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2022 Minister’s Transition Book 2: Core responsibility 4—Government-wide support

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GCSurplus and seized property

In this section

Mandate

Public Services and Procurement Canada is mandated under the Surplus Crown Assets Act and the Seized Property Management Act to manage and divest of assets that are either surplus to Crown operations or seized and subsequently forfeited to the Crown as the result of a criminal or regulatory process. This mandate is carried out by 2 programs within the Specialized Services Sector:

Net revenues from both these programs are paid to other government departments, provinces and to the Receiver General for Canada, depending on applicable legislation and regulations. Revenues to the Crown, net of program operating costs, range from $65 million to $75 million per year. The programs employ approximately 130 employees and operate nine warehouses across Canada.

Key activities

Surplus assets

The sector receives moveable assets primarily from departments and agencies who no longer have operational requirements for them. Most assets are divested through a public online auction site providing a convenient, fair and transparent opportunity for Canadians to access federal surplus assets. Surplus controlled goods, such as military equipment, are sold via a restricted access website.

Cost-free transfers among departments are administered in order to reduce acquisition costs overall for the Crown. Donations are also administered when in the best interest of the Crown and subject to the approval of the originating custodian department.

Seized assets

The sector provides services related to the management of seized or restrained property. It also provides advice to police agencies and prosecutors on the value of target assets and the estimated costs of managing an asset if seized.

The sector receives real property and moveable assets that have been seized by law enforcement, typically as offences related property or proceeds of crime. The assets are dealt with in accordance with applicable judicial or regulatory decision-making processes. Many assets, such as goods that are forfeited at ports of entry, can be disposed of in relatively short order, while other assets may need to be managed for significant durations while legal proceedings take place.

Activities related to seized assets include work on government-wide anti-money laundering initiatives, including contributions to virtual currency policies, protocols and procedures and managing other classes of sensitive and risky assets.

Partners and stakeholders

Federal departments and agencies that generate surplus assets are the primary clients of GCSurplus. Increasingly, provinces, municipalities and Crown corporations are also leveraging this service as open-bidding produces superior results in asset divestiture.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Canada Border Services Agency, Ontario Provincial Police, and Health Canada are some of the largest client organizations that send seized assets to the Seized Property Management Directorate. These law enforcement agencies are relieved of the burden of managing assets and are better able to focus on their own mandates and priorities.

Key considerations

Both programs are funded entirely through cost recovery. Revenues are generated from the sale of assets and shared with client departments and jurisdictions. This creates dependencies on external partners for revenue generation. This risk has proven to be manageable but events such as the pandemic have presented challenges.

Primary operating risks for the programs include security and employee safety while addressing assets, particularly those seized assets in relation to a criminal offence.

Government of Canada publications

In this section

Mandate

The Receiver General and Pensions Branch has 2 broad responsibilities covering Government of Canada (GC) publications:

Key activities

The Canada Gazette, available in electronic format only, is published in 3 parts (Part I, Part II and Part III) in accordance with deadlines prescribed in the Statutory Instruments Regulations .

The Canada Gazette represents a key step in Canada’s regulatory process by serving as a platform to publish proposed regulations and facilitate consultation with the public. As such, its website is host to a new online regulatory commenting feature, a requirement of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). Officially launching on September 27, 2022, this feature enables interested parties to submit and view comments on proposed regulations online. This initiative is a collaboration between Public Services and Procurement Canada and the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.

The Government of Canada Publications Directorate (formerly Publications and Depository Services) is responsible for:

Partners and stakeholders

The Canada Gazette is an essential service, and its clients include government departments and agencies, as well as the private sector. Its key partners include the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, the Privy Council Office, and the Department of Justice.

The Government of Canada Publications Directorate has multiple partners and stakeholders: the Library community, academics, government departments and agencies, researchers, and law libraries and courts.

Current status

A significant opportunity exists for the Canada Gazette Directorate to offer modern, digitally enabled services Canadians have come to expect, to keep up with industry practices and continue to meet its CUSMA obligations for regulatory transparency. The organization is currently undergoing a digital transformation and reviewing its procedures, publishing outputs and frequency, as well as the services it offers to its clients.

The 2021 edition of the annual statutes is now being printed and will be distributed in the fall 2022. Due to a legal requirement, the annual statutes continue to be printed in paper format although in limited amounts. The Government of Canada Publications Directorate is currently looking into legislative and regulatory amendments to remove the requirement that the Queen's Printer print the annual statutes and formalize their electronic publishing.

The organization is embarking on a review of the Government of Canada publications website as well as internal business tools. We are defining opportunities to modernize some of our systems, search engine and processes:

Advertising and public opinion research

In this section

Mandate

The Receiver General and Pension Branch within the department of Public Services and Procurement Canada is responsible for delivering important government information to Canadians and providing services and advice to departments to improve the delivery of select communications activities through: 

Key activities

Expenditures on advertising and decisions regarding the specific placement of advertisements are the responsibility of individual departments.

Advertising Services Directorate provides oversight to the contracting of advertising services that are issued by the Communications and Advertising Procurement Directorate (CAPD) in Acquisitions Branch. It reviews media plans and creative materials for policy compliance including the Official Languages Act and the directive for non-partisan advertising. It also provides training to the Government of Canada advertising community and manages the advertising agency of record contract (Cossette Media) responsible for media planning and buying. Further, it manages the Advertising Management Information System (AdMIS) where departments record their advertising activities and expenditures; and is responsible for the reporting of advertising expenditures in the Annual Report on Government of Canada Advertising Activities. The directorate is also responsible for managing a whole-of-government fund—the Emerging Needs Fund—which allows for advertising resources to be available to support communications in the event that some unforeseen issue or circumstance (as defined by the Privy Council Office) occurs during a fiscal year.

Public Opinion Research Directorate (PORD) coordinates and advises client departments and agencies on public opinion research studies that are issued by the Communications and Advertising Procurement Directorate in Acquisitions Branch; oversees a community of practice to support government-wide capacity building; manages the research information management system (RIMS) to track research studies, develops research standards for qualitative and quantitative research and reports on Government of Canada public opinion research activities in its Annual Report on Public Opinion Research. In 2021to 2022, the advisory services unit coordinated approximately $18.1 million in contracted research on behalf of departmental clients, an increase of 2.6 million compared to fiscal year 2020 to 2021, including a broad range of research in support of COVID-19.

Partners and stakeholders

Public Services and Procurement Canada works closely with the Privy Council Office, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, client federal departments and industry to improve operations and to keep pace with constant change in the industry as it pertains to both advertising and public opinion research.

Current status

Translation Bureau overview

Modernization of the Translation Bureau’s operations

Mandate

As a centre of excellence in linguistic services, the Translation Bureau has the mandate to provide quality linguistic services to the Government of Canada and the Parliament of Canada. The Translation Bureau supports the Government of Canada’s efforts to communicate with Canadians in the official language of their choice, and also provides services in Indigenous and foreign languages, American Sign Language, and langue des signes québécoise.

