2021-22 Departmental Plan

From the Chief Administrator

I am pleased to present the 2021-22 Departmental Plan for the Administrative Tribunals Support Service of Canada (ATSSC).

This year’s plan provides Canadians and Parliamentarians with information on the key results we seek to achieve as we continue to meet our mandate of providing efficient and effective support to the 11 federal administrative tribunals we serve. It also provides information on key risks related to achieving our planned results.

The past year presented the ATSSC with many unexpected challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic; however, employees showed both resilience and adaptability to ensure the organization was able to deliver on our mandate while responding to and recovering from the pandemic. We look forward to moving ahead with our vital work in 2021-22.

In the year ahead, the ATSSC will continue to assist the tribunals we serve in preparing for a future where modern technology can improve access to justice for Canadians. This work will include implementing an organization-wide strategy to modernize digital capabilities―including case management systems and electronic filing systems―as well as improving videoconferencing and audio recording capabilities. Our efforts will also remain focused on supporting the tribunals as they adapt to legislative changes that impact their mandates and operations, and facilitating the use of plain language and accessible communications.

In 2021-22, the ATSSC will implement a long-term telework vision and plan to support the evolution of the ATSSC workplace, as we continue to implement a phased and gradual approach to returning to the office in accordance with Government of Canada and public health direction on COVID-19. We remain focused on creating a workplace where people feel valued and respected, and where they can grow their careers. To this end, the organization will implement a diversity and inclusion action plan, and will continue to promote and provide mental health and well-being tools, resources and support to employees and tribunal members. We will also implement an expanded talent management program to prepare for future staffing needs and to facilitate employee retention and succession planning.

I invite you to read the ATSSC’s 2021-22 Departmental Plan to learn more about our specific plans for the upcoming fiscal year.

Orlando Da Silva, LSM

Plans at a glance

Now in its seventh year of operations, the Administrative Tribunals Support Service of Canada (ATSSC) continues to deliver on its mandate to provide support services and facilities to 11 tribunals through registry, legal, mandate and member services, and internal services. The COVID-19 pandemic prompted a paradigm shift in the operations of the ATSSC and the tribunals the organization supports. Guided by direction of the Government of Canada and public health advice, the ATSSC switched to teleworking for the majority of its employees and supported the tribunals in providing more virtual proceedings. The ATSSC will continue to focus primarily on remote work in 2021-22―ensuring it has the tools, technology, policies and procedures in place to effectively support its employees and tribunals. The pandemic has also prompted the ATSSC and the tribunals it supports to examine requirements for physical facilities and how the organization can effectively prepare for the future. The ATSSC has developed three themes to guide and modernize its operations in the coming years.

Delivering business excellence through innovation at work

The ATSSC will:

• Continue to implement case management and electronic filing systems with a view to improving access to justice for Canadians, reducing administrative burden and improving processing times;
• Advance enterprise-wide videoconferencing and audio recording solutions in support of accessible and digital proceedings;
• Continue to eliminate barriers to justice for Canadians through the development of plain language communications and updated tribunal websites; and
• Adopt a long-term telework vision and plan.

Collaboration with tribunal leadership and one another

The ATSSC will:

• Continue to support tribunals as they adapt to changing caseloads and legislative changes that impact their mandates;
• Assess the feasibility of resource-sharing across secretariats to find further opportunities to increase capacity and operational efficiency;
• Continue to improve the ATSSC’s common performance framework and metrics which measure the services delivered by the ATSSC to tribunals; and
• Advance the assurance of critical information technology and infrastructure support through disaster recovery and relocation projects.

Supporting our people

The ATSSC will:

• Continue to support its employees and tribunal members by providing mental health and well-being tools and resources;
• Promote the continuous development of a strong, knowledgeable, and diverse workforce through advancements in human resources planning, succession planning, talent management, and the implementation of a diversity action plan; and
• Implement, as appropriate, in accordance with public health direction, a comprehensive gradual return to the office plan.

For more information on the ATSSC’s plans, priorities and planned results, see the “Core responsibilities: planned results and resources, and key risks” section of this report.

Core responsibility: planned results and resources, and key risks

This section contains detailed information on the department’s planned results and resources for its core responsibility. It also contains information on key risks related to achieving those results.

