The Military Grievances External Review Committee’s 2023-24 Departmental results report

On this page:

• From the Institutional Head
• Results – what we achieved
  • Core responsibility: Independent review of military grievances
  • Internal services
• Spending and human resources
  • Spending
  • Funding
  • Financial statement highlights
  • Human resources
• Corporate information
• Supplementary information tables
• Federal tax expenditures
• Definitions

From the Institutional Head

As the newly appointed Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of the Military Grievances External Review Committee (Committee), I am pleased to submit my first 2023-24 Departmental Results Report.

This is the Committee’s second year reporting on its three-pronged framework of the people, the work and workplace, and the Committee’s reach. It is also the Committee’s second year working towards stabilizing the organization. This fiscal year, the priorities were to recruit and retain employees, to improve both the physical and digital workspaces, and to support our people’s overall wellness. I am pleased to report these priorities were realized. Additionally, with respect to the Committee’s mandate: to review grievances referred to it by the Chief of the Defence Staff, 200 findings and recommendations (F&R) were reports issued. With every one of these F&R reports providing a thorough analysis with independent and fair recommendations, I can humbly declare it has been a successful fiscal year despite significant resourcing challenges.

For a second year, the Committee continued to cope with significant vacancies in Governor in Council (GIC) appointed Committee Members, including the positions of the Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer and full-time Vice Chairperson. The fiscal year was also dedicated to re-building the Operations team. The Committee hired and integrated 25% of its total workforce in 2023-24. The organization’s output was inevitably diminished as a result. However, in the last quarter of the fiscal year, a Chairperson and Full-time Vice-Chairperson were appointed to lead the Committee and the Operations Division welcomed nine new employees as grievance officers or team leaders. Working towards organizational stability within one fiscal year was challenging and time consuming, but ultimately fruitful. The positive impact this additional complement of people will have on 2024-25 will be palpable. Although much of the focus was on recruitment, retention is equally important, especially for a micro-organization. While not always possible, it was a pleasure to offer professional development opportunities to employees who wished to reorient their careers and gain new experiences, including several acting opportunities.

Organizational success and excellence are not possible without human resources and senior management to take care of their people. The Committee strives to be an inclusive, accessible workplace where conversations about diversity, mental health and reconciliation can take place. It is essential to senior leadership that the Committee be a workplace where employees feel welcomed, supported, safe and heard. This materialized throughout the fiscal year by hosting events on mental health and linguistic security, promoting and acknowledging a diverse range of holidays and events, ensuring all employees participated fully in National Public Service Week, launching a Safe Space Ambassador Program, running healthy workplace challenges, and much more.

I would also like to take a moment to extend my sincerest thanks to Vihar Joshi. As Interim Chairperson for close to two years, Mr. Joshi’s leadership and vision can only be described as steady, strategic and sage. Coming into a resilient organization that is well-positioned to not only succeed but excel is an advantage I owe to Mr. Joshi.

I am honoured to lead this organization of dedicated, hardworking Committee Members and employees. The achievements of 2023-24 have set the stage for us to continue our mission of providing the independent review of grievances that will strengthen confidence in, and add to the fairness of, the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) grievance process.

Kelly Walsh
Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer

Results – what we achieved

Core responsibility: Independent review of military grievances

Description

The National Defence Act, Section 29.2 (1) and (2), requires the Military Grievances External Review Committee to review every grievance referred to it by the Final Authority (FA) and to provide Findings and Recommendations in writing to the FA and the officer or non-commissioned member who submitted the grievance.

Progress on results

For the Operations Division, the priority is to fulfill the Committee’s mandate: to review grievances referred to it by the CAF. However, this fiscal year also required a conscious effort to stabilize the team by reestablishing and augmenting capacity. A significant amount of time and effort was spent on staffing positions and subsequent onboarding and training of new employees. Despite these challenges, the Operations Division issued 200 F&R reports. The Committee is proud that throughout this intense period of recruitment and training, the high quality of its F&R reports was sustained.

The Human Resources team implemented innovative recruitment methods that are quickly becoming the norm, such as promoting job opportunities on LinkedIn and Government of Canada informal Facebook groups. Assessments are being evaluated at each step to identify, remove and mitigate any potential biases and barriers. The onboarding process was key to properly resourcing and supporting new talent as they integrated into the Committee. This called for a comprehensive updating of all training materials and job tools, including our step-by-step grievance process, to ensure alignment with our hybrid work environment.

