2019–20 Departmental Results Report - Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

Description

• Review spending proposals and authorities
• Review existing and proposed government programs for efficiency, effectiveness and relevance
• Provide information to Parliament and Canadians on government spending

Results

In 2019–20, TBS aimed to achieve four results related to exercising its spending oversight responsibility:

• Departments achieve measurable results
• Treasury Board proposals contain information that helps Cabinet ministers make decisions
• Budget initiatives are approved for implementation quickly
• Reporting on government spending is clear

The following provides details on those results.

4. Reporting on government spending is clear

The Government of Canada is committed to improving the openness, effectiveness and transparency of government, including strengthening the clarity and consistency of financial reporting.

Departments report on their spending in different ways, including by:

• tabling Departmental Plans, which describe departments’ plans, priorities, expected results and associated resource requirements; and Departmental Results Reports, which indicate the actual results achieved
• adding information to GC InfoBase, an interactive, publicly accessible tool for finding the latest information on government finances, people and results

TBS strives to make sure that the information departments provide in their Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports and in GC InfoBase is clear, easy to find and easy to understand. To measure performance in this area, TBS surveys online readers of the Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports and GC InfoBase users about the usefulness of the information.

The survey results for 2019–20 are as follows:

• The average rating for the online versions of Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports was 3.8 out of 5, slightly below the target of 4 but a modest improvement from 3.3 in the previous year
• The average rating for GC InfoBase was 61% (61% of respondents selected a rating of 3 to 5 on a scale of 1 to 5),^{Footnote 3} below the target of 80%

TBS will continue working to make Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports clearer and more accessible by, for example, incorporating feedback received through the survey into the guides and templates for the 2021–22 documents.

It will also continue to improve the functionality of GC InfoBase, implement recommendations from user testing, and add new options for viewing data and datasets in 2020–21 and beyond.

Gender-based analysis plus and spending oversight

The Canadian Gender Budgeting Act was adopted in 2018. It requires that the analysis of gender and diversity impacts of the existing Government of Canada expenditure programs be made available to the public once a year. To this end, TBS directed departments to describe, in the GBA+ supplementary information table of their Departmental Results Report, program-level results and to describe key actions they took to improve their capacity to conduct gender-based analysis plus^{Footnote 4} (GBA+). To help improve departments’ analyses, TBS made GBA+ more prominent in Treasury Board submissions by requiring that departments integrate it into the design of initiatives and by requiring them to articulate their plan for data collection. In addition, TBS continues to encourage departments to include GBA+ in their Performance Information Profiles^{Footnote 5} and program evaluations.

Experimentation and spending oversight

In Budget 2018, the government announced an Innovation and Skills Plan. As part of this plan, TBS formed a team to consolidate data from different departments in order to better assess the performance and impact of innovation-related programs. For the first time, the government has an enterprise-wide view of innovation-related programming. The team applied innovative approaches, including the development of data models using the consolidated information, to consider GBA+ in program data collection; and in policy, performance and evaluation activities. In 2019–20, these efforts enabled an analysis of firms receiving support from innovation and clean technology programs. The analysis revealed that from 2007–08 to 2016–17, between 13% and 15% of beneficiary firms were female-controlled. However, more than 20% of beneficiary firms could not classify whether they were male- or female-controlled, which suggests that the collection of GBA+ information still needs improvements.

The variance between planned and actual spending in relation to this core responsibility can be attributed mainly to the way government-wide funds are transferred between TBS and other government organizations.

Every year, TBS includes in its reference levels funding that is to be transferred to other government organizations once specific criteria approved and set by the Treasury Board have been met. If these funds are needed, they are transferred to the appropriate department. If they are not needed, the unused balance is returned to the fiscal framework at the end of the fiscal year and is reported as a TBS lapse. TBS does not incur actual spending under government-wide funds.

Financial, human resources and performance information for TBS’s program inventory is available in GC InfoBase.

