Employment and Social Development Canada 2024 to 2025 Departmental plan

Description

Increase inclusion and opportunities for Canadians to participate in their communities.

Quality of life impacts

Programs under this this core responsibility contribute to several Quality of Life domains and indicators, including:

• Domain - Society (Indicators - Accessible environments, Indigenous languages, Positive perceptions of diversity, Sense of belonging to the local community, Volunteering) through activities that help remove barriers and provide racialized communities, people with disabilities, and other vulnerable groups, such as the elderly and families with children, opportunities to participate in their communities
• Domain - Prosperity (Indicators - Access to early learning and child care, Financial well-being, Protection from income shocks) through activities that increase the availability of affordable child care and support Indigenous groups to provide child care, and reduce poverty
• Domain - Good Governance (Indicator - Confidence in institutions), through activities that focus on the Sustainable Development framework, innovative projects and research that strengthen the programs of the department and the Government of Canada

Results and targets

The following tables show, for each departmental result related to Social Development, the indicators, the results from the 3 most recently reported fiscal years, the targets and target dates approved in 2024 to 2025.

• Notes:
  1. Québec and Yukon had already achieved $10-a-day prior to Budget 2021. While the Government of Québec supports the general principles of the Early Learning and Child Care Framework, it does not adhere to the Multilateral Framework as it intends to preserve its sole responsibility in this area. The Government of Canada has entered into an asymmetrical agreement with the province of Quebec that will allow for further improvements to their system.
  2. Service standards are published on Transparency - Canada.ca.
  3. Notification of funding is the only service standard not met.

The financial, human resources and performance information for Employment and Social Development Canada's program inventory is available on GC InfoBase.

Plans to achieve results

In fiscal year 2024 to 2025, the department will undertake the following activities to advance this core responsibility.

Affordability of early learning and child care is increased

We will continue to work with provinces and territories to increase access to high-quality, affordable, flexible and inclusive early learning and child care. This will help to reduce fees for regulated child care towards an average of $10-a-day and to create 250,000 new regulated child care spaces by March 2026.

We will support commitments from the provinces and territories to develop a highly qualified early learning and child care workforce. Specific measures to develop the workforce are outlined in the Canada-wide Agreements and include implementing wage grids where not already in place and initiatives to increase the percentage of certified early childhood educators providing regulated care to children. At the July 2023 Federal-Provincial-Territorial Meeting of Ministers Most Responsible for Early Learning and Child Care, all ministers (except Quebec, which participates as an observer only) agreed to develop a Canada-wide, multilateral workforce strategy for the early learning and child care workforce, recognizing that federal, provincial and territorial governments will have final authority on any implementation actions within their respective jurisdictions. The multilateral workforce strategy will centre on recruitment, retention and recognition.

The department will continue to support the work of the National Advisory Council on Early Learning and Child Care. This Council brings together academics, advocates, practitioners and caregivers and serves as a forum for consultations on issues and challenges facing the early learning and child care sector. It provides third-party expert advice to the Government of Canada.  

The department will also continue to support communities and organizations exploring innovative practices to help improve the life outcomes of children through projects funded by the Early Learning and Child Care Innovation Program. These projects explore, test and develop new approaches that aim to improve the quality, accessibility, affordability, inclusivity and flexibility of early learning and child care programs and services. Data and research initiatives, including the development of a data and research strategy specific to early learning and child care, will also continue. 

Finally, the department will continue to work with provinces and territories to support greater inclusion in the Canada-wide early learning and child care system through the Early Learning and Child Care Infrastructure Fund announced in Budget 2022.

Guided by the co-developed Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care Framework, we will continue to collaborate with First Nations, Inuit and Métis Nation governments and organizations in supporting Indigenous-led Early Learning and Child Care programs and services, delivered in communities across the country. Significant investments will continue to be made in Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care infrastructure. This funding aims to build new early learning and child care centres and upgrade older ones, ensuring that there are high quality facilities for Indigenous children. This investment will help grow the availability of Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care and improve access for Indigenous children and families. The goal is to provide them with access to high-quality, culturally-relevant, early learning programming and services across the nation.

Barriers to accessibility for persons with disabilities are removed

We will continue to track how well accessibility barriers are being identified and removed. We will use this data to measure progress in the removal of barriers which is part of our implementation of the Federal Data and Measurement Strategy for Accessibility. We will also publish the second half of the performance indicator framework for the Accessible Canada Act through this strategy. In addition, indicator data sources will be identified. A key data source will be the 2022 Canadian Survey on Disability. This survey collects data from Canadians with disabilities about the barriers they face and how these affect their full participation in society. Reports based on this data will help organizations working to advance accessibility across Canada.

Through the Enabling Accessibility Fund we will continue to remove barriers by supporting projects that improve safety and accessibility in communities and workplaces across Canada.

Poverty is reduced

Under the Poverty Reduction Strategy, we will continue to reduce poverty, by:

• leading and coordinating initiatives across the federal government which are helping to address the many dimensions of poverty and its impacts
• supporting the National Advisory Council on Poverty to develop their fifth annual report on the Government of Canada's progress toward the goal of a 50% reduction in poverty by 2030. We offer support to the Council in its provision of advice to the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development on poverty reduction, and in their engagement activities to continue a national dialogue with Canadians on poverty
• working with Statistics Canada to conduct the third comprehensive review of the Market Basket Measure. This will ensure that poverty in Canada is measured using the latest available data and methods, and that Canada's Official Poverty Line continues to accurately reflect a basic and modest standard of living. This work ensures that Canadians can be confident that poverty reduction results are reported using an approach that is up-to-date, transparent and informed by a diversity of stakeholder perspectives
• continuing to collaborate with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis to better understand poverty among Indigenous populations in Canada and determine specific indicators. Co-developed indicators of poverty and well-being would help track poverty over time and would provide insight on the interactions between programs and initiatives and their effectiveness for Indigenous persons in Canada. This is expected to improve transparency and accountability

We will continue to engage with provinces, territories, and Indigenous partners, and stakeholders on the development of a National School Food Policy and to work towards a national school meal program. We will seek to ensure that a National School Food Policy reflects regional and local needs by building on our partners' existing efforts on school food programming. This includes exploring how to expand and enhance existing efforts, and creating an environment for ongoing collaboration to increase the number of children who have access to nutritious food in school.

The Canada Disability Benefit (CDB), a key part of the Disability Inclusion Action Plan, will help to reduce poverty and support the financial security of working-age persons with disabilities by providing a direct monthly payment to eligible individuals. Working-age Canadians with disabilities experience poverty at twice the rate of working-age Canadians without disabilities. This year, we will continue the regulatory development process for this benefit which is essential to the delivery of the Disability Inclusion Action Plan.

Capacity to address social issues is enhanced

We will help charities and non-profits become more adaptable to changing community needs in Canada. Since the launch of the Community Services Recovery Fund in 2023, nearly 5,500 organizations will have received assistance to enhance staff and volunteer capabilities, improve systems and processes, and innovate program service.

This year, investments from the Social Innovation and Social Finance Strategy's Social Finance Fund will start reaching Social Purpose Organizations, helping them to address social and environmental issues. The fund's data will also be available for social finance wholesalers, social finance intermediaries, and Social Purpose Organizations to use as a guide for measuring the social and environmental impacts of investments.

The Black-led Philanthropic Endowment Fund will keep investing and supporting Black-led, Black-focused, and Black-serving charities and non-profits. These funds will help organizations run projects that fight anti-Black racism and improve social and economic outcomes for Black communities in Canada.

The Supporting Black Canadian Communities Initiative will continue to play a key role in the department’s efforts to increase social inclusion, reduce systemic barriers, and strengthen social cohesion within Canada by advancing targeted measures for Black communities. This includes addressing emerging priorities as identified by Black community stakeholders and strengthening the foundational capacity of Black-led and Black-serving community organizations in Canada.

Through a 2 year investment announced in Budget 2023 (beginning in 2023 to 2024), the Social Development Partnerships Program - Disability (SDPP-D) will continue to help address the unique needs and ongoing barriers faced by persons with disabilities by investing in capacity building and the community-level work of Canada's disability organizations.

We will continue to lead Canada's implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda) and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This includes developing Canada's 2024 Annual Report on the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs. The report will highlight actions taken by the whole-of-government and whole-of-society to achieve the SDGs at home and abroad. The report will be published in summer 2024 and we will be part of Canada's official delegation to the 2024 United Nations High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in July 2024.

Snapshot of planned resources in 2024 to 2025

• Gross planned spending: $7,930,989,184
• Net planned spending: $7,930,989,184
• Planned full-time resources: 529

Related government priorities

Program inventory

Social Development is supported by the following programs:

• Accessible Canada Initiative
• Black-led Philanthropic Endowment Fund
• Canadian Benefit for Parents of Young Victims of Crime
• Early Learning and Child Care
• Enabling Accessibility Fund
• Indigenous Early Learning Child Care Transformation Initiative
• New Horizons for Seniors Program
• Social Development Partnerships Program
• Social Innovation and Social Finance Strategy
• Strategic Engagement and Research Program
• Sustainable Development Goals Funding Program

Supporting information on planned expenditures, human resources, and results related to Employment and Social Development's program inventory is available on GC Infobase.