In addition, the Operations team undertook significant work to upgrade its case management system to improve performance and be able to explore other functionalities such as reporting requirements. Work was also undertaken to determine requirements for implementing the capability for online hearings, including documenting the process in an official Guidelines for Virtual Hearings reference tool.

The variety and depth of subject-matter expertise nurtured year after year lent itself well to further efficiencies in the review of grievance files. The Committee received 168 COVID-related files as of the end of fiscal year 2023-24. Those files were assigned in a way that supports the development of specialized expertise, which then can be leveraged to review these complex files expeditiously and efficiently. In fiscal year 2023-24, the Committee issued 90 COVID-related F&R reports, which accounts for almost half of the output for the period. The influx of COVID-related files, much like the GIC vacancies and focus on recruitment, added to the challenge of being able to reduce the total number of active files in our portfolio.

This section presents details on how the department performed to achieve results and meet targets for the independent review of military grievances. Details are presented by departmental result.

Table 1: Targets and results for the independent review of military grievances

Table 1 provides a summary of the target and actual results for each indicator associated with the results under the independent review of military grievances.

Findings and Recommendations on all referred military grievances are provided in a timely manner

Departmental Result Indicators	Target	Date to achieve target	Actual Results
% of written Findings and Recommendations within four months of receipt (service standard)	At least 75% of findings and recommendations issued within 4 months of receipt	March 31, 2024	2021–22: 21.7% 2022–23: 5.3% 2023–24: 1.5%

The Committee provides Findings and Recommendations to the Final Authority (FA) that are clear, complete and useful in the military grievances decision-making process

Departmental Result Indicators	Target	Date to achieve target	Actual Results
Achievement of a rating by the Final Authority (FA) of at least 4 out of 5 on each of the following attributes related to Findings and Recommendations issued by the Committee: usefulness, clarity and completeness (service standard)	A cumulative minimum average of 4 out of 5 for each attribute	March 31, 2024	2021–22 Usefulness: 4.27/5 Clarity: 4.27/5 Completeness: 4.26/5 2022–23 Usefulness: 4.15/5 Clarity: 4.15/5 Completeness: 4.15/5 2023–24 Usefulness: 5/5 Clarity: 5/5 Completeness: 5/5

Additional information on the detailed results and performance information for the Committee’s program inventory is available on GC InfoBase.

Details on results

The following section describes the results for the independent review of military grievances in 2023–24 compared with the planned results set out in the Committee’s departmental plan for the year.

Result 1: Findings and Recommendations on all referred military grievances are provided in a timely manner

Results achieved

• The Committee’s target of issuing 75% of our F&R reports within four months of receipt was beyond reach in 2023-24 due to a number of circumstances.
• For a second year, our results were affected by a shortage of Committee Members and experienced Operations staff. In addition, the high number of grievance files referrals this year again made it impossible to meet the service standard of issuing 75% of our F&R reports within four months of receipt. The lack of Committee Members resulted in a delay in assigning files. Regardless of this outcome, the usefulness and value-added of these reports outweigh the delayed service standard.
• Despite our results for this indicator, next year holds greater promise. In March 2024, the Committee was informed of the appointments of a new Chairperson and Full-time Vice-Chairperson. The first quarter of 2024-25 will not only represent a new leadership but also a more robust complement of Committee Members. Thus, the Committee ended its fiscal year with an optimism that we will be better positioned to issue a greater number of F&R reports in the future.

Result 2: The Committee provides Findings and Recommendations to the Final Authority (FA) that are clear, complete and useful in the military grievances decision-making process

Results achieved

• Despite the vacancies of GIC appointed Committee Members and the time and effort required to recruit more Operations team members, the Committee issued 200 F&R reports. Throughout challenging circumstances, the Committee maintained the thoroughness of its independent analysis and delivery of fair and impartial F&R reports.
• Although there were delays in completing grievance reviews, this performance indicator and result were met. Our F&R reports are vital to the CAF grievance process. This performance result confirms that the FA considers our work to be of great value and that our reports are useful, clear and concise.

