Departmental Performance Report 2015–2016

Minister's Message

As the Minister responsible for the Canada School of Public Service (the School), I am pleased to present the School's 2015–16 Departmental Performance Report.

The Government of Canada is committed to developing new, simplified and more effective reporting processes that will allow Parliament and Canadians to monitor our Government's progress on delivering real change for Canadians. This year's Departmental Performance Report will be the final submission using the existing reporting framework. In the future, the School's reports to Parliament will focus with greater openness and clarity on how we are using our resources to deliver on our priorities, which were outlined in the Prime Minister's mandate letter to me.

The School has a key role in implementing a new government-wide approach to learning and establishing a culture of learning within the federal public service. The School's broad range of learning opportunities provide public service employees in all regions with knowledge and skills that are common across federal organizations. In this role, the School supports and delivers on a key element of my mandate: to develop a high-performing workforce equipped to deliver better services for Canadians.

The School will build on the progress made in 2015–16 as it enters its third and final year of transformation to its new business model. Through this transformation, the School has modernized its curriculum, delivery of learning and business operations. Public service-wide learning was delivered via the School's online learning platform, GCcampus, which is accessible anytime, from anywhere, and features online courses, videos and seminars. The School also worked to promote a connected and open culture of learning in the public service by partnering and collaborating with communities across government and with academia and the private sector.

Over the course of the past year, the School has delivered learning services in response to new and emerging priorities such as

• promoting a public service culture of results and delivery;
• supporting respect and wellness in the workplace with a focus on mental health;
• promoting awareness of and supporting strengthened relations with Indigenous Peoples; and
• strengthening policy development and implementation within the public service.

The School is now, more than ever, uniquely positioned to support the Government of Canada's agenda. The new government-wide approach to learning is already contributing to a more engaged, up-to-date, innovative and agile public service capable of performing to the highest standards in serving Canadians with excellence.

The School will continue to advance its learning products and services to ensure they are relevant and accessible across Canada, reflect upcoming changes to Treasury Board policies and directives, respond to new and emerging priorities and support public service employees in delivering better services for all Canadians.

For the latest information on the School's corporate planning and reporting, including the 2016–17 Report on Plans and Priorities, please visit the School's website at www.myschool-monecole.gc.ca.

Results Highlights

Section I: Organizational Overview

Organizational Profile

Year of Incorporation / Commencement: 2004

Organizational Context

Raison d'être

The Canada School of Public Service (the School) is the common learning service provider for the Public Service of Canada. The School has a legislative mandate to provide a range of learning activities to build individual and organizational capacity and management excellence within the public service.

The School has one strategic outcome: Federal public service have the common knowledge, skills and competencies to fulfil their responsibilities in serving Canadians.

Responsibilities

Established on April 1, 2004, under the Public Service Modernization Act and operating under the authority of the Canada School of Public Service Act (CSPS Act), the School's primary responsibility is to provide a range of learning opportunities and develop a learning culture within the public service.

The School is mandated under the CSPS Act to

• encourage pride and excellence in the public service;
• foster a common sense of purpose, values and traditions in the public service;
• support deputy heads in meeting the learning needs of their organizations; and
• pursue excellence in public management and administration.

The School supports deputy head accountabilities with respect to leadership and professional development across the public service by identifying common organizational needs and designing and delivering high-quality, practical learning that addresses the key developmental requirements of public service employees.

Strategic Outcome and Program Alignment Architecture

The School's Program Alignment Architecture Crosswalk

Effective since April 1, 2015, the School is operating with a new Program Alignment Architecture, which reflects both its mandate and new learning delivery model to provide common, whole-of-government learning to the federal public service. The former three programs – Foundational Learning, Organizational Leadership Development, and Public Service Management Innovation – were merged into one new program called "Learning Services."

