RCMP External Review Committee 2025-26 Departmental Plan

© His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of Public Safety, 2025

ISSN 2371-7823

Cat. Number PS20-6E-PDF

• Description
• Quality of life impacts
• Indicators, results and targets
• Plans to achieve results
• Key risks
• Planned resources to achieve results
• Program inventory
• Summary of changes to reporting framework since last year

This result aims to assess the degree to which RCMP final decisions concord with ERC issued findings and recommendations. It is expressed as a percentage of RCMP final decisions that fully agree, partially agree or disagree with the ERC issued findings and recommendations.

Results we plan to achieve

• As an independent quasi-judicial statutory tribunal established under the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act, the ERC does not have any authority over RCMP’s acceptance of the issued findings and recommendations. Consequently, the ERC cannot establish a specific target, while aiming for up to 100%.
• The ERC will continue delivering informative presentations to RCMP stakeholders on topics reviewed in its findings and recommendations.

In April 2022, the ERC’s service standard was adjusted to aim at a one-year (12-months) issuance for at least 75% of received files. In addition to its service standard, the ERC also aims to substantially reduce / eliminate its backlog by end of 2027-28. Complementary to the backlog that originated following the 2014 modification of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act, the ERC is also triaging and finalizing the legacy cases received prior to the Act amendment.

Results we plan to achieve

• To meet its standard, the ERC plans to review at a minimum 75% of files received in 2025-26 within the 12-months period.
• The ERC also aims to complete its legacy cases already received by the end of the fiscal year 2025-26.

To ensure accessibility of its issued findings and recommendations, the ERC regularly publishes all summaries as well as RCMP final decisions on its website.

Results we plan to achieve

• The ERC aims to have 100% of summaries for cases completed within a given quarter published within two months of the end of that quarter. 
• The ERC will also ensure to continue publishing summaries of all Final Adjudicator Decisions in a timely manner.
• Upon their request, the ERC will also ensure that members of the public are notified when new summaries are published.  

• Description
• Plans to achive results
• Planned resources to acheive results
• Planning for contracts awarded to Indigenous buninesses

• Spending
• Funding
• Future-oriented condensed statement of operations
• Human resources

In 2009-10, the ERC received an exemption from reporting separately on Internal services resulting in its financial information being consolidated under the sole Core responsibility, namely the Independent review of RCMP employment matters. Therefore, Actual Expenditures for Internal services for the year 2022-23 are accounted for under the core responsibility data. The segregated data between the Core responsibility and Internal services became available as of 2023-24.

While recruitment of specialized personnel and successful succession continue to present a challenge for the micro-organization, the ERC was successful in staffing some of the key positions to support the delivery of its mandate. This success is demonstrated in the progressive increase of ERC’s total spending over the last years presented in the table above.

Late 2023-24, the collective agreement for the group of employees delivering on the ERC core responsibility and program was ratified. The adjusted salary increase and retroactive pay presented a substantial amount for the organization’s personnel budget. In preparation for this salary adjustment, the ERC ensured to carry over the allowed 5% of its operating budget from 2023-24. Additionally, due to the timing of its approved program integrity ask, the ERC received less than half of the required compensation reserve for its staff complement.

With its forecasted spending of $6.9M and its main estimates of $6.5M for 2024-25, the ERC is managing its forecast spending with its operational budget carry forward ($290,720) and a compensation reserve of $399,187. 

More financial information from previous years is available on the Finances section of GC Infobase.

The ERC does not anticipate any program changes over the next three years. Nevertheless, the salary increase resulting from the negotiated collective agreement and economic increases will affect the ERC’s budget management until staff complement decreases through natural attrition and turnover. 

More detailed financial information on planned spending is available on the Finances section of GC Infobase.

The Graph 1 demonstrates an increase in ERC’s spending from 2022-23 to 2023-24. This increase is due to a successful recruitment of several key positions to support the delivery of the ERC mandate, backlog reduction, as well as ensure continuity through sound succession planning. The forecasted spending for 2024-25 depicts an increase compared to 2023-24. This spending growth is mainly due to the salary increases and retroactive pay.

The ERC does not anticipate any program changes over the next three years. The organization’s focus has transitioned from a growth approach to stabilization of a sustainable staff complement permitted within the available allocation ensuing delivery of the ERC mandate and optimization of internal processes. Any further changes to the funding requirements will results from the newly negotiated economic increases affecting ERC’s available resources.

For further information on the ERC’s departmental appropriations, consult the 2025-26 Main Estimates.

There is are no significant variances between Forecast and Planned results.

A more detailed Future-Oriented Statement of Operations and associated Notes for 2025-26, including a reconciliation of the net cost of operations with the requested authorities, is available on the ERC’s website.

As previously explained, the ERC’s data specific to Internal Services was segregated and became available in 2023-24; therefore, for 2022-23 actual full time equivalents (FTE) are presented for ERC as a whole.

Aligned with its set results in the 2020-21 approved Program Integrity ask, the ERC had increased its FTE in 2022-23 and 2023-24. Nevertheless, due to the limited funding and compensation reserve received for recent economic increases, the ERC has had to decrease its staff complement demonstrated in the above table. The enforced FTE adjustments due to budgetary pressures may impact the ERC’s capability to deliver on the established results and targets.

