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Operating context and key risks - 2016–17 Departmental Results Report - Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

Operating context and key risks

Operating context

The Government of Canada operates in a global environment characterized by economic fluctuations, rapid technological developments, changing demographics, and geopolitical instability.

The Secretariat must always be prepared to respond to how this environment affects the overall management of government. It therefore works with departments and agencies to help them:

  • acquire new skill sets
  • invest in information technology (IT) and innovation
  • take government-wide approaches to solving cross-cutting management challenges

Key risks

In its 2016–17 Report on Plans and Priorities, the Secretariat identified 4 risk areas relating to its ability to deliver results for Canadians: Operating context and key risks Footnote 1

  • fiscal flexibility
  • cyber-security
  • ability to attract and align talent with needs
  • pace of implementation

Over the course of the year, the Secretariat broadened the cyber-security risk area into a more general security vulnerabilities risk area.

The Secretariat also identified 2 more risk areas:

  • capacity for delivery of government-wide projects
  • IT capacity

Throughout the year, the Secretariat made significant efforts to respond to these risks.

Mitigation strategies

Risk area

Mitigating strategy and effectiveness

Link to the department’s Programs

Link to mandate letter commitments or to government-wide and departmental priorities

Fiscal flexibility

There is a risk that a global economic slowdown could impact the Canadian economy and require the Secretariat to significantly redirect resources in order to be able to deliver on its priority initiatives.

To mitigate this risk, the Secretariat:

  • Undertook a number of reviews to inform the Budget 2017 planning and the resource allocation process.
  • Continued to monitor government expenditures and performance (including measurement data and evaluations) to inform the allocation of resources.
  • Released the Policy on Results, which aims to ensure that resources are allocated based on performance to optimize results.

Budget 2017 announced that the President of the Treasury Board and the Minister of Finance will lead 3 new initiatives to review departmental spending.

1.1 Decision-Making Support and Oversight

All mandate-letter commitments

Security vulnerabilities

An increased reliance on digital technology, coupled with constantly evolving cyber- and insider threats, could compromise sensitive Government of Canada information and disrupt the delivery of Government of Canada programs and services.

To mitigate security vulnerabilities, which include cyber-, physical and personnel threats, the Secretariat:

  • Organized a simulated cyber-breach for senior executives.
  • Conducted the Government of Canada cyber-security review.
  • Supported Public Safety Canada’s government-wide cyber-security review.
  • Drafted a protocol to provide timely and consistent messaging to departmental security officers during a security event.
  • Provided threat briefs at meetings of security governance committees, at the Security Summit and at 3 security forums attended by employees in the security and IT security communities.
  • Drafted guidelines and tools to support the implementation of the Policy on Government Security.
  • Advanced the development of security screening tools and training.

1.2 Management Policies Development and Monitoring

1.3 Government-Wide Program Design and Delivery

All mandate-letter commitments

Ability to attract and align talent with needs

As technological and social changes create new ways of working, government departments may find that the rigidities in the system make it increasingly difficult to attract and mobilize highly talented individuals.

To address this risk, the Secretariat:

  • Identified skills and demographic gaps throughout the public service, including at the executive level.
  • Analyzed skills gaps to inform the Post-Secondary Recruitment Campaign.
  • Continued to reform the classification system to ensure a modern and attractive basis for setting compensation in the federal public service.
  • Negotiated competitive pay and benefits packages.
  • Worked with the Privy Council Office, Canadian Heritage and the Public Service Commission to develop recommendations to foster linguistic duality in the federal public service.

1.2 Management Policies Development and Monitoring

Workforce of the Future

Pace of implementation

The Secretariat may not achieve the desired results or may be delayed in delivering results.

To manage this risk, the Secretariat:

  • Designated a senior official and a team to track progress and to communicate progress and results throughout the year.
  • Established a dedicated team to provide strategic policy and advice to priority areas.

As of the end of 2016–17, the Secretariat fulfilled 3 mandate-letter commitments by developing:

  • the Government of Canada Service Strategy
  • the Policy on Communications and Federal Identity
  • the Policy on Financial Management

It is making progress on the remaining commitments.

1.1 Decision-Making Support and Oversight

1.2 Management  Policies  Development and Monitoring

1.3 Government-Wide Program Design and Delivery

All mandate-letter commitments

Capacity for delivery of government-wide projects

There is a risk that the Secretariat may not have sufficient capacity to support government-wide projects.

To mitigate this risk, the Secretariat:

  • Shifted its focus to clearly identifying results and benefits up front, supported by phased development and implementation.
  • Enhanced the oversight provided by internal governance processes.
  • Gave project sponsors additional guidance to assess the risks and complexity of projects.
  • Increased support to project managers by providing guidance on the Secretariat’s investment planning and project planning processes and best practices.
  • Engaged with user communities, improved training strategies and ensured that departments were ready to implement the Government-Wide Enabling Functions Transformation Initiative.

1.3 Government- Wide Program Design and Delivery
  • Open Government
  • Development of a new Service Strategy
  • Revitalization of Access to Information
  • Enabling Functions Transformation

IT capacity

Without enhancements to the Secretariat’s IT infrastructure, the Secretariat may not be able to deliver on some key priorities.

To mitigate this risk, the Secretariat:

  • Continuously reviewed server capacity and decommissioned unused applications to optimize efficiency and reduce cost.
  • Met regularly with Shared Services Canada to identify ways to meet the Secretariat’s IT needs and to address other related issues.
  • Began developing disaster recovery plans for “business critical” systems.
  • Gained experience with alternate IT infrastructure such as cloud computing, software-as-a-service and infrastructure-as-a-service.
  • Improved recruitment, training, retention and succession planning for key positions and skillsets.

The IT capacity risk remains constant. The Secretariat will work with Shared Services Canada to continue to address it.

1.1 Decision- Making Support and Oversight

1.2 Management Policies Development and Monitoring

1.3 Government- Wide Program Design and Delivery

All mandate-letter commitments

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