Organizational Expenditure Overview - 2016–17 Report on Plans and Priorities - Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

Section I: Organizational Expenditure Overview

Organizational Profile

Appropriate Minister: The Honourable Scott Brison, President of the Treasury Board

Institutional Head: Yaprak Baltacioglu, Secretary of the Treasury Board

Ministerial Portfolio: The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat and the Canada School of Public Service. Operating at arm's length and reporting to Parliament through the President of the Treasury Board are the Public Sector Pension Investment Board, the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada and the Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner of Canada.

Enabling Instrument: Financial Administration Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. F-11

Year Established: 1966

Organizational Context

Raison d'être

The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (Secretariat) is the administrative arm of the Treasury Board, and the President of the Treasury Board is the Minister responsible for the Secretariat. The Secretariat supports the Treasury Board by making recommendations and providing advice on program spending, regulations and management policies and directives, while respecting the primary responsibility of deputy heads in managing their organizations, and their roles as accounting officers before Parliament. In this way, the Secretariat helps to strengthen government performance, results and reporting and supports good governance and sound stewardship to enable efficient and effective service to Canadians.

Responsibilities

The Secretariat supports the Treasury Board in each of its roles (see the text box "Treasury Board Roles"). Within the Secretariat, the Comptroller General of Canada provides government-wide leadership, direction, oversight and capacity building for financial management, internal audit and the management of assets and acquired services. The Chief Human Resources Officer provides government-wide leadership on people management through policies, programs and strategic engagements and by centrally managing labour relations, compensation, pensions and benefits, and contributing to the management of executives. The Chief Information Officer provides government-wide leadership, direction, oversight and capacity building for information management, information technology, government security (including identity management), access to information, privacy, and internal and external service delivery.

The Treasury Board portfolio consists of the Secretariat and the Canada School of Public Service. The Public Sector Pension Investment Board, the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada and the Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner of Canada are arm's length organizations that report to Parliament through the President of the Treasury Board.

When working with federal organizations, the Secretariat plays three central agency roles:

  • A challenge and oversight role that includes supporting Cabinet decision making, reporting on the government's management and budgetary performance, and developing government-wide management policies and directives;
  • A community enabling role to help organizations improve management performance and program results; and
  • A leadership role in driving and modelling excellence in public sector management and in launching government-wide horizontal initiatives that target administrative efficiencies and value for money.

Strategic Outcome and Program Alignment Architecture

The Strategic Outcome that the Secretariat strives to achieve and the programs that contribute to it are as follows:

Organizational Priorities

The President of the Treasury Board has a mandate to lead the government's management agenda and oversee the implementation and delivery of Cabinet-approved initiatives. The Secretariat is supporting this mandate through initiatives under the following six priorities.

For more information on organizational priorities, see the President of the Treasury Board's mandate letter on the Prime Minister of Canada's website.

Priority 1: Open and Transparent Government
Description

The Government of Canada has committed to governing openly and transparently. The Secretariat is supporting this commitment by leading efforts to improve Canadians' access to government information and to their own personal information held by government, and to provide better opportunities for engaging with government. Greater openness and transparency will help keep the government focused on Canadians' values and expectations.

Priority Type Footnote 2

New

Key Facts
  • Out of 280 government organizations, 45 have published over 100,000 data sets.
  • In 2014–15, government organizations processed over 67,000 access to information requests involving 9.9 million pages, and 67,000 personal information requests involving 7.3 million pages.
Key Supporting Initiatives for Priority 1
Planned Initiatives Start Date End Date Link to Department's Program Alignment Architecture
Accelerate and expand open data initiatives and make government data available digitally and open by default. Ongoing 1.3.4 Transformation Leadership
Work with the Department of Justice Canada and the Privy Council Office (Democratic Institutions) to review and propose changes to the Access to Information Act, including empowering the Information Commissioner of Canada to order the release of government information, and expanding the coverage of the Act to apply appropriately to the Prime Minister's Office, ministers' offices and administrative institutions that support Parliament and the courts. 1.2.3 Information Management and Information Technology Policy
Improve Canadians' access to their personal information. Ongoing 1.2.3 Information Management and Information Technology Policy
Modernize the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada to reflect the modern digital environment. 1.2.4 Externally Facing Policy
Strengthen oversight of government advertising. To be determined 1.2.4 Externally Facing Policy
Priority 2: Better Service for Canadians
Description

