Treasury Board and Treasury Board Secretariat 101 Materials 

The President of the Treasury Board

• The Treasury Board was established in 1867 as the first Cabinet Committee and is the only one enshrined in legislation. It takes the final decision on expenditures and regulations.
• The Treasury Board President is the Chair of the Treasury Board and also oversees the Treasury Board Secretariat, setting the management agenda for the Government of Canada in the areas of people, money and technology.
• The President serves as the gatekeeper to the Board and sets its agenda, supporting the management and implementation of initiatives across government.
• The President is supported by the Treasury Board Secretariat, which provides integrated advice from across the department.

Overview of roles as President of the Treasury Board

The Roles of the Treasury Board and its Secretariat

Treasury Board

The President of the Treasury Board chairs the Treasury Board, a Cabinet Committee with responsibilities for the following:

* Main Estimates and Supplementary Estimates (A) in 2021-22 fiscal year

** Internal Treasury Board Secretariat data. “Federal public service” refers to the collection of departments and agencies in the core public administration (for which the Treasury Board Secretariat is the employer).

Treasury Board Secretariat

The President is responsible for the Treasury Board Secretariat as a department and sets the strategic direction of the organization.

*As of March 2020

**Actual spending for 2020–21, as reported by internal Treasury Board Secretariat data. The majority of these expenses are allotted under the Employer role. These payments are used to fund the Employer’s share of the Public Service Health Care Plan, the Public Service Dental Care Plan and other benefit programs for the entire Government of Canada.

Treasury Board Secretariat Portfolio

The President has oversight responsibilities for four portfolio agencies.

This includes responsibility for the legislation governing these bodies and tabling any amendments in Parliament.

Treasury Board

The Treasury Board was first established as a committee of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada on July 2, 1867, and was made a statutory committee in 1869. It is the only Cabinet committee recognized in legislation.

The Treasury Board consists of the President of the Treasury Board (the President), the Minister of Finance and four other members of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada that are designated as members by an order-in-council. The composition of the Treasury Board is provided for in the Financial Administration Act, which also provides for the appointment of alternates who can serve in the place of members. The Treasury Board’s quorum is three members (including alternates).

The Treasury Board exercises authority over a range of issues, and its role can generally be classified into powers of supervision, recommendation, decision, approval, reporting and regulation-making. While the primary statute setting out the role of the Treasury Board is the Financial Administration Act, there are over 20 other statutes that also establish its roles and authorities. The Treasury Board’s powers and responsibilities are also set out in regulations, orders-in-council, policies, guidelines and practices.

The Treasury Board has three principal roles:

1. It acts as the government’s “expenditure manager”:
   • preparing the government’s expenditure plans (the Estimates) and monitoring program spending by government departments
   • approving the use of new money that has been set aside in the budget, including for major procurements, assets, new programs, and grants and contributions
2. It acts as the government’s “management board”:
   • setting the rules that establish how people, public funds and government assets are managed
   • reviewing departmental investment plans in support of accountability of government operations
3. It acts as the “employer” of the core public administration:
   • entering into collective bargaining for the core public administration
   • determining terms and conditions of employment
   • setting rules on human resources management

Treasury Board (Governor in Council)

Since December 2003, the members of the Treasury Board have also been asked to serve as members of the Committee of the Privy Council advising the Governor in Council. This role is often referred to as “Treasury Board, Part B.” The principal role of Treasury Board, Part B, is to:

4. Provide “regulatory oversight”:
   • reviewing and approving most regulations and orders-in-council

When advising the Governor in Council, Treasury Board, Part B’s quorum is four members. The composition of the Treasury Board, Part B is not governed by the Financial Administration Act. In the absence of a sufficient number of Treasury Board members, other Cabinet ministers may be invited to participate.

President of the Treasury Board

Treasury Board Secretariat

The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat was established as a department in 1966 as the administrative arm of the Treasury Board. It 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 in 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.

The business lines of the Secretariat are expressed through its Departmental Results Framework. The Departmental Results Framework sets out the core responsibilities for the organization, which are:

• spending oversight
• administrative leadership
• employer
• regulatory oversight
• internal services

The Departmental Results Framework also focuses on the results the department is aiming to achieve in these core areas as well as how progress will be assessed. This information helps support the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat’s reporting to Parliament through its Departmental Plan and Departmental Results Report. The Departmental Plan, tabled in the spring, describes what the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat will do over the next three years to achieve results for Canadians and the resources that are required to do so. The Departmental Results Report, tabled in the fall, describes the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat’s actual performance and the resources it used during the previous fiscal year.

The Secretary of the Treasury Board

The Secretary of the Treasury Board is the deputy head of the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat. The Secretary is appointed by the Governor in Council.

Subsection 12(1) of the Financial Administration Act sets out the powers assigned to deputy heads in the core public administration, which include, among others:

• determining the learning, training and development requirements of public service employees
• establishing standards of discipline and setting penalties (including termination of employment, suspension, demotion or financial penalties)
• providing for the termination of employment or demotion of public service employees for disciplinary reasons, unsatisfactory performance or other non-disciplinary reasons

The Secretary, as are all other deputy heads and chief executive officers, is an accounting officer pursuant to sections 16.1 through 16.4 of the Financial Administration Act. Accounting officers are senior officials that can be called to testify before a parliamentary committee regarding the management of their department and the performance of their duties.

Under section 16.5 of the Financial Administration Act, the Secretary has a role in providing guidance on the interpretation of policies, directives or standards issued by the Treasury Board in disputes between deputy heads (as accounting officers) and ministers.

Although the Secretary oversees the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, four other senior officials within the Secretariat, established under the Financial Administration Act or by order-in-council, have specific government-wide leadership responsibilities:

• the Comptroller General of Canada provides leadership, direction and oversight of financial management, internal audit and the management of assets and acquired services
• the Chief Human Resources Officer provides leadership on people management through policies, programs and strategic engagements; centrally manages labour relations, compensation, pensions and benefits; and contributes to the management of executives
• the Chief Information Officer of Canada provides leadership, direction and oversight of information management, information technology, government security, access to information, privacy and internal and external service delivery
• the Office of Public Service Accessibility provides leadership and strategic advice on accessibility in meeting the requirements of the Accessible Canada Act

The Treasury Board may delegate to the Secretary any of the powers or functions it is authorized to exercise under any Act of Parliament or by any order made by the Governor in Council (section 6(4) of the Financial Administration Act). The Treasury Board may also delegate some of its powers to the four other senior officials listed above, in addition to other officials (sections 6(4), (4.1) and (4.11) of the Financial Administration Act). Such delegated powers can be further delegated. Any sub-delegation is subject to the terms and conditions of the original delegation (section 6(6) of the Financial Administration Act).

Appendix A: Overview of the legislative mandate of the Treasury Board and the President

The Financial Administration Act is the primary statute that outlines the role of the Treasury Board and the President. Other federal laws also contain provisions that implicate the Treasury Board and the President.