The Translation Bureau has been operating as a special operating agency since 1995 and delivering its operations mainly on a cost-recovery basis. The use of the Translation Bureau’s services by government organizations are optional. Departments and agencies are not required to use its services and can seek the services from the private sector. The services provided to Parliament (House of Commons and Senate) are funded from parliamentary votes.

Key activities

The linguistic services industry is evolving to use new technologies that enable language professionals to increase the volume that they can translate and to shift their focus to post-editing and revision.

Modernizing operations

The Translation Bureau continues to modernize its operations by implementing a business model focused on quality, technology and personalized cost-effective services. In doing so, it strives to further strengthen its position as the Government of Canada’s centre of excellence for linguistic services.

Investing in technologies

In 2020 to 2021, the Translation Bureau began the implementation of GClingua—a techno-linguistic platform to perform and manage the Government of Canada’s end-to-end translation and interpretation services, processes and activities in an integrated way.

This tool provides the Translation Bureau’s clients with many benefits:

More than 15 departments and agencies have already been onboarded to GClingua, including Canadian Heritage and Parks Canada, and we are very excited to welcome Employment and Social Development Canada to the solution in October, with more onboarding waves to come in 2023.

Experimenting with artificial intelligence

The Translation Bureau has been experimenting with various artificial intelligence tools. Artificial intelligence can be very efficient for automating sorting, making predictions, applying clear and consistent parameters and processing massive amounts of data. The Translation Bureau continues to leverage technological advances to equip its language professionals to best serve its clients.

Training employees

In response to the changing landscape of linguistic services, the Translation Bureau is also re-tooling and retraining its employees. It is engaging unions and Treasury Board’s Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer in these efforts.

It is expected that the pandemic’s impacts will have a lasting effect on the language services industry and the way in which clients consume linguistic services. The Translation Bureau will continue to invest in technolinguistic tools, seek opportunities to experiment with artificial intelligence, and work closely with partners and stakeholders.

Partners and stakeholders

The Translation Bureau continues to engage and consult with the language service provider industry, other federal departments and agencies, international organizations, professional associations, academia, and unions.

Research: the Translation Bureau collaborates with the National Research Council of Canada on identifying and developing technological solutions. It has also developed a test protocol to gather feedback from professional translators on the quality of outputs from neural machine translation, a form of artificial intelligence.

On the interpretation side, the Translation Bureau has conducted an empirical research project with the University of Geneva on fatigue and cognitive load that will guide the Translation Bureau’s decision making on remote interpretation.

Researchers from the University of Ottawa are conducting hearing health assessments for interpreters on behalf of the Translation Bureau to establish baseline data and a recommended course of action for acoustic incidents

The National Research Council of Canada continues to perform tests and compile data on sound transmitted to interpreters.

Education: in order to train the language specialists of the future, post-secondary institutions need to make a significant shift in how they are teaching translation, by broadening their curricula. In this context, the Translation Bureau helps to support the integration of emerging linguistic technologies. For interpretation, the Translation Bureau is partnering with the 2 Canadian universities that offer the conference interpretation master’s program where our staff interpreters are providing teaching support, and workshops for students to prepare for Translation Bureau accreditation.

In addition, the Translation Bureau hosts an annual industry day to strengthen its relationships with the language industry and universities and gather their comments and suggestions.

Key considerations

The Translation Bureau will need to remain highly nimble to be able to adapt quickly enough to the changing landscape of its clients’ needs and advances in language technology.

Distance interpretation and working conditions

Mandate

As a centre of excellence in linguistic services, the Translation Bureau provides interpretation services of parliamentary and government proceedings for in-person and virtual meetings. It has over 70 staff interpreters and a pool of freelance interpreters to respond to the demand in official, foreign and Indigenous languages.

The technical facilities required for interpretation are the responsibility of clients and not of the Translation Bureau.

Key activities

Interpreting requires very specific technical conditions to be performed safely, particularly with respect to sound quality. For decades, these conditions were well-established and met according to time-tested international standards. However, the pandemic has completely redefined the working conditions for interpreters.

Interpreters’ health and safety

Since the pivot to virtual meetings, interpreters have increasingly reported health and safety incidents related to sound quality, such as tinnitus, headaches, hyperacusis and extreme fatigue.

The health and safety of interpreters, whether they are employees or freelancers, is a priority for the Translation Bureau. Even before the start of the pandemic, the Translation Bureau had begun to take measures to protect the health and safety of interpreters at meetings. These measures have been strengthened since virtual sessions became the norm. Over the past 2 years, it has strengthened these measures with the help of its partners, including Parliament and associations representing interpreters. These measures include:

Research

To further protect health and safety, the Translation Bureau conducted an empirical research project with the University of Geneva on fatigue and cognitive load that will guide the Translation Bureau’s decision making on remote interpretation.

Researchers from the University of Ottawa are conducting hearing health assessments for interpreters on behalf of the Translation Bureau to establish baseline data and a recommended course of action for acoustic incidents.

The National Research Council of Canada continues to perform tests and compile data on sound transmitted to interpreters.

Partners and stakeholders

The Translation Bureau works collaboratively with representatives of the Canadian region of the International Association of Conference Interpreters and with the Canadian Association of Professional Employees; representing freelance and staff interpreters, respectively.

Key considerations

The challenges faced by interpreters have received media attention, highlighting concerns over the health and safety of Translation Bureau interpreters. This has led the Translation Bureau to appear before parliamentary committees to respond to inquiries and concerns related to the health and safety of interpreters.

Capacity remains another challenge. There is a shortage of qualified interpreters on a global scale which has been exacerbated during the pandemic. The Translation Bureau continues to work with clients to prioritize optimal use of resources and meet the needs of Parliament and government departments. It hires all new graduates from master of conference interpreting programs in Canada who meet its quality standards and holds accreditation exams annually to add new freelance interpreters to its pool.

In May 2022, the House Board of Internal Economy mandated the Translation Bureau to participate in a house administration led pilot project to test 2 things:

To date, the Translation Bureau has participated in 2 simulations. An interim report is due by the end of September.

The current open contract for interpretation in official languages came into effect in July 2021. The needs of clients, the views of stakeholders, and the most up-to-date research and best practices related to distance interpretation have been taken into consideration in its development.

Security and oversight services

In this section

Integrity regime

Mandate

Public Services and Procurement Canada’s Departmental Oversight Branch centrally administers the government-wide integrity regime for procurement and real property transactions. Under this regime, unethical suppliers may be determined to be ineligible or suspended from conducting business with the Government of Canada.

Key activities

Corporate wrongdoing imposes significant economic, political and social costs. More specifically, it undermines fair competition and constitutes a barrier to economic growth. In this context, all governments have an obligation to protect and safeguard the use of public funds, to ensure strong stewardship and transparency, and to uphold public trust in government procurement and contracting. To achieve these ends, the Government of Canada has a framework of laws, regulations, policies and programs in place to detect and prevent improper and unethical business practices.

Introduced in 2015, the integrity regime is a rules-based system that is designed to help ensure that the Government of Canada conducts business with ethical suppliers in Canada and abroad. The central component of the regime is the Ineligibility and Suspension Policy, which determines when and how a supplier may be declared ineligible or suspended from doing business with the government.

