2020-21 Parole Board of Canada Departmental Plan

About this publication

Publication author: Parole Board of Canada
ISSN: 2371-6436

From the Chairperson

As Chairperson of the Parole Board of Canada (PBC), I am pleased to present the 2020-21 Departmental Plan. This report highlights our main areas of focus and the results we aim to achieve over the coming year.

The PBC contributes to the Government of Canada’s outcome of a safe and secure Canada by making timely conditional release, record suspension, and expungement decisions and clemency recommendations in an open and accountable manner, while respecting the rights and dignity of both offenders and victims, in accordance with its statutory responsibilities and authorities.

To assist the PBC in executing these core responsibilities, this year the Board will focus on continuing to cultivate a people management regime that fosters a healthy and productive workplace, while enhancing Board member, staff, and organizational capacity in the application of legislative requirements.

In 2020-21, we will continue to seek to build and maintain strong partnerships, both nationally and internationally, to help inform the delivery of our mandate to offenders, victims, applicants, and Canadians. The PBC will also continue to build on its outreach and in-reach efforts. Additionally, the PBC will strengthen its responsiveness to the needs of groups with special requirements, including women offenders, lifers, and Indigenous Peoples. Finally, the PBC will create an Information Management/Information Technology strategy that meets our evolving requirements by strengthening our use of technology.

The PBC will continue to prioritize and take care of its Board members and employees by maintaining a supportive and inclusive environment, and ensuring that our organizational values of respect, openness, integrity, accountability and excellence are upheld.

I am confident that, by carrying out the plans and priorities laid out in this report, the PBC will continue to successfully fulfill its important public safety mandate while demonstrating the highest levels of quality, professionalism, dedication and efficiency.

I invite you to read this report to learn more about PBC’s plans and priorities for 2020-21.

______________________________
Jennifer Oades
Chairperson, Parole Board of Canada

Plans at a glance

The Parole Board of Canada (PBC) is an agency within the Public Safety Portfolio.

The PBC is an independent administrative tribunal that, as part of the Canadian criminal justice system, makes quality conditional release, record suspension, and expungement decisions, and clemency recommendations.

The PBC contributes to keeping Canadians safe by facilitating, as appropriate, the timely reintegration of offenders as law-abiding citizens. Public safety is the primary consideration in all PBC decisions.

For 2020-21, the PBC identified five corporate priorities. The priorities and highlights of planned activities contributing to each are outlined below.

A.    Corporate Priority: The PBC will enhance Board member, staff and organization capacity in the application of legislative requirements by:

• Performing a comprehensive review of the Decision-Making Policy Manual for Board Members;
• Working with Public Safety portfolio partners to develop proposals for strengthened conditional release and community reintegration measures; and
• Creating a steering committee with Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) to further support conditional release efforts and develop proposals for conditional release to best position the PBC for the future

B.   Corporate Priority: The PBC will cultivate a people management regime that fosters diversity and promotes a healthy and productive workplace by:

• Utilizing recent survey tools such as the Public Service Employee Survey results and the Guarding Minds @ Work report commissioned for the PBC and working in collaboration with Board members, staff and union as appropriate, implement activities or measures to improve employee mental health and well-being;
• Showing appreciation and recognize good work, accomplishments, both formally (awards) and informally (recognition) in a timely manner; and
• Ensuring that harassment and/or discrimination is addressed within the timeframes and according to the process set out in the Policy on Harassment Prevention and Resolution in the Workplace.

C.   Corporate Priority: The PBC will create an Information Management/Information Technology (IM/IT) strategy that meets the PBC’s evolving requirements by:

• Developing a multi-year action plan with strategies for the implementation of GCdocs as the official electronic document and records management system and to ensure various systems are integrated as required;
• Meeting the obligations under the Directive on Recordkeeping, namely the identification of information resources of business value (IRBV) and the establishment of retention specifications; and
• Defining requirements and develop a multi-year plan to modernize and renew the Pardon and Record Suspension System (PARSS).