Appendix B: legislative portfolio of the President

Statutes for which the President is named as responsible Minister:

• Access to Information Act (note: the President’s responsibility is shared with the Minister of Justice)
• Alternative Fuels Act
• Auditor General Act
• Canada School of Public Service Act
• Conflict of Interest Act
• Diplomatic Service (Special) Superannuation Act
• Federal Real Property and Federal Immovables Act
• Government Services Act, 1999
• Government Services Resumption Act
• Lieutenant Governors Superannuation Act
• Lobbying Act
• Members of Parliament Retiring Allowances Act
• Privacy Act (note: the President’s responsibility is shared with the Minister of Justice)
• Public Pensions Reporting Act (note: the President’s responsibility is shared with the Minister of Human Resources Development)
• Public Sector Compensation Act
• Public Sector Pension Investment Board Act
• Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act
• Public Service Employment Act (note: The President’s responsibility is shared with the President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and the Minister of Canadian Heritage)
• Public Service Pension Adjustment Act
• Public Service Superannuation Act
• Red Tape Reduction Act
• Special Retirement Arrangements Act
• Supplementary Retirement Benefits Act

About the Treasury Board

Established in 1867, the Treasury Board is the only statutory Cabinet Committee.
It has two distinct functions:

Where Treasury Board fits

Between the genesis of a policy idea and its implementation by a department, ministers must secure certain approvals to ensure policy alignment, affordability and feasibility.

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The graphic presents the process from policy idea to implementation by a department. The first step is mandate and policy development. The second step is policy cover by Cabinet, which includes confirmation that Cabinet as a whole supports the approach. The third step is a funding decision through the Budget, which includes approval by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance to fund the measures. The fourth step is implementation authorities by Treasury Board, which includes the right to seek spending authority from Parliament and/or to carry out certain operational steps. The fifth step is parliamentary spending authorities, which includes approval from Parliament to release money to departments. The final step is departmental implementation.

The fourth step (implementation authorities by Treasury Board) is circled to indicate where Treasury Board fits within the process.

Combined, these key decisions help ensure the Government can deliver its agenda effectively.

*Policy cover and the funding decision are not always sought in the same order

**Parliamentary approval is obtained through supply bills, which include multiple spending proposals

How Treasury Board helps implement the government’s agenda

Key features of the Treasury Board

Treasury Board ensures financial and Treasury Board policy suite compliance at the program design stage.

Ministers play a corporate role as opposed to representing their own departmental priorities.

High-volume Cabinet committee with a wide scope of decision-making authority.

• The Treasury Board takes approximately 1,400 decisions per year

Treasury Board Secretariat officials present proposals, unlike at Cabinet, where ministers present their proposals.

• Officials’ advice is provided to all Treasury Board Ministers, not just the Chair

The roles of the Treasury Board

Annex A: how the Treasury Board works

Annex B: examples of Treasury Board business

Overview of the Treasury Board Secretariat

The Treasury Board Secretariat has 2,276 employees and plays a central coordinating function for the Government of Canada, promoting coherence across programs and services

Central agency and departmental functions

Senior Management Team

Mona Fortier

President of the Treasury Board

Kathryn Holmes

Chief of Staff to the Secretary

Peter Wallace

Secretary of the Treasury Board

Erin O’Gorman

Associate Secretary

Matthew Partridge

Departmental Assistant

Program Sectors & Expenditure Management

Anuradha Marisetti

Economic

Tina Green

Regulatory Affairs

Suzy McDonald

Social & Cultural

Heather Sheehy

Government Operations

Annie Boudreau

Expenditure Management

Denis Stevens

International Affairs, Security & Justice

Office of the Chief Information Officer

Catherine Luelo

Chief Information Officer

Sonya Read

A/Digital Policy and Services

Marc Brouillard

Chief Technology Officer

Paul Wagner

Transformation

Canadian Digital Service

Anatole Papadopoulos

Acting Chief Executive Officer

Centre for Greening Government

Nick Xenos

Executive Director

Office for Public Service Accessibility

Yazmine Laroche

DM, Public Service Accessibility

Alfred MacLeod

ADM, Public Service Accessibility

Enabling Functions

Doreen Gagnon

Human Resources

Kelly Acton

Strategic Comms. & Ministerial Affairs

Karen Cahill

Corporate Services Chief Financial Officer

Nathalie Lalonde

Internal Audit & Evaluation

Mallika Nanduri Bhatt

Priorities & Planning

Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer

Christine Donoghue

Chief Human Resources Officer

Stephanie Poliquin

People Management Systems and Processes

Marie-Chantal Girard

Pensions and Benefits / Employment Conditions and Labour Relations

Jean-Francois Fleury

Research, Planning and Renewal

Tolga Yalkin

Workplace, Policies and Services

Carole Bidal

Employee Relations and Total Compensation

Mireille Laroche

Executive and Leadership Development

Paule-Anny Pierre

Centre on Diversity and Inclusion

Office of the Comptroller General

Roch Huppé

Comptroller General

Samantha Tattersall

Acquired Services and Assets

Laura Smith

Financial Management (Acting)

Mike Milito

Internal Audit

Christine Walker

Financial Management Transformation

François Nadeau

Senior General Counsel

Treasury Board Secretariat

Peter Wallace, Secretary of the Treasury Board

Deputy Head of the Treasury Board Secretariat
Supported by an Associate Secretary and four other Deputy Ministers

Erin O’Gorman, Associate Secretary

Works with the Secretary, providing leadership on the management of the Treasury Board Cabinet Committee

The Secretary and Associate Secretary lead the Treasury Board Secretariat, which is divided into six thematic areas:

1. Human Resources
2. Comptrollership
3. Information (including digital)
4. Accessibility
5. Direct support to the Treasury Board
6. Enabling functions

Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer

The Chief Human Resources Officer is responsible for government-wide direction and leadership on people management to recruit and retain talent, support a work environment in which employees can thrive, and manage human resources using the best possible tools and evidence.

Christine Donoghue

Chief Human Resources Officer

The Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer supports the Treasury Board’s mandate by:

• developing policies and providing strategic direction, and its enabling systems and processes, for people and workplace management in the public service
• leading negotiations with bargaining agents and managing total compensation to ensure fair and sustainable terms for collective agreements, pensions and benefits
• establishing terms and conditions of employment, including the management of talent and performance for the executive cadre
• monitoring the conditions of the workplace and workforce through data acquisition and analysis
• leading the heads of the Human Resources community to foster collaboration, innovation and coherence across the Government of Canada 

Key policies

• The Policy on People Management sets expectations for Deputy Heads and managers in the core public administration to create a high-performing workforce and a modern, healthy and respectful work environment.
• The Policy on the Management of Executives sets the expectations specific to the management of the executive cadre in the core public administration.
• Policies for Ministers’ Offices provides coherence and transparency for financial, personnel and administrative management.

Office of the Comptroller General

The Comptroller General is responsible for government-wide direction and leadership on comptrollership, including in the areas of financial management, internal audit, public accounts, liaison with the Attorney General and acquired services and assets

Roch Huppé

Comptroller General

The Office of the Comptroller General supports the Treasury Board’s mandate by:

• developing policies and providing government-wide coordination and strategic direction for comptrollership in the public service, including internal audit, financial management, project management and the management of procurement and real property.
• providing strategic direction and oversight for Chief Financial Officers and Chief Audit Executives across the Government of Canada
• providing proactive analysis and recommendations on management and policy issues such as departmental management and spending authorities and contributing to government-wide oversight by providing assurance and advice
• providing analysis and advice on Treasury Board submissions, including on cost estimates and financial risks

Key policies:

• The Policy on Financial Management, which provides key responsibilities for Deputy Heads, Chief Financial Officers, and other senior managers in exercising effective financial management.
• The Policy on Transfer Payments, which explains the roles and responsibilities for the delivery and management of transfer payment programs.
• The Policy on the Planning and Management of Investments, which sets the direction for the planning and management of assets and acquired services to ensure that these activities provide value for money and demonstrate sound stewardship in program delivery.
• The Policy on Internal Audit, which sets out the responsibilities for deputy heads, chief audit executives and departmental audit committees, in demonstrating responsible stewardship through sound risk management, control and governance processes.

Office of the Chief Information Officer

The Chief Information Officer is responsible for the planning and management of technology and the stewardship of information and data for the Government of Canada.