The Government of Canada has committed to meeting the rising expectations of citizens and businesses for better quality and more accessible government services. The Secretariat is supporting this commitment by helping to improve the government's online service through various initiatives, including rigorously tracking the performance of key services. It is also leading efforts to ensure that the government's back office functions are aligned and modernized to support better services for Canadians.

Priority Type

New

Key Facts
  • Federal public servants administer over 1,600 programs for Canadians.
  • In 2014, public servants:
    • assisted over 8 million people at some 700 in-person service locations;
    • received close to 74 million calls through government call centres.
  • In 2014, 290 million visits were made to government websites.
Key Supporting Initiatives for Priority 2
Planned Initiatives Start Date End Date Link to Department's Program Alignment Architecture
Develop a new service strategy that aims to create a single online window for all government services. 1.2.4 Externally Facing Policy
Work with service delivery departments to establish new performance standards, and set up a mechanism to rigorously assess and report publicly on the performance of key government services. 1.2.4 Externally Facing Policy
Ensure successful implementation of initiatives to transform enterprise-wide back office functions. Ongoing 1.3.4 Transformation Leadership
Priority 3: Better Oversight, Information and Reporting to Parliament
Description

The Government of Canada has committed to improving financial oversight and to using the best available information. The Secretariat will work to improve the alignment and quality of financial information provided to Parliament and will update Treasury Board policies to take a more modern approach to comptrollership.

Priority Type

New

Key Fact
  • In 2015–16, the Government of Canada planned to spend approximately $246 billion.
Key Supporting Initiatives for Priority 3
Planned Initiatives Start Date End Date Link to Department's Program Alignment Architecture
Work with the Privy Council Office to improve reporting to Parliament by strengthening the oversight of taxpayer dollars and the clarity and consistency of financial reporting, and by ensuring consistency and maximum alignment between the Budget and the Estimates, and the Estimates and the Public Accounts. 1.1.2 Expenditure Analysis and Allocation Management
Improve departmental costing analysis for all proposed legislation and programs through a standardized approach to estimating the cost of proposals. Ongoing 1.1.1 Cabinet Decision Support
Modernize the Government of Canada's approach to comptrollership. 1.2.1 Financial Management Policy
Priority 4: Aligning Resources for Results
Description

The Government of Canada has committed to aligning resources with results that have the greatest positive impact on the lives of Canadians. The Secretariat will play a lead role in promoting new approaches to programs and policies across government and will work at changing the management culture in order to enhance the quality and use of data and performance information government-wide.

Priority Type

New

Key Facts
  • The Treasury Board reviews approximately $6 billion to $8 billion in new funding requests every year.
  • The Treasury Board has over 200 policy instruments currently in place.
Key Supporting Initiatives for Priority 4
Planned Initiatives Start Date End Date Link to Department's Program Alignment Architecture
Work with departments to ensure that a fixed percentage of program funds is devoted to experimenting with new approaches to existing problems, and to measuring program impacts. Ongoing 1.1.2 Expenditure Analysis and Allocation Management
Work with departments to improve their use of evidence and data, and instill a stronger culture of performance measurement, evaluation and innovation in program and policy design and delivery. Ongoing 1.2.5 Organizational Management Policy
Renew the Policy on Management, Resources and Results Structures and the Treasury Board submission guidance to improve information on resource allocation, performance measurement and reporting to Parliament and Canadians. 1.1.1 Cabinet Decision Support
Work with Public Services and Procurement Canada to modernize procurement by implementing practices that are simpler and less administratively burdensome and that better support broader economic, social and green goals. 1.2.1 Financial Management Policy
Streamline the Treasury Board policy suite, providing incentives and rules that have clear accountabilities and that are easy to find and to understand. 1.2 Management Policies Development and Monitoring
Priority 5: Workforce of the Future
Description

The Government of Canada has committed to working with the public service to provide effective and professional services for Canadians. This includes efforts to reinforce the core public service values of official languages, respectful workplace and diversity. The Secretariat will help the Government of Canada fulfill its role as a modern employer by supporting good faith collective bargaining and by leading action to create a healthy, harassment-free workplace.