Description

• Lead government-wide initiatives
• Develop policies and set the strategic direction for government administration related to service delivery, access to government information and the management of assets, finances, information, and technology

Results

In 2019–20, TBS aimed to achieve four results in exercising its administrative leadership responsibility:

• Government service delivery is digitally enabled and meets the needs of Canadians
• Canadians have timely access to government information
• Government promotes good asset and financial management
• Government demonstrates leadership in making its operations low carbon

The following provides details on those results.

Gender-based analysis plus and administrative leadership

In 2019–20, TBS updated its policy instruments to incorporate requirements that departments consider gender diversity in how they provide services to the public and requirements for how the government conducts itself as Canada’s largest employer. For example, the Canada.ca Content Style Guide now includes recommendations from the Translation Bureau on gender-inclusive writing; and the Chief Information Officer of Canada issued a government-wide exception to the Standard on Email Management that allows employees to indicate their preferred gender pronouns in their email signature blocks.

In addition, TBS allocated resources for a limited period to support departments’ efforts to:

• promote the respect, inclusion and safety of gender-diverse people who live in Canada, including federal public servants
• support the collection of accurate data on sex and gender for government operations, analysis and evidence-based decision making
• protect the personal information of individuals

Experimentation and administrative leadership

In partnership with Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) and the Department of National Defence, TBS ran a pilot project from November 2018 to April 2020 that assessed the impact of using risk-based contracting approvals. The pilot project supported the government’s commitments to modernize procurement processes by making them simpler and less burdensome, and by deploying modern comptrollership.

Normally, PSPC has to seek Treasury Board approval for all defence contracts above its minister’s contracting limits, regardless of the risk and complexity of a contract. Under the pilot project’s streamlined process, the Minister of Public Services and Procurement had temporary authority to enter into and amend defence contracts that exceeded their approval limits if the contractual arrangements were assessed as being of low risk and of either low or medium complexity.

Under the streamlined process, the due diligence measures were consistent with the complexity and risk of each contract, and approvals were faster. The process resulted in some Canadian Armed Forces needs being met more quickly. It also allowed Treasury Board to focus on the most complex, highest-risk defence procurements.

The pilot project was evaluated and was found to have met its initial objectives. The Treasury Board subsequently approved an amendment to the Contracting Policy to extend the pilot project for another 5 years. The results of the pilot project will help determine whether permanent changes should be made to the Contracting Policy.

During 2019–20, TBS also continued to provide leadership on Experimentation Works, a government-wide initiative that encourages public servants to incorporate experimentation into their work.

Description

• Develop policies and set the strategic direction for people management in the public service
• Manage total compensation (including pensions and benefits) and labour relations
• Undertake initiatives to improve performance in support of recruitment and retention

Results

In 2019–20, TBS aimed to achieve three results in relation to its employer responsibility:

• Public service attracts and retains a skilled and diverse workforce
• Employee wellness is improved
• Modernized employment conditions

The following provides details on those results.

Gender-based analysis plus and employer

GBA+ is an important part of TBS’s work in carrying out its core responsibility of employer. In 2019–20, TBS’s work in this area included the following:

• The TBS Centre for Wellness, Inclusion and Diversity developed and began implementing a Wellness, Inclusion and Diversity Strategy. Under the strategy, the centre is working with Women and Gender Equality Canada to enhance GBA+ in order to better integrate diversity and inclusion considerations into policy, program, and people management decisions
• TBS completed a GBA+ exercise in preparation for launching the proposed Employee Wellness Support Program. The objective was to examine whether the design of the proposed plan would create inequalities for any particular group of employees. The analysis found that:
  • the decision-making process for the program was robust and focused on minimizing unintended biases
  • income replacement benefits and annual sick leave provisions are expected to have a positive impact for the vast majority of public servants, and to provide equity for women and members of visible minority groups
• Policy proposals related to the employer’s position on the renewal of the Public Service Health Care Plan were examined through a GBA+ lens in order to determine and address any unintended differential impacts on plan members and participants

Experimentation and employer

In 2019–20, TBS created an Experimentation and Research Team to support modern, flexible and effective people management policy and practices across the public service. The team will use innovative approaches such as human-centred design and behavioural insights to help improve outcomes.

