Departmental Results Report 2017–2018: Response to Parliamentary Committees and External Audits
Response to parliamentary committees
There were no parliamentary committee reports requiring a response in 2017–2018.
Response to audits conducted by the Office of the Auditor General of Canada (including audits conducted by the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development)
There were no audits in 2017–2018 requiring a response.
Response to audits conducted by the Public Service Commission of Canada or the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages
Audit of the availability of learning services in English and in French at the Canada School of Public Service
On November 2, 2017, the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages published the Audit of the availability of learning services in English and in French at the Canada School of Public Service. The focus of the audit was Section 37 of the Official Languages Act which states that "every federal institution that has authority to direct, or provides services to, other federal institutions has the duty to ensure that it exercises its powers and carries out its duties in relation to those other institutions in a manner that accommodates the use of either official language by officers and employees of those institutions."
The audit's objective was to ensure the following:
- that the School is taking its obligations into account when planning and designing learning activities
- that these activities are of equal quality in both official languages
- that learning activities are available to English- and French-speaking federal employees in a timely manner
- that the School has mechanisms in place to ensure monitoring and continuous improvement with regard to official languages
On the whole, the results of the audit were positive, with the Commissioner recognizing that the School has improved its learning activities in both official languages. The audit made 30 recommendations that the School has accepted.
The School is further integrating and formalizing governance, measurement and evaluation mechanisms to ensure that Canada's official languages are treated equally in its delivery of learning. The School is also finding ways to measure learner demand and confirm language quality in learning products, as well as standardizing the use of both official languages in regional learning opportunities. The School's strengthened regional coordination and national scheduling and delivery will provide a unified approach to developing and delivering content. All of these measures will ensure section 37 of the Official Languages Act is consistently built into learning at the School.
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