Priority Type

New

Key Facts
  • The federal government is the largest employer in Canada, with more than 193,000 employees in the core public administration.
  • Women represent 38 per cent of Governor in Council appointees in the core public administration, and 39 per cent of assistant deputy ministers and 36 per cent of deputy ministers in the federal public service.
  • Federal services are delivered through 11,500 offices: 34 per cent offer bilingual services, 54 per cent offer services only in English, and 12 per cent offer services only in French.
  • The Secretariat is negotiating the renewal of 27 collective agreements with 15 bargaining agents.
Key Supporting Initiatives for Priority 5
Planned Initiatives Start Date End Date Link to Department's Program Alignment Architecture
Align with the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace. Ongoing 1.2.2 People Management Policy
Take action to support the Government of Canada's commitment to transparent, merit-based appointments, to help ensure gender parity and that Indigenous Canadians and minority groups are better reflected in positions of leadership. Ongoing 1.2.2 People Management Policy
Take action to ensure that the public service is a workplace free from harassment and sexual violence. Ongoing 1.2.2 People Management Policy
Ensure that all federal services are delivered in full compliance with the Official Languages Act, supported by Canadian Heritage. Ongoing 1.2.2 People Management Policy
Bargain in good faith with the Government of Canada's public sector unions. Ongoing 1.3.2 Labour Relations
Support the introduction of a new labour relations regime for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Ongoing 1.3.2 Labour Relations
Priority 6: An Open, Agile and Collaborative Secretariat
Description

The Secretariat has committed to creating a more open, agile and collaborative organization that fosters respect and innovation, empowers employees to excel in their work, and maximizes benefits for Canadians. To accomplish this, the Secretariat has developed This is TBS, an umbrella initiative that brings together all of the Secretariat's internal transformational initiatives under three streams of work: supporting a high-performing workforce; fostering a more dynamic open and networked workplace; and adopting lean and efficient business practices. These initiatives support Blueprint 2020 commitments.

Priority Type

Ongoing

Key Supporting Initiatives for Priority 6
Planned Initiatives Start Date End Date Link to Department's Program Alignment Architecture
Support a high-performing workforce that is agile and that operates within a respectful and healthy work environment each and every day. Ongoing 1.5.4 Human Resources Management Services
Foster a more dynamic, open and networked workplace, which includes renewing and consolidating office space within Workplace 2.0 standards and re-engineering back office technology to better manage information.

1.5.6 Information Management Services

1.5.7 Information Technology Services

1.5.8 Real Property Services

Adopt lean and efficient business practices that create opportunities for transferring skills and knowledge, streamlining processes, and empowering employees. Ongoing

1.5.1 Management and Oversight Services

1.5.2 Communications Services

1.5.4 Human Resources Management Services

1.5.5 Financial Management Services

1.5.6 Information Management Services

Risk Analysis

In advancing the key commitments outlined by the new government, the Secretariat faces a number of risks. There is a strategy risk that the Secretariat has accepted in order to generate greater results for Canadians, and there are external risks that come from the environment in which the Secretariat operates. External risks are harder to mitigate and require building resiliency in the controls and processes of the organization. Additional attention and leadership on the part of the Secretariat will be required if the external risks identified below do materialize.

Strategy Risk

At the outset of the government mandate, the expectation for achieving results is high, including delivery of a comprehensive and ambitious management agenda. For many priority initiatives, the Secretariat not only needs to rethink how the government operates to achieve sustainable results, but must also consider the wide range of stakeholder views on what success looks like. In addition, many commitments require significant interdepartmental cooperation. These factors create a risk that, despite the Secretariat's solid track record, some of the Secretariat's priorities may not yield the desired results or may not be implemented at the expected pace. The Secretariat is managing this risk through careful planning, project management and oversight.