Under the policy, a supplier may be declared ineligible to be awarded a contract or real property agreement for 10 years if convicted, in the last 3 years, of certain offences in Canada or in other countries. This can be reduced by 5 years if the supplier demonstrates that they have cooperated with law enforcement authorities or addressed the causes of their misconduct. If charged with a listed offence, a supplier may be suspended from doing business with the federal government for up to 18 months; and if a supplier poses a significant risk, the suspension period may be extended, pending final disposition of the charges.

The regime applies to all federal departments and agencies listed in schedule I, I.1 and II of the Financial Administration Act and can be adopted by other federal entities (such as Crown corporations) on a voluntary basis. In 2021 to 2022, Public Services and Procurement Canada conducted over 26,000 integrity verification requests on approximately 620,815 individual names on behalf of federal organizations, to confirm whether a supplier was ineligible or suspended from conducting business with the federal government. Over 99% of these verifications were completed by the department within the program’s 4-hour client service standard.

All determinations of ineligibility or suspension are undertaken pursuant to the process set out in the policy and are rendered by the registrar of ineligibility and suspension, an assistant deputy minister-level position within the department. The names of ineligible or suspended suppliers are published on the departmental website. Currently there are 2 active administrative agreements with suppliers, one agreement with SNC-Lavalin in lieu of suspension, and the other agreement with a supplier who had their period of ineligibility reduced to 5 years (Hickey Construction Ltd). Three suppliers have been rendered ineligible to do business with the Government of Canada due to convictions of a listed offence under the current regime (Les Entreprises Chatel Inc., R.M. Belanger Limited, and Guaranteed Industries Limited). The deputy minister is informed of all determinations of ineligibility and suspension by the registrar.

In 2017, after 2 years of operations, the department initiated a comprehensive review of the regime to determine whether it was achieving its intended objectives and whether enhancements would be required to address gaps and shortcomings. Following this review, in fall 2017, the government undertook a national consultation on “Expanding Canada’s Toolkit to Address Corporate Wrongdoing”, which included potential enhancements to the integrity regime. The results of this consultation were reported publicly in February 2018. Following an announcement of planned enhancements to the regime, the department sought comments and feedback on the text of a draft revised policy that reflected the proposed modifications in fall 2018.

Subsequent to this consultation, public discourse increased regarding corporate wrongdoing and governments’ responses to this type of misconduct. As a result, the government announced that it was taking additional time to consider elements of the regime and the feedback received to date.

In the interim, the current Ineligibility and Suspension Policy remains in effect.

Partners and stakeholders

The registrar applies the policy in partnership with federal government departments and Crown corporations that have signed memoranda of understanding with Public Services and Procurement Canada. The registrar partners with provincial and territorial governments on policy development and best practices related to the regime.

Key stakeholders include federal, provincial and territorial governments, the general supplier community, industry associations, chambers of commerce, policy groups, procurement and debarment professionals, as well as foreign governments and international bodies (for example, the World Bank).

Key considerations

Given the evolving and complex nature of supply chains, a modern, effective integrity regime will continue to be a key tool in Canada’s efforts to combat improper and unethical business practices and protect the integrity of the federal procurement system.

Fairness Monitoring Program

Mandate

The Fairness Monitoring Program is part of the Government of Canada’s strong framework to support accountability and integrity in departmental activities, such as procurement and real property transactions. It was initiated in 2005 to provide departments, suppliers, Parliament and Canadians with independent assurance that Public Services and Procurement Canada conducts such activities in a fair, open and transparent manner.

Fairness monitoring is recognized as an important measure in smart and collaborative procurement. Operating on a partial cost-recovery basis, the program procures the services of independent third-party fairness monitors to observe departmental activities and provide an impartial opinion on their fairness, openness and transparency. The program issues and administers the contracts, manages close to 100 projects, and carries out all program activities. Approximately 30 new fairness monitoring call-ups are issued each year.

Key activities

Key activities of the Fairness Monitoring Program are carried out under the departmental Policy on Fairness Monitoring. As per policy, certain activities require a mandatory risk-based assessment to determine if fairness monitoring coverage is warranted. Operational branches carrying out the activities are responsible for initiating the fairness monitoring assessment. Services are usually provided for high dollar value, highly sensitive and complex activities but branch heads can always request services according to a specific context, where enhanced monitoring may be required.

The program conducts an analysis and develops recommendations for decision by the assistant deputy minister of the Departmental Oversight Branch, when fairness monitoring coverage is warranted. Recommendations are developed for the deputy minister when it is not warranted. After obtaining approval for warranted activities, the program proceeds with engaging third-party fairness monitors using the current fairness monitoring services standing offer, which includes 5 qualified firms.

Monitoring the fairness of a procurement process to identify potential deficiencies is distinct from other measures in that it provides real-time oversight to address the issues while the process is ongoing. During the fairness monitoring engagement, the majority of fairness, openness or transparency issues are resolved between the fairness monitor and the contracting authority. Any unresolved issues are brought to the attention of the program, which addresses the potential deficiency. There is a mechanism in place to escalate the issue if necessary. The deputy minister renders a final decision regarding the department’s response to an unresolved fairness deficiency. This key feature of the program avoids costly after-the-fact resolutions. Since the program’s inception in 2005, over 260 fairness monitoring engagements have been completed.

The program is currently monitoring approximately 100 procurements including many high profile, sensitive initiatives. Examples include:

Each fairness monitoring engagement concludes with a fairness monitor final report that provides an attestation regarding the fairness, openness and transparency of the monitored activity. The department makes all fairness monitor final reports available to the public on its website, subject to limitations on disclosure under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act.

Partners and stakeholders

Operational branches

The program jointly analyzes departmental activities with operational branches to develop a recommendation to proceed with fairness monitoring coverage. The program collaborates closely with contracting authorities from different branches within the department, mainly from the Acquisitions Program and regional offices. Many of the procurements are undertaken for client departments, such as the Department of National Defence, the Canada Border Services Agency, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Veterans Affairs Canada, and Employment and Social Development Canada. The program also has a memorandum of understanding with the Canada Revenue Agency to provide fairness monitoring services.

Fairness monitoring firms

The integrity of the program is dependent on the engagement of credible, independent and impartial third party professionals to observe select departmental activities and to provide their attestations regarding the fairness of these activities. They are accountable for their opinions in the face of public scrutiny.

Controlled goods program

Mandate

The Controlled Goods Program was established in 2001 to regain the Canadian exemption under the U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations, which provides for the licence-free transfer of controlled defence articles between Canada and the U.S. This exemption maintains privileged access for Canadian industries to the U.S. defence market and benefits registrants in the program, including small and medium-sized businesses in Canadian aerospace, defence and security. Under the authority of the Defence Production Act and Controlled Goods Regulations, the program ensures that controlled goods are safeguarded while in the custody of the private sector. Controlled goods are primarily goods, including some components and technical data that have military or national security significance (for example, specific large calibre weapons, bombs and fighter jets). The Controlled Goods Program regulates the examination, possession or transfer of controlled goods within Canada, and contributes to Canada’s national security framework. Currently, there are approximately 4,000 individuals and organizations registered in the program.