Catherine Luelo

Chief Information Officer

The Office of the Chief Information Officer of Canada supports Treasury Board’s mandate by:

• developing policies and strategic direction on digital transformation, service delivery, security, information management and information technology in the public service
• providing analysis and advice on Treasury Board submissions, including on the use of digital technology and issues related to privacy
• working with departments and agencies to improve their digital service capacity, support the use of digital approaches in government operations and develop tools and resources to meet users’ needs
• leading the Government of Canada chief information officers’ community to advance the adoption of best practices for information management and digital and service delivery

Key policies:

• The Policy on Service and Digital serves as an integrated set of rules on how the Government of Canada manages service delivery, information and data, information technology and cyber security.
• The Policy on Government Security, which provides direction to manage government security in support of the trusted delivery of Government of Canada programs and services and the protection of information.

Office for Public Service Accessibility

The Deputy Minister of Public Service Accessibility is responsible for supporting the Canadian public service in meeting the requirements of the Accessible Canada Act

Yazmine Laroche

Deputy Minister

The Office for Public Service Accessibility supports the Treasury Board Secretariat’s mandate by:

• providing strategic advice to government departments and agencies regarding issues related to accessibility and inclusion through:
  • equipping public servants with knowledge on how to better design and deliver accessible programs and services
  • providing practical guidance and tools for removing barriers through initiatives such as the Centralized Enabling Workplace Fund and online via an Accessibility Hub
  • providing strategic advice, informed by engagement with persons with disabilities, to government departments and agencies
  • improving recruitment, retention and promotion of persons with disabilities
  • enhancing the accessibility of the physical workspace
  • making technology usable by all

Centre for Greening Government

The Centre for Greening Government works to ensure the Government of Canada is a global leader in government operations that are net-zero emissions, climate-resilient and green.

Nick Xenos

Executive Director

The Centre for Greening Government supports the Treasury Board Secretariat’s mandate by:

• providing strategic advice to other federal departments and agencies regarding net-zero, resilient and green operations through:
  • providing practical guidance and tools for net-zero, resilient and green real property, fleet, and procurement
  • convening interdepartmental working groups and external stakeholder community of practices to share expertise, successes and best practices among departments
• tracking and publicly disclosing government environmental performance information, including greenhouse gas emission reductions for federal operations
• administering the Greening Government Fund to reduce emissions and support projects that can be replicated within and across departments, including the new Low-Carbon Fuel Procurement Program
• working with Public Services and Procurement Canada on common procurement tools that incorporate greening criteria

Canadian Digital Service

The Canadian Digital Service works with other federal departments and agencies to put people’s needs at the centre of government services.

Anatole Papadopoulos

Acting Chief Executive Officer

The Canadian Digital Service supports the Treasury Board’s mandate by:

• providing strategic advice to government departments and agencies regarding service delivery, including:
  • partnering with federal departments to provide hands-on help to deliver human-centred services
  • building the capacity of federal departments to apply modern design and technology methods and tools
  • building well-tested, secure and reliable platform building blocks that departments can use to build or improve services more quickly, consistently and affordably
  • providing advice on technology and service investments
• using on-the-ground experience to help scale modern delivery practices across government, for example, through assisting the Treasury Board Secretariat in changing federal public opinion research guidance to enable user research, and facilitating partner departments to deploy services in the cloud for the first time
• using digital approaches to reduce the cost and risk of project failure, including constant iteration, informed by ongoing research and testing directly with the users of the service

Supporting the Treasury Board directly

Enabling functions

Enabling functions support the internal operations of the Treasury Board Secretariat. In some cases, they may also work with other departments to advance the Treasury Board Secretariat’s mandate for good management

Annex: the Treasury Board Secretariat during COVID-19

From the start of the pandemic, the Treasury Board Secretariat has played critical roles in the Government of Canada’s response to COVID-19, including:

• facilitated the government’s consideration and approval of urgent COVID response measures
• supported the government in introducing temporary flexibilities to expedite the pandemic response, such as an increase in contracting limits for the acquisition of vaccines
• sustained government operations by providing advice and guidance to other departments on the shift to distributed work, from supporting mental health to performance management in a remote context
• proactively engaged with the Office of the Auditor General in support of a federal pandemic response that erred on the side of taking action while prudently assessing risks and documenting decisions for the future
• supported digital solutions to address the crisis, including supporting the development of the COVID Alert App and a new notification service called “Get Updates on COVID-19” and enabling the rollout of Microsoft Teams across the public service

Supply

By law, Parliament must approve all government spending.

The “business of supply” is the process by which the government asks Parliament to authorize its intended expenditures through legislation, i.e. the Appropriation Acts

• The Estimates are a series of reports that provide supporting detail to supply legislation by setting out the government’s spending plans.

The Treasury Board President, supported by the Treasury Board Secretariat, has a number of roles and responsibilities in supply:

Required authorities for voted government spending

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This graphic presents the process to obtain authorities for government spending. The first step is policy approval, which covers the fundamental direction, from Cabinet. The second step is funding decision, which includes source of funds, from the Minister of Finance or Prime Minister. The third step is expenditure and other authorities, which approves new spending and the Estimates, by Treasury Board. The final step is Supply, or Appropriations, by Parliament.

Roles and responsibilities in seeking supply

The Treasury Board:

• has a central decision-making role in the government’s business of supply, including expenditure plans and reporting
• approves ministerial requests for adjustments to voted funds as requested in Treasury Board submissions or other proposals

The Treasury Board Secretariat:

supports the Treasury Board in its roles and responsibilities noted above, which involves:

• reviewing spending and implementation plans for program efficiency and alignment with government priorities
• supporting the supply process by preparing the Estimates and overseeing centrally managed expenditures (for example, central votes for spending authorities that can be carried forward from one fiscal year to the next)

Key steps in securing supply

1. Treasury Board approval of Treasury Board submissions / “Aide-mémoire”
   The approval by Treasury Board allows inclusion of approved funding/authorities into the Estimates.
2. Tabling of the Estimates document
   In the House of Commons during each of three supply periods, usually three or more weeks before introducing the appropriation legislation.
3. Committee appearances
   In the weeks after tabling, the President appears on behalf of the government before parliamentary committees; other ministers and officials may also be called to appear.
4. Introduction of Appropriation Acts
   After Committee review, supply bills are introduced and voted in the House of Commons on the last allotted day of the supply period, then considered in the Senate.
5. Royal Assent
   Formalized after the bill has passed the House of Commons and the Senate, followed by the release of supply to departments.

Reports tabled in Parliament as part of the business of supply

The President typically tables four types of documents each year related to the supply process:

The public and parliamentarians can access the information presented across these various reports in GC InfoBase (www.canada.ca/GCInfoBase)

Current supply cycle at a glance

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The Government’s expenditure cycle at a glance includes the following steps:

The department requests spending authorities for Treasury Board approval.

Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat collects requests approved by Treasury Board and tables Estimates documents for interim supply, the Main Estimates and Supplementary Estimates in the House of Commons and the Senate.

The President of the Treasury Board, the Secretary and other senior officials appear before Parliamentary committees to answer questions about the Estimates.

The supply bill corresponding to the Estimates process is introduced in the House of Commons.

• Interim supply bill for interim supply
• Full supply bill for the Main Estimates
• Full supply for Supplementary Estimates

The House of Commons and the Senate vote on the Appropriation Act prior to the end of the supply period.

Appendix 1: snapshot of government spending

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This pie chart shows that budgetary expenditure authorities in the 2021 to 2022 fiscal year were $383.4 billion as of Main Estimates for the 2021 to 2022 fiscal year, including $217.5 billion in statutory authorities (or 56.7%) and $165.9 billion (or 43.3%) in voted authorities.