External Risks

The Secretariat is currently operating in an environment where it will require targeted resources to deliver on a number of its priority initiatives. Given the challenging economic forecast for Canada and the reduction in revenues due to dropping oil prices, there is a risk that resources may need to be aggressively redirected to stimulate the economy. To support the management agenda, the Secretariat would have to reallocate resources to priority areas. The Secretariat will manage the risk of losing fiscal flexibility by closely monitoring expenditures, measuring performance and reviewing results.

Technological and social changes create new ways of working, which could have an impact on the agility of the public service and affect the Government of Canada's position as a modern employer. To attract, retain and mobilize the necessary skills and talent to meet the needs of government departments, the rigidities in the system will need to be addressed, including employee mobility within and across public-private sectors and improved flexibility in work arrangements. The Secretariat is managing this risk by identifying and defining skill gaps and promoting assignments in priority areas.

The Secretariat's commitment to providing better services for Canadians relies heavily on the use of technology. However, the rapid pace of technological change and the increased frequency and sophistication of cyber-threats could compromise the government's information systems, infrastructure and data, resulting in potentially significant disruptions to government programs and service delivery. To address this ongoing risk, the Secretariat, as the lead on information technology (IT) security policy and directives, will continue to work on many fronts with other federal departments to counter these threats proactively. The Secretariat is standardizing incident coordination and developing tools and policies to increase the resiliency of IT systems.

The Secretariat will focus on the four key risks described above. For each of the risks, a response strategy has been developed that includes specific mitigation measures. These risks and their mitigation measures will be monitored regularly throughout the year.

Key Risks
Risk Risk Response Strategy Link to Program Alignment Architecture
Strategy Risk

Slow Pace of Implementation

If the Secretariat is not able to implement its priority initiatives effectively, they may not yield sustainable results or may take longer than expected to deliver.

To manage this risk, the Secretariat will need to enhance management's focus on delivery, results and accountability. This includes:

  • Developing project charters that outline specific activities and deliverables, key performance indicators, clear roles and responsibilities, and realistic timelines, along with appropriate monitoring and controls;
  • Engaging key partners throughout the project life cycle through existing governance structures; and
  • Establishing regular stock-taking meetings to ensure that plans are being followed and that delays are managed in a timely fashion.

1.1 Decision-Making Support and Oversight

1.2 Management Policies Development and Monitoring

1.3 Government-Wide Program Design and Delivery

External Risks

Loss of 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.

The Secretariat will work to reduce the impact of this risk by:

  • Monitoring expenditures closely to inform the allocation of strategic resources;
  • Reviewing program and tax expenditures with the Deputy Minister of Finance, and assessing departments' capability to deliver priority programs;
  • Establishing a risk allowance in the procurement process to address changes in substantive estimates; and
  • Developing contingency plans or scalable options for each of the Secretariat's priority initiatives.
1.1 Decision-Making Support and Oversight

Inability to Attract and Align Talent to 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.

The Secretariat will take steps to facilitate an agile workforce by:

  • Revising the Treasury Board's human resources management policies to ensure that requirements support a high-performing, agile workforce;
  • Working with partner departments to improve recruitment, training and development programs;
  • Launching a one-year, interdepartmental pilot project of internal micro-missions to respond to management's need for temporary and skilled employees; and
  • Streamlining processes and projects within the Secretariat. This will require change management and dedicated resources for lean processes and projects, with minimal impact on normal operations.
1.2 Management Policies Development and Monitoring

Cyber-Security Breach

Constantly evolving cyber-threats targeted at government departments may compromise government information systems, infrastructure and data, requiring the Secretariat to coordinate and respond to potentially significant service disruptions.