D.   Corporate Priority: The PBC will strengthen responsiveness to the needs of Indigenous Peoples and other groups with special requirements by:

• Utilizing the management action plan to respond to the PBC report “Gendered Parole: Responding to Women Offenders Needs;”
• Implementing the various elements identified within the Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) Framework to ensure GBA+ is applied in all areas of the PBC's policies, programs, and initiatives;
• Reviewing waivers, postponements, and withdrawals for Indigenous offenders; and
• Exploring opportunities to better address the unique needs of Indigenous and women offenders in parole hearings.

E.   Corporate Priority: The PBC will expand outreach activities to inform partners, victims, applicants, offenders, and Canadians on the role of the PBC by:

• Engaging with stakeholders and partners to better communicate PBC’s mandate through outreach and in-reach methods;
• Increasing presence in public communications regionally and nationally, on a regular and ongoing basis to promote meaningful dialogue, consultations and alliances; and
• Developing and maintaining a list of partner and stakeholder networks (national and in the regions) for the prompt and efficient distribution of information as required.

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

Core responsibilities: planned results and resources, and key risks

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

Conditional Release Decisions

Conditional release is based on the principle that community safety is enhanced by the timely and gradual release of offenders to the community under supervision. Quality conditional release decisions, based on the risk of re-offending in conjunction with effective programs and treatment, and effective community supervision all contribute to a release process. Through this core responsibility, the Parole Board of Canada staff provides timely, accurate information for Board member decision-making, and develops training and policies that are essential tools for risk assessment and decision-making.

Planning highlights

The PBC’s Conditional Release core responsibility is grounded in the Corrections and Conditional Release Act. In 2020-21, the PBC will continue to work closely with criminal justice partners (i.e., Public Safety, Correctional Service of Canada (CSC), Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Department of Justice, and other community partners) to support quality conditional release decisions. In 2020-21, the PBC expects to render approximately 23,000 Board member decisions for federal and provincial/territorial offenders.

The PBC will continue to support Board member capacity and training over the next year to ensure that quality conditional release decisions are rendered. As new Board members are appointed, the PBC will continue to provide timely and high-quality training and support. The PBC supports the government’s approach to openness, accountability and transparency, and will continue to work with the Privy Council Office (PCO) to help strengthen the Board member qualification process.

It is essential that all conditional release decisions adhere to the law and principles of fundamental justice. In 2020-21, the PBC will conduct a review of its decision-making policies, to ensure that legal provisions are clearly reflected and to enhance the accessibility of essential information and guidance. The review will focus on ensuring that PBC policy reflects the Board members’ authority, discretion, and procedural fairness.

In 2020-21, the PBC will continue to strive to further improve through initiatives that aim to make the parole process more responsive and adaptive to the needs of women offenders and Indigenous Peoples. The PBC will operationalize the management action plan following a recent internal review of the parole process for women. Planned activities include modifying training to expand Board members’ expertise to work with women in a gender and trauma-informed manner, modifying hearing practices to foster a safe environment, and focusing on preparing women for parole hearings.

A GBA+ assessment of conditional release data indicates that there were no significant disparities between different groups in terms of departmental results with the exception of the Appeals results. While the overall affirmed decision rate for Appeals was 77%, it was only 64% for Indigenous offenders over the last two and a half fiscal years. Although a discrepancy exists between the global affirmed decision rate and the rate for Indigenous offenders, the PBC continues to strengthen training to its Board members and staff to ensure jurisprudence (e.g., Gladue principles, Twins decision) is applied appropriately, and to increase awareness on various legal issues in conditional release decisions. Similar differences also exist for women offenders. The PBC has commenced work to explore the unique needs of women offenders in the parole process to provide a gender-responsive approach for women through enhancements to its guidance and training to Board members and staff.

Key risks

While the PBC has significant mitigation strategies in place, quality decision-making remains one of the PBC’s key risks. Sub-risks include:

• Maintaining national consistency (i.e., process, support, and evidence-based decisions);
• Board member competencies, qualification, and appointment process; and
• Need to be responsive to the complex and diverse profiles of the offender population (recognizing that PBC does not influence the rates of incarceration of offender groups).