Key activities

The program undertakes a client-focused delivery approach to ensure that controlled goods are safeguarded within Canada. Examples of these key activities include:

Partners and stakeholders

Internal partners

Similar to the Controlled Goods Program, the Contract Security Program contributes to the federal government procurement process, and also resides in the Oversight Branch of the department. For contracts with controlled goods, a valid registration in the Controlled Goods Program is required. Security requirements pertaining to both programs are included in the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat’s security requirements checklist and verified by the department’s Acquisitions Branch, when issuing contracts. Requiring companies to meet controlled goods related security requirements enables the Controlled Goods Program to ensure that the Government of Canada’s controlled goods are safeguarded while in the custody of the private sector.

External partners

Global Affairs Canada updates its export control list on an annual basis to meet the Government of Canada’s commitments to multilateral export control regimes. Since the controlled goods list is partially based on the export control list, these updates ensure that the Controlled Goods Program is informed of items that may also need to be domestically controlled.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police conducts record checks on program applicants to determine if the applicants have been convicted of a criminal offence. It also assesses their involvement or association with criminal organizations and identifies potential vulnerabilities on high-risk behaviours. These checks are part of the program’s security assessment process. Serious cases with the potential unauthorized transfer of controlled goods are referred to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

The Department of National Defence is the largest procurer of controlled goods and related services within the Government of Canada. As such, it relies on the Controlled Goods Program to ensure that suppliers have undergone rigorous security assessments in advance of entering into contracts. This ensures that the Canadian Armed Forces are equipped to conduct their operations and that controlled goods are safeguarded within Canada.

In addition, the U.S. Department of State partnered with Public Services and Procurement Canada to safeguard certain “defence articles” within Canada. Through the exchange of information, this relationship and the integrity of the Controlled Goods Program ensure that the Canadian aerospace, defence and security industries’ privileged access to the U.S. defence market is maintained.

Stakeholders

The programs’ Industry Engagement Committee is a forum for the department and representatives from the Canadian aerospace, defence and security industries to discuss the impacts of policy and regulatory issues on industry. Core members include the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries and the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada. As appropriate, industry may also provide recommendations on matters pertaining to the program, the Defence Production Act and Controlled Goods Regulations.

Key considerations

Program funding

The program has had 2 sources of funds since 2012 to 2013; A-base budget combined with temporary supplemental funding to cover negotiated program enhancements. Government proposals in 2012 mandated funding these enhancements via a cost recovery (user fee) model, however, this was never implemented and, as such, the program has obtained temporary funding since that time to cover the shortfall. The most recent iteration of temporary funding expired March 31, 2022. [Redacted]

Contract Security Program

Mandate

The Contract Security Program has been in place since 1941 and provides contract security services for approximately 90% of Government of Canada contracts with security requirements. The program also provides security services for foreign government contracts with security requirements that are awarded to Canadian industry. Over the course of the past 5 years, the program has security screened and qualified more than 14,000 new companies as potential suppliers of goods and services to the Government of Canada. It has also screened over half a million personnel seeking to work on contracts that require access to sensitive government information, assets or secure worksites. The program operates on a cost recovery basis, deriving the majority of its funding from memoranda of understanding with 50 to 60 client departments and agencies.

Public Services and Procurement Canada is authorized to administer contract security services by the Department of Public Works and Government Services Act. The program operating authority, however, is derived from the terms of the Policy on Government Security and its accompanying standards and directives. The program applies the Policy on Government Security requirements to contracts for goods and services managed by Public Services and Procurement Canada.

Key activities

Public Services and Procurement Canada is a lead security agency and internal enterprise service organization for security in procurement. The Contract Security Program facilitates this role by providing advice and guidance to federal departments on security in procurement and by providing its essential contract security services in an effective and timely manner.

The Contract Security Program continues to improve its service delivery model and is currently refining its security screening process. Moving forward, the program will only register suppliers that are participating in a federal government procurement process and facilitate personnel security screening requests that are associated with an active contract with security requirements. This re-focusing of government efforts and resources will significantly improve service standards by applying finite security screening resources exclusively in support of government procurement activities.

Partners and stakeholders

Government departments: Clients

The Contract Security Program provides its services, including advice and guidance, to federal government departments when the department is the contracting authority on contracts that contain security requirements. Where client departments have the authority to award a contract under their own delegation, they can choose to make use of Contract Security Program services or manage security aspects of the contract on their own.

Government departments: Partners

The Contract Security Program engages and collaborates with the federal government’s security and intelligence community, including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, to enhance its processes and share information on security in procurement.

Industry stakeholders

The Contract Security Program enables industry to participate in sensitive federal government contracts in Canada and abroad. The program provides advice and guidance to industry on security in procurement to ensure the safeguarding of sensitive federal government information and assets while in the custody of private sector companies. It also has rigorous processes in place to ensure industry complies with contracting security requirements.

Foreign partners

The Contract Security Program serves as the government’s national authority for industrial security, and in this capacity, serves as Canada’s designated security authority for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. This involves being an active participant within the international industrial security community by negotiating bilateral security instruments with foreign partners and participating in relevant international industrial security and privacy meetings.

Key considerations

The Contract Security Program operates in an ever-changing and rapidly evolving industrial security landscape with a supply chain that is increasingly globally dependent. Over the past few years, the program has seen a sharp increase in the complexity of files requiring additional assessment time. This has also increased requirements for a specialized workforce with the ability to analyze elements of risk that may be present in organizations contracted by the government. In this regard, the program’s ability to perform out of country verifications and assess the complexities associated with foreign ownership is particularly challenging. This can lead to processing delays, resulting in complaints from client departments and industry stakeholders.

Another key challenge is opening new international markets for Canadian industry while aligning the Canadian security screening process with foreign partners based on international best practices. This alignment would further increase the ability of Canadian industry to compete internationally and increase the overall supply to the Canadian market. The Contract Security Program’s International Industrial Security Directorate represents Canada on international industrial security working groups and works to develop bilateral agreements with selected countries and key trading partners.

Reconciliation with Indigenous peoples in Canada

In this section

Mandate

Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) has policy and legal obligations to Indigenous people, including the Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business, the Nunavut Directive, Modern and historic treaties, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Indigenous Languages Act and various constitutional obligations.

As a common service provider, Public Services and Procurement Canada has an opportunity to lead and support other government departments in reconciliation efforts specifically related to its mandate in procurement, real property and translation and language services. Strategic advancements can also be made in these areas in the context of larger commitments related to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission calls to action, the murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls, calls for justice, the many voices one mind report on Indigenous participation in the public service, and the Department of Justice 10 principles respecting the relationship with Indigenous people.

Key activities

At the operational level, the department is engaged with Indigenous businesses, communities and governments.

Procurement: The department uses the Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business to set aside procurements for competition among Indigenous businesses and continues to implement the Directive on Government Contracts, including real property leases, in the Nunavut Settlement Area (the Nunavut Directive). The department has also increased procurement to Indigenous businesses by capitalizing on the flexibilities of modern trade agreements and by utilizing the Indigenous benefits plans, which include requirements for Indigenous sub-contracting, employment, skills development, training and apprenticeship. In addition, the department continues to encourage federal departments to increase the involvement of Indigenous businesses in federal procurement. Together, Public Services and Procurement Canada, Indigenous Services Canada and the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat are implementing new approaches to meet a target of having at least 5% of the value of government contracts go to Indigenous led or owned businesses.