The Secretariat will continue to work on numerous fronts with other government departments to mitigate the risk of rapidly evolving cyber-threats. Efforts will focus on:

  • Standardizing incident coordination capability;
  • Developing information management strategies and initiatives for departments, in order to minimize the risk to Government of Canada information holdings;
  • Developing tools for federal organizations to build programs and services that are secure and resilient;
  • Conducting oversight and monitoring jointly delivered by the Secretariat and lead security agencies (including Communications Security Establishment Canada and Shared Services Canada);
  • Supporting Public Safety Canada in reviewing existing measures to protect Canadians and our critical infrastructure from cyber-threats in collaboration with other departments; and
  • Overseeing the successful completion of initiatives to transform enterprise-wide back office functions, including Shared Services Canada's Transformation Plan.

1.2 Management Policies Development and Monitoring

1.3 Government-Wide Program Design and Delivery

Planned Expenditures

Budgetary Financial Resources (dollars)
2016–17
Main Estimates
2016–17
Planned Spending
2017–18
Planned Spending
2018–19
Planned Spending
6,570,806,029 6,570,806,029 6,573,186,816 6,564,300,694
Human Resources (Full-Time Equivalents [FTEs])
2016–17 2017–18 2018–19
1802 1795 1776
Budgetary Planning Summary for Strategic Outcomes and Programs (dollars)
Strategic Outcomes, Programs and Internal Services 2013–14
Expenditures
2014–15
Expenditures
2015–16
Forecast Spending
2016–17
Main Estimates
2016–17
Planned Spending
2017–18
Planned Spending
2018–19
Planned Spending
Note: Any minor numerical differences are due to rounding.
Strategic Outcome: Good governance and sound stewardship to enable efficient and effective service to Canadians
Decision-Making Support and Oversight N/A N/A 48,531,026 49,543,385 50,579,535 49,568,557 49,973,390
Management Policies Development and Monitoring N/A N/A 75,282,673 67,614,269 68,090,606 68,236,105 66,819,202
Government-Wide Program Design and Delivery N/A N/A 85,859,822 53,732,931 53,256,595 52,997,096 53,642,559
Strategic Outcome: Government is well managed and accountable, and resources are allocated to achieve results
Management Frameworks 57,875,343 54,481,225 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
People Management 57,834,089 128,785,777 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Expenditure Management 35,573,464 30,431,157 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Financial Management 31,291,934 31,231,325 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Subtotal  182,574,830  244,929,484  209,673,521  170,890,585  171,926,736  170,801,758  170,435,151
Government-Wide Funds and Public Service Employer Payments 2,629,221,633 2,898,360,909 5,415,825,870 6,333,254,397 6,333,254,397 6,333,254,397 6,333,254,397
Internal Services Subtotal 80,724,486 78,399,289 78,500,313 66,661,047 65,624,896 69,130,661 60,611,147
Total 2,892,520,949 3,221,689,682 5,703,999,704 6,570,806,029 6,570,806,029 6,573,186,816 6,564,300,694

In 2015–16, the Secretariat revised its Program Alignment Architecture to better reflect core business activities and support the achievement of expected results. Due to significant differences between the Secretariat's previous and current program architectures, the historical spending trend has not been restated in the 2013–14 and 2014–15 expenditure columns.

The table above outlines:

  • Actual spending for 2013–14 and 2014–15, as reported in the Public Accounts;
  • Forecast spending for 2015–16, which reflects the authorities received to date, including in-year contributions from other government departments for the Secretariat-led Government-Wide Back Office Transformation Initiative; and
  • Planned spending for 2016–17, 2017–18 and 2018–19, which aligns with government commitments as set out in ministerial mandate letters.

Additional details regarding planned spending are provided in Section II: Analysis of Programs by Strategic Outcome.

The Government-Wide Funds and Public Service Employer Payments program is the largest portion of the Secretariat's planned spending. On average, the Treasury Board approves approximately 56 per cent of this program's spending to 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 (Central Votes 5, 10, 15, 25, 30 and 33). The Secretariat's total funding available for use is reduced accordingly. The remaining 44 per cent pertains to public service employer payments, used to pay the employer's share of contributions to employee pensions and benefits plans, including statutory payments.