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This bar chart shows the composition of budgetary authorities in the 2021 to 2022 fiscal year as of Main Estimates for the 2021 to 2022 fiscal year.

Of statutory authorities:

• public debt was $21.3 billion
• transfers to other levels of government was $86.6 billion
• transfers to persons was $62.5 billion
• other statutory payments were $47.1 billion

Of voted authorities:

• capital budgets were $10.3 billion
• transfer payments were $66.8 billion
• operating budgets, Treasury Board central votes, and payments to Crown corporations (which included projected expenditures of $2.6 billion in home care and mental health spending) were $88.7 billion

Note that the bars of the graph may not add to totals due to rounding.

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Source: Public Accounts and CANSIM 36-10-0104-01

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A line graph shows that the growth in voted budgetary expenditure authorities since the 2015 to 2016 fiscal year has been notably higher (at 21%) than growth in nominal GDP (at 9%), whereas statutory expenditure authorities fell from the 2015 to 2016 fiscal year to the 2016 to 2017 fiscal year and returned to slightly above the 2015 to 2016 fiscal year levels in the 2017 to 2018 fiscal year (up 1% over the period).

Source: Public Accounts and CANSIM 36-10-0104-01

Appendix 2: GC InfoBase

Executive summary

The following explains the “business of supply,” the process by which the government asks Parliament to authorize the funds required to meet its financial obligations. It summarizes:

• the key steps involved in transmitting the government’s projected annual spending to Parliament for review and funding approval (also known as the Estimates)
• the supporting role of the Treasury Board Secretariat regarding the Estimates and the parliamentary approval process

Introduction

The Expenditure Management System sets out the framework for the prioritization, planning, allocation and oversight of the expenditure of public funds across the federal government. The business of supply, the process by which Parliament’s authorization is sought for the government’s expenditures through Appropriation Acts, is one part of that broader system. Parliament has the sole authority to grant supply, which constitutes the amounts and objects (or destination) of all public spending.

Tabling the government’s Estimates documents and introducing related supply bills in the House of Commons are among the key functions of the President of the Treasury Board.

Background and context

The federal budget lays out how the government intends to allocate funding across its priorities. With approved sources of funds, ministers seek to implement initiatives within their areas of responsibility by preparing Treasury Board submissions requesting expenditure and other related authorities. Once approved by the Treasury Board, the related expenditure authorities may then be requested from Parliament.

Parliament approves spending authority in two ways:

• Annual appropriations: For one third of the government’s spending authorities, parliamentary approval is sought through appropriation bills for expenditures that require approval by Parliament each year (e.g. departments’ operating and capital budgets, grants and contributions and certain payments to Crown corporations).
• Other statutes: For roughly two thirds of the government’s spending authorities, Parliament authorizes spending through specific legislation (e.g. public debt charges, income support programs, fiscal equalization, health and social transfers).

The government’s annual spending plan and resource allocation priorities are reflected in the Estimates documents. Parliament has an opportunity to study these documents before the government introduces the related supply bill. Once approved by Parliament, the bill becomes an Appropriation Act that enables the government to make payments from the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

The parliamentary business of supply necessitates the tabling/introduction of two elements:

• the Estimates that provide overall spending details and support the supply bills introduced during each supply period
• the actual supply bills that seek parliamentary spending authority for the portion of overall expenditures that is appropriated annually

The President is responsible for tabling the Estimates documents, on behalf of the government, in the House of Commons. The Estimates include the proposed schedules to the appropriation bill, which is usually introduced in the House within a few weeks of the Estimates tabling. The supply bill (i.e. appropriation bill) enables the government to obtain the parliamentary   authority necessary for program spending.

The President is also responsible for responding to Parliament’s questions about the government’s spending plans, in addition to those of their department (Treasury Board Secretariat) and the larger portfolio (which includes the Canada School of Public Service, the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada, the Public Sector Pension Investment Board and the Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner of Canada). Votes in the House of Commons on “money bills,” including appropriation bills, are matters of confidence.

The President typically tables four different documents each year related to the supply process:

• Parts I and II of the Main Estimates (the Government Expenditure Plan and the departmental Main Estimates): tabled by March 1
• Supplementary Estimates: there is no set number per year, but can be tabled in May, mid October to November, and February of a given year
• Departmental Plans (Part III of the Main Estimates): usually tabled in March (around the same time as the Main Estimates) and describe departmental program and expenditure plans and expected results for the year
• Departmental Results Reports: usually tabled in late October or early November, which describe the organizations’ performance against their Departmental Plan. This usually occurs shortly after the President tables the Public Accounts of Canada each fall

How the Treasury Board Secretariat supports the business of supply

The Treasury Board Secretariat supports the work of the Treasury Board in overseeing ongoing program spending, providing oversight of expenditure plans, and contributing to upfront discipline for new spending initiatives through the review and approval of Treasury Board submissions.

Departmental spending proposals are submitted to the Treasury Board Secretariat in two ways:

• via departmental submissions, where departments seek to include specific in-year and ongoing program or initiative spending authorities in the Main and Supplementary Estimates
• as input to the Annual Reference Level Update in the fall when adjustments are made to all departmental budgets (or reference levels), as required to reflect decisions and changes in forecasts since the previous exercise in the upcoming Main Estimates

COVID-19 reporting

Due to the unprecedented levels of spending in response to the pandemic, Parliament has been provided with information beyond what is normally prepared.

Supplementary Estimates (C), 2020–21; Main Estimates, 2021–22; and Supplementary Estimates (A), 2021–22, included:

• a summary of financial authorities under COVID-19-related legislation
• a COVID-19 online annex, which reconciles the amounts shown in Estimates with the expenditures announced in the COVID-19 Economic Response Plan

Information on COVID-19 authorities by response measure is available on GC InfoBase. It is updated regularly, providing Canadians with an easy-to-use, government-wide view of planned spending in response to COVID-19.   

Responding to a motion adopted in March 2021, information on estimated expenditures was reported monthly to the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates. This expenditure information continues to be updated monthly on GC InfoBase and the Open Government portal.

Conclusion

The President of the Treasury Board, supported by the Treasury Board Secretariat, has several roles and responsibilities in the business of supply that help ensure that the government is able to advance its agenda. Specifically, these roles help ensure that the government is able to implement its priorities, secure required parliamentary expenditure authorities and oversee timely implementation, while ensuring adequate oversight, due regard for proper stewardship of public resources, and accountability to Parliament and the public. On the part of the President, this requires close attention to the supply calendar and the activities in it.

The business of supply is one part of the broader Expenditure Management System, which sets out the framework for government-wide expenditure priority setting, planning, allocation and oversight functions.

The Expenditure Management System as a whole:

• establishes the Estimates and provides for parliamentary approval of supply
• provides oversight and control of government expenditures
• supports priority-setting by ministers and expenditure decision-making at the federal level
• establishes departmental accountabilities, including the requirements to assess ongoing spending against priorities
• reports to Parliament on the performance and results of programs

Appendix: the Estimates calendar

The Canadian federal public service

Public service employees interact with and touch the lives of Canadians every day, in every part of the country and around the world, through an array of services and programs

Overview of the federal public sector

The core public administration by the numbers

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The core public administration by the numbers shows a line graph which illustrates growth within the core public administration from 2000 to 2021. There are three groups observed: executives, non-executives, and knowledge workers.

It is based on the index year of 2000, which was set to 100. It is a measure of growth from the index year of 2000.