Key risks

As with any micro-organization, the Committee continued to deal with diverse and challenging operating realities. Most significantly, the high number of grievance referrals received over the last several years, including all the COVID-related files, made it difficult for the Committee to issue F&R reports in a timely manner. Despite our best efforts to predict our future caseload and staff accordingly, the Committee could not control the influx of grievance referrals that stretched beyond our operational capacity. Additionally, the shortage of GIC appointed Committee Members for close to two years significantly impacted our ability to issues F&R reports. The time and effort required to onboard and train new Operations employees resulted in higher than normal workloads for many. Meanwhile, some employees within the organization faced productivity barriers due to the continued implementation of new technologies. Keeping up with the quick pace of change in the digital environment while doing their jobs can be challenging.

To mitigate these significant risks, the Committee adopted several strategies. First, we identified budget surpluses that could be reallocated to Operations to increase its ability to produce F&R reports in 2023-24 and beyond. The Operations team leveraged a modern and digital environment to ensure that it maintained the most effective and efficient grievance review process. Fostering work-life balance and implementing engagement strategies to sustain motivation continued to be the focus. An investment was made to improve employees’ digital skills and new technologies were implemented in manageable units over time to give employees the opportunity to adapt and learn new processes. Finally, with the arrival of the new Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson, the Committee’s capacity to address grievance files expeditiously will be improved and the governance framework will be reviewed and adjusted to ensure the Committee has an effective accountability and decision-making structure.

Resources required to achieve results

Table 2: Snapshot of resources required for the independent review of military grievances

Table 2 provides a summary of the planned and actual spending and full-time equivalents (FTEs) required to achieve results.

Resource	Planned	Actual
Spending	$4,989,206	$5,221,790
Full-time equivalents	37	33

Complete financial and human resources information for the Committee’s program inventory is available on GC InfoBase.

Related government-wide priorities

Program inventory

The independent review of military grievances is supported by the following programs:

• Independent review of military grievances
• Internal services

Additional information related to the program inventory for the independent review of military grievances is available on the Results page on GC InfoBase.

Internal services

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

Progress on results

This section presents details on how the department performed to achieve results and meet targets for internal services.

In fiscal year 2023-24, an evergreen Human Resources Integrated Plan was developed and implemented. This plan allows for the proper monitoring and reporting on a variety of Government of Canada priorities, initiatives and commitments including the response to the Government of Canada’s priorities related to the Call to Action on Anti-Racism, Equity and Inclusion. This integrated plan encompasses accessibility, diversity and inclusion, staffing barriers, employment equity, the Public Service Employee Survey action plan, official languages, engagement, and mental health. The plan also seeks to strengthen diversity and inclusion by addressing biases and barriers that disadvantage people belonging to equity-seeking groups. A Safe Space Ambassador program was launched to support employees looking for a non-judgmental space where they can have a dialogue with a colleague. The Champions at the Committee organized several events including a commemoration to honour the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a presentation by the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages on linguistic (in)security, a mental health workshop that explored “because feeling great matters” and honouring Remembrance Day with a presentation from the Veterans Ombud. These actions, which sensitize and empower employees with information and resources, work towards supporting overall wellness at the Committee.

Mental health and well-being are a constant priority for senior management. In 2023, the Committee’s Mental Health Action Plan was updated to include new training and awareness activities. Of note in 2023, mental well-being was integrated into the performance objectives of every Committee employee with supervisory responsibilities. To support this initiative and launch it in a concrete manner, the Committee’s management team attended a leadership workshop. It unpacked leadership behaviours to support multiplying the capacity of colleagues through mobilizing techniques, explored what it means to feel psychologically safe in the workplace and why it is necessary for effective team performance.

In implementing the commitments made in the Committee’s own Accessibility Action Plan, the Communications team proactively applied the Canada.ca content style guide as well as inclusive language guidelines to all products consistently. These same guidelines were promoted organization-wide several times throughout the fiscal year. Additionally, the “inclusive by design” and “accessibility by default” approaches to office space design were fully implemented by equipping all offices with ergonomic equipment.

The Information Management and Information Technology (IM/IT) team dedicated much of this period to migrating the Committee’s systems to the cloud. This significant undertaking was complemented by IM/IT’s equally significant strengthening of our security posture on mobile devices (smartphones and laptops). A three-year plan on continued improved security, both physical and digital, was developed and approved.