In addition to the analysis provided for Table 10, the planning summary in Table 11 demonstrates an increase of planned FTEs for internal services over the next 3 years. This planned FTE increase is to allow for succession planning of key internal services positions. The FTE count is anticipate to reduce following natural attrition. 

Appropriate minister(s): The Honourable Gary Anandasangaree, P.C., M.P., 

Institutional head: Charles Randall Smith, Chairperson

Ministerial portfolio: Public Safety

Enabling instrument(s): Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. R-10

Year of incorporation / commencement: 1986

Mailing address

Mailing address:

RCMP External Review Committee
P.O. Box 1159
Ottawa ON K1P 5R2

Canada

Telephone: 613-998-2134

Fax: 613-990-8969

Email: org@erc-cee.gc.ca

Website: https://www.canada.ca/en/rcmp-external-review-committee.html

appropriation (crédit)

Any authority of Parliament to pay money out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

budgetary expenditures (dépenses budgétaires)

Operating and capital expenditures; transfer payments to other levels of government, departments or individuals; and payments to Crown corporations.

core responsibility (responsabilité essentielle)

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

Departmental Plan (plan ministériel)

A report on the plans and expected performance of an appropriated department over a 3-year period. Departmental Plans are usually tabled in Parliament each spring.

departmental result (résultat ministériel)

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

departmental result indicator (indicateur de résultat ministériel)

A quantitative measure of progress on a departmental result.

departmental results framework (cadre ministériel des résultats)

A framework that connects the department’s core responsibilities to its departmental results and departmental result indicators.

Departmental Results Report (rapport sur les résultats ministériels)

A report on a department’s actual accomplishments against the plans, priorities and expected results set out in the corresponding Departmental Plan.

full-time equivalent (équivalent temps plein)

A measure of the extent to which an employee represents a full person-year charge against a departmental budget. For a particular position, the full-time equivalent figure is the ratio of number of hours the person actually works divided by the standard number of hours set out in the person’s collective agreement.

gender-based analysis plus (GBA Plus) (analyse comparative entre les sexes plus [ACS Plus])

Is an analytical tool used to support the development of responsive and inclusive policies, programs, and other initiatives. GBA Plus is a process for understanding who is impacted by the issue or opportunity being addressed by the initiative; identifying how the initiative could be tailored to meet diverse needs of the people most impacted; and anticipating and mitigating any barriers to accessing or benefitting from the initiative. GBA Plus is an intersectional analysis that goes beyond biological (sex) and socio-cultural (gender) differences to consider other factors, such as age, disability, education, ethnicity, economic status, geography (including rurality), language, race, religion, and sexual orientation.

Using GBA Plus involves taking a gender- and diversity-sensitive approach to our work. Considering all intersecting identity factors as part of GBA Plus, not only sex and gender, is a Government of Canada commitment.

government priorities (priorités gouvernementales)

For the purpose of the 2025-26 Departmental Plan, government priorities are the high-level themes outlining the government’s agenda in the most recent Speech from the Throne.

horizontal initiative (initiative horizontale)

An initiative where two or more federal departments are given funding to pursue a shared outcome, often linked to a government priority.

Indigenous business (entreprise autochtone)

For the purpose of the Directive on the Management of Procurement Appendix E: Mandatory Procedures for Contracts Awarded to Indigenous Businesses and the Government of Canada’s commitment that a mandatory minimum target of 5% of the total value of contracts is awarded to Indigenous businesses, a department that meets the definition and requirements as defined by the Indigenous Business Directory.

non-budgetary expenditures (dépenses non budgétaires)

Non-budgetary authorities that comprise assets and liabilities transactions for loans, investments and advances, or specified purpose accounts, that have been established under specific statutes or under non-statutory authorities in the Estimates and elsewhere. Non-budgetary transactions are those expenditures and receipts related to the government's financial claims on, and obligations to, outside parties. These consist of transactions in loans, investments and advances; in cash and accounts receivable; in public money received or collected for specified purposes; and in all other assets and liabilities. Other assets and liabilities, not specifically defined in G to P authority codes are to be recorded to an R authority code, which is the residual authority code for all other assets and liabilities.

performance (rendement)

What a department did with its resources to achieve its results, how well those results compare to what the department intended to achieve, and how well lessons learned have been identified.

performance indicator (indicateur de rendement)

A qualitative or quantitative means of measuring an output or outcome, with the intention of gauging the performance of an department, program, policy or initiative respecting expected results.

plan (plan)

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

planned spending (dépenses prévues)

For Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports, planned spending refers to those amounts presented in Main Estimates.

A department is expected to be aware of the authorities that it has sought and received. The determination of planned spending is a departmental responsibility, and departments must be able to defend the expenditure and accrual numbers presented in their Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports.

program (programme)

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

program inventory (répertoire des programmes)

Identifies all the department’s programs and describes how resources are organized to contribute to the department’s core responsibilities and results.

result (résultat)

A consequence attributed, in part, to a department, policy, program or initiative. Results are not within the control of a single department, policy, program or initiative; instead they are within the area of the department’s influence.

statutory expenditures (dépenses législatives)

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

target (cible)

A measurable performance or success level that a department, program or initiative plans to achieve within a specified time period. Targets can be either quantitative or qualitative.

voted expenditures (dépenses votées)

Expenditures that Parliament approves annually through an appropriation act. The vote wording becomes the governing conditions under which these expenditures may be made.