Management Accountability Framework Assessment Process

The Treasury Board Secretariat is responsible for ensuring that the Government is well managed, accountable and that resources are allocated to achieve results. This responsibility is carried out in a number of ways.  One of these is the Management Accountability Framework, or MAF.

The MAF is an annual assessment of management practices and performance in most federal departments and agencies.

The MAF assessment sets out the expectations of deputy heads and managers in key areas of management - those that are critical to strong performing organizations. It then measures organizational performance against those expectations.

There are four core areas of management on which all participating organizations are assessed.

• Financial Management;
• Information Management and Information Technology Management;
• Management of Integrated Risk, Planning and Performance; and,
• People Management.

There are three department-specific areas of management on which select organizations are assessed.

• Management of Acquired Services and Assets;
• Security Management; and,
• Service Management.

The selection for a department-specific assessment occurs when there is a strong alignment between an organization’s operations and the area of management.

The MAF assessment process is launched in the late spring, when area-of-management methodologies are provided to participating organizations. The methodologies are developed by subject matter experts within policy centres of the Treasury Board Secretariat, in consultation with their functional communities. The methodologies contain questionnaires and requests for supporting documentation.

Between summer and early winter, organizations complete the questionnaires and submit them, along with any requested documents, to the online MAF Portal. Subject matter experts within policy centres review the submissions and prepare draft assessment reports, which are provided to organizations in mid-winter. Organizations then have one month to discuss their draft assessments with the Treasury Board Secretariat officials. In late winter, the draft assessments are revised. The final MAF results are released to individual organizations in the early spring. At this time, the Secretary of the Treasury Board meets with the deputy heads to discuss the performance of their organizations.

The results are then used as an input to the performance management program for deputy heads, conducted by the Privy Council Office.

The MAF results contain observations by the Treasury Board Secretariat on where performance meets expectations, and where there may be opportunities to improve. The results also provide a snapshot of the state of management practices and performance across all organizations assessed.

This allows deputy heads to benchmark their organizations performance within the broader, government-wide context. MAF is improving management practices in departments and agencies across the federal government.

It identifies the key elements needed for sound management in government.

MAF ensures that the federal public service continues to focus on management excellence and deliver results for all Canadians.