The Committee continued to modernize its work tools and templates, such as our timesheets, revised the training form, departure form and exit questionnaire, and developed educational leave guidelines. We also continued the work to modernize our workplace and reduce our actual office footprint. Discussions with Public Services and Procurement Canada on a new colocation project set to take place in 2028 evolved throughout the fiscal year. Opting for colocation to a green space is part of the Committee’s effort to act sustainably and responsibly. Our procurement team also signed an agreement with the Parole Board of Canada to provide training and procurement services when needed. This agreement will help mitigate risk and improve our compliance posture regarding procurement, as well as provide access to experienced procurement staff. The Departmental Security Plan was updated and regular security briefings are now part of standard practice in an effort to enhance security governance and provide insights into the status of the Committee’s security program. Our Business Continuity Plan was also updated to align to the digital age.

Internal communication tools were used to engage with employees and create a sense of community. Specifically, the intranet home page and blogs were used to keep employees informed on Committee and Government of Canada priorities, news, information, and initiatives. Monthly all-staff meetings, online surveys and several events throughout the year equally played a part in creating that sense of connectedness.

Resources required to achieve results

Table 3: Resources required to achieve results for internal services this year

Table 3 provides a summary of the planned and actual spending and full-time equivalents (FTEs) required to achieve results.

Resource	Planned	Actual
Spending	$2,095,437	$2,540,299
Full-time equivalents	12	14

The complete financial and human resources information for the Committee’s program inventory is available on GC InfoBase.

Contracts awarded to Indigenous businesses

Government of Canada departments are to meet a target of awarding at least 5% of the total value of contracts to Indigenous businesses each year. This commitment is to be fully implemented by the end of 2024–25.

The Committee is a Phase 3 department and is aiming to achieve the minimum 5% target by the end of 2024–25. By increasing opportunities for First Nations, Inuit and Métis businesses through the federal procurement process, the Committee is doing its part in advancing reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. However, the Committee may face some challenges over the years in meeting the mandatory 5% due to its budget limitations and relatively low spending on contracts. Whenever possible, we will proactively and continuously seek out new opportunities for contracting and collaborating with Indigenous-owned businesses, while applying sound financial and contracting management principles.

Below are some of the measures the Committee has taken and will be taking to achieve its 5% minimum target:

• 66% of employees in Procurement, Material Management and Real Property Management have taken the mandatory Canada School of Public Service course on “Indigenous Considerations in Procurement” with the target of reaching 100% in 2024-25.
• The Committee has already implemented a strategy to create more opportunities for Indigenous businesses by adjusting our internal processes and procurement plan. Targets have been set within the organization at 3%, 4% and 5% for fiscal year 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25 respectively.
• The Committee has surpassed its internal targets and granted 5.36% of its contracts to Indigenous businesses in 2022-23 and achieved 14.15% in 2023-24.

The Committee continues to show its commitment to reconciliation with Indigenous peoples:

• The Committee added a mandatory course for all employees from the Canada School of the Public Service on “A Brief history of the Relationship Between Indigenous Peoples and the Government of Canada” with the target of having 50% of its employees trained by the end of 2024-25, 75% by 2025-26 and 100% by 2026-27.
• In terms of internal governance activities, the Committee not only offers a land acknowledgement at the beginning of every all-staff meeting but has also begun including short Indigenous history and lived experience talks with the goal of sensitizing our employees on Indigenous culture. A special event was organized to commemorate the Truth and Reconciliation Day in 2023.
• In fiscal year 2023-24, the Committee promoted various activities such as training on “Treaty and Self Governments Agreements,” an event on advancing reconciliation by addressing inequality, and published blogs that promote National Indigenous History Month and Government of Canada events hosted by vested groups of federal public servants.

Spending and human resources

Spending

This section presents an overview of the department’s actual and planned expenditures from 2021–22 to 2026–27.

Budgetary performance summary

Table 4: Actual three-year spending on core responsibilities and internal services (dollars)

Table 4 presents how much money the Committee spent over the past three years to carry out its core responsibilities and for internal services.