Internal Services: planned results

Description

Internal Services are those groups of related activities and resources that the federal government considers to be services in support of Programs and/or required to meet corporate obligations of an organization. Internal Services refers to the activities and resources of the 10 distinct services that support Program delivery in the organization, regardless of the Internal Services delivery model in a department. These services are:

• Management and Oversight Services
• Communications Services
• Legal Services
• Human Resources Management Services
• Financial Management Services
• Information Management Services
• Information Technology Services
• Real Property Management Services
• Materiel Management Services
• Acquisition Management Services

Planning highlights

To respond to the diverse and evolving needs of the tribunals, including the continued impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ATSSC will advance work to ensure effective and responsive internal services. This includes enhancing IM/IT capabilities, continuously adapting to infrastructure requirements, maintaining and investing in developing staff capacity and knowledge, and ensuring strategic and prudent stewardship of resources.

As articulated in its 2020-23 Information Management and Information Technology Integrated Plan, the ATSSC is actively exploring opportunities to leverage digital solutions and partnerships that promote access to justice through a seamless digital service experience. The ATSSC will continue to balance investment between its aging IT infrastructure that supports business-critical applications and new digital solutions that employees, tribunals and Canadians expect from a modern department.

To ensure that the ATSSC’s digital services can be delivered in the event of a disruptive incident (e.g. fire, flood, prolonged power outage), the ATSSC will continue its disaster recovery project―moving from proof of concept to implementation and testing― with full server capabilities located in the cloud.

In 2021-22, the ATSSC will continue to develop and implement projects to ensure that facilities required to support tribunal operations in Montreal and Toronto are effectively in place.

The ATSSC will focus on providing a workplace where people feel valued and respected and where they can grow and build their careers. Recognizing that people are the ATSSC’s greatest resource, the ATSSC will implement programs that strengthen diversity, emphasize the importance of mental health and that contribute to leadership competencies, mentorship and career development.

In 2021-22, the ATSSC will implement a diversity and inclusion action plan. Developed in collaboration with the organization’s accessibility and diversity champions, the plan identifies the activities that will assist the ATSSC in creating a representative workforce and an inclusive and respectful workplace.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the lives of ATSSC employees, the ATSSC will continue to promote and make available resources and tools to support its staff. These include a remote work toolkit, guides to support employees and managers, and mental health and well-being resources.

Given the range of specialized services provided to the tribunals, the ATSSC depends upon a skilled and knowledgeable workforce. To ensure employees are in place who have the right skills to meet tribunal needs, the ATSSC continues to develop its human resources planning function to better identify current and future staffing needs and to facilitate succession planning. In 2021-22, through the expansion and implementation of its talent management program, the ATSSC will identify high-potential employees and invest in their professional development―using the program to staff positions that are critical to the success of its operations while fostering a culture that promotes continuous learning and career progression. Moreover, the ATSSC will explore opportunities to provide more internal career development opportunities for employees by reducing siloes.

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ATSSC has developed a comprehensive gradual return to the office plan that is premised on the care and safety of its workforce, evidence-based decision making, flexibility and vigilance. In 2021-22, the ATSSC will continue to implement its return to the office plan taking Government of Canada direction and advice from public health authorities into account.

To support the organization’s service delivery capacity, the ATSSC will implement an adaptable project management framework and continue applying a multi-year perspective to organizational planning to ensure long-term sustainability. Central to this work will be effectively aligning financial resources to ensure that the organization is positioned to anticipate and plan for the costs associated with service delivery solutions. The ATSSC continues to enhance and adapt its financial management function as the organization evolves. In 2021-22 the ATSSC will implement service standards, a tracking tool, and a service desk for procurement.

Planned budgetary financial resources for Internal Services

Planned human resources for Internal Services

Spending and human resources

This section provides an overview of the department’s planned spending and human resources for the next three consecutive fiscal years and compares planned spending for the upcoming year with the current and previous years’ actual spending.

Planned spending ²

Departmental spending 2018–19 to 2023–24

The following graph presents planned (voted and statutory) spending over time.

Description - Departmental spending graph 2018–19 to 2023–24

The graph illustrates the Department’s spending trend over a six-year period starting in 2018-19 and ending in 2023-24. The graph is based on two years of actual spending and four years of planned spending.