In 2021, the growth index observed were:

• 228 for knowledge workers
  • which indicates a growth of 128% since 2000
• 194 for EXs
  • which indicates a growth of 94% since 2000
• 161 for non-EX
  • which indicates a growth of 61% since 2000

Knowledge workers include: Actuarial Science (AC), Auditing (AU), Commerce Officers (CO), Computer Systems (CS), Economics and Social Science Services (EC), Financial Management (FI), Law (LP, LA, LC), Mathematics (MA) and Personnel Administration (PE). The number of knowledge workers within the core public administration has more than doubled in the past twenty years.

The number of knowledge workers within the core public administration has more than doubled in the past twenty years

Knowledge workers include Actuarial Science (AC), Auditing (AU), Commerce Officers (CO), Computer Systems (CS), Economics and Social Science Services (EC), Financial Management (FI), Law (LP, LA, LC), Mathematics (MA) and Personnel Administration (PE).

People management roles and responsibilities

The Clerk, the Treasury Board, deputy heads and the Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer within the Treasury Board Secretariat each play a key role in people management within the public service:

Overview of bargaining agents

Negotiation processes

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This graph depicts the collective bargaining process. The process follows the following steps:

• A global economic mandate to negotiate is obtained from the Prime Minister
• Group-specific mandates are obtained form the President of the Treasury Board and other Treasury Board Secretariat officials depending on delegated authority
• Treasury Board Secretariat officials negotiate* with bargaining agents
• A tentative agreement is reached
• Bargaining unit members vote to ratify the agreement
• Authority to sign the collective agreement is presented to the Treasury Board for approval
• The agreement is signed
• The agreement is implemented

*During negotiations, one of the parties can declare impasse, which will trigger the applicable dispute resolution mechanism, either Arbitration or Conciliation / Strike. For the core public administration in the 2018 round of bargaining, 11 groups selected conciliation/strike, 16 groups selected arbitration

Pay Equity Implementation

TBS is responsible for developing and maintaining pay equity plans in the core public administration and for RCMP. Each step of the pay equity plan development will be negotiated at a legislated pay equity committee (employer and employee representatives).

In its role as Employer, the Treasury Board is responsible for pensions and benefits

Pensions:
Plans are set in legislation and not subject to bargaining

Benefits:
Health care, dental care, and disability insurance are negotiated outside the collective bargaining process

People management policies and regulations

People Management Policy Suite

The policy suite consists of seven policies and 24 directives:

• the Policy on People Management (19 directives) sets expectations for the management of all core public administration employees, including executives
• the Policy on the Management of Executives (three directives) sets additional expectations specific to the management of executives
• the Policy on Official Languages (three directives) supports compliance with and implementation of the Official Languages Act and its regulations
• four other policies addressing specific issues*

The policy suite, with some exceptions,* was renewed in 2020 with a focus on enhancing governance, leadership, and performance measurement.

* The Policies on: Legal Assistance and Indemnification; Strikes; Termination of Employment of Public Service Employees Due to Alternative Delivery Situations; and Workplace Day Care Centres

The workplace

The Treasury Board is responsible for maintaining a workplace that is healthy and safe, diverse and inclusive, free from harassment and violence, supportive of employees’ ability to work in their official language, and where expectations for behaviour and shared values and ethics are clear. Some of the key initiatives in support of these objectives:

The future of work: research and diagnostic

People management during the COVID-19 pandemic

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 and the resulting public health restrictions, the Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer’s objective was to ensure that the public service could continue to deliver services efficiently and new programs to Canadians while ensuring safety of employees.

Considerations

• No one-size-fits-all approach to guide post-pandemic planning
• A principle-based approach and an enterprise framework to balance enterprise coherence with local flexibility
• Organizations develop their own plans that consider their nature of the work and their services to Canadians

Key partners in human resources management

In addition to the Treasury Board, the Privy Council Office, the Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer, and deputy Heads, other key partners with responsibilities for the management of human resources include: 

Legislative framework

Executive summary

This document provides an overview of the management of people in the federal public service, including the roles and responsibilities administered by Treasury Board as the employer for the core public administration. The employer is supported by the Treasury Board Secretariat through the Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer.

Introduction

The federal government is the largest employer in Canada with $65.8 billion annually in total compensation costs for 2019–20 and comprises the core public administration (including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police), separate agencies, Crown corporations, and the Canadian Armed Forces (Regular and Reserve Forces). As of March 31, 2021, the federal public sector employed approximately 567,634 people.

The Treasury Board is the employer for approximately 245,000 employees within the core public administration, which comprises the 68 organizations named in Schedules I and IV of the Financial Administration Act (e.g., Health Canada, the Department of Justice and Natural Resources Canada). As the employer, the Treasury Board is responsible for people management within the core public administration. The Financial Administration Act confers the following authorities and responsibilities to the Treasury Board over the core public administration:

• establishing total compensation and rewards, as well as terms and conditions of employment for approximately 245,000 employees, including pensions and benefits
• setting policy direction for people management
• maintaining a healthy, diverse, inclusive, bilingual and safe workplace

The Treasury Board and its President also have authorities and responsibilities for other parts of the federal public sector, though more limited than that of the core public administration.

• Separate agencies named in Schedule V of the Financial Administration Act (e.g. the Canada Revenue Agency and the Parks Canada Agency) are not part of the core public administration. These agencies are employers in their own right and are responsible for their own people management. That being said, Treasury Board approves collective bargaining mandates and agreements for these separate employers.
• As of 2019, Treasury Board, as the employer for uniformed members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, has the authority to set members’ pay and benefits. Civilian employees of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are public service employees and part of the core public administration.
• Members of the Canadian Armed Forces are not employees of Treasury Board, but the National Defence Act authorizes the Treasury Board to establish pay and benefits.
• Crown corporations (e.g. Canada Post) are separate legal entities with authority over internal human resources. In some cases, the Governor in Council may require a Crown corporation to obtain Treasury Board approval of their collective bargaining mandates prior to bargaining.

The Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer within the Treasury Board Secretariat supports Treasury Board ministers and its President by leading research, policy development and oversight, collective bargaining, and the development of strategies and tools to ensure departments and agencies can effectively manage their workforce.

Background and context

Workforce demographics of the core public administration

As of March 31, 2021, of the 245,739 employees in the core public administration, the majority (84%) are indeterminate (permanent employees). The remaining 16% are term (defined contract length), casual (temporary contracts limited to 90 working days) or students (full-time students hired through approved student programs).

Over the last 20 years, the core public administration has observed relatively steady growth. Since 2000, the non-executive population has grown by 61% (to 239,318), though it is of note that within this population, knowledge workers grew by 128% (to 56,368). Over this same period, the executive population has grown by 94% (to 6,421).

Within the core public administration more than 209,000 employees are represented by one of 17 bargaining agents who have negotiated 28 collective agreements. The majority (52.8%) of employees work outside of the National Capital Region.

According to the report on employment equity in the public service of Canada for fiscal year 2019 to 2020, the make-up of the core public administration met or exceeded the workforce availability  targets for three of the four designated groups (women, Indigenous peoples, members of visible minorities) defined by the Employment Equity Act.

Representation for persons with disabilities has stabilized after a six-year decline. However, representation for persons with disabilities has remained below the workforce availability targets. Workforce availability targets for persons with disabilities nearly doubled two years ago due to a broadening of the range of disability types considered in the 2016 Census.

Representation of the designated groups is not evenly distributed across classification groups and levels. For example, both Indigenous peoples and persons with disabilities are under-represented in the Executive Group. The updated core public administration representation rates will be reported against the same workforce availability targets until the new workforce availability estimates based on Census 2021 become available (this typically occurs two years after the Census). 