Consistent with the provisions of the Acts that govern the PBC, the uniform application of decision-making across such a large geographical area is paramount. Comprehensive training is the foundation for quality decision-making, as such, the PBC will ensure core training and tools are up-to-date and made available in a timely manner for Board members and staff.

In addition, standardized support and processes are equally important, especially with the implementation and use of electronic files, as Board members can now complete reviews more efficiently.

Planned results for Conditional Release Decisions

Financial, human resources and performance information for the PBC's Program Inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.

Planned budgetary financial resources for Conditional Release Decisions

Financial, human resources and performance information for the PBC’s Program Inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.

Planned human resources for Conditional Release Decisions

Financial, human resources and performance information for the PBC’s Program Inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.

Conditional Release Openness and Accountability

This core responsibility ensures that the PBC operates in an open and accountable manner, consistent with the provisions of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act. This core responsibility includes working with victims of crime, offenders, and the public by providing information about our policies and programs, including access to the PBC's registry of decisions, as well as providing assistance for observers at hearings. The core responsibility also includes working to encourage citizen engagement, enhancing public education and awareness, investigating incidents in the community (i.e., when a new offence(s) occurs), monitoring the PBC's performance and reporting on conditional release results.

Planning highlights

Since 2017, the PBC has increased in-reach and outreach efforts with respect to Indigenous offenders, and this in turn has contributed to an increased number of Elder-Assisted Hearings (EAH). Numbers for Community-Assisted Hearing (CAH) remain low given the challenges in planning and executing these types of hearings in the community. However, in 2020-21, the PBC plans to explore opportunities to work with CSC to promote outreach for CAH.

The PBC has made the study of number, characteristics, and outcomes of waiver, postponement, and withdrawals for Indigenous and non-Indigenous offenders a priority. Additional work to advance the outstanding elements of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee’s Calls to Action will also occur in 2020-21, particularly in relation to training for Board members and staff, which remains a priority.

The PBC has a renewed focus on community outreach and engagement, as it forges different partnerships and creates new community networks. To this end, the Public Affairs and Partnerships Division is leading the implementation of a PBC Outreach Strategy, in consultation with the regional offices, to better align and coordinate engagement activities across the country with the non-governmental and community sectors. Senior leadership at the PBC continue to strengthen relationships with regional, national, and international organizations to promote meaningful dialogue and consultation. In 2020-21, the use of social media to increase awareness of the PBC will be explored. Increased presence in public communications remains an important part of creating openness and accountability and is a priority for the PBC. Additionally, working with CSC, through various working groups, remains an important component to effectively deliver core responsibilities.

Key risks

There is a risk that the exchange of relevant information with victims, offenders, observers, other components of the criminal justice system, and the general public is not timely.

The PBC has a legislative responsibility to provide information to victims and facilitate their participation in the parole process.

The PBC ensures that victims’ rights under the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights; and the Corrections and Conditional Release Act are respected, and it takes a collaborative approach to ensure that improvements are made in the services provided to victims, such as broader community representation through its PBC Committee on victims to ensure that victim issues are considered.

Planned results for Conditional Release Openness and Accountability

Planned budgetary financial resources for Conditional Release Openness and Accountability

Financial, human resources and performance information for the PBC’s Program Inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.

Planned human resources for Conditional Release Openness and Accountability

Financial, human resources and performance information for the PBC’s Program Inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.

Record Suspension Decisions/Clemency Recommendations

A record suspension or pardon is designed to support the successful reintegration of an individual into society. It is a formal attempt to remove the stigma of a criminal record for people convicted of an offence under an Act of Parliament, who have completed their sentence, having met criteria in the Criminal Records Act and demonstrated law-abiding behaviour for a prescribed number of years. Record suspensions or pardons can be revoked or cease to have effect for a number of reasons. Through this core responsibility, the PBC screens applications for completeness and eligibility, collects information for Board member decision-making and develops policy to guide decision processes. In addition, under the Expungement Act the PBC will order the expungement of records of convictions for eligible offences that would be lawful today. Persons convicted of an offence listed in the schedule to the Expungement Act may apply, as well as authorized representatives in cases where the person is deceased. The main difference between a record suspension and an expungement is that with a record suspension, the criminal record is held ‘separate and apart’ from other criminal records, while an expungement will destroy the record. The PBC is also responsible for assessing requests and providing recommendations under the Royal Prerogative of Mercy (i.e., Clemency) and providing advice to the Minister on the merits of each case.