Operating Environment and Risk Analysis

Key Risks

In addressing key risks in 2015–16, the School continued to build on strategic partnerships with stakeholders across government. Through consultations and collaboration with central agencies and client organizations, the School developed a better understanding of client needs, sought their input into modernizing the curriculum and ensured that the School had both the capacity and information technology (IT) infrastructure to complete the transformation.

Organizational Priorities

Name of Priority: Revitalized curriculum

Description: A modernized, common curriculum supports government priorities and provides public service employees with the skills and knowledge they need to deliver results for Canadians.

Priority Type^Footnote5: Ongoing

Key Supporting Initiatives

Name of Priority: Modernized delivery of learning activities and management of learners

Description: The federal public service of today and tomorrow must be increasingly nimble, engaged, and responsive to new and emerging government priorities and the evolving needs of Canadians. To help meet this demand, the School continued to strengthen linkages between learners, learning needs, and government priorities through increased partnerships and collaboration, and the use of modern learning tools.

Priority Type: New

Key Supporting Initiatives

Name of Priority: Service excellence

Description: The School is committed to service management excellence through supporting a strengthened culture of open engagement, partnerships, innovation and collaboration. It is essential to the School's mandate, the whole-of-government approach to learning, and the Government of Canada's priority to improve services and deliver results for Canadians.

Priority Type: Ongoing

Key Supporting Initiatives

Name of Priority: Engaged workforce and a healthy and productive workplace

Description: The School has a fundamental role in fostering a healthy, respectful and productive culture of excellence within the public service (see Section III) and its own organization – a dynamic environment that promotes open engagement, innovation, collaboration, and high performance.

Priority Type: Ongoing

Key Supporting Initiatives

Name of Priority: Enabling infrastructure and internal services

Description: An enabling infrastructure and robust internal services are key elements to ensuring the School can effectively support a skilled and professional public service that is equipped to support government priorities and respond to the evolving needs of Canadians with excellence.

Priority Type: New

Key Supporting Initiatives

For more information on organizational priorities, see the Minister's mandate letter.

Section II: Expenditure Overview

Actual Expenditures

Budgetary Financial Resources (dollars)

Note: Any minor numerical differences are due to rounding.

Human Resources (Full-Time Equivalents [FTEs])

The difference between "Planned Spending" and "Main Estimates" represents the portion of expenditures the School planned to fund from unspent revenue brought forward from the previous fiscal year pursuant to Section 18(2) of the Canada School of Public Service Act.

The School's total authorities available for use include appropriations, revenues from course offerings earned in 2015–16 and unspent revenues brought forward from the previous fiscal year. 2015–16, the second year of the School's three year transformation, was the final year for charging fees as the School is shifting to a model based primarily on appropriations.

Actual expenditures and FTEs in 2015–16 were higher than planned due to temporary hiring through terms, casuals and assignments, which was required to continue and advance the School's transformation.

Budgetary Performance Summary

Budgetary Performance Summary for Program and Internal Services (dollars)

Note:  Any minor numerical differences are due to rounding.

Effective April 1, 2015, the School is operating with a new Program Alignment Architecture. The former three programs – Foundational Learning, Organizational Leadership Development, and Public Service Management Innovation – were merged into one new Program called "Learning Services." The actual spending in 2014–15 and 2013–14 for former programs is now reported under Learning Services.

Departmental Spending Trend

• Alternative Text for Departmental Spending Trend Graph

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  2013–14

  • Sunset Programs – Anticipated: $0
  • Statutory: $41,941,023
  • Voted: $42,820,558
  • Total: $84,761,581

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  2014–15

  • Sunset Programs – Anticipated: $0
  • Statutory: $50,575,626
  • Voted: $37,933,386
  • Total: $88,509,012

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  2015–16

  • Sunset Programs – Anticipated: $0
  • Statutory: $41,328,405
  • Voted: $50,823,726
  • Total: $92,152,131

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  2016–17

  • Sunset Programs – Anticipated: $0
  • Statutory: $22,701,142
  • Voted: $69,217,505
  • Total: $91,918,647

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  2017–18

  • Sunset Programs – Anticipated: $0
  • Statutory: $14,027,439
  • Voted: $64,866,505
  • Total: $78,893,944

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  2018–19

  • Sunset Programs – Anticipated: $0
  • Statutory: $14,027,439
  • Voted: $64,540,505
  • Total: $78,567,944

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The School's transformation initiative has been entirely self-funded within the organization's existing funding authorities. As such, no additional funds were sought to support the transformation to the new business model.