Summary of changes made to reporting framework since last year

• Indicator removed: Reduction in the estimated number of shelter users who are chronically homeless

Description

Assist Canadians in maintaining income for retirement, and provide financial benefits to survivors, people with disabilities and their families.

Quality of life impacts

Programs under this core responsibility contribute to the following Quality of Life domain and indicators:

• Domain - Prosperity (indicators - Poverty, Household Income, Financial Wellbeing) through activities that provide Canadians with income for retirement, and financial benefits to people with disabilities, survivors of pension contributors and their families

Results and targets

The following tables show, for each departmental result related to Pensions and Benefits, the indicators, the results from the 3 most recently reported fiscal years, the targets and target dates approved in 2024 to 2025.

• Notes:
  1. This recognizes that not all people aged 65 years and older apply for Old Age Security (OAS) benefits when they first become eligible. Since 2013, seniors can choose to delay their OAS pension up to age 70, in exchange for a higher monthly benefit amount. As more people delay their applications for the OAS pension, there could be a decrease in the OAS take-up rate. This is why a new indicator has been added to measure take-up of the OAS pension by eligible seniors aged 70 and over. In addition, there is a 3-year time lag in the availably of data for this indicator.
  2. The target for this indicator looks at Canadian residents who have a disability and are aged 0 to 49 years. We adjusted the calculation in 2023 to reduce the lag time for reporting on results. Because of this adjustment, year over year comparisons should be done with caution.
  3. Service standards are published on Transparency - Canada.ca.
  4. Results are below the 80% target because the intake is back to pre-pandemic levels. In 2021 to 2022 intake was lower because clients were receiving the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, which resulted in the department exceeding its Speed of Service projections and target. In order to meet its service standard moving forward and improve service delivery results for Canadians, the department received a multi-year funding to address these workload challenges and hired additional resources.

Results are below the 80% target because the intake is back to pre-pandemic levels. In 2021 to 2022 intake was lower because clients were receiving the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, which resulted in the department exceeding its Speed of Service projections and target. In order to meet its service standard moving forward and improve service delivery results for Canadians, the department received a multi-year funding to address these workload challenges and hired additional resources. The financial, human resources and performance information for Employment and Social Development's program inventory is available on GC InfoBase.

Plans to achieve results

In fiscal year 2024 to 2025, the department will undertake the following activities to advance this core responsibility.

Seniors have income support for retirement

Old Age Security

The department will ensure that seniors continue to have income support for retirement through the Old Age Security (OAS) program. The department will continue to provide the basic OAS pension, which is paid to all persons aged 65 or over who meet the residence requirements. The program will also provide eligible low-income OAS pensioners with the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS), and Allowances for low-income Canadians aged 60 to 64 who are the spouses or common-law partners of GIS recipients, or who are widows or widowers.

We will migrate Old Age Security (OAS) to the new Benefits Delivery Modernization platform. This will simplify the experiences of everyone who engages with the OAS program. This includes both the over 7 million seniors that receive benefits and the employees who administer them. The migration of the OAS to the new platform will be done through several releases. Based on lessons learned, a pilot will take place in summer 2024 to confirm that the solution works as planned and that the employees are ready for the change. The final release will follow in December 2024. Once the new system is in place, all OAS, Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) and Allowance benefits will be paid from the new system.

Canada Pension Plan

Enhancement to the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) that began in 2019 will, over time, increase the maximum Canada Pension Plan retirement pension by over 50%. January 2025 will mark the end of the enhancement's 7-year phase-in, when the range of earnings protected by the Plan will increase to 14% above the original limit. The Canada Revenue Agency will determine the 2025 basic and enhanced earnings limits in late 2024 based on wage growth.

Persons with disabilities and their families have financial support

We will make sure Canadians with severe and prolonged disabilities and their families have financial support from the Canada Pension Plan - Disability program. This year we will aim to improve the client experience by:

• expanding our quality assurance program to review more types of files, including grave medical conditions and terminal illness applications, in addition to initial and reconsideration decisions. Having more files undergo a quality assurance review will help to ensure medical decisions to determine eligibility are appropriate and consistent

• use experimental approaches to improve the program for Canadians with severe and prolonged disabilities. Specifically, we will launch a pilot project to test improved employment supports for Canada Pension Plan Disability clients who want to return to work while continuing to receive the benefit

We will continue to promote the Canada Disability Savings Grant and the Canada Disability Savings Bond to encourage people with disabilities, approved for the Disability Tax Credit (DTC) and who have opened a Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP), to save for the future. The bond is money the government contributes to the RDSPs of low-and-modest-income persons with disabilities, up to the lifetime maximum of $20,000. No personal contributions are required to receive the bond. The grant matches personal contributions up to 300%, to a lifetime maximum of $70,000. We will also raise awareness of the Canada Disability Savings Program to eligible individuals who have not yet opened an RDSP. We will undertake a range of activities including annual mass mail-outs, engagement with community-based stakeholders, and webinars conducted with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to increase awareness of these initiatives.

Snapshot of planned resources in 2024 to 2025

• Gross planned spending: $148,006,897,563
• Net planned spending: $82,359,460,288
• Planned full-time resources: 7,522

Related government priorities

Program inventory

Pensions and Benefits is supported by the following programs:

• Canada Disability Savings Program
• Canada Pension Plan
• Old Age Security

Supporting information on planned expenditures, human resources, and results related to Employment and Social Development Canada's program inventory is available on GC Infobase.

Summary of changes made to reporting framework since last year

• Not applicable

Description

Help Canadians access post-secondary education, obtain the skills and training needed to participate in a changing labour market, and provide supports to those who are temporarily unemployed.

Quality of life impacts

Programs under this core responsibility contribute to several Quality of Life domains and indicators, including:

• Domain - Prosperity (Indicators - Postsecondary attainment, Youth not in employment, education or training [NEET], Child, student and adult skills, Protection from income shocks, Employment, Financial well-being, Labour underutilization) through programs that help Canadians access post-secondary education and assist Indigenous people, youth, and other groups obtain the training they need to participate in the labour market or return to school. In addition, programs provide support to individuals who are temporarily unemployed and to employers with labour needs
• Domain - Society (Indicators - Knowledge of official languages, Sense of belonging to local community and Volunteering), through programs that help Canadians in second-language minority communities obtain the skills and training they need to find employment in their communities

Results and targets

The following tables show, for each departmental result related to Learning, Skills Development and Employment, the indicators, the results from the 3 most recently reported fiscal years, the targets and target dates approved in 2024 to 2025.

• Notes:
  1. These results are for both Labour Market Development Agreements (LMDAs) and Workforce Development Agreements (WDAs). Results shown are from the previous year because there is a 1-year lag in data availability.
  2. The results for this indicator have been slightly revised in view of program flexibilities for inclusion of uninsured participants who find employment or return to school. As such, actual results for fiscal year 2020 to 2021, 2021 to 2022, and 2022 to 2023 have been updated.
  3. Provincially and territorially (P/T) delivered programs set their own annual targets.
  4. Since the publication of the of the 2022 to 2023 Departmental Results Report, the actual result for this indicator in 2022 to 2023 was updated. As such, actual result was 671,349.
  5. This target includes the anticipated number of participants who find employment or return to school upon completion of 1 of the following federally funded programs: Community Workforce Development Program 250; Indigenous Skills and Employment Training Program (ISET) 20,000; Opportunities Fund for Persons with Disabilities (OF-PwD) 3,700; Student Work Placement Program (SWP) 40,000 opportunities (20,000 from SWP and 20,000 from Innovative Work-Integrated Learning Initiative); Youth Employment and Skills Strategy (YESS) 73,000, (which includes ESDC-delivered Youth Employment and Skills Strategy Program (YESSP) 3,000 and Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ) 70,000); and Skills for Success (SFS) 2,000. The Skills and Partnership Fund is not included in the target, but results will be provided for the performance indicator's actual results.
  6. This target includes the anticipated number of participants that will take training or receive employment supports through the following federally delivered programs: Canadian Apprenticeship Strategy (CAS) 81,795; Community Workforce Development Program (CWDP) 1,000; Future Skills (FS) 20,000; Indigenous Skills and Employment Training Program (ISET) 40,000; Opportunities Fund for Persons with Disabilities (OF-PwD) 6,200; Sectoral Workforce Solutions Programs (SWSP) 3,750; Student Work Placement Program (SWP) 40,000 opportunities (20,000 from SWP and 20,000 from Innovative Work-Integrated Learning Initiative) ; Youth Employment and Skills Strategy (YESS) 93,806, (which includes Youth Employment and Skills Strategy Program (YESSP) 23,806 and Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ) 70,000); Skills for Success (SFS) 30,000.
  7. Lower unemployment rates in 2022 had a significant impact on Post Secondary Education participation when compared to earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic.
  8. Many factors can affect employment rates within specific groups, and these factors may affect groups differently. Employment and Social Development Canada programming cannot be considered solely responsible for changes to the employment rate gaps.
  9. The result for this indicator may be skewed due to an increase in unemployment rates in 2020 and 2021 as the COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted the labour market.
  10. The department is setting a new target of 14.0 percentage points (at most) which takes into consideration the goal of the Accessible Canada Act which aims for a barrier-free Canada by 2040 and the expected impact of federal, provincial, and territorial policies and programming.
  11. The COVID-19 pandemic had a bigger impact on women's employment compared with men in the labour market.
  12. This result comes from the 2019 to 2020 EI Monitoring and Assessment Report. There is a 1-year lag in reporting for this indicator due to data availability.
  13. Due to temporary changes made to the Employment Insurance Program in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, there are no results for fiscal years 2020 to 2021 and 2021 to 2022 and due to a 1-year lag in data availability, results for 2022 to 2023 will be made available in the 2023 to 2024 Departmental Results Report.
  14. As a result of a time lag in the availability of data from Statistics Canada, 2019 data is used for 2022 to 2023 actual results as it is the most recent available.
  15. Service standards are published on Transparency - Canada.ca.
  16. On average, eligible clients received their first payment within 24 days. Results are below the 80% target due in part to an unforeseen increase in claims related to the COVID-19 Omicron variant. In order to meet its service standard moving forward and reduce claim inventories to a sustainable level, Service Canada hired and trained 600 incremental resources in 2022 to 2023.