Planning highlights

The PBC will effectively administer this core responsibility by assessing and processing all applications within the established service standards while applying the annual Consumer Price Index adjustment to the application fee, as set by the Service Fees Act. The PBC will also continue to work with criminal justice partners during the assessment of record suspension/pardon applications and to facilitate processing and investigations.

As a result of court decisions in April 2017 (British Columbia) and June 2017 (Ontario), applicants in those provinces may now be considered for a pardon (as it was formerly known before the 2012 legislative amendments) or record suspension, depending on the specifics of the application.

In 2020-21, the PBC will continue to administer the Expungement of Historically Unjust Convictions Act as well as process applications that are submitted under Bill C-93, an Act to provide no-cost, expedited record suspensions for simple possession of cannabis. These additional workload increases and changes will create pressures and challenges for the PBC and its record suspension/pardon program.

It is estimated that the PBC will receive approximately 40 requests for clemency during 2020-21.

Key risks

Processing applications within legislative timeframes remains one of the PBC’s key risks under this core responsibility. Moreover, the PBC now operates four legislative schemes, including one for cannabis record suspensions, which significantly increases program complexity, and puts the integrity of the program at risk. Furthermore, the current case management system implemented in 2000 has been modified a number of times to incorporate legislative and process changes. The system is well beyond its original lifecycle and is not able to interface with any online application portal. In addition, it is essential that all record suspension or pardon decisions and expungement decisions adhere to the law and principles of fundamental justice. Thorough training is the foundation for decision-making, as such, the PBC will ensure core training and tools are up-to-date and made available in a timely manner for Board members and staff. Further, over the course of the past year, elements of the record suspension program have been reviewed by Parliamentary Committees through the study of Bill C-93 and the study of M-161 (Record Suspension Program). This review has raised concerns about the accessibility and costs of record suspensions and the complexity of the process, noting a need to modernize the current program framework. Observations made by these Committees encourage simplifying and modernizing current processes while improving client service to marginalized and vulnerable groups and implementing these observations would assist in mitigating program risks and strengthen service delivery.

Planned results for Record Suspension Decisions/Clemency Recommendations

Financial, human resources and performance information for the PBC’s Program Inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.

Planned budgetary financial resources for Record Suspension Decisions/Clemency Recommendations

Financial, human resources and performance information for the PBC’s Program Inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.

Planned human resources for Record Suspension Decisions/Clemency Recommendations

Financial, human resources and performance information for the PBC’s Program Inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.

Planned Results for Internal Services

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

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

Planning highlights

A people management regime that fosters diversity while promoting a healthy and productive workplace remains one of the PBC’s corporate priorities for 2020-21. The PBC aims to be an employer of choice, and continues to implement policies and procedures to improve Board members’ and employees’ mental health and well-being, through new technologies and working environments. Furthermore, the PBC will ensure that harassment and discrimination are addressed according to policies and timeframes in place.

Key risks

The key risks associated with this core responsibility include:

• Human Capital - The PBC is a lean organization with a focused mandate. Consequently, many key sections are relatively small, where vacancies and high turnover can have significant impacts on service delivery. As with the rest of the Canadian public service, there is a high percentage of employees close to retirement, and a shortage of employees with key competencies.
• Information Management - This fiscal year, the PBC will develop a multi-year plan with strategies for the implementation of GCdocs as the official electronic document and records management system, and to ensure that various systems are integrated. This is also a mitigation strategy to ensure that the PBC meets obligations under the Directive on Recordkeeping, namely the IRBV.
• Information Technology - The PBC relies on technology systems to meet its legislated mandate, as a result the PBC created a new position and hired a Chief of Information to oversee all aspects of IT development and governance. The PBC and CSC entered into a Master Service Agreement (MSA) for the provision of IT services at PBC a number of years ago prior to the inception of Shared Services Canada. The MSA with CSC, which is currently under review, sets out the terms, roles, and responsibilities that govern the IT services provided.