Increased expenditures through 2016–17 reflect investments required to complete the School's transformation. Following the completion of the transformation in 2016–17, planned expenditures are projected to decline to a steady operating level.

The gradual increase in voted appropriations reflects the implementation of a new funding model, which is shifting from revenue generation to a primarily appropriated funding model.

Expenditures by Vote

For information on the School's organizational voted and statutory expenditures, consult the Public Accounts of Canada 2016.

Alignment of Spending With the Whole-of-Government Framework

Alignment of 2015–16 Actual Spending With the Whole-of-Government Framework (dollars)

Note: Any minor numerical differences are due to rounding.

Total Spending by Spending Area (dollars)

Note: Any minor numerical differences are due to rounding.

The School spent less on contracted resources than was planned. This was partially offset by increased spending in salaries for temporary resources.

Financial Statements and Financial Statements Highlights

Financial Statements

The financial highlights presented within the Departmental Performance Report are intended to serve as a general overview of the School's financial position. More information is available on the School's website.

Financial Statements Highlights

Note:  Any minor numerical differences are due to rounding.

The year-over-year increase in the net cost of operations before government funding and transfers is the result of progressively shifting from revenue generation to a funding model based primarily on appropriations.

Note:  Any minor numerical differences are due to rounding.

The improvement noted in the School's net financial position is attributable to the overall increase in the value of its assets. The increase in non-financial assets reflects investment initiatives to transform the School, notably in technology, to support the delivery of learning. The increase in financial assets primarily reflects funds set aside in the Consolidated Revenue Fund for the School to settle liabilities.

Section III: Analysis of Program and Internal Services

Program

Learning Services

Description

This program delivers learning services to the federal public service, providing standardized training to build common knowledge, skills and competencies that support public service employees in fulfilling their responsibilities in delivering programs and services to Canadians.

This program is responsible for enterprise-wide training and development in support of government priorities. It leads to a centralized, common approach to managing and delivering learning services that are open to all federal public service employees throughout their career and are common to the operation of all federal institutions, regardless of mandate or location.

The Learning Services Program offers a curriculum consisting of foundational development training, which is designed to build a core common culture throughout the federal public service, and specialized development training, which is open to all employees working in information technology, human resources or finance, as well as to those wishing to develop their knowledge in other areas of specialization, including management and leadership.

This program achieves its results through a common curriculum, designed to be delivered both in person and online and supported by technology infrastructure so as to enable the delivery of training across the federal public service.

Program Performance Analysis and Lessons Learned

Budgetary Financial Resources (dollars)

Note: Any minor numerical differences are due to rounding.

The difference between planned and actual spending is due to lower than planned spending on contracted resources, partially offset by increased spending in salaries for temporary resources, to modernize the School's curriculum and the delivery of learning services.

Human Resources (FTEs)

Performance Results

Delivering Whole-of-Government Learning: Strengthening a Professional Public Service in Support of Service Excellence for Canadians

Supporting a skilled and professional public service equipped to deliver results and service excellence to Canadians is at the core of the School's mandate. The School's common curriculum is delivered by top public service employees and leaders, as well as experts from the private and academic sectors. They provide public service employees with the knowledge and skills they need at every stage of their careers.