1) Setting total compensation

The Treasury Board establishes compensation for the federal public sector in an integrated manner to attract and retain employees to support the delivery of results for the people of Canada. This includes wages, salaries, current and future benefits, pensions, and other costs owed to employees as compensation (e.g. employer Canada Pension Plan / Quebec Pension Plan and Employment Insurance contributions, paid leave).

The Treasury Board Secretariat is responsible for establishing business requirements for the pay system, whereas Public Services and Procurement Canada is responsible for their implementation and for delivering pay services to government employees.

The Treasury Board Secretariat supports the President of the Treasury Board in the oversight, management and administration of the Public Service Pension Plan and in the stewardship of other federal retirement programs, including the Members of Parliament Pension Plan.

As the employer, the Treasury Board has authorities through the Financial Administration Act, to organize work and to provide for the classification of positions and persons employed in the core public administration. The organization of work and the classification of positions is not negotiated. The classification system is divided into 32 occupational groups, and the work is evaluated by 74 job evaluation or classification standards. 

a) Centre on Diversity and Inclusion

The Centre on Diversity and Inclusion supports federal organizations in creating safe, healthy, diverse and inclusive workplaces through:

• development and implementation of new and innovative initiatives
• coordination and engagement with organizations and networks to foster increased cohesion for diversity and inclusion

b) Official languages

Under the Official Languages Act, the Treasury Board is responsible for developing and coordinating policy instruments to ensure that:

• Canadians communicate with and receive services from the federal government in the official language of their choice
• the federal public sector workforce is made up of English-speaking and French-speaking Canadians in a proportion that reflects their representation in Canadian society
• each federal public sector position is identified bilingual or unilingual
• language proficiency standards for bilingual positions are established

To effectively implement the Official Languages Act and its Regulations, the President of the Treasury Board has the delegated authority to amend Treasury Board official languages policy instruments.

Federal institutions subject to the Treasury Board Policy on Official Languages include departments from the core public administration, separate employers, Crown corporations and privatized entities such as airport authorities and Air Canada.
Treasury Board also oversees the Official Languages (Communications with and Services to the Public) Regulation.

The Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer collects, analyzes and presents data on the public service workforce and bilingualism in the context of an Annual Report on Official Languages tabled before the Parliament by the President of the Treasury Board.

c) Wellness and mental health

A Joint Union-Management Task Force on Mental Health released three reports since 2015 in alignment with the National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace (Standard), which was developed by the Canadian Standards Association. Federal public sector organizations have been developing action plans focused on the promotion of mental health that reflect the Federal Public Service Workplace Mental Health Strategy’s three strategic goals:

• changing the culture to be more respectful toward people with mental health issues
• building capacity with tools and resources for employees at all levels
• measuring and reporting on actions

In 2017, the Centre of Expertise on Mental Health in the Workplace was launched to facilitate centralized access to resources and tools for organizations, managers, and employees to assist them in their organizational efforts to build a healthy, respectful and supportive public service. This includes supporting organizational mental health practitioners and champions to help departments prevent psychological harm and promote mental health in the federal public service.

d) Workplace harassment and violence

Bill C-65, An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code (harassment and violence), the Parliamentary Employment and Staff Relations Act and the Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 1 was introduced in the House of Commons on November 7, 2017. As of January 2021, the new stand-alone Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations applies to all federal workplaces covered under Part II of the Canada Labour Code, including the federally regulated private sector, the federal public service and parliamentary workplaces. It replaces Part XX (violence prevention) of the Canada Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, as well as portions of two other regulations that include violence prevention provisions. The Regulations include provisions to:

• prevent harassment and violence through comprehensive prevention policies, training and improved data collection
• respond to occurrences when they do happen through a resolution process that requires employers to communicate regularly with parties and provide multiple options for seeking resolution
• make available information respecting support services to employees

To this end, a public service–wide directive has been developed in collaboration with bargaining agents. The Directive on the Prevention and Resolution of Workplace Harassment and Violence (2021) replaces the Policy on Harassment Prevention and Resolution (2012) and the Directive on the Harassment Complaint Process (2012).

e) Occupational Health and Safety

The Treasury Board Secretariat provides direction to the various departmental actors (deputy heads, managers, supervisors and employees) regarding their respective duties and responsibilities under the Canada Labour Code and to make certain that the required measures are taken to ensure enterprise-wide compliance.

f) COVID-19

With the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 and the resulting public health restrictions, most federal public service employees shifted to working remotely. While economic, demographic, and technological changes have been gradually building over time, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated their pace of change in the federal public service.

The overall people management approach during COVID-19 and throughout post-pandemic planning is guided by sound public health advice, departmental mandates and operational requirements and regional realities. This employer guidance is evergreen, aligned with emerging issues, and under continuous improvement based on a growing body of evidence and lessons learned.

In summer 2020, the Guidebook for Departments on Easing of Restrictions: Federal Worksites, articulated the government’s approach to easing of COVID-19 restrictions across the country for federal employees. It was meant for the core public administration and separate agencies alike, as applicable.

The following principles have informed the guidance and continue to apply:   

• the health, safety and wellness of public servants and Canadians are paramount   
• public health advice to contain the spread of COVID-19 will be adhered to   
• programs and services that Canadians rely on will be maintained    

A post-pandemic planning framework is being developed to articulate an integrated approach to planning across people, digital and workplace dimensions. The framework seeks to maintain and strengthen enterprise-wide coherence while providing flexibility within a frame through a phased approach for the gradual and measured transition to future workplaces.

g) Values and ethics

The Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act requires that the Treasury Board establish a code of conduct applicable to the entire federal public sector. The Values and Ethics Code for the Public Sector therefore outlines the values and expected behaviours that guide federal public servants in all activities related to their professional duties. Adherence to the Code is a condition of employment. The Code lists five values: respect for democracy, respect for people, integrity, stewardship and excellence.

What we do

The Office of the Chief Information Officer provides leadership, direction, oversight and capacity building for information management, information technology, government security, access to information, privacy, and internal and external service delivery.

• Setting strategic direction and priorities
• Developing and administering legislation and policies
• Overseeing and enabling digital initiatives
• Delivering platforms and services
• Building functional communities

Who we are

Office of the Chief Information Officer

Catherine Luelo

Chief Information Officer of Canada

Marc Brouillard

Chief Technology Officer

Paul N. Wagner

Assistant Deputy Minister, Transformation

Sonya Read

Acting Assistant Secretary, Digital Policy and Services

Denis Skinner

Executive Director, Digital Change

Where we fit in the digital landscape

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Where OCIO fits in the Digital Landscape

How we deliver: strategic direction and priorities

The Office of the Chief Information Officer sets out enterprise digital transformation objectives and priorities through strategic planning and governance activities:

• setting the strategic operational and policy direction for Government of Canada for information technology, information management and data, service, and supporting enterprise planning and reporting, through the Digital Operational Strategic Plan
• establishing priorities for enterprise shared services and the enablement of digital government transformation
• establishing and supporting enterprise governance for decision making
• working with partners and stakeholders to advance priorities
• facilitating innovation and experimentation in service design and delivery, information, data, information technology and cyber security

Key priorities: Enterprise Information Technology Strategy and investment plan, Digital Nations Ministerial Summit, 5th National Action Plan on Open Government

How we deliver: legislation and policy

The Office of the Chief Information Officer supports the administration, development, oversight and implementation of  key legislation and administrative policies for the Government of Canada:

• administration and performance oversight of legislation and policies related to access to information and privacy across the federal government, and the mainstreaming of open government and transparency
• development, management, and performance oversight of whole of government administrative policies (Service and Digital, Government Security)
• establishes a consistent enterprise-wide cyber security posture and enabling the secure delivery of Government of Canada programs and services to Canadians
• supporting the adoption of the Government of Canada’s Digital Standards

Key priorities: Access to Information Review, Privacy Act modernization, enterprise information technology standards, new accessibility standard for information and communications technology, security screening modernization

How we deliver: overview of legislation and policy

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*The Policy on the Planning and Management of Investments is held by the Office of the Comptroller General.