In fiscal year 2018-19, the actual spending was $8.8 million coming from statutory spending and $60.8 million from voted spending. In 2019-20, actual spending was $8.8 million from statutory spending with $56.3 million in voted spending.

In 2020-21, the planned spending is $9.6 million for statutory spending with $57.9 million in voted spending. For 2021-22, planned spending is $11.3 million for statutory spending with $63.3 million in voted spending. In 2022-23, the planned spending is $11.1 million for statutory spending with $61.4 million in voted spending. In 2023-24, the planned spending is $11.2 million for statutory spending with $61.4 million in voted spending.

Spending is projected to increase from 2020-21 to 2021-22 ($7 M) due to the resumption of in-person proceedings and related costs following the potential easing of COVID-19 public health restrictions, an increase in professional services related to the disaster recovery project, and an increase in personnel expenditures related to the growth in salary rates resulting from the signing of collective agreements.

Budgetary planning summary for core responsibilities and Internal Services (dollars)

The following table shows actual, forecast and planned spending for the ATSSC’s core responsibility and to Internal Services for the years relevant to the current planning year.

Core responsibility and Internal Services	2018–19 expenditures	2019–20 expenditures	2020–21 forecast spending	2021–22 budgetary spending (as indicated in Main Estimates)	2021–22 planned spending	2022–23 planned spending	2023–24 planned spending
Support services and facilities to federal administrative tribunals and its members	46,594,519	45,771,866	47,034,307	51,848,233	51,848,233	50,743,233	50,775,292
Subtotal	46,594,519	45,771,866	47,034,307	51,848,233	51,848,233	50,743,233	50,775,292
Internal Services	22,936,471	19,276,857	20,549,476	22,732,640	22,732,640	21,838,716	21,831,817
Total	69,530,990	65,048,723	67,583,783	74,580,873	74,580,873	72,581,949	72,607,109

Spending is projected to increase from 2020-21 to 2021-22 ($7 M) due to the resumption of in-person proceedings and related costs following the potential easing of COVID-19 public health restrictions, an increase in professional services related to the disaster recovery project, and an increase in personnel expenditures related to the growth in salary rates resulting from the signing of collective agreements.

The decrease in spending from 2018-19 to 2019-20 ($4.5 M) is mainly due to the one-time funding in 2018-19 for the Canadian International Trade Tribunal to conduct a safeguard inquiry; and other projects which ended in March 2019 such as the IM/IT infrastructure consolidation and the implementation of GCdocs.

2021–22 Budgetary planned gross spending summary (dollars)

The following table reconciles gross planned spending with net planned spending for 2021–22.

Core responsibility and Internal Services	2021–22 planned gross spending	2021–22 planned revenues netted against expenditures	2021–22 planned net spending
Support services and facilities to federal administrative tribunals and its members	88,003,847	36,155,614	51,848,233
Subtotal	88,003,847	36,155,614	51,848,233
Internal Services	25,232,640	2,500,000	22,732,640
Total	113,236,487	38,655,614	74,580,873

The ATSSC is partially funded by vote-netted revenue (a cost recovery mechanism), for the operations of the Social Security Tribunal secretariat. As the expenses of this secretariat increase, the revenues increase proportionately, thereby decreasing its net cost of operations. The planned revenues result from the authority to make recoverable expenditures on behalf of the Canada Pension Plan and the Employment Insurance Operating Account.

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² In order to better align net planed and actual spending in line with the ATSSC’s Departmental Results Framework, the ATSSC has made changes to its planned spending methodology. The vote-netted revenue planned spending allocation has been realigned between the core responsibility and the Internal Services in order to match the actual allocation of the expenses.

Corporate information

Reporting framework

The ATSSC’s approved departmental results framework and program inventory for 2021-22 are as follows.

The ATSSC’s approved Departmental Results Framework and Program Inventory for 2021–22

The image represents the ATSSC's Departmental Results Framework which includes the following components. Core Responsibility: support services and facilities to federal administrative tribunals and its members. Departmental Result: Tribunal members receive the specialized support services they require to hear matters, to resolve files, or to render decisions. Departmental Result Indicator 1: Percentage of files examined where the preparatory information was deemed complete and provided within the timeframes established by Chairpersons. Departmental Result Indicator 2: Level of satisfaction of tribunal members with the quality of the specialized services offered by their assigned secretariats. Program Inventory - Program 1.1: Registry Services, Program 1.2 Legal Services, Program 1.3 Mandate and Member Services, Internal Services.