Real property: The department continues to work with Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada in its work with the National Indigenous Organizations (Assembly of First Nations, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and the Métis National Council), and the Algonquin Anishinabeg Nation to transform 100 Wellington Street in Ottawa into a dedicated Indigenous peoples space. The department is also engaging, consulting and providing support to Indigenous governments, communities and partners to advance the inclusion of Indigenous communities in real property disposals, to implement Indigenous benefits plans (including apprenticeships) into projects, and to support the implementation of the Nunavut Directive, Inuit contracting and leasing.

Language services: Through the Translation Bureau, the department provides linguistic services in Indigenous languages to the Government of Canada and Parliament and has a roster of over 100 suppliers covering over 50 of the approximately 90 different Indigenous languages and dialects. The department continues to work with Canadian Heritage to support the implementation of the Indigenous Languages Act and is committed to ensuring that parliamentarians and the public service have access to translation and interpretation services in Indigenous languages, which will increase the visibility and have a positive impact on the status and future vitality of Indigenous languages in Canada.

Internally within Public Services and Procurement Canada, the department has established a dedicated directorate, the Reconciliation and Indigenous Engagement Directorate (RIED), to explore strategic policy opportunities to coordinate and build upon existing reconciliation activities that support and advance reconciliation within the department. RIED is facilitating this work by developing the organization’s first reconciliation strategy, working with branches and regions to develop their own reconciliation action plans, and coordinating PSPC’s assessment of how the United Nation’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People’s Act will impact the department’s areas of responsibility. The ultimate goal is to ensure all business lines actively participate in reconciliation efforts and engage with Indigenous partners in a well-coordinated and systematic way.

In addition, the department continues to educate staff and to recruit, support and develop Indigenous employees. The department has established a network of declared Indigenous employees and allies called the Indigenous Circle of Employees, which provides a safe space for Indigenous employees to meet and discuss priorities, issues and opportunities, as well as identify ways to advance reconciliation in the department.

Partners and stakeholders

The department continues to engage with Indigenous partners and clients at the operational level, primarily in regional offices. Key national partners include the national Indigenous organizations: Assembly of First Nations, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, Métis National Council, National Indigenous Economic Development Board, Canadian Association of Native Development Officers on key bilateral tables such as Inuit Crown Partnership Committee and the other Permanent Bilateral Mechanisms, negotiation tables, and engagement on increasing contract awards to Indigenous businesses.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, engagement with Indigenous partners on developing a reconciliation strategy has been challenging. However, the Reconciliation and Indigenous Engagement Technical Working Group, represented by members from the department’s branches and regions, continues to advise on the development of the reconciliation strategy, develop and align policies and guidelines, and share information on current activities related to engagement with Indigenous partners.

Key considerations

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic presents a significant challenge for the department to engage with Indigenous partners. Nevertheless, engagement remains essential to meeting our duty to consult obligations and increasing Indigenous participation in procurement.

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People and Bill C-15, an act respecting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, convey new obligations for the department, including the legal obligation to engage with Indigenous peoples when the department undertakes initiatives that could affect Indigenous interests. A significant number of departmental operations and initiatives, including those done on behalf of client departments, could be interpreted as affecting Indigenous interests. Work is underway to develop a full, integrated understanding of how it meets existing legal, policy and political commitments to Indigenous peoples, including appropriate funding mechanisms, guidance, training, and policy instruments to meet the department’s duty to consult.

As a large department and as a common service provider to other federal government departments, identifying existing and new challenges and proposing solutions will take some time and effort. The department is proceeding with an environmental scan to identify these challenges and propose solutions for a department-specific implementation plan in this context.

Accessibility

In this section

Overview

The Accessible Canada Act, which came into force on July 11, 2019, aims to ensure a barrier-free Canada and represents Canada’s most significant disability rights legislation in over 30 years. It is intended to transform how we address accessibility in areas under federal jurisdiction. It is complemented by the Public Service Accessibility Strategy, which adopts a “Nothing Without Us” motto. This motto advocates for persons with disabilities to be at the centre of approaches to advance accessibility, while identifying priorities and actions to position the federal public service as the most accessible and inclusive in the world. The first series of regulations to enable the act came into effect in December 2021. Under the act and regulations, federal departments and agencies are required to publish their 3-year accessibility plans for 2023 to 2025 by December 31, 2022.

Mandate

The Accessibility Strategy for the public service of Canada identifies Public Services and Procurement Canada as the lead for enhancing the accessibility of the federal built environment, as well as advancing the accessibility of federal procurement

With respect to the built environment, the desired end state is for clients and employees of the Government of Canada to have barrier-free access and use of the federally owned and leased built environment. Under this strategy, the department is committed to:

With respect to procurement, the desired end state is to modernize procurement practices so that goods, services and facilities procured by the government are accessible and inclusive for all. The department is committed to:

Key activities

Public Services and Procurement Canada has many initiatives that have been implemented or which are being planned. Some are currently being planned to enhance accessibility for public servants and Canadians with disabilities. This work is positioning the department to become an employer of choice through the provision of an accessible built environment and accessible workplaces. Other provisions include the development of accessible procurement tools and practices as well as the further expansion of accessible technology and communication services. To demonstrate its commitment to accessibility, the department published interim accessibility plans in 2020 and 2021 to promote an accessible culture and move the department towards universal accessibility and inclusion for its employees, for other government departments and for the Canadian public.

As a common service provider, and in support of the Public Service Accessibility Strategy, the department is uniquely placed to assist with implementation of the act and become a leader in accessibility for the Government of Canada. Two areas of focus are the built environment and procurement.

Built environment

Overseeing the planning and delivery of technical accessibility assessments in consultation with persons with disabilities:

Finalizing the Universal Accessibility Strategy and Action Plan for the Parliamentary Precinct:

Conducting research and pilot initiatives to improve accessibility in the built environment:

Undertaking base-building accessibility improvements:

Engaging and soliciting feedback from building users:

Procurement

The Accessible Procurement Resource Centre was launched in 2018 to help federal departments and agencies integrate accessibility criteria into their procurement requirements for goods and services. The centre is a first point of contact for both departmental procurement officers and federal departments when it comes to accessible government procurement. The centre also supports the department’s ongoing work to prevent and remove accessibility barriers within the procurement process and to increase the number of suppliers with disabilities doing business with the Government of Canada.

This past year the centre completed several activities to help the procurement community understand how to consider accessibility in procurement including: the redesign and enhancement of its website and the co-development of a pilot learning module that includes information and case studies on how to integrate in procurement. In addition, in January 2022 the centre established the agents of change for accessible procurement, a new interdepartmental community of practice to help build awareness and capacity across federal departments. The community supports the sharing of best practices and leading initiatives in accessible procurement, and will help the centre develop resources that respond to the needs of federal procurement professionals. The centre also developed and launched a study to better understand the experiences and needs of businesses owned and led by persons with disabilities. The findings of this study were used to inform the development of the department’s supplier diversity program.

