For immediate release
November 3, 2010
Frequently Asked Questions - Tabling of the 2009-10 Departmental Performance Reports and Canada's Performance 2009-10
OTTAWA – The Honourable Stockwell Day, President of the Treasury Board and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, today tabled in the House of Commons the 2009-10 Departmental Performance Reports on behalf of 95 federal departments and agencies. The President also tabled the tenth edition of Canada's Performance.
"The 2009-10 Departmental Performance Reports demonstrate the Government's commitment to achieving results for Canadians," said Minister Day.
Departments and agencies prepare departmental performance reports at the end of the fiscal year to inform parliamentarians and Canadians on how they performed against the plans and expected results set out in their annual departmental Reports on Plans and Priorities tabled in Parliament on March 26, 2009.
With the departmental performance reports, the President also tabled Canada's Performance 2009-10. This report provides an overview of the Government's performance and spending in the areas of economic, social, international and Government affairs. This year's report also contains a special section on the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games as well as a section on the implementation of Canada's Economic Action Plan.
"Results achieved through our Economic Action Plan and contained in Canada's Performance 2009-10 show that our response to the global recession is working," added Minister Day.
All reports and supporting documents are available on the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat website. For information on Canada's Economic Action Plan please consult the reports to Canadians on Canada's Economic Action Plan website.
Please refer to the attached Frequently Asked Questions if you would like more details on the 2009–10 Departmental Performance Reports and Canada's Performance 2009–10.
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For more information, contact:
Jay Denney
Director of Communications
Office of the President of the Treasury Board and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway
613-952-5051
Media Relations
Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
613-957-2640
If there is a discrepancy between any printed version and the electronic version of this news release, the electronic version will prevail.
1. Why are departmental performance reports important?
Reporting to Parliament through departmental performance reports is the primary means of informing parliamentarians and Canadians of how departments and agencies performed in the current year based on the plans and expected results set out in the 2009-10 Reports on Plans and Priorities.
2. Why does the President of the Treasury Board table performance reports on behalf of other ministers?
It is the responsibility of the President of Treasury Board, under section 7.c of the Financial Administration Act, to look after all matters relating to the Estimates, including departmental performance reports; the Treasury Board Secretariat coordinates the tabling of these reports to ensure consistency across the Government in the Estimates process.
This year, the President of the Treasury Board is tabling 93 reports on behalf of 95 federal organizations. The Departmental Performance Reports of the Offices of the Information and Privacy Commissioners appear together in one report, and the Reports of the Privy Council Office and of the Public Appointments Commission Secretariat are also published as one document.
3. Who is accountable for departmental performance reports (DPR)?
The Departmental Performance Report and the Report on Plans and Priorities are an organization's primary accountability documents to Parliament. Individual ministers are accountable for the information contained in their reports.
4. How and where do the departmental performance reports fit into the Estimates process?
Each year, the Government prepares Estimates in support of its request to Parliament for authority to spend public funds. The Estimates, which are tabled in the House of Commons by the President of the Treasury Board, consist of three parts:
Part I – The Government Expense Plan provides an overview of the Government's requirements and highlights the key drivers influencing changes in expenditures from the previous year.
Part II – The Main Estimates identify the spending authorities (votes) and amounts at the departmental levels to be included in subsequent appropriation bills. Part I and II of the Estimates are usually tabled concurrently on or before March 1.
Part III – Departmental Expenditure Plans, which are divided into two components:
1) Reports on Plans and Priorities (RPP) are individual expenditure plans for each department and agency (excluding Crown corporations). They describe departmental priorities, expected results and the associated resource requirements covering a three-year period. These documents are usually tabled on or before March 31.
2) Departmental performance reports (DPR) are individual department and agency accounts of performance against plans and expected results set out in their RPP. DPRs provide information on how the department or agency is progressing toward its goals-also known as "strategic outcomes." The DPRs cover the most recently completed fiscal year and are usually tabled in the fall.
Supplementary Estimates - seek Parliament's approval for expenditures that were already planned for in the Budget, but for which the necessary approval had not been obtained in time to be included in the Main Estimates. The Government typically tables Supplementary Estimates three times a year, in May/June, November and towards the end of the fiscal year in March.
5. In the past, the Auditor General and parliamentarians have expressed concerns about the quality of the Government's performance reporting. What is the Treasury Board Secretariat doing to improve departmental performance reports?
Departmental performance reports have gone through several improvements over the last few years to ensure parliamentarians receive more strategic information.
This year's reports have been improved by the introduction of content requirements and a more standardized format, providing a strengthened focus on results.
6. What is Canada's Performance?
Canada's Performance provides an overview of the Government's contribution to Canada's performance as a nation. The report details how departments and agencies have contributed to a set of high-level Government of Canada outcome areas by providing:
- an overview of the federal government's efforts in four spending areas: economic, social, international and Government affairs;
- a whole-of-Government view of planned and actual spending; and
- societal indicators to provide context within which Government expenditures and program performance can be assessed.
7. How does Canada's Performance reflect Canada's Economic Action Plan (EAP)?
Canada<'s Performance 2009–10 contains a special section on the implementation of Canada's Economic Action Plan. This includes examples of initiatives undertaken and results achieved by federal departments and agencies in the 2009–10 fiscal year. For complete progress reports on Canada's Economic Action Plan, please consult Canada's Economic Action Plan website.