As part of the School's transformation initiative, and in support of a renewed focus on improving results and delivery across government, the School strengthened its performance monitoring and reporting capacity in a number of areas. National monitoring of demand and capacity was enhanced, operational system functions were strengthened and benchmarks and targets were established. Moving forward, the School remains committed to seeking new ways to leverage available data to better measure progress, results and outcomes. For example, work is currently underway to re-design the School's Performance Measurement and Reporting Framework, an internal performance instrument to support informative performance trend analyses, and to improve how the School communicates its results in support of service excellence for Canadians. This framework will also facilitate the School's implementation of the new Treasury Board Policy on Results.

Looking Back: Results Achieved in Support of 2015–16 Organizational Priorities

The following section highlights results achieved and progress made under the School's Learning Services Program. These results serve to deliver on the commitments made in support of the organizational priorities outlined in the School's 2015–16 Report on Plans and Priorities.

For ease of reference, the number of learners in the following learning activities is provided in parentheses where applicable.

Foundational Development: Building Common Knowledge, Skills and Competencies for a Career in the Public Service

Foundational development lays the groundwork for a common public service culture of high performance based on shared values, ethics and priorities.

The School's Public Service Orientation curriculum (26,000 learners) provides public service employees with a foundational understanding of government and their role in serving Canadians with excellence.

The School launched a new Briefing Series for all employees to support concise, clear communications. New required training courses were also added to the curriculum, including "Values and Ethics Foundations for Employees (FON301)" and "Who We Work For (FON304)."

The School continued to support organizations through its Performance Management curriculum (6,000 learners), aligned to the Treasury Board Directive on Performance Management, which came into effect on April 1, 2014. The School continued to strengthen its partnership with the Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat and other stakeholders through increased engagement and regular consultations regarding curriculum content.

The School launched the first phase of its Transformation curriculum (9,000 learners), which is designed around the key elements of transformation including risk, project and change management, lean business processes and innovation in delivering excellence to Canadians. The new curriculum is designed to offer training tailored to address the different roles of employees, managers and executives.

The School offers online language learning products including self-directed evaluation simulations and interactive tools designed to help public service employees maintain proficiency in their second official language and support the delivery of services to Canadians in both official languages. In 2015–16, the School delivered language maintenance training (39,000 learners) through seven new official languages maintenance courses and existing online products. Learning modules related to the responsibilities and duties of public service employees and managers under the Official Languages Act were also added across the School's curriculum. Finally, the School worked closely with Public Services and Procurement Canada and launched an industry/client consultation process to identify a new results-based procurement strategy to meet public service language-training requirements.

Specialized Development: Supporting Functional Communities in the Public Service

The School offered specialized development training (123,000 learners) to support the learning needs of functional communities and other public service employees who wish to expand their knowledge in these areas.

In close consultation with policy centres and functional communities, the School modernized its learning approach and curriculum for functional communities. Work in this area is ongoing. In 2015–16, it included the re-design and conversion of classroom courses to online self-paced courses, videos and virtual classrooms. New learning products were also launched for functional communities aligned with Treasury Board policies. For example, the School's Security curriculum (35,000 learners) is aligned to the new Treasury Board Policy on Government Security.

Management Development: Leading for Results

The School's Management Development curriculum supports public service employees in developing the skills and knowledge they need in making the critical transition to management responsibilities. It also serves to strengthen learners' understanding of government priorities, the accountabilities that come with a management position and the importance of both leadership and innovation.

The School completed the full launch of its Manager Development Program, which uses a blended, four-phase learning format with both online and in-class components. The curriculum provides new and aspiring managers with a solid understanding of the fundamentals of public service management, including authority delegation, performance management, leadership, and values and ethics. Since the launch, nearly 3,000 learners have registered for this program.

Executive Development: Leading with Vision

Executive development supports talent management and the development of leadership competencies, allowing executives to lead transformation with vision and purpose. The School's Leadership and Executive Development curriculum (4,000 learners) is a suite of leadership development programs based on research into leadership and best practices in management training from other jurisdictions and the private sector. It also supports talent management among future executives across the public service. In addition, experiential learning approaches and peer mentoring/coaching opportunities were integrated into the curriculum.

