Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat 2023–24 Departmental Results Report at a glance
The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat’s (TBS’s) 2023–24 Departmental Results Report provides an account of its accomplishments against plans, priorities and expected results set out in the corresponding 2023–24 Departmental Plan.
Key priorities
TBS’s top priorities in 2023–24 were as follows:
- reviewing and refocussing government spending
- advancing digital government
- greening government operations
- fostering equity, diversity, accessibility and inclusion in the public service
- modernizing the federal regulatory system
To ensure prudent spending that aligns with government priorities, the federal government announced, in Budget 2023, that it would refocus $14.1 billion over five years starting in 2023–24 and $4.1 billion annually after that.
In 2023–24, TBS led the first phase of the Refocusing Government Spending initiative. This phase involves refocusing approximately $8.7 billion over the next three years from departments’ budgets to top priorities for Canadians, such as health care and housing. This was in addition to the $500 million reported in the Supplementary Estimates (B) 2023–24.
In carrying out its share of the refocusing exercise, TBS reduced travel, contracting and operating expenses. It also reduced its real estate footprint by divesting itself of most of its office space and moving employees into one building.
Highlights
In 2023–24, total actual spending (including internal services) for TBS was $4,250,333,885 and total full‑time equivalent staff (including internal services) was 2,565. For complete information on TBS’s total spending and human resources, read the Spending and human resources section of the full report.
The following provides a summary of the department’s achievements in 2023–24 according to its approved Departmental Results Framework. A Departmental Results Framework consists of a department’s core responsibilities, the results it plans to achieve and the performance indicators it uses to measure progress toward these results.
Spending oversight
Actual spending: $49,449,330
Actual human resources: 298
Departmental results achieved
TBS ensured that government organizations measured, evaluated and reported their performance by:
- leading the first phase of the Refocusing Government Spending initiative
- reviewing skills and youth programming to find ways to help more Canadians develop the skills and receive the work experience they need to have successful careers
- reviewing and challenging more than 370 Treasury Board submissions
- integrating the Quality of Life Framework and gender-based analysis plus into decision-making and reporting processes
- working on improving the templates that departments use to report to Canadians on their plans and results by making them more accessible and by providing clearer guidance on reporting about the impacts of programs based on gender and other identity factors
More information about TBS’s spending oversight core responsibility appears in the full departmental results report.
Administrative leadership
Actual spending: $117,125,327
Actual human resources: 827
Departmental results achieved
TBS worked to ensure that government service delivery was digitally enabled and meets the needs of Canadians by:
- taking action to modernize information technology systems across government, including responding to the 2023 report of the Auditor General of Canada on modernizing information technology systems
- publishing standards and guidelines to help make sure data is reliable and of high-quality
- updating the Directive on Automated Decision‑Making and publishing the Guide on the Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence to provide leadership in the responsible use of emerging technologies
TBS worked to implement good asset and financial management practices in government by taking steps to improve the government’s procurement practices. For example, it:
- amended the Directive on the Management of Procurement to clarify responsibilities and authorities for maintaining effective internal controls and comprehensive information management
- updated the Guide to the Proactive Publication of Contracts to strengthen support to departments in meeting their reporting requirements such as disclosing more information about the decisions to contract for services and select suppliers
- released the Manager’s Guide: Key Considerations When Procuring Professional Services to support informed contracting decisions such as the initial choice to contract for external services
- continued to make sure the government prepared its consolidated financial statements fairly and according to generally accepted accounting principles, as recognized by the Office of the Auditor General for the 25th consecutive year
- updated the Policy on Internal Audit and the Directive on Internal Audit to support independent oversight of public resources and make sure the government demonstrates responsible stewardship
It also updated the Greening Government Strategy to:
- strengthen decarbonization commitments on real property, conventional fleet, procurement and climate resilience
- set out expectations for Crown corporations to align with the strategy or adopt an equivalent set of commitments in each significant area of their operation
More information about TBS’s administrative leadership core responsibility appears in the full departmental results report.
Employer
Actual spending: $3,955,557,909
Actual human resources: 674
Departmental results achieved
TBS did the following as part of making sure the public service has good people management practices:
- supported the modernization of the Official Languages Act to improve bilingualism in the public service and provided guidance and tools to support the implementation of the amended legislation
- supported effective implementation of the Direction on Prescribed Presence in the Workplace
- supported the work of the Deputy Ministers’ Task Team on Values and Ethics, as well as the task force on the Review of the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act
- fostered transparency and accountability by collecting and disseminating unprecedented levels of disaggregated data on the composition and experience of employment equity groups and subgroups in the public service
- provided programs to support a public service that is equitable, diverse and inclusive, and that is free of discrimination, racism and harassment
- made significant progress toward meeting the commitment to hire 5,000 net new public servants with disabilities by 2025
- partnered with Health Canada to make the Employee Assistance Program more responsive to the needs of Black employees; for example, it recruited 19 additional Black counsellors to provide culturally competent and trauma-informed support
- partnered with the Canada School of Public Service to deliver the Executive Leadership Development Program; one of this year’s cohorts was dedicated to Black executives
- worked with Public Services and Procurement Canada to assess the viability of adopting a commercially available, integrated human resources and pay solution as part of the HR‑to‑Pay Initiative
TBS negotiated in good faith and reached agreements with 16 bargaining units representing approximately 80% of represented employees in the public service.
It also:
- continued to negotiate the renewal of the Public Service Dental Care Plan
- implemented, with the contract administrator, design changes to the Public Service Health Care Plan
- worked with Public Services and Procurement Canada to reduce call centre wait times and claim‑processing times for the Public Service Health Care Plan
More information about TBS’s employer core responsibility appears in the full departmental results report.
Regulatory oversight
Actual spending: $12,660,553
Actual human resources: 70
Departmental results achieved
TBS worked to make sure the federal regulatory system protected and advanced the public interest, including sustainable economic growth, by:
- overseeing progress of the second Annual Regulatory Modernization Bill (Bill S‑6, An Act Respecting Regulatory Modernization)
- working with federal partners on Round 3 of the targeted regulatory reviews, which focuses on supply chains and the blue economy
- supporting the renewed External Advisory Committee on Regulatory Competitiveness in drafting its final recommendations to the President of the Treasury Board and in carrying out its mandate
- providing leadership and support to departments on adopting new regulatory approaches and consultation tools, including a new Comment on proposed regulations feature of the Canada Gazette
More information about TBS’s regulatory oversight core responsibility appears in the full departmental results report.
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