B. Service Canada: Proudly serving Canadians

2020 Speech from the Throne

The Government will make generational investments in updating outdated IT systems to modernize the way that Government serves Canadians, from the elderly to the young, from people looking for work to those living with a disability.

• Ministerial Mandate Letters released in December 2019 included the following commitments to improve services:
  • lead the expansion and improvement of the services provided by Service Canada (Minister Hussen)
  • lead a review of the government’s capacity to connect seniors to benefits and programs for which they are eligible (Minister Schulte)
  • implement a voluntary, real-time e-payroll system with an initial focus on small businesses (Minister Hussen)
• Supplementary Mandate Letters released in January 2021 included additional commitments to improving services:
  • complete the implementation of the Canada Recovery Benefit and make appropriate adjustments as the pandemic response warrants (Minister Qualtrough)
  • bring forward and implement a plan to modernize the Employment Insurance (EI) system for the 21st Century, including a plan to make EI the primary delivery mechanism for employment benefits, including for the self-employed and those in the gig economy (Minister Qualtrough)

Service Canada’s role in the COVID-19 response

• We found new ways to deliver our services to Canadians in need:
  • e‑ServiceCanada personalized services and virtual support for Canadians
  • a toll-free Outreach Support Centre service to enable outreach in communities with limited or no access to the internet or with other access barriers
  • a new eSIN online application allowing clients to obtain a Social Insurance Number virtually
• We kept Canadians informed through the crisis:
  • in collaboration with CRA, we launched the CERB web pages on Canada.ca
  • working with Health Canada to ensure Canadians have access to up-to-date COVID-19 information on the Canada.ca/coronavirus website
  • a virtual assistant to help Canadians find the latest COVID-19 information on Canada.ca – used 1.2M times since launch in March 2020
  • we built a COVID Benefits Finder – used 1.69M times since launch in May 2020
  • implementing the GoC’s coronavirus information line available 7 days a week
• We implemented additional benefits and services to ensure Canadians have the support they need:
  • Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) benefit implemented within weeks and call center in 9 days
  • Service Canada and CRA received over 27 million CERB applications and made $81B in direct benefit payments
  • a one-time non-taxable $300 payment for seniors eligible for the OAS pension and additional non-taxable $200 for seniors eligible for the GIS
  • the Fish Harvester Benefit and Grant Program is delivering financial support to self-employed harvesters across the country who are facing hardships brought on by COVID-19. The initial application has provided $130M in payments to approximately 18,000 clients
  • established a Virtual Call Centre on behalf of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) to reach out to ensure travellers who have recently travelled abroad are complying with the mandatory 14-day self-isolation rule
  • in October 2020, we launched the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB)

Service Canada’s organizational structure

Figure 1: Service Canada’s organizational structure

Text version

Service Canada’s Organizational Structure

Senior Associate Deputy Minister (SADM) of ESDC and Chief Operating Officer (COO) for Service Canada, Lori MacDonald.

Regions

• Atlantic, Christine McDowell ADM
• Quebec, Claire Caloren ADM
• Ontario, Mary Ann Triggs ADM
• Western Canada – Territories, Sylvie Bérubé ADM

National Branches

• Benefits and Integrated Service (BISB), Cliff Groen Senior ADM
• Citizen Service (CSB), Peter Simeoni ADM
• Integrity Services (ISB), Élise Boisjoly ADM
• Program Operations (POB), Stephanie Hébert ADM
• Transformation Management (TMB), Benoît Long CTO
• Strategic Service and Policy Branch (SSPB), Catherine Bennett Associate ADM
• Service Policy and Strategy Directorate, James Clarkson Acting DG
• Acting ADM and Business Change Authority for BDM, Tammy Belanger

Citizen Services Branch

• CSB provides accessible and responsive services to individuals, businesses, and communities through a multi-channel delivery network, in both official languages
• Translates government policies into quality, comprehensive service offerings and develops integrated, seamless service delivery approaches
• Responsible for in-person services, outreach, passport services, My Service Canada Account, Canada.ca, and 1 800 O-Canada
• Primary objectives:
  • providing services and disseminating Government of Canada information
  • managing and analyzing client feedback and experience
  • building service strategies to assist Service Canada in achieving seamless citizen-centred service
  • embarking upon FPT partnerships for service delivery including ESDC/SC and partner delivered services
  • offering general information and referral services for federal government programs and services on behalf of Service Canada