Partners and stakeholders

Accessibility Office: The PSPC Accessibility Office was created in September 2018 to oversee efforts to make the department a more accessible and inclusive workplace. The office developed the department’s interim accessibility plans, and is now in the final stages of the development of the legislated 3-year plan, to be posted internally and externally by December 31, 2022. The Accessibility Office works closely with persons with disabilities across the department and with external stakeholders.

Persons with Disabilities Network: The network provides a forum for employees with disabilities to raise concerns to management and enables employees to discuss issues pertaining to awareness, accommodation, recruitment and retention in a respectful environment. The network ensures that the community is engaged and that the “Nothing Without Us” motto is respected.

Office of Public Service Accessibility—Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat:

Networks and organizations representing various disability groups are also key accessibility stakeholders. Consultation with the following private sector organizations is central to efforts to advance accessibility as they assist the public service in reaching its objective to further research efforts, and develop and deliver innovative pilot projects that incorporate the user experience:

Real Property Contractor (Brookfield Global Integrated Solutions):

Departmental program areas and internal services

Key considerations

Consulting persons with disabilities early and often is the cornerstone of the first series of regulations enabling the Accessible Canada Act and the work of departments in the development of their 3-year accessibility plans. While COVID-19 has had an impact on more traditional forms of in-person engagement, the department has continued to leverage innovative approaches to consultation, including virtual focus groups, surveys, and a mechanism for individuals to share anonymous feedback, as avenues to facilitate meaningful and robust consultation. As we emerge from the pandemic and experiment with the return to the office, accessibility and inclusion will be considered at every stage.

Self-identification of disabilities is not yet common practice, partly due to the fear of stigmatization. Engagement efforts are underway to provide a safe space for employees to share feedback and to promote an ongoing dialogue.

Accessible government built environment initiative

Mandate

The Accessibility Strategy for the public service of Canada identifies Public Services and Procurement Canada as the lead for enhancing the accessibility of the built environment. The desired end state is for clients and employees of the Government of Canada to have barrier-free access and use of the federally owned and lease purchase built environment. Under this strategy, the department is committed to:

Key activities

Oversee the planning and delivery of technical accessibility assessments in consultation with persons with disabilities
Finalize the Universal Accessibility Strategy and Action Plan for the Parliamentary Precinct

This plan has been developed in consultation with an external accessibility advisory panel and is founded on a set of universal accessibility best practices that will move the Parliamentary Precinct above and beyond current codes and standards.

Conduct research and pilot initiatives to improve accessibility in the built environment
Base-building accessibility improvements

In consultation with the Persons with Disabilities Network and third-party organizations, a list of 22 high-impact, low-cost accessibility improvements have been developed, and these improvements are being implemented in PSPC-managed Crown-owned buildings.

Engage and solicit feedback from building users

Partners and stakeholders

Office of Public Service Accessibility: Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
Networks and organizations representing various disability groups

Consultation with the following private sector organizations is central to this initiative as they assist the public service in reaching its objective to further research efforts, and develop and deliver innovative pilot projects that incorporate the user experience:

Real property contractor (Brookfield Global Integrated Solutions)

The department has a contract with Brookfield Global Integrated Solutions for property management and select project delivery services. Brookfield Global Integrated Solutions is a key player in the implementation of this initiative and the intent is to leverage their services to deliver the technical accessibility assessments..

Key challenges

Self-identification

Self-identification of disabilities is not yet common practice, partly due to the fear of stigmatization. Engagement efforts are underway to provide a safe space for employees to share feedback and to promote an ongoing dialogue.

Greening government

In this section

Mandate

The Government of Canada is working towards ensuring that Canada is a global leader in government operations that are net-zero, to extreme weather, and that support the transition to a circular economy. Public Services and Procurement Canada is advancing work on a number of fronts to support the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat in the implementation of the whole-of-government Greening Government Strategy, which aims to transition to net-zero carbon and climate-resilient operations.

Key activities

To help green government operations and fight climate change, the department continues to take steps to reduce its carbon footprint including establishing clean energy contracts with provinces, adopting measures to reduce plastic waste in government buildings, supporting the conversion of government fleets to zero-emission vehicles, and aiming for net-zero carbon operations.

In alignment with the Government of Canada's sustainable economic recovery agenda, and as per the department’s additional responsibilities under the Policy on Green Procurement, the department engages with clients and industry on the broader inclusion of environmental criteria in procurements, and seeks to provide clients with opportunities to reduce their environmental footprint. As of September 1, 2021, 45.6% of the department’s standing offers and supply arrangements included green goods and services that have a reduced environmental impact. Public Services and Procurement Canada also increased the availability of green vehicles on its standing offers in 2020 to 2021 for regular and executive fleets by 10% and 43%, respectively. Moreover, work is underway to measure and reduce indirect emissions from procurements (that is, emissions embedded in supply chains).

Public Services and Procurement Canada also continues to progress towards a carbon neutral portfolio by 2050, with aspirations to reach this by 2030. To that end, the department is not only implementing various clean technologies in building operations, but also incorporating greenhouse gas emissions reduction into departmental decision-making. Of note, the department has been able to utilize clean electricity in 92% of the Crown-owned building portfolio in 2021 to 2022, which is up 12% from the starting point of 80% in 2018 to 2019.

As well, the department committed to showcasing the Parliamentary Precinct as a model of sustainability by reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the Parliamentary Precinct by 80% by 2030 (from the 2005 levels). As of March 31, 2022, the precinct reduced its emissions by 63% and is on track to meeting its 2030 target. In 2020 to 2021, the department also completed a climate change vulnerability assessment of the Parliamentary Precinct and developed a strategy in concert with the Energy Savings Acquisition Plan to define a way forward on a carbon neutral precinct. PSPC has further identified sustainability as one of the strategic objectives for the next update to the Long Term Vision and Plan (LTVP) for the Parliamentary Precinct, which is presently underway. As such, the updated LTVP will include a framework to improve the precinct’s environmental performance with regard to climate change mitigation and resilience.

Additional key activities to advance sustainability, climate resiliency, and the green agenda for federal real property and infrastructure assets include the following:

Partners and stakeholders

The department is working with Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat officials on several initiatives to drive progress towards greening the government’s operations. For instance, respective teams are collaborating on the establishment of the first set of mandatory requirements under the Policy on Green Procurement to incentivize major suppliers to audit, disclose and set targets to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and to reduce embodied carbon in concrete/cement.

In line with the target of net-zero procurement emissions by 2050, the department is also working to develop tools for suppliers to measure and reduce their carbon footprints in 3 high volume, high impact categories:

Public Services and Procurement Canada consults with industry stakeholders, as applicable. For example, the department is consulting with the industry to establish procurement instruments for electric buses and electric medium and heavy trucks. As well, the department will further explore market availability of electric vehicle charging equipment for use in its real property portfolio.