The financial, human resources and performance information for Employment and Social Development Canada's program inventory is available on GC InfoBase.

Plans to achieve results

In fiscal year 2024 to 2025, the department will undertake the following activities to advance this core responsibility.

Students, including those from low- and middle-income families, are provided with federally funded supports to help them participate in post-secondary education (PSE)

We will work with community organizations and government partners to raise awareness of, and access to, education savings benefits, including among students aged 18 to 20 with unclaimed amounts of the Canada Learning Bond. This funding helps youth from low-income households participate in post-secondary education.

We will fund the Supports for Student Learning Program to help youth who face barriers to education. Through the Student and Afterschool Supports stream of the program, we will work with youth-serving organizations to support over 40,000 youth this year. Projects will help youth complete high school and transition to post-secondary education so they can gain skills and experience needed in the labour market. Additionally, by the end of March 2025, at least 11,000 Canadian post-secondary students are expected to have received assistance to study or work abroad through the Global Skills Opportunity stream. These 2 streams aim to equip students with the skills and abilities needed to succeed in the labour market.

Student borrowers are able to repay their federal student debt

In the 2024 to 2025 academic year, we aim to provide financial assistance to 700,000 post-secondary students through non-repayable Canada Student Grants and interest-free Canada Student Loans as part of the Canada Student Financial Assistance (CSFA) Program.

By fall 2024, we expect to expand the reach of the Canada Student Loan (CSL) Forgiveness initiative, which is part of our commitment to improve access to health care and social services in rural communities. This benefit is currently available to family doctors and nurses who work in underserved rural and remote communities in Canada and will be expanded to include all communities with populations of 30,000 or fewer.

Canadians access education, training and lifelong learning supports to gain the skills and work experience they need

Success strategies and lessons learned for training and skills development will be shared by the Future Skills Centre through regular engagement activities with employers, industry, labour, training providers, Indigenous and not-for-profit organizations, and government. For example, what types of training and supports are most helpful for people in career transition versus people newly landed in Canada. Sharing this information will help to guide these groups in replicating and expanding effective practices based on reliable evidence. The Centre will also test a guide on how to pilot and scale promising skills interventions for Canadians.

We will invest in skills training and employment supports for Canadians with approximately $3 billion provided annually to provinces and territories through the bilateral Labour Market Development Agreements (LMDAs) and the Workforce Development Agreements (WDAs).

Additionally, we will create employment and career opportunities for persons with disabilities and support both employers and employees in the tourism and hospitality sector. We will do this by supporting 32 multi-year projects through the Sectoral Workforce Solutions Program. Ten of the projects will create employment and career opportunities for persons with disabilities, 20 will help employers, employees, and other industry stakeholder organizations in the tourism and hospitality sector to attract and retain skilled workers and 2 projects will focus on developing labour market information and tools. In addition, the program will launch a Sustainable Jobs Training Fund to help workers upgrade or gain new skills for jobs in the low-carbon economy.

In 2024 to 2025, we will support the transition of workers from declining industries to growth areas through the Community Workforce Development Program. This program aims to support workforce development while communities diversify their local economies, enhancing their long-term economic resiliency.

We will also work to remove barriers to internal labour mobility within Canada and encourage provinces and territories to cut the red tape that impedes the movement of workers, particularly in construction, health care and child care as announced in the 2023 Fall Economic Statement

Advice on supporting workers in a changing labour market will be provided in a final report from a Union-Led Advisory Table that was launched on December 5, 2023 by the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages and the Minister of Labour and Seniors. The report will outline actions to:

• help mid-career workers, particularly those in at-risk sectors and jobs, access training and transition to in-demand jobs
• address the needs of workers in industries facing changes and disruptions
• encourage ongoing skills development for workers throughout their working lives
• support diversity and inclusion in Canadian workplaces and remove barriers for equity-deserving groups to access jobs and advance in their careers
• help workers transition to retirement with dignity

Increase employment opportunities for youth

Our department leads the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy, delivered in partnership with 11 other federal departments, agencies and Crown corporations. This year, at least 23,648 youth, including 5,240 supported directly by our department, will take part in work experience opportunities offered by the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy Program. An additional 70,000 jobs for youth across Canada will be created through Canada Summer Jobs which is also part of the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy but delivered solely by our department.

In addition, a new series of youth-focused projects, as part of the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy Program, are anticipated to start as early as 2024. These projects will support youth facing multiple barriers develop the skills and experience they need to find and keep good jobs.

Starting this year, we will conduct a small-scale trial as part of the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy Program's Call for Proposals. This trial, through a randomized control test, will gauge the effectiveness of a small investment (up to $30,000) on improving organizations' capacity for data collection, analysis and reporting. For example, these activities could include staff development, use of digital tools, or data-driven testing. Approximately 30 to 35 projects will be selected to participate in the trial and the results will guide improvements in reporting and program design to better meet the diverse needs of Canadian youth.

We will increase Canada Service Corps (CSC) opportunities for Indigenous and under-served youth to be involved with their community, providing service placements and micro-grants to at least 11,000 youth in 2024 to 2025.

Finally, Job Bank will display Canada Summer Jobs opportunities on its Youth targeted page and on the Canada Summer Jobs page of its mobile app, during the 2024 campaign, to help youth find work.

Support apprenticeship training and access to skilled trades

This year we will support, through the Canadian Apprenticeship Strategy, approximately 81,795 individuals to participate and succeed in trades-focused training.

We will also launch a new sustainable jobs training funding stream under the Canadian Apprenticeship Strategy's Union Training and Innovation Program. This stream will fund projects led by unions to provide green skills training for trades workers. About 5,000 apprentices and certified tradespersons will benefit from this investment in 2024 to 2025.

We will support the development of standards and examination to help labour mobility, align apprenticeship training, and ensure uniform certification tools for the trades. We will do this by working with the provinces and territories as part of the Red Seal Program. This year, 7 interprovincial standards and 32 examinations for 8 trades will be finalised.

Canadians participate in an inclusive and efficient labour market

This year, through the Opportunities Fund for Persons with Disabilities, we will help approximately 6,000 persons gain skills and work experience for employment. In addition, about 2,000 employers will receive support to make workplaces more accessible and inclusive for persons with disabilities.

The Disability Inclusion Business Council launched the Canadian Business Disability Network in December 2023 and will continue to support the Network in its mission to assist businesses and employers in adopting best practices for disability inclusion. The Council will also offer advice and recommendations to the Minister of Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities on disability inclusion in the workplace.

This year, we will engage with Indigenous partners to co-develop the evaluation of the Indigenous Skills and Employment Training (ISET) program. This will help to provide a holistic perspective on how the program impacts Indigenous partners. Through the ISET program, funding is provided to Indigenous service delivery organizations and governments to offer training and other supports to their communities, typically supporting at least 40,000 Indigenous people annually with the aim of at least 16,500 people finding jobs. The ISET program, and collaborative work on its evaluation, demonstrates our commitment to advance reconciliation and contributes to the Government of Canada's Action Plan on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by supporting self-determination in skills training and employment.

In addition, through the Engagement Protocol Agreements, we will continue to fund national Indigenous partners who have a mandate to collaborate with the Government of Canada to engage First Nations, Inuit and Métis governments and rights holders. For example, funding will support continued collaborative work with Indigenous partners on the ongoing implementation of, and improvements of Indigenous labour market programming. This investment in engagement, research and policy development will inform legislative, policy and program development and implementation and support the Government of Canada's commitment to recognizing Indigenous rights, including self-determination.