Benefits and Integrated Services Branch (BISB)

• BISB ensures that the department is well positioned to continue to adapt to meet evolving service expectations and priorities
• Responsible for delivering statutory benefits, as well as grants to individuals. The branch ensures continued operations for the following:
  • Old Age Security (OAS)
    • Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS)
  • Canada Pension Plan (CPP)
    • CPP– Disability (CPP-D)
  • Employment Insurance (EI)
• Provides a wide range of enabling services and support to the ongoing service delivery of the following: specialized call centres, the international operations for CPP and OAS, the appeal and quality control functions, special projects and horizontal management
• Building the capacity for integrated workload, workforce, and workplace management across Service Canada, leveraging new systems, tools, and processes that will be developed in the Transformation Management Branch

Transformation Management Branch (TMB)

• Responsible for guiding ESDC transformation efforts to a future target state through:
  • enterprise transformation management and capability development
  • delivery of major business transformations, including Benefits Delivery Modernization (BDM) and Pensions modernization initiatives
• Enhances opportunities for service management integration through standardized approaches, digitalization and process re-design

Integrity Services Branch (ISB)

• Detect, deter and address fraud and abuse of ESDC’s benefits and programs by conducting investigations, and using business intelligence, predictive analytics, artificial intelligence, root cause analysis, and fraud risk assessment
• Protect Temporary Foreign Workers (TFW) by conducting compliance inspections of employers for the TFW and International Mobility Programs
• Deliver the Social Insurance Number to Canadians
• Provide secure and timely registration and identity validation and authentication services to Canadians to digitally access GoC services
• Provide security services to protect departmental personnel, clients/visitors, information and assets
• Plan and respond to emergencies to ensure that ESDC can continue to deliver services in the event of security incidents, disruptions, natural disasters, pandemics or any other emergencies

Program Operations Branch (POB)

• Responsible for the operation and coordination of ESDC’s grants and contributions, across 5 portfolios; accounting for the administration of approximately 97,000 funding agreements annually
• Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) and Work Sharing (W-S) programs
• Provides functional direction on regionally delivered Labour Market and Social Development programs and functional guidance and oversight for the TFW and W-S programs
• Engages in partnerships with employers, individuals, and community-based organizations who deliver projects linked to regionally/locally established priorities to meet labour market and social development needs of communities
• Leads the Department's modernization agenda to improve the design, administration and delivery of grants and contributions funding programs. In 2020 to 2021, the Department will deliver $1.9 B in regular funding and an additional $1.2B in COVID-19 response funding

* Labour, Seniors, Families, Children and Social Development, Employment, Workforce Development, Diversity and Inclusion and Youth

** 2019 to2020

Regional Service Delivery Network

Major citizen-facing federal presence in communities across the country, with over 20,000 employees organized into 4 regions (Western and Territories, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic):

• 317 Service Canada Centres* and 31 Service Canada Centre – Passport Service Sites
• 247 Scheduled Outreach Sites
• 70 Operation Centres, including:
  • 11 CPP/OAS Processing Sites
  • 29 EI Processing Sites
  • 2 Passport Processing Sites
  • 21 Call Centres (includes 2 Passport Call Centres)
  • 4 Insurance Payment Operational Centres
  • 3 Specialized Sites (Apprenticeship Grant, Wage Earner Protection Program, and New Horizons for Seniors Program)
• 15 Service Delivery Partners

* As of February 2021, 308 SCCs have been reopened.

Service Policy and Strategy Directorate (SSPB)

• Reports to the Associate ADM of the Strategic and Service Policy Branch, who reports directly to the COO on the Directorate’s functions
• Seeks to ensure that ESDC has a robust and strategic service policy framework that supports ESDC’s commitment to service excellence.
• Supports horizontal approaches to Service Canada issues and initiatives:
  • coordination for service governance committees
  • leveraging partnerships and external expertise through FPT fora
  • advancing research to inform service priorities and strategies
  • providing horizontal service policy analysis and advice
• Supports service modernization in line with GoC direction while engaging Service Canada branches and regions, ESDC branches, the Labour Program, central agencies and other government departments to ensure a coherent, government-wide approach