Supporting information on the program inventory

Supporting information on planned expenditures, human resources, and results related to the ATSSC’s program inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.

Supplementary information tables

The following supplementary information tables are available on the ATSSC’s website:

• Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy

• Gender-based analysis plus

Federal tax expenditures

ATSSC’s Departmental Plan does not include information on tax expenditures that relate to its planned results for 2021–22.

Tax expenditures are the responsibility of the Minister of Finance, and the Department of Finance Canada publishes cost estimates and projections for government¬ wide tax expenditures each year in the Report on Federal Tax Expenditures. This report provides detailed information on tax expenditures, including objectives, historical background and references to related federal spending programs, as well as evaluations, research papers and gender-based analysis. The tax measures presented in this report are solely the responsibility of the Minister of Finance.

Organizational contact information

Mailing address

Administrative Tribunals Support Service of Canada
344 Slater Street, 15th floor, suite 100
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0B6
Canada

Telephone: 613-954-6350

Fax: 613-957-3170

Email: communications@tribunal.gc.ca

Website: www.canada.ca/en/administrative-tribunals-support-service.html

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.

core responsibility (responsabilité essentielle)
An enduring function or role performed by a department. The intentions of the department with respect to a core responsibility are reflected in one or more related departmental results that the department seeks to contribute to or influence.

Departmental Plan (plan ministériel)
A report on the plans and expected performance of a department over a 3-year period. Departmental Plans are tabled in Parliament each spring.

departmental priority (priorité ministérielle)
A plan or project that a department has chosen to focus and report on during the planning period. Departmental priorities represent the things that are most important or what must be done first to support the achievement of the desired departmental results.

departmental result (résultat ministériel)
A consequence or outcome that a department seeks to achieve. A departmental result is often outside departments’ immediate control, but it should be influenced by program-level outcomes.

departmental result indicator (indicateur de résultat ministériel)
A factor or variable that provides a valid and reliable means to measure or describe progress on a departmental result.

departmental results framework (cadre ministériel des résultats)
A framework that consists of the department’s core responsibilities, departmental results and departmental result indicators.

Departmental Results Report (rapport sur les résultats ministériels)
A framework that consists of the department’s core responsibilities, departmental results and departmental result indicators.

experimentation (expérimentation)
The conducting of activities that seek to first explore, then test and compare, the effects and impacts of policies and interventions in order to inform evidence-based decision-making, and improve outcomes for Canadians, by learning what works and what doesn’t. Experimentation is related to, but distinct form innovation (the trying of new things), because it involves a rigorous comparison of results. For example, using a new website to communicate with Canadians can be an innovation; systematically testing the new website against existing outreach tools or an old website to see which one leads to more engagement, is experimentation.

full time equivalent (équivalent temps plein)
A measure of the extent to which an employee represents a full person-year charge against andepartmental 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

gender-based analysis plus (GBA+) (analyse comparative entre les sexes plus [ACS+])
An analytical process used to assess how diverse groups of women, men and gender-diverse people experience policies, programs and services based on multiple factors including race, ethnicity, religion, age, and mental or physical disability.

government-wide priorities (priorités pangouvernementales)
For the purpose of the 2021–22 Departmental Plan, government-wide priorities refers to those high-level themes outlining the government’s agenda in the 2020 Speech from the Throne, namely: Protecting Canadians from COVID-19; Helping Canadians through the pandemic; Building back better – a resiliency agenda for the middle class; The Canada we’re fighting for.

horizontal initiative (initiative horizontale)
An initiative in which two or more federal organizations are given funding to pursue a shared outcome, often linked to a government priority.

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.

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.

planned spending (dépenses prévues)
For Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports, planned spending refers to those amounts 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 Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports

program (programme)
Individual or groups of services, activities or combinations thereof that are managed together within the department and focus on a specific set of outputs, outcomes or service levels.

program inventory (répertoire des programmes)
Identifies all of the department’s programs and describes how resources are organized to contribute to the department’s core responsibilities and results.

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.

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.