In 2015–16, the School launched its new Aspiring Directors Program. This curriculum is designed to provide aspiring directors with the knowledge, skills and competencies they need to carry out management and leadership duties in the public service.

The School also launched the New Directors Program. This curriculum is designed to help learners better understand their new role, what is expected of them as an executive in today's environment, and how to effectively lead transformation and achieve results during constant change. Through this curriculum, learners have the opportunity to strengthen key leadership competencies and networking abilities, and to establish collaborative relationships.

Promoting a Public Service Culture of Results and Delivery

• Results and Delivery: Lessons from Around the World (600 learners) This event featured keynote speaker Sir Michael Barber, British educationist, Chief Education Advisor to Pearson and Managing Partner of Delivery Associates. Sir Michael Barber is a leading authority in results and delivery, having served the United Kingdom government as Head of the Prime Minister's Deliver Unit for the administration of former prime minister Tony Blair.
• Making Use of Evaluation Results – International Perspectives on Successful Practices and Opportunities (80 learners) The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat's Centre of Excellence for Evaluation, the Canada School of Public Service, and the Canadian Evaluation Society hosted this EvalConnex session as part of the International Year of Evaluation. This event focused on international evaluation use and practices from the Independent Evaluation Group of the World Bank Group and the Strategic Management Information Directorate of the Western Cape Government in South Africa.
• What is Inclusion? How Does it Improve Leadership, Teamwork, Results and Performance? (160 learners) This event featured a panel of experts leading a discussion on inclusion and innovation in world-class organizations and outlined the benefits and best practices of inclusion in the workplace.

Promoting Awareness of and Supporting Renewed Relations with Indigenous Peoples

• Aboriginal Women: History, Issues, Empowerment (100 learners) Presented in partnership with Status of Women Canada and Quebec Native Women, this event featured a discussion on the reality of Aboriginal women, their history and empowerment and the issues facing them.
• Hiring an Indigenous Student or Graduate (200 learners) Guest speakers shared their recruitment strategies and explained programs that support the hiring of Indigenous students and graduates using the Federal Student Work Experience Program and post-secondary recruitment for Indigenous candidates.
• Aboriginal Awareness 101 (400 learners) Guest speakers led a discussion to deepen awareness of and respect for Aboriginal peoples in British Columbia by exploring their history, values, customs, beliefs and diversity.

Strengthening Policy Development and Implementation within Government

• Adapting to Change: Building a Policy Community for the Future (140 learners) Guest speakers shared their perspectives on the policy field in the context of a changing environment. This interactive event forms part of the Policy Community Project, a government-wide initiative aiming to strengthen the policy community.
• In-Depth Reporting on Canadian Public Policy: Is It Still Possible? (60 learners) This event featured keynote speaker Madelaine Drohan, award-winning journalist, the Public Policy Forum's 2015 Prime Ministers of Canada Fellow and correspondent for The Economist. The discussion focused on the challenges facing journalism in providing in-depth reporting on Canadian public policy in a digital age.
• Collaboration in Policy Development (160 learners) Guest speaker Gerry Salembier, Assistant Deputy Minister for the British Columbia region, Western Economic Diversification Canada, presented a discussion on collaboration in policy development, drawing on his experience in central agencies and line departments in Ottawa, in the regions and internationally.

Lessons Learned

As the School transforms its business model, it continues to test new approaches to learning. GCcampus, the School's online learning application, is evolving to become a critical tool for public service learning across Canada. With each successive launch of new content and functionality on GCcampus, project management and collaboration will ensure systematic planning and coordination.

In responding to new and emerging government priorities, the School will seek new opportunities to collaborate with other sectors and strengthen engagement with other federal organizations. Accessing subject matter experts from functional communities at the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat and other departments has been an effective tool for partnership as learning products and service are transformed. This allowed these experts to efficiently work on curriculum content and facilitate learning sessions.