In 2020–21, the team expects to complete three or four experiments in the areas of employee self-identification and time to staff.

Description

• Develop and oversee policies to promote good regulatory practices
• Review proposed regulations to ensure they adhere to the requirements of government policy
• Advance regulatory cooperation across jurisdictions

Results

In 2019–20, TBS aimed to achieve two results in exercising its regulatory oversight responsibility:

1. Government regulatory practices and processes are open, transparent and informed by evidence
2. Regulatory cooperation among jurisdictions is advanced

The following provides details on those results.

Gender-based analysis plus and regulatory oversight

In 2018–19, TBS published the new Cabinet Directive on Regulation. The directive requires that departments assess the social and economic impacts of each regulatory proposal on diverse groups of Canadians, in accordance with the government’s commitment to implementing GBA+. In 2019–20, TBS supported departments by providing guidance on how to do these assessments and by reviewing each assessment before regulatory proposals are presented to the Governor in Council for approval.

Experimentation and regulatory oversight

The Centre for Regulatory Innovation was created in May 2019 to support a whole-of-government approach to conducting regulatory experiments. Through the centre, TBS will provide monitoring and guidance to departments that are conducting experiments. The centre did not participate in any experiments in 2019–20; its focus in its first year was on setting up the infrastructure and procedures.

Description

Internal Services are those groups of related activities and resources that the federal government considers to be services in support of programs and/or required to meet corporate obligations of an organization. Internal Services refers to the activities and resources of the 10 distinct service categories that support Program delivery in the organization, regardless of the Internal Services delivery model in a department. The 10 service categories are:

• Management and Oversight Services
• Communication Services
• Legal Services
• Human Resources Management Services
• Financial Management Services
• Information Management Services
• Information Technology Services
• Real Property Management Services
• Material Management Services
• Acquisition Management Services

In 2019–20, TBS allocated 27.3% of its operating spending and 27.8% of its full-time equivalents to Internal Services, to support the department’s operations and its ability to fulfill its four core responsibilities.

TBS is a knowledge-based organization and is committed to enabling its professional workforce to achieve results. In 2019–20, TBS continued to support its workforce and build its capacity. Examples of these efforts include:

• conducting targeted recruitment
• introducing a learning roadmap available to all employees
• developing and approving a 3-year people management plan and a 3-year employment equity and diversity action plan
• continuing to implement a 3-year wellness action plan

According to the results of the 2019 Public Service Employee Survey, TBS is improving in the following areas relating to Internal Services. It also did better than the overall public service in these areas.

• 74% of TBS employees agree that senior managers in the department lead by example in ethical behaviour, up from 70% in 2018 and higher than the 2019 overall public service result of 63%
• 73% of employees said they have confidence in the senior management of the department, up from 69% in 2018 and higher than the 2019 overall public service result of 60%
• 67% of employees said they would describe their workplace as being psychologically healthy, up from 65% in 2018 and higher than the 2019 overall public service result of 60%
• 71% of employees agree they get the training they need to do their job, up from 70% in 2018 and higher than the 2019 overall public service result of 69%
• 72% of employees feel they would be supported by the department if they proposed a new idea, up from 69% in 2018 and higher than the 2019 overall public service result of 61%
• 41% of employees feel satisfied with the support they received from their department to help resolve their pay or other compensation issues, up from 39% in 2018 and higher than the 2019 overall public service result of 35%
• 87% employees feel that the department treats them with respect, the same as in 2018 and higher than the 2019 overall public service result of 82%

On the matter of respect for individual differences, however, TBS’s 2019 survey results were lower than in 2018. In 2019, 81% employees of TBS employees indicated that they think their department respects individual differences, down from 84% in 2018. Although TBS’s 2019 results were better than those for the public service as a whole (75%), TBS will be renewing efforts to foster an inclusive workplace.