We will add a new stream to the Enabling Fund for Official Language Minority Communities Program to help local official language minority community organizations provide employment assistance service to community members.

We will assist Canadian employers facing labour shortages through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, allowing temporary hiring when Canadians and permanent residents are not available.

We will continue providing support to employers facing critical labour shortages with measures under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program Workforce Solutions Road Map. These measures are meant to help employers more quickly fill in short-term labour gaps and meet their business needs. For example, allowing employers in 7 sectors with demonstrated labour shortages to hire up to 30% of their workforce through the program, for positions under the provincial or territorial median hourly wage. Some of these measures are in place until August 30, 2024, and might be adjusted to ensure that we remain responsive to changing labour market conditions.

We will work with stakeholders to deliver on the federal Budget 2022 commitment to develop a new foreign labour program for agriculture and fish processing. The new program will streamline requirements under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program to better support the unique needs of employers and temporary foreign workers in these sectors. The new program will also strengthen worker protections and ensure that Canada's food producers have access to a stable and reliable supply of labour.

We will continue to improve the compliance regime to protect the health and safety of temporary foreign workers. We will increase the number of inspectors to strengthen the quality of inspection activities and to hold employers accountable for the treatment of temporary foreign workers in Canada. We will continue to maintain the Service Canada confidential worker protection tip line (1-866-602-9448), and to report abuse, and engage in outreach activities to increase the awareness of rights and obligations among workers and employers, including identifying and eliminating systemic issues.

We will continue to modernize our operations to process more Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) applications. We will also support the transition of employers to submit LMIA applications electronically, which will result in faster processing of applications. Additionally, public-facing service expectations will be introduced for all streams of the Program to help employers manage their service delivery expectations.

Canadians receive financial support during employment transitions such as job loss, illness, or maternity/parental leave

We will continue delivery of a new temporary 1-year measure that will provide up to 4 additional weeks of Employment Insurance (EI) regular benefits to eligible seasonal workers in 13 economic regions as announced in the 2023 Fall Economic Statement. This additional measure supplements the existing temporary seasonal measure which provides up to 5 additional weeks of EI regular benefits. Eligible seasonal claims that are established between September 10, 2023 and September 7, 2024, in these 13 regions will benefit from the new temporary seasonal measure.

We will work to introduce a new 15-week shareable Employment Insurance adoption benefit starting in 2023 to 2024, as announced in the 2023 Fall Economic Statement. The benefit is expected to provide approximately 1,700 Canadian families each year with additional time and flexibility as they welcome a new child in their home. Surrogate parents will also be eligible for this benefit.

Policy work is also underway to improve the EI program, informed by lessons learned from the pandemic, including from EI temporary measures, and what we heard during the 2 years of EI consultations to ensure the program remains financially sustainable.

Snapshot of planned resources in 2024 to 2025

• Gross planned spending: $33,754,261,064
• Net planned spending: $7,230,578,580
• Planned full-time resources: 15,054

Related government priorities

Program inventory

Learning, Skills Development and Employment is supported by the following programs:

• Canada Apprenticeship Strategy
• Canada Education Savings Program
• Canada Emergency Response Benefit
• Canada Recovery Benefits
• Canada Service Corps
• Canada Student Financial Assistance Program and Canada Apprentice Loans
• Community Workforce Development Program
• Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit
• Employment Insurance
• Enabling Fund for Official Language Minority Communities
• Foreign Credential Recognition Program
• Future Skills
• Indigenous Skills and Employment Training (ISET) Program
• Job Bank
• Labour Market Development Agreements
• Opportunities Fund for Persons with Disabilities
• Sectoral Workforce Solutions Program
• Skilled Trades and Apprenticeship (Red Seal Program)
• Skills and Partnership Fund
• Skills for Success
• Student Work Placement Program
• Supports for Student Learning
• Temporary Foreign Worker Program
• Workforce Development Agreements
• Youth Employment and Skills Strategy

Supporting information on planned expenditures, human resources, and results related to Employment and Social Development Canada's program inventory is available on GC Infobase.

Summary of changes made to reporting framework since last year

• Not applicable

Description

Promotes safe, healthy, fair and inclusive work conditions and cooperative workplace relations.

Quality of life impacts

Programs under this core responsibility contribute to several Quality of Life domains and indicators, including:

• Domain - Health (Indicator - Functional health status), through programs aimed at ensuring safe and healthy work conditions
• Domain - Good Governance (Indicators - Canada's place in the world, Cyberbullying, Resolution of serious legal problems, Access to fair and equal justice, Elimination of Discrimination and unfair treatment, and Representation in senior leadership positions), through programs promoting fair and equitable treatment of workers, supporting labour standards enforcement, addressing discrimination and harassment in the workplace, and ensuring fair work standards in other areas of the world
• Domain - Prosperity (Indicator - Protection from income shock), through programs designed to safeguard workers in cases of workplace injuries or when affected by workplace bankruptcy, protecting them from sudden income loss

Results and targets

The following tables show, for each departmental result related to Working Conditions and Workplace Relations, the indicators, the results from the 3 most recently reported fiscal years, the targets and target dates approved in 2024 to 2025.

• Notes:
  1. Violations are typically identified during proactive inspections in workplaces. However, these were greatly reduced in fiscal year 2020 to 2021 and in fiscal year 2021 to 2022, due to the pandemic. We found less violations because we did less proactive inspections during that period.
  2. The number of violations found in 2022 to 2023 was higher than the previous years because inspections were done more often (post-pandemic). This does not mean the safety performance of the federally regulated employers got worse. Rather, more violations were discovered with increased inspections. As a result of changes to legislation, particularly due to compliance and enforcement, this indicator will fluctuate. It will most likely increase over the short term as the program improves its service delivery.
  3. Service standards are published on Transparency - Canada.ca.
  4. This decrease is partly related to a new case management system. Demographic shifts have also decreased the average experience level of the inspectors. This has affected the department's ability to formally close cases in the system within the 120 days target. Demands on the time of experienced officers has affected administrative closure of cases in the new system, but not health and safety outcomes in federally regulated workplaces.
  5. Approximately half of all Labour Affairs Officers in the field are new employees who have less than 2 years experience. Unjust dismissal complaints require experienced officers to conduct alternate dispute resolution services. It may take longer for new officers to finalize these complaints, having an impact on the expected results. As officers gain experience, the result is expected to improve, and the targets to be met.
  6. In fiscal year 2022 to 2023, Labour Affairs Officers faced an increasing workload for a variety of reasons. This made it difficult to resolve all unjust dismissal complaints within the standard 180 days. In addition, a new case management system was introduced in which cases where Alternate Dispute Resolution is used to settle complaints of unjust dismissal are now counted in the total number of cases resolved. This has contributed to a decrease of percentage of complaints resolved within 180 days.

The financial, human resources and performance information for the Employment and Social Development Canada's program inventory is available on GC InfoBase.

Plans to achieve results

In fiscal year 2024 to 2025, the department will undertake the following activities to advance this core responsibility.

Workplaces are safe and healthy

We will advance changes to the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations that will improve outcomes for workers and address changes in the society. These include addressing thermal stress and recognizing all-gender toilets

We will also propose updates to the sanitation provisions of the regulations under Part II of the Canada Labour Code to recognize all-gender toilets, and modernize language to be gender-inclusive.

We will continue to meet with representatives from the provinces and territories to discuss issues of mutual interest including occupational health and safety as well as labour standards such as sick leave.

Work conditions are fair and inclusive

We will continue to explore ways to amend the Canada Labour Code to improve job protections for federally regulated gig workers by strengthening prohibitions against employee misclassification.

Legislation will be introduced to amend the Canada Labour Code to create 3 days of paid leave to support employees in the federally regulated private sector who experience a pregnancy loss. This leave will allow employees to start recovering from a loss without worrying about job security or income.

We will take stronger action against employers in the road transportation industry who are misclassifying employees. It has been common for employers to avoid classifying workers as employees, depriving these workers access to important rights and entitlements that they would normally be entitled to. We'll grow our teams dedicated to addressing misclassification issues. These teams will conduct awareness sessions for organizations, associations, and employers in the road transportation sector. In the case of non-compliance, enforcement strategies, such as orders directing the employers to correct the situation and monetary penalties, will be used.

We will introduce regulations to support the Pay Equity Commissioner's (Commissioner's) ability to address non-compliance with the Pay Equity Act and Pay Equity Regulations. The regulations will allow the Commissioner to use administrative monetary penalties when employers are in violation of the Pay Equity Act and Pay Equity Regulations. These regulations will be used to encourage compliance in a manner that in non-punitive. Regulations are expected to come into force in 2024.

Following the publication of the final report from the Employment Equity Act Review Task Force in December 2023, we will develop options for modernizing the Employment Equity Act. This is an important step to advance equity, diversity and inclusion in federally regulated workplaces.