Building capacity within the organization to support modern learning through innovative methods (e.g. the School's "Test Kitchen" and "Innovation Labs") will also remain a key initiative for the School. In addition, launching modernized content that meets the requirements of accessibility, copyright, and official languages will continue as the School strengthens its capacity to measure and report on performance. Ongoing and focused efforts in these areas will serve to enhance the delivery of whole-of-government learning. It will also improve the organization's ability to demonstrate how the School's learning services are supporting a professional public service that is equipped with the skills and knowledge required to deliver services to Canadians with excellence.

Internal Services

Description

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 to a specific program. The groups of activities are Management and Oversight Services; Communications Services; Legal Services; Human Resources Management Services; Financial Management Services; Information Management Services; Information Technology Services; Real Property Services; Materiel Services; and Acquisition Services.

Program Performance Analysis and Lessons Learned

Budgetary Financial Resources (dollars)

Note:  Any minor numerical differences are due to rounding.

The difference between planned and actual expenditures reflects investments made to advance the transformation of the School, which include improved facilities, classrooms and business intelligence applications as well as informatics services support. The School also put in place an Office of Values and Ethics and Workplace Well-Being to support employee well-being and mental health.

Human Resources (FTEs)

The School's transformation is dependent on the delivery of modernized, tech-enabled learning and lean and efficient operations and business processes. Employees must be actively engaged and equipped with the skills necessary to optimally support the whole-of-government approach to learning that will lead to better services and results for Canadians.

The following section highlights the results and progress made in support of the School's commitments outlined in the 2015–16 Report on Plans and Priorities.

Supporting Service Excellence

The School developed a Service Management Strategy and established a service management function in support of the Treasury Board Policy on Service. The School continues to deepen its efforts in this area as the organization integrates this new function within its new business model, including a dedicated client relations function to strengthen relations with client organizations.

Promoting Employee Engagement and Workplace Wellness

• Employee Experience Initiative: This initiative supports the engagement and development of employees throughout their employment cycle at the School. Examples include employee onboarding, values and ethics, performance management, and exit interviews. The School also provided guidance and information sessions to employees on performance management. 
• Office of Values and Ethics and Workplace Well-Being: The School's newly established Office of Values and Ethics and Workplace Well-Being ran a "Focus on Well-Being" campaign in fall 2015 to promote well-being, mental health, and harassment prevention at the School, with the goal of creating a space for open dialogue. Initiatives included training sessions, workshops and forums for discussions for School employees.
• Guarding Minds @ Work Survey: The Office also continued to consult and monitor employee engagement and to inform management action plans in support of a healthy and productive work environment through its Guarding Minds @ Work Survey.

Applying New Technologies

• Learning Delivery: Close collaboration with Shared Services Canada and the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat continued throughout the year to support the ongoing modernization of the School's learning delivery approaches. The School continues to leverage technology to build a strong online learning application, GCcampus, and to webcast learning for the benefit of learners across the country. In addition to ongoing consultations on operations and risk management, the School established a supporting governance model, which provides close monitoring of progress on IT projects and the management of infrastructure issues to effectively support the School's transformation.
• Learning Environments: The School worked closely with Public Services and Procurement Canada and Shared Services Canada to develop a plan to modernize classrooms and support collaborative, tech-enabled learning environments.

Strengthening Performance Measurement and Reporting

• Reporting Capacity: National monitoring of demand and capacity was enhanced, operational system functions were strengthened, and benchmarks and targets were established to better support the School's capacity to report information to federal organizations. The School will continue to seek ways to strengthen its reporting capacity and support client satisfaction, articulate value and inform departmental learning plans linked to talent and performance management.
• Information Management: The School developed and implemented an information management strategy and action plan that establishes a culture of information management by recognizing the importance of valuing information, managing it at an enterprise level and treating it as a strategic resource.