In 2019–20, TBS implemented a 3-year people management plan as part of its commitment to enabling its workforce. This plan focuses on the following:

• developing a culture of civility and inclusion and fostering a healthy and respectful workplace by implementing departmental action plans for wellness, harassment prevention, official languages, and employment equity, diversity and inclusion
• cultivating and maximizing leadership capacity and effectiveness by providing formal and informal learning opportunities to executives and introducing a learning roadmap, which is available to all employees
• attracting, developing and retaining an agile, skilled and diverse workforce by implementing a departmental Talent Acquisition Strategy that prioritizes diversity in hiring and hiring Indigenous students and students with disabilities
• reinforcing a responsive and innovative human resources infrastructure by developing a prototype to automate and streamline some staffing actions; enhancing demographic data analytic capacity; and responding to issues related to the Phoenix pay system

In 2019–20, in line with the Government of Canada’s workplace principles, TBS optimized its Workplace 2.0 structure by maximizing seating arrangements and creating more collaborative space. The department designated certain workspaces as touchdown work points and equipped certain spaces for the use of collaborative tools. Employees can choose their work location each day based on the type of work they are doing that day. These efforts are underpinning the work being done to make sure the work environment continues to be safe for employees working on-site during the pandemic.

In the area of information management and information technology, TBS fully converted all necessary business applications to the cloud. The cloud provides flexibility and enables TBS to roll out applications faster than it could if it were using a traditional on-site data centre. TBS also began the transition to Office 365, a comprehensive, cloud-based collaboration environment. Various components of Office 365 were rolled out in 2019–20; the remainder are slated for rollout in 2020–21. By undertaking these efforts in 2019–20, TBS was well-positioned to support employees’ transition to a remote working environment in response to the pandemic.

In the area of financial management, the TBS planning function implemented new forecasting processes to support program delivery, providing senior management with timely and reliable information for sound decision-making.

Departmental spending breakdown

In 2019–20, TBS’s total spending was $2,974.4 million. Figure 1 shows a breakdown of spending, by category. The largest share of spending (89%) was for public service employer payments, which TBS makes as employer for the core public administration. The balance (11%) was for TBS program expenditures.

Figure 2 shows a breakdown of TBS’s spending of $2,633.6 million in public service employer payments (Vote 20).

These payments include the employer’s share of employee and pensioner benefit plans, provincial health care premiums and other payroll taxes, as well as statutory payments, which relate mostly to pensions.

Figure 3 shows TBS’s program expenditures over time. Program expenditures include operating costs such as TBS employees’ salaries, non-salary costs to deliver programs, and statutory payments relating to the employer’s contributions to TBS employees’ benefit plans.

As shown in Figure 3, TBS’s program expenditures increased by $8.2 million from 2017–18 to 2018–19. This increase resulted from the continuation of Budget 2017 and the start of Budget 2018 initiatives. Budget 2018 initiatives include:

• Canadian Digital Service
• Next Generation Human Resources and Pay
• Improvement to Access to Information

TBS’s program expenditures increased by $31.5 million from 2018–19 to 2019–20 as Budget 2018 initiatives continued and Budget 2019 initiatives started. Budget 2019 initiatives include:

• Stabilization of the Government of Canada’s Pay System (Phoenix)
• Workload Migration and Cloud Enablement initiative
• Office of Public Service Accessibility and Centralized Enabling Workplace Fund
• Implementation of proactive pay equity in the federal public service
• Centre for Regulatory Innovation
• Increasing the participation of Inuit firms in the bidding process for government contracts and business opportunities in the Nunavut Settlement Area

For 2020–21 to 2022–23, total planned spending for TBS’s core responsibilities is projected to decrease because the following programs sunsetted at the end of 2019–20. Some of these programs may be subject to the renewal process.

