Communications Community Office 2019-2020 Annual Report

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What we do

The Communications Community Office (CCO) is a horizontal organization that supports communications professionals across the Government of Canada. We help communicators enhance their skills and abilities and grow their careers by offering a variety of services, including learning events, communications tools and news, staffing processes and networking opportunities.

The CCO also serves as the secretariat for monthly heads of Communications meetings and the annual Heads of Communications Retreat. We work closely with departments, central agencies, communities of practice and other functional communities, as well as with public and private sector partners, to get ahead of the trends and develop the skills needed to keep pace with the speed of communications.

Mandate

Our mandate is to provide tools and mechanisms to:

• support recruitment and retention efforts by managers;
• enhance learning and career development opportunities for communicators;
• support the use of new technology and new media;
• strengthen the community through the sharing of information and networking; and
• advocate by positioning the communications function as a key partner in advancing Government of Canada priorities.

Objective

Our objective is to support and build a communications community that:

• is widely recognized as high performing;
• works collaboratively with partners;
• has the right skill sets; and
• attracts top talent.

Areas of focus

• Career development;
• Training and learning;
• Information sharing and data analysis;
• Collective recruitment and retention;
• Talent management.

Deputy Minister Champion

I am pleased to present the 2019–20 annual report of the Government of Canada’s Communications Community Office (CCO).

As the Communications Community Champion, I recognize the value communicators bring to federal programs and initiatives. Their contributions have a direct impact on the quality of information and services Canadians rely on. Never, in recent memory, has this role taken on such significance as it has over the course of this exceptional year.

Towards the end of the fiscal year, communicators stepped up to the plate to support the Government during the worldwide COVID-19 crisis. In this time of social and economic crisis, communicators ensured Canadians had the critical information they needed to access support for health emergencies, job losses and much more.

The communications function is evolving at lightning speed. Communicators’ ability to adapt is rooted in a sense of collaboration; a desire to nurture inclusive relationships, networks and communities of practice; and a commitment to remaining informed, agile, skilled and equipped. As we prepare for the challenges that lay ahead, I invite you to take full advantage of the opportunities the CCO continues to offer.

It is my privilege to serve as champion and to work with the CCO to strengthen our community. Please join me in celebrating our communications community for its many accomplishments over this past year.

Co-chairs of the CCO Steering Committee

Over the past year, the Communications Community Office (CCO) has continued to grow in our now-permanent home with the Privy Council Office.

Government of Canada communicators support Ministers and Deputy Ministers, deliver campaigns, collaborate on initiatives and events, and provide high-quality information and services to Canadians.

In a rapidly changing landscape, communicators must constantly diversify their skill sets to keep up, stay relevant and continue to deliver. The communications community is adapting and evolving faster than any other within the federal government. The CCO provides learning, training and talent management that is essential to the communications function. It plays an invaluable role in uniting the community regardless of geographic region, job responsibility or organizational structure.

We are immensely proud of what we have been able to accomplish this year. Highlights from 2019–20 include:

• the annual CCO Learning Days conference. This year, it included an inaugural film festival in addition to its roster of inspiring keynotes and workshops.
• our second annual Government of Canada’s Communications Awards of Excellence to recognize the exceptional contributions of federal communicators.
• a significantly expanded CCO Mentoring Series, which brought together a record number of mentors and mentees.
• Exponential growth and engagement with our numerous existing and new communities of practice.

With such a strong track record, the CCO is seeing the fruit of its labour and is set to be a leader in communications excellence for years to come

Governance

The CCO’s Steering Committee is made up of Directors, Directors General (DGs) and Assistant Deputy Ministers (ADMs) of Communications. The Committee provides direction and sets priorities for the CCO and for the communications community. Members come from large, medium and small organizations, with at least one representative from the regions.

The CCO coordinates monthly meetings of heads of Communications and with its Steering Committee to address the top issues facing the community and to get quick feedback from DGs on initiatives, plans and priorities.

We also consult with executives, managers and individual communications specialists on a regular basis to ensure our services are aligned with the needs of the community. Community members regularly support and share their knowledge at our learning events and write articles for our newsletter and social media channels.

Steering Committee members

• Kelly Acton (co-chair), Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
• Ken MacKillop (co-chair), Privy Council Office
• Caroline Hilt, Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions
• Catherine Allison, Employment and Social Development Canada
• Jane Hazel, Canadian Food Inspection Agency
• Jennifer Hollington, Health Canada
• Leanne Maidment, Public Safety Canada
• Mary Dila, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
• Maxime Guénette, Canada Revenue Agency
• Melanie Sullivan, Communications Community Office, Privy Council Office
• Stéphane Levesque, Global Affairs Canada

We would like to say a very special thank you to former board members Louise Baird, for her co-chair role while at the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Debora Brown from Employment and Social Development Canada and Chris Henderson from the Department of National Defence, who contributed significantly to the CCO this past year.