Core responsibilities and internal services	2023–24 Main Estimates	2023–24 total authorities available for use	Actual spending over three years (authorities used)
Independent review of military grievances	$4,989,206	$5,893,934	2021–22: $4,811,195 2022–23: $4,706,492 2023–24: $5,221,790
Subtotal	$4,989,206	$5,893,934	2021–22: $4,811,195 2022–23: $4,706,492 2023–24: $5,221,790
Internal services	$2,095,437	$2,696,271	2021–22: $2,213,866 2022–23: $2,382,708 2023–24: $2,540,299
Total	$7,084,643	$8,590,205	2021–22: $7,025,061 2022–23: $7,089,200 2023–24: $7,762,089

Table 5: Planned three-year spending on core responsibilities and internal services (dollars)

Table 5 presents how much money the Committee’s plans to spend over the next three years to carry out its core responsibilities and for internal services.

Core responsibilities and internal services	2024–25 planned spending	2025–26 planned spending	2026–27 planned spending
Independent review of military grievances	$5,772,916	$5,797,908	$5,670,692
Subtotal	$5,772,916	$5,797,908	$5,670,692
Internal services	$2,474,107	$2,484,817	$2,430,297
Total	$8,247,023	$8,282,725	$8,100,989

Funding

This section provides an overview of the department’s voted and statutory funding for its core responsibilities and for internal services. For further information on funding authorities, consult the Government of Canada budgets and expenditures.

Graph 1: Approved funding (statutory and voted) over a six-year period

Graph 1 summarizes the department’s approved voted and statutory funding from 2021-22 to 2026-27.

Financial statement highlights

The Committee’s complete financial statements (unaudited or audited) for the year ended March 31, 2024, are available online.

Table 6: Condensed Statement of Operations (unaudited or audited) for the year ended March 31, 2024 (dollars)

Table 6 summarizes the expenses and revenues for 2023–24 which net to the cost of operations before government funding and transfers.

Financial information	2023–24 actual results	2023–24 planned results	Difference (actual results minus planned)
Total expenses	$8,478,790	$7,609,000	$869,790
Total revenues	$1,144	$1,000	$144
Net cost of operations before government funding and transfers	$8,477,646	$7,608,000	$869,646

The 2023–24 planned results information is provided in the Committee’s Future-Oriented Statement of Operations and Notes 2023–24.

Table 7 summarizes actual expenses and revenues which net to the cost of operations before government funding and transfers.

Financial information	2023–24 actual results	2022–23 actual results	Difference (2023-24 minus 2022-23)
Total expenses	$8,478,790	$7,698,720	$780,070
Total revenues	$1,144	$598	$546
Net cost of operations before government funding and transfers	$8,477,646	$7,698,122	$779,524

Table 8: Condensed Statement of Financial Position (unaudited or audited) as of March 31, 2024 (dollars)

Table 8 provides a brief snapshot of the department’s liabilities (what it owes) and assets (what the department owns), which helps indicate its ability to carry out programs and services.

Financial information	Actual fiscal year (2023–24)	Previous fiscal year (2022–23)	Difference (2023–24 minus 2022–23)
Total net liabilities	$1,240,163	$1,170,085	$70,078
Total net financial assets	$687,062	$653,300	$33,762
Departmental net debt	$553,101	$516,785	$36,316
Total non-financial assets	$138,289	$397,600	($259,311)
Departmental net financial position	($414,812)	($119,185)	($295,627)

Human resources

This section presents an overview of the department’s actual and planned human resources from 2021–22 to 2026–27.

Table 9: Actual human resources for core responsibilities and internal services

Table 9 shows a summary of human resources, in full-time equivalents (FTEs), for the Committee’s core responsibilities and for its internal services for the previous three fiscal years.

Core responsibilities and internal services	2021–22 actual FTEs	2022–23 actual FTEs	2023–24 actual FTEs
Independent review of military grievances	34	33	33
Subtotal	34	33	33
Internal services	13	15	14
Total	47	48	47

Table 10: Human resources planning summary for core responsibilities and internal services

Table 10 shows information on human resources, in full-time equivalents (FTEs), for each of the Committee’s core responsibilities and for its internal services planned for the next three years. Human resources for the current fiscal year are forecasted based on year to date.

Core responsibilities and internal services	2024–25 planned FTEs	2025–26 planned FTEs	2026–27 planned FTEs
Independent review of military grievances	42	42	40
Subtotal	42	42	40
Internal services	14	14	14
Total	56	56	54

Corporate information

Supplementary information tables

The following supplementary information table is available on the Committee’s website:

• Gender‑based analysis plus

Federal tax expenditures

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

Definitions