and informal consultations with clients have always been important for the CIRB and have been particularly useful in recent years. A client consultation workgroup was formed in 2004-05 to develop a more structured, regular and broader approach to consulting with our client base. A Terms of Reference document was prepared and a number of client consultation activities were held and more are planned for the near future. In particular, client consultations contribute to the specific case management process reviews previously mentioned (certification applications and duty of fair representation complaints) and led to the production of a set of recommendations on Board Member appointment procedures. The Client Consultation Committee is now looking at various other possibilities to meet the Board's priority of reducing the number of backlog cases and will provide options in the new fiscal year.

3.3 Other Supporting Activities

In addition to the main activities highlighted above, the CIRB is, or will be, involved in a number of other activities in support of its mandate.

Mediation

The CIRB must endeavour to increase and broaden its mediation and alternative dispute resolution services to employers, unions, and employees. The use of mediation in the case of unfair labour practice matters has resulted in the resolution of 55 to 65% of complaints disposed by the Board without the need for a costly hearing or a written decision. Furthermore, the processing time for adjudicated solutions tends to be significantly higher than for mediated solutions. More importantly, however, the Board firmly believes that a solution worked out by the concerned parties, even if assisted by a third party, is infinitely better than any imposed solution.

Information Circulars/Practice Notes

One of the major outcomes of previous discussions with major client groups was a broad agreement on the development of information circulars or practice notes. The purpose of practice notes and information circulars is to help communicate to its clients and to the public the Board's procedures and practices in relation to the Code and the Regulations adopted by the Board in December of 2001. In essence, practice notes or information circulars are meant to increase the accessibility and transparency of Board processes by providing common language instructions respecting the interpretation and application of the Code and Regulations. It is expected that these will make the Board's processes easier for clients to understand and manage, and ensure that the substance of matters can be more easily and quickly addressed. They are also expected to allow pre-hearing procedures to continue to reduce the actual time required in the hearing process by ensuring that pre-hearing information discovery processes are as effective as possible and that preparation for all matters scheduled for hearing is as complete as possible. The development of information circulars or practice notes will be an ongoing process.

Videoconferencing

The Board installed videoconferencing facilities in all of its offices across Canada in late 2002-03. To date, we have essentially used this capability for internal purposes, as we get acquainted with the efficient use of the technology. Videoconferencing has also been used in a limited fashion for a small number of selected external proceedings, but without conclusive results. In the coming years, however, the Board is looking at expanding its videoconferencing capacity with regard to external proceedings, thereby making the Board more accessible to its clients while at the same time expediting Board processes, reducing time lost in travel and its associated costs, and allowing time-sensitive matters to be more rapidly scheduled and heard.

Information Technology

Our plans and efforts to improve overall effectiveness and to meet the goals of the Government On-Line initiative include improvements to the Board's information technology apparatus. In this respect, the Board has launched an internal initiative to improve the way we manage and share information, and to communicate more effectively in order to better serve our clients.

The main elements of this initiative are:

• the complete renewal of the Case Management Information Retrieval System (CMIR), the Board's core business system, to replace the existing obsolete system;
• the implementation of secure remote access (SRA) to Board systems and databases, thereby allowing Board members to continue working during extensive periods of travel;
• the continued development of the Board's Internet site in order to provide clients with an increasing range of pertinent information and online services.

3.4 Management Priorities

Modern Management Agenda

The Board has actively embarked on a number of modern management initiatives, sponsored by the Treasury Board, in order to ensure that it applies the best possible management practices and governance to its operations. Assessment activities have been conducted in recent years under the auspices of the Modern Comptrollership, Internal Audit and Management Accountability Framework initiatives. Resulting action plans have been developed, and all of the planned activities noted above fit within, and are an integral part of, the Board's Management Accountability Framework strategy.