Our partners

The CCO is supported by memoranda of understanding and financial contributions from heads of Communications in departments and agencies across the Government of Canada. This funding model enables the CCO to offer a variety of services to the communications community. The CCO’s activities support communicators’ learning, training and career development.

The CCO is also supported by in-kind contributions from many community partners who have provided their support, expertise and advice throughout the year. Most notably these community partners include:

• our volunteers;
• heads of Communications;
• our communities of practice;
• our functional community partners; and
• the Canada School of Public Service.

Communities of practice

Communities of practice (COPs) are grassroots and driven by federal communicators with targeted specialties. Their community-led structure offers their members the opportunity to share information and tools, discuss common challenges, and develop and share new approaches.

In 2019–20, the CCO supported learning and networking opportunities offered by several COPs. New COPs were established. Their focuses include media relations, storytelling, events, digital analytics, strategic communications and issues management. Additionally, the COPs were featured at the Government of Canada’s annual Innovation Fair and at the CCO Learning Days conference where they led workshops and hosted kiosks. The CCO plans to further leverage and engage the communities in the upcoming year.

List of communications COPs

• Advertising
• Communicating Science Network
• Communications Evaluation
• Copyright Media Clearance Program
• Creative Services
• Digital Analytics
• Events
• Exhibitions
• InterComm (internal communications)
• Issues Management
• Media Relations
• Public Engagement
• Public Opinion Research
• Social Media
• Digital Analytics
• Speechwriting
• Storytelling
• Strategic Communications
• Web Community / Canada.ca

Accomplishments for 2019–2020

Career development

• In September 2019, we launched the 2019–20 CCO Mentoring Series, which fosters career development and a culture of continuous improvement, collaboration, and information sharing among communications professionals. This year, there was a five-fold increase in registration from across the country. A total of 262 communicators (including 152 pairs of mentees and mentors) participated in the program that supports employees in their personal and professional development and provides experienced employees with the opportunity to share their knowledge, skills and corporate memory. The annual CCO Mentoring Series provides many benefits to both mentors and mentees, including strategic and practical learning in a supported, confidential and one-on-one relationship.

Training and learning

• Over the course of the year, a total of eight monthly learning sessions that featured a variety of communications-related topics were presented:
  • Communicating with Millennials
  • Evaluation: Key Principles and Tips
  • High Impact Social Media Campaigns
  • Mental Health and Communications
  • Principal Publisher
  • Social Media Tips
  • Speechwriting 101
  • Storytelling
• In partnership with the Canada School of Public Service (CSPS), the CCO co-hosted three learning sessions on the topics of:
  • how to engage with Canadians through social media
  • optimizing your web presence on Canada.ca
  • transferrable skills
• In December 2019, the CCO collaborated with the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) on the “Building Gender Inclusive Services” learning event to help participants communicate to, about and on behalf of transgender and non-binary individuals and communities.
• In January 2020, the CCO facilitated an information session with the African swine fever response team from the Canada Food Inspection Agency. The afternoon session resulted in the identification of numerous communicators interested in providing surge capacity in the case of an outbreak of African swine fever in Canada.
• The CCO annual Learning Days conference was held on February 13 and 14 thanks to the commitment and dedication of CCO staff, the CCO Steering Committee, heads of Communications, volunteers and participants. Under the theme “The power of community”, this year’s conference took place at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. The event was also broadcast across the country to communications colleagues via webcast. The conference featured a mix of guest speakers, panel discussions and hands-on workshops hosted by the communications communities of practice. The event was attended each day by some 700 public servants representing a wide variety of communication specializations and levels, including senior management and regional offices.
• As part of the CCO Learning Days, an inaugural film festival was held to showcase the talent and creativity of communicators working in advertising, marketing, design and creative services. Over 100 videos from more than 30 contributors were presented.
• The CCO funded the Public Servant-in-Residence program to develop a speech writing curriculum offered by Carleton University. The first cohort has successfully completed the course, and additional sessions will be held for members of the federal communications community.
• The CCO supported and provided resources to community events, including the Advertising Services Directorate’s GC Ad Day, the InterComm Day of Learning and the PoliComm conference.

Collective recruitment and retention

• An IS-04 collective staffing process was launched over the summer of 2019, attracting close to 400 applicants from both the private and public sectors across the country. The qualified pool of candidates was completed in February 2020, and the 52 qualified candidates are now available for hire by all departments.
• Throughout 2019, the CCO’s LinkedIn presence continued to promote communications career opportunities in the federal government. Associated blogs and articles were published in cooperation with volunteer members of the community.
• In February 2020, the second annual Communications Awards of Excellence ceremony was held at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. The awards highlight high-impact initiatives, exceptional contributions, and best practices in communications. In total, five Excellence in Communications Awards (team awards) and five Spotlight Awards (individual awards) were presented. With close to a hundred nominations from 35 departments and agencies, selecting the winners was a highly challenging task. The Steering Committee worked diligently to review the nominations and to select a winner for each of the 10 categories. The event itself was an overwhelming success.
  