Key considerations

As Public Services and Procurement Canada advances its green agenda, there remains certain challenges with regards to the:

Moving forward, as we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, the move to more flexible work arrangements provides tremendous potential to decrease emissions. For example, assuming that 50% of federal public servants in the National Capital Region telework 4 days a week in the future, the emissions reductions associated with decreased commuting could significantly contribute to the net zero carbon emissions target for government operations by 2050.

Portfolio organizations

In this section

Governor in Council appointments

Mandate

Appointments to federal public organizations are made by the Governor in Council (GIC), such as the governor general acting on the advice of the Privy Council as represented by Cabinet. The minister of Public Services and Procurement makes recommendations to Cabinet for the federal institutions related to her/his mandate. This responsibility stems from various pieces of legislation such as the Department of Public Works and Government Services Act, the National Capital Act, the Payment in Lieu of Taxes Act, the Federal Public Sector and Labour Relations Act and the Canada Post Corporation Act. There are currently over 90 Governor in Council appointments which fall under the minister’s purview, including the appointment of presidents and chief executive officers, chairpersons and members of the boards of directors of entities within his/her portfolio, as well as the Procurement Ombudsman. In 2016, a new open, transparent and merit-based process was introduced. The current appointment process, which is based on these principles, aims to attract qualified candidates who reflect Canada’s diversity in terms of linguistic capacity, regional representation, and diversity (women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, and members of visible minority and ethnic/cultural groups).

Key activities

For GIC appointments, the key activities involve tracking appointments for all of the portfolio entities to determine when processes will need to be launched, either because an appointee’s term has ended or cannot be completed, and undertaking the process to fill the vacancies—either through new appointments or reappointments. Since 2016, the appointment process includes the following:

The following provides an overview of the current situation/status

Canada Post Corporation
Canada Lands Company Limited
Defence Construction Canada
National Capital Commission
Payments in Lieu of Taxes Dispute Advisory Panel
Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board
Public Interest Commissions
Procurement Ombudsman

Partners and stakeholders

Appointment processes are undertaken by PSPC officials, working closely with the Minister’s Office, the Prime Minister’s Office and the Privy Council Office. In some instances, portfolio entities are involved in the selection process, as is the case when the head of a tribunal or the chair of a Crown corporation participates in the interview process for a board member or a chief executive officer (CEO).

Key challenges

The main challenge for this activity is to ensure that vacancies do not affect quorum and, consequently, the entities’ ability to carry out their mandate. This involves close monitoring of the situation in all of the portfolio entities, planning and executing often concurrent processes, and anticipating vacancies, since an appointment process can take from 8 to 12 months to be completed. Additionally, positions which require very specific skills, technical expertise or qualifications can make it more challenging to meet regional representation or to ensure a diversity representation.

Canada Post Corporation

Mandate

The Canada Post Corporation became a Crown corporation in 1981 and has 3 subsidiaries:

The Canada Post Group of Companies, consisting of Canada Post and its 3 subsidiaries, has annual revenues exceeding $10 billion and employs over 84,500 people (full-time and part-time employees, including temporary, casual, and term employees) across the country.

The Canada Post Corporation Act mandates the establishment and operation of a financially self-sustaining postal service for all Canadians with the exclusive privilege to collect, transmit and deliver letters up to 500 grams (gm) within Canada.

The Canada Post Corporation reports to Parliament through the minister of Public Services and Procurement. It is arm’s length with respect to operations, but it takes policy direction from the minister in terms of its priorities. The minister is accountable for providing guidance and oversight to ensure that the overall direction and performance of the corporation aligns with the government’s policies and objectives. This is normally communicated via an annual letter of expectation.

Key activities

In 2021, the Canada Post Group of Companies delivered 6.9 billion pieces of mail, parcels, and messages to over 17 million address in urban, rural, and remote locations across Canada.

Canada Post is the largest segment of the Group of Companies with revenue of $7.3 billion in 2021. Canada Post is the country’s postal administration, serving every address in Canada. Its core services include delivery of letters, bills, statements, invoices, parcels, direct marketing products and periodicals.

Purolator Holdings Ltd., 91% owned by Canada Post, is Canada’s leading integrated freight and parcels solutions provider with revenue of $2.6 billion in 2021.

SCI Group Inc., 99% owned by the Group of Companies, is one of Canada’s largest providers of supply chain solutions with revenue of $348 million in 2021.

Innovapost Inc., 100% owned by the Group of Companies, is a shared services organization, providing company specific information systems and information technology services exclusively to the Canada Post Group of Companies.

Partners and stakeholders

Canada Post works closely with its sole shareholder, the Government of Canada. It receives $22.2 million in annual appropriations for 2 programs on behalf of the Government of Canada:

Canada Post’s unions are key stakeholders; they are a voice for employees and act as bargaining representatives during negotiations. They include:

Key considerations

The Canada Post Corporation Act requires the Canada Post Corporation to operate on a self-sustaining financial basis, but the corporation has been experiencing financial challenges as a result of declining mail volumes which have resulted in a reduction of 62% in the annual number of pieces delivered per address since 2006. Canada Post’s financial challenges were further exacerbated by the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic which increased costs to protect employee health and safety and negatively impacted Canada Post’s Lettermail and direct marketing business lines. In 2021, the Canada Post Group of Companies reported a before tax loss of $246 million; while the Canada Post segment reported a before tax loss of $490 million.

Canada Lands Company Limited

Mandate

The mandate of Canada Lands Company Limited (CLCL), an agent federal Crown corporation, is to ensure the commercially oriented, orderly disposition of surplus strategic real properties, optimizing financial and community value, and the holding of certain properties. It accomplishes this by purchasing strategic surplus properties from federal departments and agencies at fair market value, then improving, managing or selling them in order to produce the optimal benefit for CLCL’s shareholder, the Government of Canada, and local communities. CLCL defines optimal benefit to include both non-financial and financial results.

Key activities

CLCL was created in 1956 to hold, develop and dispose of Government of Canada real property. It is a shell corporation that has 3 subsidiaries:

Partners and stakeholders

CLCL works with local municipalities, relevant stakeholders and partners in various infrastructure projects across the county. Among other things, it facilitates the provision of affordable housing units in its projects. CLCL is a partner in the federal lands initiative, a part of the National Housing Strategy, with Public Services and Procurement Canada and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

CLCL strives to maintain strong partnerships with Indigenous peoples. CLCL has entered into agreements of various forms with 6 First Nations covering projects on 5 properties in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Ottawa, and Halifax as of 2021.

Key challenges

Despite CLCL’s attractions remaining closed for most of 2021 to 2022, the corporation is reporting an increase in revenue over the previous fiscal period in their 2021 to 2022. Furthermore, CLCL has reopened its office and attractions, resumed business for the CN Tower and Montreal Science Centre, with both attractions performing close to their pre-pandemic levels.

CLCL has a number of large development projects across Canada, including:

The union at the Old Port of Montreal Corporation has been without a contract since March 31, 2021. Efforts to advance negotiations are ongoing.

Defence Construction Canada

Mandate

Defence Construction Canada (DCC) is a Crown corporation that assists the Government of Canada with military procurements and delivers defence infrastructure projects. Its activities aim to meet the needs of the Department of National Defence (DND) and the Canadian Armed Forces for infrastructure, management or real property and environmental services by advising on, collaboratively planning, procuring and managing defence contracts.