We will also continue to improve the Federal Contractors Program to ensure that federal contractors are paying their employees the federal minimum wage.

We will continue to work with the International Labour Organization to develop, implement and promote international labour standards. For example, standards on violence and harassment, occupational health and safety, and emerging challenges for people working through digital platforms. By doing this we hope to ensure minimum labour standards across the global economy and provide a level playing field for workers in Canada.

The department will also support the Canada Indo-Pacific Strategy which puts forward how Canada intends to work with allies and partners to shape the future of the region. We will help Indo-Pacific trading partners enforce labour provisions in current and future free trade agreements to improve respect for fundamental labour rights and ensure companies are respecting human rights in their supply chains.

Labour relations are cooperative

We will improve the process used to review activities that must continue during work stoppages to ensure public health and safety. Improving this process will reduce cases of employers using replacement workers during a strike or lockout.

Lastly, we will continue to deliver the Wage Earner Protection Program to provide financial support to workers for wages owed to them when their employer files for bankruptcy, enters receivership, or in other qualifying circumstances.

Snapshot of planned resources in 2024 to 2025

• Gross planned spending: $198,483,987
• Net planned spending: $197,583,987
• Planned full-time resources: 856

Related government priorities

Program inventory

Working Conditions and Workplace Relations is supported by the following programs:

• Federal Workers' Compensation
• International Labour Affairs
• Labour Relations
• Labour Standards
• Occupational Health and Safety
• Wage Earner Protection Program
• Workplace Equity

Supporting information on planned expenditures, human resources, and results related to Employment and Social Development Canada's program inventory is available on GC Infobase.

Summary of changes made to reporting framework since last year

• Not applicable

Description

Provide information to the public on the programs of the Government of Canada and the department and provide services on behalf of other government departments.

Quality of life impacts

Programs under this core responsibility contribute to several Quality of Life domains and indicators including:

• Domain - Good Governance (Indicators - Confidence in institutions, Misinformation/trust in media) through activities that provide information to the public on services offered by various levels of government

• Domain - Society (Indicators - Indigenous languages, Knowledge of official languages) through programs that involve collaborating with Indigenous organizations, as well as provinces and territories, to deliver services and information to the public in the official language of their choice

Results and targets

The following tables show, for each departmental result related to Information Delivery and Service for Other Government Departments, the indicators, the results from the 3 most recently reported fiscal years, the targets and target dates approved in 2024 to 2025.

• Notes:
  1. We are seeing a shift in the most common types of service requests at our in-person network. Interview times have also increased for most transactions to provide improved client service, for example Passport services. The combination of increased interview times and shift in volumes at Service Canada Centres have, at times, resulted in an increase of wait times mainly in urban centres.
  2. Service standards are published on Transparency - Canada.ca.
  3. In past years there were 5 service standards for this target. Two of the Passport Service standards have been combined and there are now only 4.
  4. During the first 2 years of the pandemic, we only received about 20% of the usual number of passport applications, resulting in 3 million fewer Canadians renewing or applying for a passport. As travel restrictions eased, mail applications nearly doubled. Also, a large portion of received applications were for new passports, which take longer to process compared to renewals. The high application volume exceeded the department's capacity to process passports within the service standards.

The financial, human resources and performance information for Employment and Social Development Canada's program inventory is available on GC InfoBase.

Plans to achieve results

In fiscal year 2024 to 2025, the department will undertake the following activities to advance this core responsibility.

Clients receive high quality, timely and accurate government information and services that meet their needs

We will put in place measures from our Accessibility Plan for Client Service to ensure our delivery channels (in-person, online, phone) are more accessible for persons with disabilities. We will reduce barriers by:

• using outreach approaches that make it easier for persons with disabilities to access our programs and services in person
• making it easier to use telephone assistive technologies and to authorize a third party to act on a client's behalf
• making online program information easier to find and understand

Additionally, starting in 2024, as part of the revision of the Official Languages Regulations Re-Application Exercise, we will expand bilingual services to additional Service Canada Centres, so more clients can receive service in the official language of their choice.

We plan to maintain high quality services and program information for Canadians through in-person service at Service Canada Centres, Passport Service sites, Scheduled Outreach, and through eServiceCanada requests.

We will also use our Community Outreach and Liaison Services to reach clients who face barriers to accessing benefits and services with Service Canada online, by telephone, or at an in person point of service. The Community Outreach and Liaison Services provides clients with access to programs, services and benefits within their communities. To do this, we will:

• collaborate with service delivery partners to implement alternative service delivery methods, like working with community organizations to identify clients needing additional support and referring them directly to a Service Canada representative

• provide support for Indigenous and vulnerable populations experiencing barriers to accessing Service Canada programs and benefits by offering them service in-person, virtually, or through our Outreach Support Centre (a toll-free telephone line)

In addition, we will make it easier and less expensive for departments to deliver more consistent and improved services to Canadians. The Canadian Digital Service will continue to build and grow reusable digital tools that help departments:

• GC Notify - send emails and text messages to clients to notify them of service updates
• GC Forms - rapidly build accessible online forms, which make it easier for clients to submit information for services
• Digital credentials – enabling one front door for all Government of Canada services by making it easier for clients to sign-in to government services and prove their identity

Telephone General Enquiries Program

We will continue to provide clients with accurate information, low wait times to speak with an agent, and service of equal quality in both official languages of choice through delivery of our general enquiries telephone program. This program is provided through the 1 800 O-Canada service and the Customized Information Services.

Through 1 800 O-Canada, we aim to:

• answer 80% of calls within 18 seconds
• maintain a minimum rating of 85% for completeness, relevancy and accuracy of information provided during calls, as measured through a quality monitoring program

With our Customized Information Services, we will continue to help partners, which are other federal departments and agencies, communicate with Canadians through agile and easy to implement call centre solutions.

As part of the Reaching all Canadians initiative, our telephone general enquiries program will test a non-official and Indigenous languages interpretation service. This will increase the number of Canadians, including vulnerable Canadians, who access Government of Canada services.

Government of Canada Digital Presence

We will provide up to date and mobile-friendly access to government information and services on Canada.ca. This year we will continue to:

• ensure Canada.ca remains available, reliable, secure and a trusted as a source of authoritative government information for Canadians and the international public
• support more than 80 federal departments and agencies deliver important information to the public through Canada.ca, social media, and the Government of Canada digital newsroom
• support the 38 federal department and agencies who are fully on-boarded to Canada.ca and continue to onboard new departments and agencies to Canada.ca as needed
• expand analysis and reporting capabilities within the social media management system. Government of Canada organizations can use these tools to improve their ability to reach Canadians
• provide departments and agencies with quantitative and qualitative data from digital analytics solutions and services to help them measure and continuously improve services delivered online

We will launch a Community Outreach and Liaison service webpage this year with information about outreach activities across Canada. Through this new resource, community organizations will be able to use a secure online form to request information sessions and application intake clinics for our common clients. The "outreach activities close to you" page, will allow clients to locate outreach activities close to their home providing them with faster service and preventing long wait times at Service Canada Centres.

Canadians can obtain a passport within Canada in a timely manner

We will work closely with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to simplify the passport application process while maintaining program security, integrity, and service standards. The department will:

• complete the deployment of the Passport Program Modernization Initiative (PPMI) in the fall of 2024. PPMI will position the Passport Program for the future through a sustainable and scalable passport issuance platform based on IRCC's Global Case Management System, including a new application intake tool (Tempo). From a client service perspective, PPMI is expected to increase automation in renewals, thereby supporting an increase in renewal volumes expected as part of the 10-year surge and decreasing wait times and line-ups
• complete the deployment of the ePassport Next Generation (ePNG) project by summer of 2024. ePNG will procure and deploy a new solution for all Canadian travel documents across the domestic passport networks (IRCC will implement the same solution for abroad networks). Canadians will benefit from a secure passport design and improved overall security of the passport
• continue exploring and deploying Robotic Process Automation (RPA) solutions to support increasing productivity with passport intake, processing and printing functions. The RPA initiative is being used to automate data extraction and data entry into Passport systems, reducing the number of manual tasks for employees. This will make processes more efficient, saving time, cost and resources

Service Delivery Partnerships program

We will continue to collaborate with federal, provincial, territorial, municipal, and Indigenous partners as part of the Service Delivery Partnerships program. This program allows partners to use the department's service delivery network to provide client services. Here are a few examples of what we will do this year:

• help Health Canada with the delivery of the Canadian Dental Care Plan by validating eligibility of Canadians against the program criteria, providing information to Canadians on the plan and supporting them in the application process. This will provide eligible uninsured Canadians with access to insured dental care
• continue to strengthen our relationship with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada on the delivery of the Passport program and the collection of in-Canada biometrics. We will also collaborate with them on the delivery of the Canada-Ukraine Transitional Assistance Initiative (CUTAI) which is intended to meet the immediate and basic needs of eligible recipients facilitated under the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET), following their arrival in Canada

Snapshot of planned resources in 2024 to 2025

• Gross planned spending: $599,204,881
• Net planned spending: $599,204,881
• Planned full-time resources: 4,932

Related government priorities

Program inventory

Information Delivery and Services for Other Departments is supported by the following programs:

• Citizen Service Network
• Canadian Digital Service
• Government of Canada Internet Presence
• Government of Canada Telephone General Enquiries Services
• Passport
• Service Delivery Partnerships

Supporting information on planned expenditures, human resources, and results related to Employment and Social Development Canada's program inventory is available on GC Infobase.