How we deliver: oversight and enablement

The Office of the Chief Information Officer supports the successful implementation of major transformation initiatives through digital investment oversight and digital enablement initiatives and activities:

• provides expert advice to support the Deputy Minister Committees on Core Services and Enterprise Priorities and Planning as well as establishing and deploying a team dedicated directly to four of the largest digitally-enabled departmental transformation initiatives
• exercises oversight of the management of digitally-enabled projects and programs, information technology, enterprise architecture, enterprise data management
• establishing guidance to support innovative practices and technologies, including open-source and open-standard applications, and agile application development
• working with departments to review and endorse digital initiatives, projects and investments, and review results

Key priorities: Mature governance structures for digital programs, ePayroll, addressing technology risk and funding sustainability

How we deliver: platforms and services

The Office of the Chief Information Officer acts as a business owner, and also delivers platforms and services to departments and agencies, as well as to Canadians to support its mandate:

• provides strategic leadership and oversight of digital integration by ensuring the appropriate digital platforms are in place to facilitate both internal public service operations as well as service delivery to Canadians
• acts as a digital incubator, adopting product management practices and facilitating innovation on enterprise digital platforms related to information management, digital collaboration, system interoperability and service delivery
• providing enterprise digital platforms to enable Open Government and services to enable access to information and access to personal information

Key priorities: Proof of vaccination credentials, advancing a Government of Canada digital identity

How we deliver: building communities

The Office of the Chief Information Officer provides leadership and direction to functional communities across the Government of Canada to support workforce capacity and capability:

• supporting recruitment, development and recognition of digital leaders and talent that is representative of the liersity of Canada
• supporting training and professionalization
• provide policy guidance, interpretation and support

These include:

• computer Systems community: about 20,000 employees
• other “digital” employees: about 10,000 employees
• access to information and privacy: 3,000 to 4,000 employees
• security: about 1,000 employees

Key priorities: Mature the chief information officer / heads of information technology community, establish a community development office for access to information and privacy professionals, establish a community for chief data officers

Annex: Glossary

Applications:

Software or a computer program designed to help people perform an activity.

Architecture:

The design of how software applications communicate.

Enterprise:

In the content of Digital Government, meaning across departmental silos.

Enterprise Architecture:

Organizing the organization to deliver value through software solutions.

Infrastructure:

Underlying systems required to host and deliver software solutions.

Integration:

Methods to link applications and platforms that facilitate the flow of data, enabling end-to-end services.

Interoperability:

The ability for software systems to exchange information and coordinate.

Platforms:

Shields developers from the underlying complexities of infrastructure and provides
reusable components in the development of applications.

Service Channels:

The means of accessing a service, including paper, phone and online. Online services are delivered through applications.

What is digital and what can it provide?

• Digital is rethinking how to use new capabilities to improve how customers are served.
• Digital is about the technological and organizational processes that allow an enterprise to be agile and fast. 
• Being digital requires being open to reexamining your entire way of doing business and understanding where the new frontiers of value are. 
• A digital mind-set institutionalizes cross-functional collaboration, flattens hierarchies, and builds environments to encourage the generation of new ideas.

- “What ‘Digital’ Really Means,”
Dörner and Edelman (McKinsey & Company)

What opportunities can digital provide?

The digital government landscape: who does what

Where we fit in the digital landscape

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Where OCIO fits in the Digital Landscape

Digital landscape: other key federal partners

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Digital change at scale requires actively engaging and working with key partners.

• Government Operations and Services
  • Public Services and Procurement Canada Government application (e.g., HR software) and common service provider (e.g., real property manager)
  • Service Delivery Departments (e.g., Employment and Social Development Canada, Canada Revenue Agency, Immigration, Refugees & Citizenship Canada) Delivery of services critical to national economic and social wellbeing (e.g., Benefits Delivery Modernization)
• Privacy and Cyber Security
  • Public Safety Canada Coordination and strategic policy-making on national cyber security matters
  • Justice Canada Privacy Act Reform
• Economy
  • Statistics Canada Collection, compilation, analysis and publication of statistical information
• Data
  • Communications Security Establishment and Canadian Centre for Cyber Security Cyber Security Centre of Expertise
  • Library and Archives Canada Data preservation

The digital government landscape:

The business layer: there is a large and complex service delivery and operational environment

76 departments and agencies report over 1,200 services through their service inventories.

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The chart shows the top ten services by transaction volume for 2019-20, across four service channels: online, by telephone, in-person and by mail. The services include:

• Highway Traveller Processing (CBSA)
• Employment Insurance Benefits (ESDC)
• Provincial/Territorial Tax Credit (CRA)
• GST/HST Credit Payments (CRA)
• Air Traveller Processing (CBSA)
• Inliidual Income Tax Returns (CRA)
• Commercial Processing (CBSA)
• Inliidual Tax Enquiries (CRA)
• Old Age Security Benefits (ESDC)
• Provincial/Territorial Child Benefit Program (CRA)

High-level measurements used to track overall Government of Canada service performance*

*Service Inventory: Results based on 207 key services identified by large departments and agencies (2019–2020)

The information and data layer: information and data holdings are significant but locked within institutional and program silos

Data have the power to enable the government to make better decisions, design better programs and deliver more effective services.

But for this to occur – and for us to share data in a way that allows other governments, businesses, researchers and the not-for-profit sector to also extract value from data – we need to refresh our approach.

The scope of enterprise data and information is broad:

• regulation, security and enforcement
• operations (e.g., human resources, financial)
• services to Canadians, including businesses
• research, policies and programs

Canada's regulatory and legislative landscape is complex. It defines the boundaries of data and information sharing within the federal government, with other jurisdictions in Canada and abroad, and with Indigenous Peoples

Applications and technology layer: the IT ecosystem is large with increasing annual expenditures

• 50 Networks
• 21 Email Systems
• 385 Data Centres
• 12k Government of Canada Applications

Government of Canada IT Operating Expenditures ($ billions)

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Infrastructure = Production and Operations Computing + IT Security + Telecom and Networks

Distributed Computing: expenditure on workstations, desktop and office productivity tools

Government of Canada IT Operating Expenditures by IT Services Groups ($ millions)

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Infrastructure = Production and Operations Computing + IT Security + Telecom and Networks

Distributed Computing: expenditure on workstations, desktop and office productivity tools

Shared Services Canada and the Office of the Chief Information Officer continue to make progress towards standardizing, integrating and modernizing networks, emails and data centre applications.

Source: 2019–20 Department IT Expenditure Reports 44 partner departments + 3 client departments (Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada)

Note: Shared Services Canada (SSC) expenditures include SSC’s Vote Net Revenue (IT Services Provided by SSC to Other Departments)

Applications and technology layer: there remains significant opportunity for modernization

Aging IT Assessment

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• Data as of January 25, 2021, and filtered on Active, In-Production, and Included in Portfolio Assessment: Yes or Blank
• Aging IT assessment takes into account the app business value, criticality, funding condition, if a business continuity plan is in place, and technical condition.
• Application Portfolio Health Indicator (APHI) = (Number of “No Attention Required” + number of “Minimal Attention Required”) / Number of applications.
• Not assessed: not enough attributes available to fully assess the application.
• Mission-critical applications: applications that support the delivery of critical services. Critical services are services and activities that if disrupted would cause high or very high risk to the health, safety, security, economic well-being or continuity of government operations.