Planned budgetary financial resources for Internal Services

Planned human resources for Internal Services

Spending and human resources

This section provides an overview of the department’s planned spending and human resources for the next three consecutive fiscal years, and compares planned spending for the upcoming year with the current and previous years’ actual spending. In 2020-21, the PBC plans to spend $47.3 million in parliamentary authorities to meet the expected results of its core responsibilities.

Planned spending

Departmental spending 2017-18 to 2022-23

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

The projected spending for 2020-21 is $47.3 million, which includes:

• Funding to be received through the Main Estimates of $47.3 million; and
• No anticipated carry-forward of lapsed funds from 2019-20.

Budgetary planning summary for Core Responsibilities and Internal Services (dollars)

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

2020-21 Budgetary planned gross spending summary (dollars)

The following table reconciles gross planned spending with net planned for 2020-21.

Planned human resources

The following table shows actual, forecast and planned full-time equivalents (FTEs) for each core responsibility in the PBC’s departmental results framework and to Internal Services for the years relevant to the current planning year.

Human resources planning summary for Core Responsibilities and Internal Services

Estimates by Vote

For information on the PBC’s organizational appropriations, consult the 2020-21 Main Estimates.

Condensed Future-Oriented Statement of Operations

The condensed future‑oriented statement of operations provides an overview of the PBC’s operations for 2019-20 to 2020-21.

The amounts for forecast and planned results in this statement of operations were prepared on an accrual basis. The amounts for forecast and planned spending presented in other sections of the Departmental Plan were prepared on an expenditure basis. Amounts may therefore differ.

A more detailed future‑oriented statement of operations and associated notes, including a reconciliation of the net cost of operations to the requested authorities, are available on the PBC’s website.

Condensed Future-Oriented Statement of Operations for the Year Ended March 31, 2021 (dollars)

Planned results for the 2020-21 fiscal year are expected to be lower than 2019-20 forecast results because there will be no retroactive payments in the 2020-21 fiscal year.

Corporate information

Organizational Profile

Appropriate Minister: The Honourable William Sterling Blair, P.C., C.O.M., M.P.

Institutional Head: Jennifer Oades, Chairperson.

Ministerial Portfolio: Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.

Enabling Instrument: The legal authority under which the PBC operates includes the Corrections and Conditional Release Act and its Regulations, the Criminal Records Act and its Regulations, the Letters Patent, the Criminal Code, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and other legislation.

Year of Incorporation/Commencement: 1959.

Other: The PBC constantly strives to contribute to the Government of Canada’s outcome of a safe and secure Canada. The PBC contributes to this outcome by making timely conditional release, record suspension, and expungement decisions and clemency recommendations.

The PBC is headed by a Chairperson who reports to Parliament through the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness. The Minister, however, does not have statutory authority to give direction to the Chairperson or other Board members of the PBC in the exercise of their decision-making powers. This structure helps to ensure the impartiality and integrity of the PBC’s decision-making process.

In making conditional release, record suspension or pardon decisions, as well as clemency recommendations, the PBC's primary objective is the long-term protection of society. In rendering its decisions, the PBC is autonomous and independent. However, its decisions are open and transparent to the public consistent with its legislation and policies.

The protection of society is the paramount consideration in all decisions taken by the PBC. The PBC contributes to the protection of society by facilitating, as appropriate the timely reintegration of offenders into society as law-abiding citizens. In addition, a record suspension or pardon allows people who were convicted of a criminal offence, but have completed their sentence and demonstrated they are law-abiding citizens for a prescribed number of years, to have their criminal record kept separate and apart from other criminal records.