Summary of changes made to reporting framework since last year

• Program added: Canadian Digital Service

Description

Internal services are the services that are provided within a department so that it can meet its corporate obligations and deliver its programs. There are 10 categories of internal services:

• 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

Below are some highlights of key actions for some internal services that are planned for 2024 to 2025.

Plans to achieve results

Management and oversight services

Access to information

The department will continue to promote openness and transparency as set out in the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act. The Acts enable Canadian citizens, permanent residents, persons present in Canada, or corporations to formally or informally, request records under the control of the department. We will do this by:

• modernizing Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) technology and processes to improve client experience and service to Canadians
• responding to ATIP requests within legislated timeframes and implementing measures to manage workload, including requests from previous fiscal years
• proactively disclosing required departmental information
• providing employees with resources and training so the department is more open and transparent to the public

Privacy

The department will continue to protect the privacy rights of Canadians by:

• using privacy-by-design processes to build privacy into new projects and initiatives, such as the Benefits Delivery Modernization Programme, service delivery improvements and the Employment and Social Development Canada Data Strategy
• having policies, processes and training in place for the responsible collection, use, disclosure, and retention of personal information

Data strategy

The department will continue to implement its Data Strategy, focusing on innovative and responsible data and analytical methods. This includes:

• carrying out the department's Data Foundations Programme so employees have tools that help them access trusted departmental data to make evidence-based decisions and have a more complete picture of citizen's needs. The Programme will also provide consistent privacy and quality controls to balance secure, ethical and transparent use of data, including when using advanced analytical methods
• defining data stewardship roles and responsibilities from the Data Accountabilities Framework to strengthen accountability for data management at all levels of the department. This will allow us to optimize innovative and responsible use of data for effective decision-making related to policy, programs, and service delivery
• developing consistent department -wide guidance, processes, and tools for the innovative and responsible use of data in collaboration with the Enterprise Data Stewardship Network working groups. These working groups, composed of Data Stewards from across the department, are focused on co-developing approaches that will allow for the advancement of departmental data priorities and on enhancing our use of data as a strategic asset to drive better outcomes for Canadians
• using employee demographic information to plan for resources to effectively deliver programs and services. The information will also help support the Call to Action on Anti-Racism, Equity, and Inclusion in the Federal Public Service initiatives. Demographic data will highlight diversity gaps in our workforce enabling informed decisions for increased participation
• continuing to partner with Statistics Canada under a joint ESDC-Statistics Canada Data Strategy to enhance the evidence base required to support policy analysis research and evaluation, and results reporting

Evaluation services

The department will continue to improve evaluations services by:

• ensuring evaluations are timely, relevant and support informed policy decisions and the delivery of programs and services to Canadians
• engaging with Indigenous partners to complete the first co-developed evaluations of Indigenous programs, in support of reconciliation
• incorporating Gender-based Analysis Plus into evaluation activities when data is available to help ensure vulnerable populations can access the services they need

Research

We will continue to support our ongoing commitment to innovation by working on more than 150 research projects to inform program, policy development and service delivery, as part of the 2023 to 2025 Departmental Research Plan. This work will help us better identify the challenges many Canadians face and help inform how best to respond to these. For example, we will use data from the 2022 Canadian Survey on Disability to generate new evidence that will support ongoing policy work. This includes work related to the Poverty Reduction Strategy, the Employment Equity Act, the Disability Inclusion Action Plan, the ongoing implementation of the Accessible Canada Act, and Canada's implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Security

To protect the department's information, assets, and employees from risks both within and outside the organization, we will focus on:

• launching new software that combines our business continuity, IT continuity, and emergency management information. This will help us respond better to security incidents while minimizing disruption to public services
• improving communications and training materials to raise security awareness among employees. This enables protection of employees, the department's assets and the personal information of Canadians and other clients

Human resources management services

The department will continue to support a healthy workplace and a diverse workforce. We will focus on:

• hiring equity deserving individuals to reflect Canada's diversity. As part of this effort, we are planning a process to attract and hire Canadians who self-identify as Indigenous Peoples
• advancing anti-racism, diversity, accessibility, reconciliation, equity and inclusion with the following 6 diversity networks that are supported by senior executives:
  • Black Employee Network
  • Employees with Disabilities Network (EwDN)
  • Employee Pride Network
  • Indigenous Employees' Circle
  • Visible Minorities Network
  • Women's Network
• creating an inclusive workplace where every employee should feel that they can be themselves at work regardless of age, gender, race, sexual orientation, disability, religion and belief, with prevention, awareness, training, and communication
• implementing strategies to recruit and retain employees with disabilities
• promoting a new self-identification questionnaire that is more inclusive while reflecting different types of disabilities, gender, ethnic origin, 2SLGBTQIA+, so that all employees see themselves represented within the department
• expanding bilingual services by offering language training to employees, especially in designated bilingual regions of Canada

Financial management services

The department will continue to build trust in all areas of financial management.

We will achieve this by continuing to empower our employees to be innovative and responsible. Proper practices of budgeting and forecasting, costing, planning, reporting, systems, and controls are essential.

The department will continue to improve investment and project management practices, including:

• developing tools for better management and collaboration
• promoting best practices, continuous learning, and using governance processes to improve decision-making

These actions will increase the performance of investments so that they are delivered on time, on scope, and on budget.

We will keep service excellence as our focus to ensure optimal program delivery. This will help us continue to build a high performing organization.

Information management services

The department will mature Information Management with its new Information Strategy for 2023 to 2025. This strategy emphasizes the use of digital methods to simplify information management while still observing best practices when handling information within the department and while serving the public.

Information technology services

We will continue to stabilize and upgrade our IT applications to align with Government of Canada's Digital Ambition and Standard on At-Risk Information Technology as well as modernize our networks and supporting infrastructure. This ensures Canadians can access programs and services online when they need them.

We will continue to work with key cyber partners, including the Treasury Board Secretariat, Shared Services Canada, and Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, to increase our cybersecurity capabilities. This helps us to counter cyber fraud and cyber threats and protect Canadians' sensitive information.

We are building a talented and diverse workforce to meet the rising demand for digital services. We will provide leadership across the Government of Canada for the IT Apprenticeship Program for Indigenous Peoples and use it to build our workforce.

We are exploring emerging technologies such as Generative AI and Extended Reality to enhance communication of program information across the department in ways that reinforce our commitment to consistent service to all Canadians.

In addition, we will continue to mature our cloud adoption in alignment with the Government of Canada's cloud smart direction including the operationalization and maintenance of current cloud environments with a strong emphasis on security and automation, and on improving the cloud cost management. These cloud environments are critical to support applications migrating to the cloud such as Old Age Security and Employment Insurance. We will continue to align with the Government of Canada's recent strategic direction including pivoting the recent departmental long-term cloud procurement to a newer Government of Canada-wide long-term cloud procurement to establish a stable longer-term supply of the cloud services for the delivery of programs and services.

Real property management services

The department is committed to real property management that supports strong service delivery. We will:

• continue to modernize the workplace for flexibility, accessibility and inclusivity, ensuring an ideal work environment
• develop plans to match real property space with needs and usage, while meeting re-sizing targets to optimize the use of government funds

Snapshot of planned resources in 2024 to 2025

• Gross pPlanned spending: $1,167,648,689
• Net planned spending: $414,403,173
• Planned full-time resources: 5,517

Related government priorities

Theme 1: Planning and Stewardship

The 2023 Fall Economic Statement outlined the Government's efforts to refocus government spending. Now more than ever, it is important to mitigate risks related to planning and stewardship so we can meet our commitments. We are developing a joint financial and human resources plan. The plan will serve as a guide for the department to balance its budget and put resources into the most important services and activities. This will allow us to be ready to address risks related to planning and stewardship.

Having this plan in place is important because the department has set levels of financial and human resources to provide and improve service to Canadians. This is why we state what we want to achieve and make plans to use resources wisely.

Theme 2: Technical debt

To address technical debt, which is the gap between the technology the department has now and what it needs to deliver on its mandate, we are putting in place a technical debt remediation program which is planned to continue until 2026. The department's remediation program will upgrade network capacity and update the hardware and software used to deliver programs which will address our aging technology and mitigate the impact on Canadians if these systems were to fail. Client needs and expectations are changing rapidly, and if the systems fail, it could negatively affect programs and services for Canadians.