Applying Lean Business Processes and Practices
Improvements continued to be made to the School's business processes to support internal operations. The School also developed common tools to strengthen data integrity and reporting capacity.

Supporting Organizational Transformation

• Procurement Processes: Rigorous procurement processes were implemented to support the acquisition of goods and services, modernize the School's curriculum and acquire content for GCcampus.
• Financial Plans: Financial plans were developed to strategically align resources and manage corporate risk in support of the new business model.
• Modernized Workspaces: In line with its financial capacity, the School progressively took steps to modernize and consolidate its workspaces across the country in order to increase efficiencies, enhance collaboration and promote a more dynamic, open and networked workplace.
• Learning Space Renewal: The School invested in technical upgrades to its learning and events spaces to support the improvement and reach of its learning products and services. These improvements were self-funded.

Lessons Learned

The School recognizes the opportunity to improve talent management internally for non-executive employees. As such, it will take action in the coming year to help managers better understand the role of talent management as an integral part of performance management, and help employees maximize their potential.  

The School also recognized that its existing Values and Ethics Code requires more detail with respect to conflict of interest for employees. As a result, the Office of Values and Ethics and Workplace Well-Being began developing conflict of interest guidelines that respond to its unique situation of having faculty, coaches and train-the-trainers on staff.

Mental health and wellness is affirmed as a public service-wide priority that warrants ongoing attention within the School. As such, the School is working with employees and unions to develop a Mental Health Strategy for the organization, consistent with the National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace and the work of the Joint Task Force to address mental health in the workplace, including the Technical Committee Report to the Steering Committee on Mental Health in the Workplace – April 2016.

Information management will remain a priority for the School as it moves forward in implementing an information management strategy and developing its open government implementation plan. The School also recognizes the need to standardize information management systems, structures, processes and procedures, and to build on its implementation of GCDOCS, a public service-wide content management tool, to improve accessibility and information sharing.

Data governance will also be a key priority as the School undertakes improvements in performance measurement and reporting. This will assist in improving reporting to Canadians on results. In addition, departments will benefit in terms of accessing more robust information on learning uptake across the public service.

Proactive client engagement will also remain central to the School's efforts in building a strong learning culture across the public service.

Section IV: Supplementary Information

Supplementary Information Tables

The following supplementary information tables are available on the School's website.

• Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy
• Internal Audits and Evaluations
• User Fees, Regulatory Charges and External Fees

Federal Tax Expenditures

The tax system can be used to achieve public policy objectives through the application of special measures such as low tax rates, exemptions, deductions, deferrals and credits. The Department of Finance Canada publishes cost estimates and projections for these measures annually in the Report on Federal Tax Expenditures. This report also provides detailed background information on tax expenditures, including descriptions, objectives, historical information and references to related federal spending programs. The tax measures presented in this report are the responsibility of the Minister of Finance.

Organizational Contact Information

Appendix: Definitions

appropriation (crédit):

Any authority of Parliament to pay money out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

budgetary expenditures (dépenses budgétaires):

Operating and capital expenditures; transfer payments to other levels of government, organizations or individuals; and payments to Crown corporations.

Departmental Performance Report (rapport ministériel sur le rendement):

Reports on an appropriated organization's actual accomplishments against the plans, priorities and expected results set out in the corresponding Reports on Plans and Priorities. These reports are tabled in Parliament in the fall.

full-time equivalent (équivalent temps plein):

A measure of the extent to which an employee represents a full person year charge against a departmental budget. Full time equivalents are calculated as a ratio of assigned hours of work to scheduled hours of work. Scheduled hours of work are set out in collective agreements.

Government of Canada outcomes (résultats du gouvernement du Canada):

A set of 16 high level objectives defined for the government as a whole, grouped in four spending areas: economic affairs, social affairs, international affairs and government affairs.