The PBC also has legislative responsibility to order or refuse to order the expungement of records of convictions for eligible offences that would be lawful today under the Expungement Act.

Outcomes of the PBC’s work can be found in its annual Performance Monitoring Report (PMR). The PMR provides performance and statistical information for the past five years for the PBC’s two legislative based core responsibilities: conditional release, and record suspension and clemency.

The PBC carries out its responsibilities through a National office in Ottawa, as well as six offices in five regions across the country (Atlantic, Quebec, Ontario, Prairie, and Pacific).

PBC Locations

The PBC’s regional offices deliver the conditional release program. Conditional release decisions are made by Board members, who are supported in their decision-making by Public Service staff. Staff schedule hearings, review file information for decision-making, ensure that information for decision-making is shared with offenders, and communicate conditional release decisions to offenders, CSC representatives, and others as required. Regional staff also provide information to victims, make arrangements for observers at hearings, and manage requests for access to the PBC’s Decision Registry.

While Board members from all five regions and the National Office make decisions related to record suspensions, the data collection, investigation and assessment work for record suspensions and clemency are conducted by Public Service staff at the National office. In addition, Board members in the Appeal Division at the National office review conditional release decisions upon receipt of an application for appeal to determine if the law and processes were respected.

Public Service employees at the national office develop national policies and procedures related to all core responsibilities, help coordinate Board member selection and training, deliver a program of public information, and respond to Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) requests. Other work performed at the national office includes strategic and operational planning, policy development, resource management, program monitoring, case reviews and investigations, and an array of internal services.

Consistent with the provisions of the Acts that govern the PBC, Board members are independent in their decision-making responsibilities, and free from outside interference of any kind. As independent decision-makers, Board members are bound by legislation, guided by policy, and are responsible for:

• Reviewing all information available to them for consideration in conditional release, record suspension/pardons, and clemency cases;
• Conducting an in-depth analysis of each case, and requesting additional information, as necessary, to support quality decision-making;
• Assessing the risk and other factors related to cases, voting independently on the disposition of each case, and providing sound, well-documented, written reasons for decisions; and
• Ensuring that reviews are conducted in accordance with the duty to act fairly, and with respect for all procedural safeguards.

The Chairperson of the PBC is a full-time Board member of the PBC and its Chief Executive Officer. The Chairperson directs the PBC’s delivery of core responsibilities in keeping with the Government of Canada’s overall plans and priorities. The Chairperson is accountable for the effectiveness and efficiency of the PBC’s policies and operations and is assisted in these responsibilities by the Executive Vice-Chairperson, the Vice-Chairperson of the Appeal Division, the five regional Vice-Chairpersons, and senior managers.

The Executive Vice-Chairperson exercises all powers, duties, and responsibilities of the Chairperson, in the event of the absence of the Chairperson or vacancy in the office of the Chairperson. The Executive Vice-Chairperson is responsible for overseeing the qualification process, training, professional conduct, performance evaluations and appointment processes for all Board members and Vice-Chairpersons at the PBC. The Executive Vice-Chairperson is also responsible for the Appeal Division operations.

The Executive Director General of the PBC is its senior staff member and Chief Operating Officer. The Executive Director General, in support of the Chairperson, provides leadership for strategic and operational planning, policy development, resource management, program monitoring and administration, as well as the operation of the national office and the regions.

The following organizational chart provides additional details.

Note: Within the chart below the blue background denotes Governor-in-Council term appointees and the grey background signifies public service employees.

Raison d’être, mandate, and role; who we are and what we do

“Raison d’être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do” is available on the PBC’s website.

For more information on the department’s organizational mandate letter commitments, see the Minister’s mandate letter.

Operating Context

Information on operating context is available on the PBC's website.

Reporting Framework

The PBC’s approved Departmental Results Framework (DRF) and Program Inventory for  2020-21 are as follows:

Note: Within the chart below the blue background denotes core responsibilities and program inventory; the white background signifies departmental results, and the beige background reflects result indicators.