Actual spending increased by $329 million from 2013–14 to 2014–15. This was primarily to address a funding shortfall within the Service Income Security Insurance Plan (SISIP) to provide benefits for the increased number of medically released Canadian Armed Forces members following the Afghanistan mission, and to implement approved benefit changes to the Public Service Health Care Plan (PSHCP) totalling $269 million. In addition, there was an increase of $61.6 million, mostly attributable to new funding received for the payout of an out-of-court settlement to eligible claimants under the White class action lawsuit launched against the Crown in Buote Estate v. Canada, 2014 FC 773 (CanLII), which involved the elimination of the Pension Act offset provision under the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Long Term Disability Insurance Plan.

Forecast spending for 2015–16 is expected to increase by $2.5 billion, as compared with 2014–15 actual spending. Approximately $2.3 billion is largely a result of funding in Central Votes not yet allocated by the Treasury Board to other organizations. The total amount is included in the Secretariat's reference levels at the beginning of the fiscal year; as amounts are requested by organizations and eventually allocated to them, the total amount is reduced accordingly. The remaining $0.2 billion is attributable mostly to funding received in 2015–16 to help restore the SISIP to a healthy financial position and to contingency funding for the PSHCP.

Planned spending is expected to increase by $867 million in 2016–17 compared with forecast spending for 2015–16, primarily to reflect funding in the Central Votes at full reference levels, offset by the 2015–16 SISIP and PSHCP funding noted above.

Planned spending is expected to decrease by $6.5 million from 2016–17 to 2018–19, mostly due to the sunsetting of the Workspace Renewal Initiative and the reprofiling of the Workplace Wellness and Productivity Strategy to accommodate project timelines impacted by ongoing collective bargaining.

Alignment of Spending With the Whole-of-Government Framework

Alignment of 2016-17 Planned Spending With the Whole-of-Government Framework (dollars)
Strategic Outcome Program Spending Area Government of Canada Outcome 2016-17
Planned Spending
Good governance and sound stewardship to enable efficient and effective service to Canadians Decision-Making Support and Oversight Government Affairs Well-managed and efficient government operations 50,579,535
Management Policies Development and Monitoring Government Affairs Well-managed and efficient government operations 68,090,606
Government-Wide Program Design and Delivery Government Affairs Well-managed and efficient government operations 53,256,595
Government-Wide Funds and Public Service Employer Payments Government Affairs Well-managed and efficient government operations 6,333,254,397
Total Spending by Spending Area (dollars)
Spending Area Total Planned Spending
Note: The figures above do not include Internal Services.
Economic affairs N/A
Social affairs N/A
International affairs N/A
Government affairs 6,505,181,133

Departmental Spending Trend

Figure 1. 2016–17 Planned Spending Total $6.6 billion
Figure 1
Figure 1. 2016–17 Planned Spending Total $6.6 billion - Text version
Central Votes Public Service Employer Payments and Statutory Votes Management Policies Development and Monitoring Internal services Government-Wide Programs Design and Delivery Decision Making Support and Oversight
54.08% 42.31% 1.04% 1.00% 0.81% 0.77%

The Secretariat's total planned spending is $6.6 billion for fiscal year 2016–17. This includes $3.6 billion, or 54.1 per cent, in Central Votes (on approval of the Treasury Board) to supplement the appropriations of departments. Most of the remaining balance, $2.8 billion, or 42.31 per cent, is related to the Secretariat's role in supporting the Treasury Board as employer of the core public administration.

These funds are used for:

  • public service pension, benefits, and insurance plans, including payment of the employer's share of health, income maintenance, and life insurance premiums;
  • payments in respect of provincial health insurance;
  • payments of provincial payroll taxes and the Québec sales tax on insurance premiums; and
  • funding to address actuarial deficits in the Public Service Pension Fund.

The remaining amount, $0.2 billion or 3.6 per cent, is directly related to the operations of the Secretariat and its four other programs: Decision-Making Support and Oversight, Management Policies Development and Monitoring, Government-Wide Program Design and Delivery, and Internal Services.