Management, Resources and Results Structure (structure de la gestion, des ressources et des résultats):

A comprehensive framework that consists of an organization's inventory of programs, resources, results, performance indicators and governance information. Programs and results are depicted in their hierarchical relationship to each other and to the Strategic Outcome(s) to which they contribute. The Management, Resources and Results Structure is developed from the Program Alignment Architecture.

non-budgetary expenditures (dépenses non budgétaires):

Net outlays and receipts related to loans, investments and advances, which change the composition of the financial assets of the Government of Canada.

performance (rendement):

What an organization did with its resources to achieve its results, how well those results compare to what the organization intended to achieve, and how well lessons learned have been identified.

performance indicator (indicateur de rendement):

A qualitative or quantitative means of measuring an output or outcome, with the intention of gauging the performance of an organization, program, policy or initiative respecting expected results.

performance reporting (production de rapports sur le rendement):

The process of communicating evidence-based performance information. Performance reporting supports decision making, accountability and transparency.

planned spending (dépenses prévues):

For Reports on Plans and Priorities (RPPs) and Departmental Performance Reports (DPRs), planned spending refers to those amounts that receive Treasury Board approval by February 1. Therefore, planned spending may include amounts incremental to planned expenditures presented in the Main Estimates.

A department is expected to be aware of the authorities that it has sought and received. The determination of planned spending is a departmental responsibility, and departments must be able to defend the expenditure and accrual numbers presented in their RPPs and DPRs.

plan (plan):

The articulation of strategic choices, which provides information on how an organization intends to achieve its priorities and associated results. Generally a plan will explain the logic behind the strategies chosen and tend to focus on actions that lead up to the expected result.

priorities (priorité):

Plans or projects that an organization has chosen to focus and report on during the planning period. Priorities represent the things that are most important or what must be done first to support the achievement of the desired Strategic Outcome(s).

program (programme):

A group of related resource inputs and activities that are managed to meet specific needs and to achieve intended results and that are treated as a budgetary unit.

Program Alignment Architecture (architecture d'alignement des programmes):

A structured inventory of an organization's programs depicting the hierarchical relationship between programs and the Strategic Outcome(s) to which they contribute.

Report on Plans and Priorities (rapport sur les plans et les priorités):

Provides information on the plans and expected performance of appropriated organizations over a three year period. These reports are tabled in Parliament each spring.

result (résultat):

An external consequence attributed, in part, to an organization, policy, program or initiative. Results are not within the control of a single organization, policy, program or initiative; instead they are within the area of the organization's influence.

statutory expenditures (dépenses législatives):

Expenditures that Parliament has approved through legislation other than appropriation acts. The legislation sets out the purpose of the expenditures and the terms and conditions under which they may be made.

Strategic Outcome (résultat stratégique):

A long-term and enduring benefit to Canadians that is linked to the organization's mandate, vision and core functions.

sunset program (programme temporisé):

A time limited program that does not have an ongoing funding and policy authority. When the program is set to expire, a decision must be made whether to continue the program. In the case of a renewal, the decision specifies the scope, funding level and duration.

target (cible):

A measurable performance or success level that an organization, program or initiative plans to achieve within a specified time period. Targets can be either quantitative or qualitative.

voted expenditures (dépenses votées):

Expenditures that Parliament approves annually through an Appropriation Act. The Vote wording becomes the governing conditions under which these expenditures may be made.

whole-of-government framework (cadre pangouvernemental):

Maps the financial contributions of federal organizations receiving appropriations by aligning their Programs to a set of 16 government wide, high level outcome areas, grouped under four spending areas.

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Features

Embedding Risk Management into Decision-Making (TRN5-E44)

(November 18, 2024)

2024 Government of Canada Workplace Charitable Campaign: Quiz for a Cause – DM Trivia (WMT2-E16)

(November 28, 2024)

Practical Artificial Intelligence Series: Reimagining Government Communications and Access to Services (DDN1-E11)

(December 5, 2024)

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