• Stabilization of the Government of Canada’s Pay System (Phoenix)
• Canadian Digital Service
• Next Generation Human Resources and Pay
• Workload Migration and Cloud Enablement initiative
• Classification Program
• Fixed Asset Review
• Open Government Partnership Global Summit in Canada

Figure 4 shows TBS’s spending on public service employer payments and statutory items, over time, for the core public administration.

As shown in Figure 4, actual spending on public service employer payments increased by $2.3 billion from 2017–18 to 2018–19. The increase is mainly a result of a statutory payment of $3.1 billion made to the Public Service Superannuation Account in 2018–19. The increase was offset by a $340 million decrease in spending as a result of the elimination of the special annual payment to the Public Service Pension Fund Account and a previous $623 million top-up payment made in 2017–18 to the Service Income Security Insurance Plan.

Actual spending on public service employer payments decreased by $3.2 billion from 2018–19 to 2019–20. The decrease reflects the one-time $3.1 billion payment made in 2018–19 to the Public Service Superannuation Account and a decrease of $372.7 million in employer payments related to the Service Income Security Insurance Plan after the program was transferred from TBS to the Department of National Defence on April 1, 2019, offset by higher public service employer payments due to fluctuations in price and volume.

Actual spending in 2019–20 is $462 million higher than planned spending for 2020–21 and beyond. Budget 2018 provided funding in 2019–20 for public service employer payments to meet price and volume fluctuations. Similar funding requirements for future years will be established annually.

Together, government-wide funds (central votes 5, 10, 15, 25, 30, and 35), which the Treasury Board approves for transfer to other federal organizations for items such as government contingencies, government-wide initiatives, compensation requirements, operating and capital budget carry forward, and paylist expenditures; and public service employer payments (Vote 20) represented the largest portion of TBS’s planned spending in 2019–20. Of that portion, 61% pertained to government-wide funds and 39% pertained to public service employer payments. TBS’s total funding available for use, in its reference levels, was reduced accordingly.

As shown in the “Budgetary performance summary for core responsibilities and Internal Services” table, total planned spending is expected to decrease by $1 billion in 2020–21. This decrease is the result of a $495 million decrease in spending in relation to spending oversight (mainly due to decreases in government-wide funds) and a $486 million decrease in spending in relation to public service employer payments attributable to Budget 2018 funding for programs that sunsetted at the end of 2019–20 and are subject to the renewal process.

Actual spending decreased by $3.2 billion from 2018–19 to 2019–20. The decrease is mainly attributable to the one-time statutory payment of $3.1 billion in 2018–19 to the Public Service Superannuation Account and a decrease of $372.7 million in employer payments related to the Service Income Security Insurance Plan after the program was transferred from TBS to the Department of National Defence on April 1, 2019. The decrease is offset by higher public service employer payments due to fluctuations in price and volume.

The increase in actual spending of $2.3 billion from 2017–18 to 2018–19 is also mainly the result of the one-time statutory payment of $3.1 billion to the Public Service Superannuation Account.

Financial statements

TBS’s financial statements (unaudited) for the year ended March 31, 2020, are available on the TBS website.

Financial statements highlights

The highlights presented in this section are drawn from TBS’s financial statements. The financial statements were prepared using Government of Canada accounting policies, which are based on Canadian public sector accounting standards.

The figures provided in this section were prepared on an accrual basis; the figures in the other sections were prepared on an expenditure basis. The difference between the figures in the different sections is the result of accrual entries, such as the recognition of services provided without charge by other government departments, the acquisition of tangible capital assets and related amortization expenses, and accrued liability adjustments.