In addition to aging technology, our current systems are complex. This is a result of how our work is structured which includes working with Shared Services Canada and third parties, such as expert consultants and commercial vendors. For this reason, we have a plan in place to fix aging systems while getting ready to switch to more modern ones, all without interrupting programs and services to Canadians.

Theme 3: Cybersecurity

To maintain Canadians' trust, we are making sure there is a secure way for people to access our programs and services by:

• introducing a simple and secure sign-on portal where individuals' identity and eligibility can be safely and quickly verified
• making information accessible whether Canadians choose to contact us by mail, telephone, or on-line using upfront controls to deter suspicious activity

Security is important because we use Canadians' personal information to deliver our programs and services. There is a risk of unauthorized access to this sensitive information. Outdated systems can increase this risk. This is why we will continue to mature our cybersecurity operations to monitor the risk of cyber-attacks, and if an incident happens, we have plans to get things back to normal as fast as possible.

The department is also focusing on employee cybersecurity training to keep information safe and has developed a data accountability framework which supports the goal of treating data as a valuable asset by clearly identifying roles, responsibilities and guidance for proper data governance.

Theme 4: Workforce Management and Employee Wellness

To provide services to Canadians, the department needs a skilled, healthy and diverse workforce. This is why we are developing a Staffing and Retention Strategy and continue to plan for potential staff changes. This will help us attract and keep employees in a challenging job market.

We are also committed to creating a healthy and safe work environment and are implementing a Workplace Wellbeing and Mental Health Action Plan to do this. This will mitigate the risk that high workloads and other stressors could have on our employees mental and physical health, which would affect their ability to meet the demands of the job.

Theme 5: Business Transformation

Several department-wide transformation projects are underway to improve the client and employee experience for benefits and service delivery. By 2030, the Benefits Delivery Modernization Programme will bring together 1 common delivery platform for:

• Old Age Security
• Employment Insurance
• the Canada Pension Plan

However, with any large-scale IT transformation there remains risks that could impact the timelines and costs. To address these risks, we are implementing measures, including:

• applying lessons learned from past projects
• putting in place dedicated leadership
• applying cross Government of Canada governance
• ensuring unwavering focus on business functionality
• applying robust third-party oversight and assurance

These measures will ensure we are ready to address potential issues as they may arise.

Theme 6: Service Excellence

The department provides social services to Canadians throughout their lives and is always looking to improve the experience for clients. The department is taking steps to minimize risks to service delivery and potential service delays.

An emphasis on service excellence has led to the appointment of the first-ever Minister of Citizens' Services. This Minister's sole focus is improving the service delivery model. Additionally, the Canadian Digital Service is now part of the department and will continue to advance the government's digital service delivery.

There is a risk that gaps in the department's ability to digitize and modernize its service delivery applications will impede the department's ability to be responsive in the face of rapidly changing needs or unpredictable events and circumstances. Through modernization efforts, the department aims to offer Canadians a seamless and positive experience by improving timeliness and digital service options.

We are putting in place a data strategy, which is focused on delivering key initiatives for an integrated data governance, a strong data infrastructure and use of innovative tools to streamline processes and support evidence-based decision making. The department is also working on better methods to estimate service demands and operational requirements.

These steps help to minimize risks to service delivery and potential service delays.

ESDC Planned spending for the fiscal year 2024 to 2025

For fiscal year 2024 to 2025, the department’s planned expenditures on programs and services total $194.2 billion. Of that amount, $176.5 billion will directly benefit Canadians through statutory transfer payment programs. These include Employment Insurance (EI), the Canada Pension Plan (CPP), Old Age Security (OAS), the Canada Student Financial Assistance Program and Canada Apprentice Loans, the Canada Education Savings Program, and the Canada Disability Savings Program.

Text description of figure 2

This pie chart shows a breakdown of planned spending for fiscal year 2024 to 2025 and the percentage that each spending category represents.

• Consolidated total: $194,246.5 million
• Old Age Security; Guaranteed Income Supplement; Allowances: $81,089.0 million (41.8%)
• Canada Pension Plan: $65,272.0 million (33.6%)
• Employment Insurance: $25,152.0 million (13.0%)
• Canada Student Loans; other statutory payments: $5,016.4 million (2.6%)
• Gross Operating Expenditures: $4,942.5 million (2.5%)
• Voted Grants and Contributions: $10,185.6 million (5.2%)
• Other: $2,589.0 million (1.3%)

^*Net Operating Costs includes $1,296.7 million in net voted operating expenditures, $351.3 million in contributions to employee benefit plans, $576.0 million for delivery service to the public on behalf of partners under the Department of Employment and Social Development Act, $93.7 million in statutory administrative fees related to Canada Student Loans and Apprentice Loans, $101.4 million in pandemic benefits, $31.4 million in net expenditures for Federal Workers' Compensation and $0.6 million for other items.

^**Other Specified Purpose Accounts includes payments related to the Government Annuities Account and the Civil Service Insurance Fund.

Text description of figure 3

This table shows gross expenditures planned for fiscal year 2024 to 2025 under budgetary items, as well as under statutory transfer payments, in millions of dollars.

Budgetary

Net operating costs: $2,451.1 million [note: this amount includes $1,296.7 million in net voted operating expenditures, $351.3 million in contributions to employee benefit plans, $576.0 million for delivery service to the public on behalf of partners under the Department of Employment and Social Development Act, $93.7 million in statutory administrative fees related to Canada Student Loans and Apprentice Loans, $101.4 million in recovery benefits, $31.4 million in net expenditures for Federal Workers' Compensation, and $0.6 million for other items.]

Add recoveries in relation to:

• Canada Pension Plan: $513.0 million
• Employment Insurance Operating Account: $1,977.5 million
• Government Employee Compensation Act: $0.9 million
• Total - recoveries: $2,491.4 million

Gross operating costs: $4,942.5 million

Voted Grants and Contributions: $10,185.6 million

Total gross expenditures: $15,128.1 million

Other - EI and CPP charges and recoveries: $2,589.0 million

Statutory Transfer Payments

Grants and Contributions:

• Old Age Security: $61,064.0 million
• Guaranteed Income Supplement: $19,277.0 million
• Allowance: $748.0 million
• Other statutory payments:
  • Canada Student Financial Assistance and Canada Apprentice Loans: $2,966.7 million
  • Canada Education Savings Grant: $1,070.0 million
  • Canada Disability Savings Program: $729.1 million
  • Canada Learning Bond: $190.0 million
  • Wage Earner Protection Program: $49.3 million
  • Universal Child Care: $1.4 million
    • Total - Other statutory payments: $5,006.5 million

Sub-total - Grants and Contributions: $86,095.5 million

Canada Pension Plan Benefits: 65,272.0 million

Employment Insurance Benefits:

• Part I: $23,045.0 million
• Part II: $2,107.0 million
• Total - EI Benefits: $25,152.0 million

Other Specified Purpose Accounts: $9.9 million [note: This amount includes payments related to the Government Annuities Account and the Civil Service Insurance Fund]

Total - Statutory transfer payments: $176,529.4 million

The following table reconciles gross planned spending with net planned spending of Employment and Social Development Canada for the upcoming three fiscal years. Please refer to the Employment and Social Development Canada's Financial Framework for a complete description of the departmental financial profile, including an explanation of gross planned spending.

ESDC's Financial Framework

The department has a complex financial structure, with various funding mechanisms used to deliver its mandate. The department is funded by 4 main sources of funds:

1. Appropriated funds from the Consolidated Revenue Fund
2. The Employment Insurance (EI) Operating Account
3. The Canada Pension Plan (CPP)
4. Other government departments and Crown corporations

Planned expenditures related to the EI Operating Account and the CPP, as well as planned expenditures that are recovered from Crown corporations and other government departments for the administration of the Government Employee Compensation Act, are excluded from ESDC's Main and Supplementary Estimates and net planned spending because they are not voted by Parliament.

EI and CPP benefits and related administrative costs are charged against revenues earmarked in separate specified purpose accounts.

• the EI program provides financial support and other assistance to eligible workers and is entirely funded by contributions from employees and employers
• the CPP is an income security plan which is funded by the contributions of employees, employers, and self-employed persons and by the revenue earned on plan investments. It provides partial income protection in the case of the retirement, disability or death of a contributor to virtually all employed and self-employed persons in Canada, excluding Quebec, which operates its own comprehensive pension plan

Administrative costs incurred by the department in the delivery of programs related to EI and CPP are charged to their respective specified purpose accounts and reported as revenues netted against expenditures under the department.

The Department of Employment and Social Development Act was amended in June 2018 to broaden the department's mandate to include service delivery to the public with a view to improve services to Canadians. The department has the legislative authority to deliver services to the public for partners on a cost-recovery basis as well as to deliver select services for the Government of Canada, such as passport services.

These items are included in the department's gross planned spending to provide readers with the full cost to government of the department's programs and services and present a complete picture of the resources managed by ESDC to deliver its mandate.