Figure 2. Departmental Spending Trend for Program Expenditures (Vote 1)
Figure 2
Figure 2. Departmental Spending Trend for Program Expenditures (Vote 1) - Text version
  2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19
Sunset Programs – Anticipated 0 0 0 0 0 0
Statutory 29,075,263 27,477,862 27,662,650 28,020,193 27,981,239 27,895,587
Voted 234,224,053 295,850,911 260,551,184 209,531,439 211,951,180 203,150,710
Total 263,299,316 323,328,773 288,173,834 237,551,632 239,932,419 231,046,297

The Secretariat's operating expenditures include salaries, non-salary costs to deliver programs, and statutory items related to the employer's contributions to the Secretariat's employee benefit plans.

Total program expenditures increased by $60 million between 2013–14 and 2014–15, mostly attributable to new funding received for the payout of an out-of-court settlement to eligible claimants under the White class action lawsuit. The subsequent decrease between 2014–15 actual spending and 2015–16 forecast spending was mostly related to the payout of the same out-of-court settlement, offset by contributions received from other government departments for the Government-Wide Back Office Transformation Initiative.

The decrease of $51 million between 2015–16 and 2016–17 is largely attributable to contributions received for the Government-Wide Back Office Transformation Initiative; new funding received for the same out-of-court settlement to the remaining eligible claimants under the White class action lawsuit; and operating budget carry forward (eligible lapsing funds from the previous fiscal year).

Program expenditures are expected to decrease by $6.5 million from 2016–17 to 2018–19, mostly due to the sunsetting of the Workspace Renewal Initiative and the reprofiling of the Workplace Wellness and Productivity Strategy to accommodate project timelines that have been impacted by ongoing collective bargaining.

Figure 3. Public Service Employer Payments (Vote 20) and Various Statutory Items – Spending Trend Graph
Figure 3
Figure 3. Public Service Employer Payments (Vote 20) and Various Statutory Items – Spending Trend Graph - Text version
  2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19
Sunset Programs – Anticipated 0 0 0 0 0 0
Statutory 443,088,925 444,049,205 443,000,000 443,000,000 443,000,000 443,000,000
Voted 2,186,132,708 2,454,311,704 2,719,270,604 2,337,061,397 2,337,061,397 2,337,061,397
Total 2,629,221,633 2,898,360,909 3,162,270,604 2,780,061,397 2,780,061,397 2,780,061,397

Expenditures for public service employer payments and statutory items represent the employer's share of contributions required by the insurance plans sponsored by the Government of Canada. These amounts also include statutory items for payments under the Public Service Pension Adjustment Act (PSPAA) and employer contributions made under the Public Service Superannuation Act (PSSA), the Employment Insurance Act and related acts.

Public service employer payments increased by $269 million from 2013–14 to 2014–15. This increase was mostly to address a funding shortfall within the Service Income Security Insurance Plan (SISIP) to provide benefits to the increased number of medically released Canadian Armed Forces members following the Afghanistan mission. It was also due to the implementation of benefit changes to the Public Service Health Care Plan (PSHCP) negotiated in 2014, which included increased premiums for pensioners with a view to achieving a 50-50 cost-sharing ratio with pensioners by .

Planned expenditures for public service employer payments are anticipated to increase by $264 million from 2014–15 to 2015–16. The planned increase addresses an existing funding deficit to restore the Service Income Security Insurance Plan (SISIP) to a surplus position; puts in place contingency funding for the Public Service Health Care Plan (PSHCP) in the event of increases in the volume of claims or the cost per claim of the plan; and allows for resultant increases in payroll taxes from the eventual renewal of collective bargaining agreements. These increases are partially offset by an expenditure decrease under the Public Service Management Insurance Plan following implementation of the Premium Rate Holiday, which took effect on , and was extended on .

Subsequent planned expenditures for 2016–17 are anticipated to decrease by $382 million from 2015–16. This decrease represents the lump sum payment under SISIP in 2015–16 that returned the plan to a surplus position, and the contingency funding for Vote 20.

Planned spending between 2016–17 and 2018–19 is expected to remain unchanged.

Estimates by Vote

For information on the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat's organizational appropriations, consult the 2016–17 Main Estimates.

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