TBS’s total expenses of $2,971 million consist of:

• public service employer payments ($2,609 million in 2019–20 and $5,422 million in
  2018–19), which TBS makes as the employer for the core public administration
• program expenses ($362 million in 2019–20 and $331 million in 2018–19)

The decrease of $2,782 million (48.4%) in total actual expenses from 2018–19 to 2019–20 stems from:

• a net decrease of $2,813 million in public service employer payments, primarily due to a $3,107 million lump-sum contribution to the Public Service Pension Plan in 2018–19 to address an actuarial shortfall reported in the last triennial actuarial report on the plan. This decrease was partially offset by increases in 2019–20 in health and dental benefits under the Public Service Health Care Plan, the Public Service Dental Care Plan and the Pensioners’ Dental Services Plan, as well as a $90 million lump-sum payment in 2019–20 to help restore the financial health of the public service Disability Insurance Plan
• a net increase of $31 million in program expenses, mostly attributable to the stabilization of the Government of Canada’s pay system (Phoenix) and the workload migration and cloud enablement initiative

The $4 million difference between planned results and actual results for 2019–20 total expenses is primarily due to funding that was subsequently approved for various initiatives, partially offset by funding transferred from the TBS-administered Greening Government Fund to other government departments and by funding that was reprofiled to future years.

TBS’s total net revenues include the recovery of costs that TBS incurs for the administration of the Public Service Pension Plan, and recoveries from other government departments for costs associated with providing internal support services related to financial and human resources management systems, accounting and mail services.

Actual revenues were slightly lower in 2019–20 than in 2018–19 due to recoveries of one-time costs in 2018–19.

The decrease of $372.7 million associated with transferred operations is due to the transfer of the Service Income Security Insurance Plan from TBS to the Department of National Defence on April 1, 2019.

TBS’s liabilities consist mainly of accounts payable to other government departments related to employer contributions to employee benefit plans and to accrued employee claims for benefits under the public service health and dental care plans. The decrease of $11 million in total liabilities from 2018–19 to 2019–20 is mostly due to the payment in 2019–20 of accounts payable set up in 2018–19 related to the Service Income Security Insurance Plan and provincial payroll taxes, which was partially offset by an increase in 2019–20 in accounts payable related to employer contributions to employee benefit plans.

TBS’s assets consist mainly of accounts receivable from other government departments to pay for their share of employer contributions to employee benefit plans, as well as amounts due from the Consolidated Revenue Fund that may be disbursed without further charges to TBS’s authorities. The slight decrease of $4 million in total net financial assets from 2018–19 to 2019–20 is mostly the result of a reduction in accounts receivable related to employer contributions to employee benefit plans.

The departmental net debt is the difference between total liabilities and total net financial assets and represents mainly accrued liabilities to be paid from authorities in future years, offset by accrued receivables to be credited to authorities in future years. The decrease of $7 million from 2018–19 to 2019–20 stems mainly from an increase in accrued receivables related to member contributions to group insurance plans.

TBS’s non-financial assets consist mainly of tangible capital assets. The increase of $15 million from 2018–19 to 2019–20 is mostly due to the capitalization of software development costs related to the financial management transformation initiative.

The departmental net financial position is the difference between non-financial assets and the departmental net debt. The increase of $22 million in TBS’s departmental net financial position is therefore attributable to the $15 million increase in tangible capital assets and the $7 million decrease in the departmental net debt.

Supporting information on the program inventory

Financial, human resources and performance information for TBS’s program inventory is available in GC InfoBase.

Supplementary information tables

The following supplementary information tables are available on TBS’s website:

• Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy
• Gender-based analysis plus
• Response to parliamentary committees and external audits

TBS committed to providing, in its Departmental Results Report, an annual update on the government’s total expenditures associated with the Phoenix pay system.

The following table outlines Phoenix pay system expenditures for 2019–20, based on information provided by departments.

The above costs include $63.8 million for employee benefit plans for Public Services and Procurement Canada ($61.3 million) and TBS ($2.5 million).

The above costs exclude:

• expenditures related to the next generation human resources and pay system for the public service
• damages or other claims against the Crown
• opportunity costs for deferred work within departments