  Congratulations to this year’s winners:
  • Diamond Award of Communications Excellence:
    Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques’ space mission,
    Canadian Space Agency
  • Golden Alliance Award of Communications Excellence:
    Japanese Beetle Eradication in BC,
    Canadian Food Inspection Agency
  • Lighthouse Award of Communications Excellence:
    CAF Stories,
    National Defence
  • Insider Award of Communications Excellence:
    The Indigenous Services’ Bi-weekly Radio Show,
    Indigenous Services Canada
  • Regional Powerhouse of Communications Excellence:
    CED Fast Forward Challenge,
    Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions
  • Master Storyteller of the Year Award:
    Linda Watson,
    Canada Revenue Agency
  • Digital Master of the Year Award:
    Nick Frenette,
    Canadian Heritage
  • Exceptional Social Leader Award:
    Kenneth (Ken) Allan,
    Canada Border Services Agency
  • Rising Star of the Year Award:
    Kristopher Jackson,
    Veterans Affairs Canada
  • Outstanding Career Award:
    Ginette Martel,
    Privy Council Office
  • Outstanding Career Award (in memory of):
    Benoit Trottier,
    Employment and Social Development Canada
• Over the course of the year, the CCO issued 12 monthly digital newsletters to keep the community up to date on the latest news and trends. The distribution list grew by more than 500 subscribers and now reaches more than 3,400 readers.

The way forward

In 2020–21, the CCO will continue to build on its solid foundation and promote activities within the following five areas of focus:

• Career development,
• Training and learning,
• Collective recruitment and retention,
• Talent management, and
• Information sharing and data analysis.

Helping communicators develop their skills and careers is an important part of the CCO’s role. This year, the CCO will review and modernize the Information Services (IS) competencies and develop standard job descriptions for communicators. Career roadmaps for employees and executives will set the path to exciting careers!

The CCO will continue to help connect talented communicators with the right opportunities. It will keep promoting a variety of learning and development activities, including monthly learning sessions.

The CCO will work closely with its partners and leverage their experience to benefit our communications community. We will continue to seek and foster collaboration with our communities of practice and to strengthen relationships with communicators across Canada and the National Capital Region.

CCO numbers at a glance

• 38 departments and agencies
• Over 4,000 GC communicators
• 41 successful events and activities
• 7 Heads of Communications meetings
• 7 CCO Steering Committee meetings
• 19 communities of practice
• 5 major events
  • CCO Learning Days conference
  • Government of Canada’s Communications Awards of Excellence
  • Heads of Communications Retreat
  • 2018–2019 Mentoring Series Wrap
  • 2019–2020 Mentoring Series Launch
• 8 monthly learning events
  • Evaluation: Key Principles and Tips
  • Social Media Tips
  • Speechwriting 101
  • Principal Publisher
  • Communicating with Millennials
  • Mental Health and Communications
  • High Impact Social Media Campaigns
  • Storytelling
• 3 CSPS-sponsored learning events
  • Optimizing your web presence on Canada.ca
  • Transferrable skills
  • How to engage with Canadians through social media
• 5 partnership events
  • Innovation Fair
  • Building Surge Capacity: African Swine Fever
  • Building Gender Inclusive Services (TBS)
  • InterComm Day of Learning
  • Policomm Conference
• 2 regional communications engagement visits
  • British Columbia Learning Day
  • Quebec Learning Day
• 1 communications integration survey
• 1 Public Servant-in-Residence program
• 1 speechwriting curriculum with Carleton University
• 1 mentorship program
  • 262 participants
  • 152 pairs of mentors and mentees
• Over 4,800 social media connections
  • 3,380 Twitter followers
  • 1,500 LinkedIn connections
• 12 CCO monthly newsletters
• 52 newly qualified IS-04 candidates
• One Great Community

Annual funding for 2019–2020

To facilitate long-term planning, the CCO has negotiated multi-year funding agreements with departments and agencies for the period from April 1, 2018, to March 31, 2021.

In 2019, two additional agreements were added with the onboarding of the Communications Security Establishment and the Canada Border Services Agency.

Currently, there are 38 departments and agencies participating in the multi-year funding agreements. The funding formula is based on the number of employees in the Information Services (IS) category at each contributing department and agency. The total contributions for fiscal year 2019–20 amounted to $1,209,500. The breakdown by departments and agencies follows.

Financial results

Funding

Expenditures

Feedback

We want to hear from you.

Let us know how we can support you better. Send us your ideas for the future.

Email us at info@cco-bcc.gc.ca.