The sources of funds, including specified purpose accounts, for each of the Department's core responsibilities are as follows:

Core Responsibility 1: Social Development

• Consolidated Revenue Fund

Core Responsibility 2: Pensions and Benefits

• Consolidated Revenue Fund
• CPP (in gross planned spending only for CPP benefits and related administrative costs)

Core Responsibility 3: Learning, Skills Development and Employment

• Consolidated Revenue Fund
• EI Operating Account (in gross planned spending only for EI benefits and related administrative costs)

Core Responsibility 4: Working Conditions and Workplace Relations

• Consolidated Revenue Fund
• Crown corporations and other departments

Core Responsibility 5: Information Delivery and Services for Other Departments

• Consolidated Revenue Fund
• Revenues from partners using legislative cost-recovery authority to deliver programs and services on their behalf

Internal Services

• Consolidated Revenue Fund
• CPP (in gross planned spending only for CPP administrative costs)
• EI Operating Account (in gross planned spending only for EI administrative costs)

Actual spending summary for core responsibilities and internal services

The following tables show information on spending for each of Employment and Social Development Canada's core responsibilities and for its internal services for the previous three fiscal years. Amounts for the current fiscal year are forecasted based on spending to date. This first table shows the gross amounts, while the second table shows the net amounts. Please refer to the ESDC's Financial Framework for a complete description of the departmental financial profile, including an explanation of gross planned spending.

• Note :
  1. Other costs includes administrative costs of other government departments charged to the EI Operating Account and the Canada Pension Plan. It also includes EI doubtful accounts and recoveries from other government departments.

The department expects an overall decrease of $8.5 billion in gross spending from fiscal year 2021 to 2022 to fiscal year 2023 to 2024. This can be explained mainly by the reduction in measures approved to support Canadians facing hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and a decrease in EI benefits.

To summarize the overall spending decrease over fiscal year 2021 to 2022 to fiscal year 2023 to 2024:

• a decrease of $17.4 billion mainly due to the reduction in measures approved to support Canadians facing hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic
• EI benefits are estimated at $23.4 billion in fiscal year 2023 to 2024, a decrease of 15.5 billion from the 2021 to 2022 spending of $38.9 billion, mainly attributed to a decrease in unemployment rate and a decrease in average weekly benefits due to the sunsetting of temporary measures
• a decrease of $4.5 billion in other statutory items mainly due to measures funded for one year only through the Budget Implementation Act 2021, which resulted in a decrease of $2.6 billion attributable to a reduction of statutory payments to provinces and territories to build a Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care system as well as a decrease of $1.7 billion for a one-time taxable payment of $500 provided to seniors who were 75 years old or older to help them meet their immediate needs until a permanent 10 percent increase to the monthly Old Age Security pension was implemented in July 2022

As offset to these decreases are some increases that contribute to the variance. This includes the following:

• an increase of $14.7 billion in OAS benefits, including Guaranteed Income Supplement and Allowances, mainly explained by an increased number of beneficiaries due to the aging population and an increase in benefits
• CPP benefits are expected to increase by $8.2 billion from fiscal year 2021 to 2022 to fiscal year 2023 to 2024, mainly attributable to an increased number of beneficiaries due to the aging population and an increase in benefits
• an increase of $5.3 billion mainly related to investments announced in the Fall Economic Statement 2020 and Budget 2021 for programs such as the Early Learning and Child Care Program, the Sectoral Workforce Solutions Program and Apprenticeship Service
• an increase of $0.4 billion in net operating mostly due to investments to modernize information technology infrastructure supporting benefit delivery, to address OAS workload pressures and to support compensation adjustments for new collective agreement
• a net increase of $0.3 billion for the CPP and EI administration costs.

Budgetary planning summary for core responsibilities and internal services

The following tables shows information on spending for each of Employment and Social Development Canada 's core responsibilities and for its internal services for the upcoming three fiscal years. This first table shows the gross amounts, while the second table shows the net amounts. Please refer to the ESDC's Financial Framework for a complete description of the departmental financial profile, including an explanation of gross planned spending.

• Note :
  1. Other costs includes administrative costs of other government departments charged to the EI Operating Account and the Canada Pension Plan. It also includes EI doubtful accounts and recoveries from other government departments.

The department expects an overall increase of $15.8 billion in gross spending from fiscal year 2024 to 2025 to fiscal year 2026 to 2027. This can be explained mainly by yearly increases to CPP and OAS benefits.

To summarize the overall funding increase over the planning years:

• planned OAS benefits, including Guaranteed Income Supplement and Allowances, are expected to reach $91.4 billion in fiscal year 2026 to 2027, which represents an increase of $10.3 billion from the 2024 to 2025 planned spending of $81.1 billion. This variance is mainly explained by an increased number of beneficiaries due to the aging population and an increase in benefits, resulting from the indexation
• planned CPP benefits are estimated at $72.9 billion in fiscal year 2026 to 2027, an increase of $7.6 billion from the 2024 to 2025 planned spending of $65.3 billion, mainly attributed to inflation assumptions. It is also associated with a higher number of beneficiaries due to the aging population
• an increase of $0.9 billion to voted grants and contributions, mainly related to Early Learning and Child Care transfer payments, due to investments intended to build a Canada-wide early learning and childcare system with provinces and territories

As offset to these increases are some decreases from fiscal year 2024 to 2025 to fiscal year 2026 to 2027 that contribute to the variance. This includes the following:

• EI benefits are expected to decrease by $1.8 billion from fiscal year 2024 to 2025 to the fiscal year 2026 to 2027, based on the latest update of the premium and benefit model
• a decrease of $0.6 billion to other statutory planned spending mainly explained by the sunsetting in the fiscal year 2024 to 2025, of the service delivery of the Canadian Dental Care Plan on behalf of Health Canada as well as to a decrease to Pandemic Benefits and.to the Canada Student Financial Assistance Program mainly due to the permanent elimination of interests on Canada Student Loans
• a decrease of $0.4 billion in net operating planned spending mostly due to the sunsetting of temporary funding for OAS workload and Benefits Delivery Modernization. The variance is also due to the sunsetting of administrative and integrity costs related to COVID-19 measures and temporary resources for the Temporary Foreign Worker Program's compliance regime as well as for rebasing Labour Market Impact Assessment processing
• a net decrease of $0.2 billion for the CPP and EI administration costs

Planned spending currently included in this Departmental Plan reflects authorities approved as of tabling in Parliament. As priorities shift and evolve, additional funding will be sought and approved for fiscal year 2024 to 2025 and future years through Estimates. Some temporary resources will be renewed and new programs and initiatives will be funded.

Table 25: 2024–25 budgetary gross and net planned spending summary (dollars)

The following table reconciles gross planned spending with net planned spending for the fiscal year 2024 to 2025 for each of Employment and Social Development Canada ’s core responsibilities and for its internal services. Please refer to the ESDC's Financial Framework for a complete description of the departmental financial profile, including an explanation of gross planned spending.

• Note :
  1. Other costs includes administrative costs of other government departments charged to the EI Operating Account and the Canada Pension Plan. It also includes EI doubtful accounts and recoveries from other government departments.

Estimates by vote

Information on Employment and Social Development Canada 's organizational appropriations is available in the 2024 to 2025 Main Estimates.

Employment Insurance Part II

Activities under Part II of the Employment Insurance Act help individuals in Canada prepare for, find, and maintain employment.

Activities include programs and services delivered by provinces and territories under Labour Market Development Agreements. These include training courses or wage subsidies for eligible individuals supporting Canadians as they look for work and increase their skills. Our partners in the provinces and territories also provide services such as employment assistance, research and innovation, and partnerships.

There are also nationwide programs, known as pan-Canadian activities, which are conducted by our department. These activities include Labour Market Partnerships and Research and Innovation. The department also delivers functions of the National Employment service under Part II of the Employment Insurance Act Act.

More detailed information on Employment Insurance Part II is publicly available on the department's website and in Chapter 3 of the annual Employment Insurance Monitoring and Assessment Report.

2024 to 2025 Employment Insurance Part II Expenditure Plan (Notional as of January 31, 2024 and pending concurrence by the Minister of Finance and formal Treasury Board approval)

For fiscal year 2024 to 2025, the total EI Part II expenditure authority of $2.131 billion represents approximately 0.25% of total estimated insurable earnings of $842.532 billion in 2024 to 2025. This represents a lower level of expenditure than the 0.8% ceiling imposed under the EI Act, which is estimated at $6.741 for 2024 to 2025.

• Notes:
  1. LMDA Allocations are draft and currently under review and are subject to change.
  2. The amount for Pan-Canadian Activities includes the ongoing envelope of $150,867,575 minus the permanent conversion to operating of $24,317,698 and $5,518,000 for which a temporary conversion of Employment Insurance Part II Pan-Canadian program funds to operating funds is being sought for 2024-2025 to fund the Education and Labour Market Longitudinal Platform. The amount for Pan-Canadian Responsibilities also includes $30.41 million for the Indigenous Skills and Employment Training program.