Key activities

DCC’s work covers a broad range of activities, from project needs planning to building decommissioning. The corporation’s service delivery resources are organized among the following 5 service lines:

Activities with which DCC is engaged include:

It is self-financing, operating on a fee-for-service basis, now delivering approximately $1 billion in project work annually.

Some of its most noteworthy projects include the following:

Partners and stakeholders

According to the Defence Production Act, DCC is restricted to providing services to and for the minister of National Defence, DND and the Canadian Forces.

Key challenges

DCC expects to face significant generational turnover with over one-fifth of construction workers on track to retire in 10 years. In order to remain an employer of choice, address the demographic realities of the future labour market and retain top talent, DCC has instituted a comprehensive Human Resources Strategy.

DCC is taking actions to support business opportunities for Indigenous peoples and to achieve long-term, sustainable and meaningful economic benefits for Indigenous peoples. DCC is developing a joint DCC-DND Indigenous procurement strategy to strengthen DND’s efforts to engage Indigenous businesses. This has already resulted in over 90 new Indigenous firms added to its market research data base. In 2021 to 2022 DCC has surpassed the Government of Canada’s goal to direct at least 5% of spending contracts to Indigenous businesses and reached 7.3%.

DCC placed 22nd out of 300 companies on Forbes magazine’s list of Canada’s best employers.

National Capital Commission

Mandate

The National Capital Commission (NCC) is a federal Crown corporation created by Canada’s Parliament in 1959 under the National Capital Act. It is the long-term planner and principal steward of significant public places, and a partner in the development, conservation and improvement of Canada’s National Capital Region.

Key activities

The National Capital Commission is the main federal urban planner in Canada’s Capital Region. In this role, the commission works in collaboration with stakeholders to set the long-term planning direction for federal lands, identifies and manages lands of national interest, approves design and land use changes involving federal lands in the Capital Region, and facilitates federal involvement in transportation planning.

In its stewardship and protection role, the commission manages and develops federal lands and assets, such as the official residences, in the Capital Region and manages the public places that are unique to Canada’s symbolic, natural and cultural heritage. It owns and manages 11% of all land in the Capital Region with a total replacement value of $2.2 billion, including:

Partners and stakeholders

The commission works closely with a number of key partners:

Key considerations

In June 2021, the commission released its Official Residences Asset Condition Report which highlighted that a one-time injection of $175 million is needed to close the deferred maintenance gap, plus a permanent funding increase of $26.1 million per year, for official residences. The official home of the Prime Minister of Canada, 24 Sussex, was evaluated as being in “critical” condition.

The Gatineau Park Master Plan (2021) outlines conservation and planning goals for Gatineau Park. The park, Canada’s second most-visited, does not have the same legal protections as other national parks under the Parks Canada Act. The Master Plan calls for legislative protections for Gatineau Park that specify its protected status, an update to the technical description of the park’s boundaries, and to clarify the powers of the managers of Gatineau Park.

In January 2022, the NCC Board of Directors approved the Long-Term Interprovincial Crossing Plan, which set forth the vision, policies, and infrastructure priorities for sustainable interprovincial travel in the National Capital Region for the 2050 planning horizon. The sixth interprovincial crossing refresh summary report, released in June 2020, focused on technical elements of a potential sixth interprovincial crossing but did not recommend a preferred corridor.

Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board

Mandate

The Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board is an independent quasi-judicial statutory tribunal created by the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board Act (FPSLREBA), which came into force on November 1, 2014. The FPSLREB is responsible for administering the collective bargaining and grievance adjudication systems in the federal public service, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), and employees of Parliament.

Key activities

The FPSLREB’s activities are guided by the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations Act (FPSLRA), the Public Service Employment Act (PSEA), the Canadian Human Rights Act (CHRA), the Accessible Canada Act (ACA), the Parliamentary Employment and Staff Relations Act (PESRA) and the Canada Labour Code, Part II.

The FPSLREB provides 2 main services:

In 2020 to 2021, the FPSLREB closed 1,050 cases under the FPSLRA, 269 under the PSEA and held 113 grievance mediations, 144 hearings and 5 public interest commissions.

The Administrative Tribunals Support Service of Canada is responsible for providing support services to the FPSLREB. The FPSLREBA establishes the board’s composition as follows:

The current Chairperson of the FPSLREB, Ms. Edith Bramwell, was appointed by the Governor in Council in on April 26, 2021 following an open, transparent and merit-based process. Potential board members are recommended to the minister by the chair, after consultation with employers and bargaining agents, and usually consist of an equal number of representatives from the employer and the employee group. These are all Governor in Council appointments.

Partners and stakeholders

The FPSLREB serves approximately 280,000 federal public service employees covered under the FPSLRA and by numerous collective agreements, including RCMP ranked members and reservists, as well as employers and bargaining agents and Parliamentary and Senate employees.

The FPSLREB also works closely with the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal as some of the issues they are dealing with can overlap.

Key challenges

The FPSLREB has been dealing with an increased workload over the past few years due to pay related grievances linked to the federal Phoenix pay system and recent legislative changes expanding its authority to hear matters related to the RCMP and ACA.

The COVID-19 pandemic also adversely affected the FPSLREB's ability to manage its caseload as it compelled the organization to look at alternative ways of conducting its business and also by increasing its workload with respect to cases being filed.

Naming Government of Canada structures

Mandate

As Minister of Public Services and Procurement, you are responsible for approving the names of most Government of Canada structures. The departmental Policy on Naming Government of Canada Structures applies to the naming of all Government of Canada structures under the custodianship of all departments and agencies listed in schedules I, I.1 and II of the Financial Administration Act. Structures include office buildings, laboratories, warehouses, and other structures such as bridges and wharves. A structure can be named after a person (posthumously), a place or event of significance in the development of Canada, generally where the name of distinction has some significance to the community, region or function of the structure.

Key activities

Once a naming request is received by PSPC, your officials will undertake a naming process, which involves the following activities:

Partners and stakeholders

Partners and stakeholders vary with each naming proposal. For buildings under the custodianship of PSPC, the naming process is undertaken in consultation with Real Property Services, the Science and Parliamentary Infrastructure Branch, or the regions, depending on the location of the building. Key stakeholders include building occupants, elected officials, Indigenous leaders, and members of the community.

Other government departments are responsible for undertaking the naming process for buildings under their custodianship, and submitting an official request to your deputy minister. PSPC officials support as necessary, since you are ultimately responsible for approving the naming proposal.

Key challenges

Proposal to rename the Confederation Bridge

On April 29, 2022, the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island voted on a unanimous motion to “urge the Government of Canada to take this opportunity for reconciliation and rename the Confederation Bridge to Epekwitk Crossing”. On May 31, 2022, senators Brian Francis and Percy Down wrote a letter to your predecessor expressing their support for this proposal in order to further advance reconciliation with Indigenous peoples in Canada.

As the custodian department, Transport Canada is responsible for submitting a proposal to PSPC, once it has completed the naming process, including consultations at the local level. Transport Canada, Privy Council Office and PSPC are working together to advance this file.

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