Changes to the approved reporting framework since 2019-20

The PBC’s Departmental Results Framework was revised in 2020-21 to include minor changes to both the Conditional Release Decisions and the Record Suspension Decisions/Clemency Recommendations core responsibilities. Amendments were made to:

• enhance measurement of a departmental result;
• update the language used to be more specific for clarity sake in describing core responsibilities and methodologies; and
• adjust a target to be more reflective of historical data while at the same time taking into consideration the desire to motivate and improve attainable performance results.

Supporting Information on the Program Inventory

Supporting information on planned expenditures, human resources, and results related to the PBC’s Program Inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.

Supplementary information tables

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

• Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA+).

Federal Tax Expenditures

The PBC’s Departmental Plan does not include information on tax expenditures that relate to its planned results for 2020-21.

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

Organizational Contact Information

Regular mail: Public Affairs and Partnerships Division
                         410 Laurier Avenue West
                         Ottawa, Ontario
                         K1A 0R1

E-mail:             info@PBC-CLCC.gc.ca

Appendix : definitions

Appropriation (crédit)
Any authority of Parliament to pay money out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

Budgetary expenditures (dépenses budgétaires)
Operating and capital expenditures; transfer payments to other levels of government, organizations or individuals; and payments to Crown corporations.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Departmental Results Report (rapport sur les résultats ministériels)
A report on a department’s actual accomplishments against the plans, priorities and expected results set out in the corresponding Departmental Plan.

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

Full‑time equivalent (équivalent temps plein)
A measure of the extent to which an employee represents a full person‑year charge against a departmental budget. Full‑time equivalents are calculated as a ratio of assigned hours of work to scheduled hours of work. Scheduled hours of work are set out in collective agreements.

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

Government-wide priorities (priorités pangouvernementales)
For the purpose of the 2020-21 Departmental Plan, government-wide priorities refers to those high-level themes outlining the government’s agenda in the 2015 Speech from the Throne, namely: Growth for the Middle Class; Open and Transparent Government; A Clean Environment and a Strong Economy; Diversity is Canada's Strength; and Security and Opportunity.

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

Non‑budgetary expenditures (dépenses non budgétaires)
Net outlays and receipts related to loans, investments and advances, which change the composition of the financial assets of the Government of Canada.

Performance (rendement)
What an organization did with its resources to achieve its results, how well those results compare to what the organization intended to achieve, and how well lessons learned have been identified.

Performance indicator (indicateur de rendement)
A qualitative or quantitative means of measuring an output or outcome, with the intention of gauging the performance of an organization, program, policy or initiative respecting expected results.

Performance reporting (production de rapports sur le rendement)
The process of communicating evidence‑based performance information. Performance reporting supports decision-making, accountability and transparency.

Plan (plan)
The articulation of strategic choices, which provides information on how an organization intends to achieve its priorities and associated results. Generally a plan will explain the logic behind the strategies chosen and tend to focus on actions that lead up to the expected result.

Planned spending (dépenses prévues)
For Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports, planned spending refers to those amounts presented in the Main Estimates. A department is expected to be aware of the authorities that it has sought and received. The determination of planned spending is a departmental responsibility, and departments must be able to defend the expenditure and accrual numbers presented in their Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports.

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

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

Result (résultat)
An external consequence attributed, in part, to an organization, policy, program or initiative. Results are not within the control of a single organization, policy, program or initiative; instead they are within the area of the organization’s influence.

Statutory expenditures (dépenses législatives)
Expenditures that Parliament has approved through legislation other than appropriation acts. The legislation sets out the purpose of the expenditures and the terms and conditions under which they may be made.

Strategic outcome (résultat stratégique)
A long-term and enduring benefit to Canadians that is linked to the organization’s mandate, vision and core functions.

Target (cible)
A measurable performance or success level that an organization, program or initiative plans to achieve within a specified time period. Targets can be either quantitative or qualitative.

Voted expenditures (dépenses votées)
Expenditures that Parliament approves annually through an Appropriation Act. The vote wording becomes the governing conditions under which these expenditures may be made.