Another modern management activity that the Board will undertake in the upcoming fiscal year is to finalize the implementation of a revamped business and operational planning cycle. The objectives of the new planning cycle are to thoroughly review the Board's strategic plan, to tightly knit operational plans to the goals of the strategic plan and to foster an improved mutual understanding of the CIRB's direction between its staff, management and Board members.

Human Resources

The CIRB has a number of strategic priorities with regard to human resources. These are to develop and implement a human resources planning strategy which will integrate with business planning; a Classification Monitoring System in order to meet the requirements of the Management Accountability Framework; and a policy in response to the new Learning Policy produced by the Treasury Board Secretariat that came into effect on January 1, 2006.

SECTION IV – Supplementary Information

4.1 Organizational Inforamtion

Accountability

* The Canada Industrial Relations Board is an agency operating under the Minister of Labour's portfolio.

Information on Board members can be found at: http://www.cirb-ccri.gc.ca/about/index_e.asp

To Contact the Board

Toll-free: 1-800-575-9696
People who use TTY should place calls with the assistance of a Bell Relay Service operator at: 1-800-267-6511
E-mail: info@cirb-ccri.gc.ca
Web Site: http://www.cirb-ccri.gc.ca

Further information on how to contact the regional offices can be found at: http://www.cirb-ccri.gc.ca/contact/index_e.asp

4.2 Financial Information

Table 1: Departmental Planned Spending and Full Time Equivalents (FTE)

($ thousands)	Forecast Spending 2005-2006	Planned Spending 2006-2007	Planned Spending 2007-2008	Planned Spending 2008-2009
Administration and interpretation of Part I (Industrial Relations) and certain provisions of Part II (Occupational Health and Safety) of the Canada Labour Code	11,906	12,396	12,396	12,396
Total Main Estimates*	11,906	12,396	12,396	12,396
Adjustments:
Governor General Special Warrant:
Operating budget carry-forward	296
Compensation for collective agreements	404
Employee Benefit Plan	81
Budget Announcement:
Planned procurement savings	-10	-10
Total Adjustments	771	-30

Total Planned Spending

12,677

12,366

12,396

12,396

---

Total Planned Spending	12,677	12,366	12,396	12,396
Plus: Cost of services received without charge	2,784	2,941	2,954	2,859
Total Departmental Spending	15,461	15,307	15,350	15,255

Full Time Equivalents	103	117	117	117

* The total Main Estimates for 2006-2007 and future years is approximately 490 thousand dollars more than last year. These differences are to cover for the eligible expenditure requirements for the increase of salaries under several collective agreements, which, for 2005-2006 are identified under the heading "Adjustments."

Table 2: Resource by Program Activity

2006-2007
($ thousands)	Budgetary
Program Activity	Operating	Total Main Estimates	Adjustments (Planned Spending not in Main Estimates)	Total Planned Spending
Administration and interpretation of Part I (Industrial Relations) and certain provisions of Part II (Occupational Health and Safety) of the Canada Labour Code	12,396	12,396	-30	12,366
Total	12,396	12,396	-30	12,366

Table 3: Voted and Statutory Items

2006-2007
Vote or Statutory Item ($ thousands)		2006-2007 Main Estimates	2005-2006 Main Estimates
10	Operating expenditures	10,822	10,344
(S)	Contributions to employee benefit plans	1,574	1,562
	Total Department*	12,396	11,906

* The total Main Estimates for 2006-2007 is approximately 490 thousand dollars more than last year. This discrepancy is mainly explained by the fact that the amount received to offset the supplementary costs related to collective agreements signed between June 1, 2004 and July 31, 2005, is now part of the Main Estimates, while in 2005-2006 this amount figured under the heading "Adjustments" in table 1.

Table 4: Services Received Without Charge

($ thousands)	2006-2007
Accommodation provided by Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC)	2,318,715
Contributions covering employers' share of employees' insurance premiums and expenditures paid by Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (excluding revolving funds)	621,450
Salary and associated expenditures of legal services provided by the Department of Justice Canada	416
Total 2006-2007 Services received without charge	2,940,581

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