Government of Canada Application Health Indicator from 2013 to 2020

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• APHI is the percentage of healthy applications in the GC where the health of the application is determined based on a department’s self-assessment of the application’s business value, technical condition, funding condition and criticality.

• Approximately two thirds of Government of Canada Business Applications are calculated as not healthy
• Application portfolio health results show a slow progress on aging IT since 2013

*Application Portfolio Health Indicator (APHI) is the percentage of healthy applications in the Government of Canada where the health of the application is determined based on a department’s self-assessment of the application’s business value, technical condition, funding condition and criticality.

Source: GC APM as of January 25, 2021

Digital enables horizontal integration

The cross-cutting nature of digital government is challenging vertical departmental structures and underscoring the importance of operating across mandates and organizations.

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The cross-cutting nature of digital government is challenging vertical departmental structures and underscoring the importance of operating across mandates and organizations.

What are the challenges?

Many underlying challenges to the implementation of digital government result from, or are exacerbated by, siloed approaches to operations, data and technology:

1. The government has an outdated and complex IT infrastructure that affects its ability to respond efficiently and effectively to the changing needs of Canadians.
2. Services and the mechanisms to access services continue to be siloed and inconsistent. Some services are not accessible or secure, and user experiences vary greatly across government.
3. The government lacks maturity in the implementation of enterprise standards and solutions for data, information and IT to drive horizontal priorities.
4. There are long-standing institutional barriers to change and innovation, including existing processes, governance, procurement practices, and lack of digital skills. 

What are some of the best practices to support digital government?

Leading digital governments across Canada and around the world have prioritized:

• developing the necessary common digital platforms and components needed across government to deliver services
• putting user needs over government needs, and avoiding project surprises: relentlessly researching, developing and testing services with the people who will actually use them
• delivering service improvements to the public on an incremental and continuous basis (e.g., daily not yearly)
• recruiting digital professionals and building capacity of public servants, and empowering them with tools and autonomy
• launching digital marketplaces to make it easier for private businesses to collaborate with government on service delivery

What are our key priorities for advancing the digital agenda?

The Digital Operations Strategic Plan (DOSP) 2021–2024 outlines the four strategic pillars to transition to a more digital government. These pillars are the enduring objectives that the Government of Canada will pursue to make digital government a reality and to help us provide a fully digital service experience for Canadians.

1. Modernize legacy IT systems: The Government of Canada’s major service delivery systems are easy to use and maintain, stable and reliable, secure and adaptable.
2. Improve services: Inliiduals and businesses are satisfied with and trust Government of Canada services, which are reliable, secure, timely, accessible, and easy to use from any device.
3. Implement enterprise: Departments make better data-driven decisions, operations are more effective and efficient, costs are lower, and duplication of effort is reduced.
4. Transform the institution: Government of Canada public servants are digitally enabled through cultural and operational shifts and work on modern, lierse and multidisciplinary teams to serve the public better. 

Initiatives to support the key priorities

There are some key initiatives that could be pursued in order to achieve the priority goal of delivering government services efficiently and effectively:

• continue to invest and modernize our IT systems, networks and infrastructure so that they are easy to use, reliable and secure
• continue the development of well-tested, Government as Platform building blocks that are used for common interaction points with Canadians, such as notifications, applications and payments, in order to provide better, more consistent services
• design content and services based on direct research and testing with the people who will actually use them; build and improve incrementally and continuously
• develop the adoption of a digital identity for Canadians in order to more easily access government services; this could be supported by the use of digital credentials
• work toward implementing an enterprise approach to IT operations and tools and the use and management of data
• maintain a goal of policy simplification: policies and programs should be designed with an understanding of how the client will interact with the end service

Regulations: an introduction

Regulations are a form of law and a key policy instrument used by government:

• legislation sets an overarching framework, while regulations establish operational details
• at the federal level, regulations can be made by the Governor in Council or by a Minister or head of an agency, as delegated by Parliament in enabling legislation

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This image shows that regulations are made by every order of government.

Three boxes show the types of regulations made by the three orders of government: federal, provincial and municipal.

The first box reads “Federal regulations deal with areas of federal jurisdiction (e.g. patent rules, vehicle emissions standards, drug licensing)”.

The second box reads “Provincial regulations deal with areas of provincial jurisdiction (e.g. land use, education, health)”.

The third box reads “Municipal by-laws deal with issues of local interest (e.g. zoning, property taxes, local roadways)”.

Regulations protect health, safety, security and the environment, and support innovation, productivity and competition.

A significant part of government operations

Regulation is an important dimension of government activity and one in which the President of the Treasury Board plays a significant role.

The President of the Treasury Board establishes the Government of Canada’s regulatory policy framework and leads whole-of-government regulatory cooperation efforts.

55 federal departments and agencies have regulatory responsibilities.

Annually, the Treasury Board reviews and approves 100 to 200 regulatory proposals, with an additional 200 to 300 orders-in-council.

This includes proposals to add, remove and update regulations in order to address emerging technologies and new challenges to health, safety, security and the environment.

The COVID-19 pandemic required flexibility to address rapidly emerging priorities needed to uphold the health and safety of Canadians.

Role of the Treasury Board President

The President of the Treasury Board has 2 principal roles in the federal regulatory system:

• leading the Government of Canada’s work on regulatory policy and regulatory cooperation
  • regulatory policy outlines the requirements that federal regulators must meet in developing and implementing regulations
  • regulatory cooperationwith provincial, territorial and international partners aims to harmonize regulations and reduce barriers
• chairing the Treasury Board, which considers and approves regulatory proposals and orders in council as the Cabinet committee responsible for Governor in Council matters, often referred to as “Treasury Board (Part B)”

The President is also the Minister responsible for regulations related to public administration (e.g. access to information) and employer-related issues (e.g. pensions, official languages)

Treasury Board (Part A and Part B)

Established in 1867, the Treasury Board is the only statutory Cabinet Committee.

It has two distinct functions:

Role 1: lead regulatory policy and cooperation

Canada’s regulatory system needs to constantly adapt to keep pace with rapid change.

As the Minister responsible for federal regulatory policy and cooperation, the President:

• leads whole-of-government work to continuously improve and streamline the regulatory system
• advances the government’s regulatory priorities, including through Cabinet directives and Treasury Board policies
• leads the Government of Canada’s efforts to cooperate with other jurisdictions in the development and management of regulatory frameworks as a means to reduce barriers to trade

Federal regulatory policy is set out in the Cabinet Directive on Regulation, which establishes expectations and requirements in the development, management and review of federal regulations.

Role 2: chairing Treasury Board (Governor in Council)

The Treasury Board is the Cabinet committee responsible for considering Governor in Council matters (i.e. regulations and most orders-in-council) when it is referred to by the official title of “Treasury Board (Governor in Council).”

• The Governor in Council is the Governor General acting on the advice and with the consent of the Queen’s Privy Council

The President of the Treasury Board:

• chairs the Treasury Board (Governor in Council)
• ensures that decisions on regulatory proposals are consistent with the Cabinet Directive on Regulation, are within ministerial authorities, and are in the public interest

Role 2 (cont’d): types of Governor in Council proposals

There are 2 types of Governor in Council proposals: regulations and orders in council

Most Governor in Council proposals are made public after approval

Regulation approval process (usually 18 to 24 months)

There are 2 key decision points for the Treasury Board in this process:

1. approving the draft regulation for (or an exemption from) pre-publication in Canada Gazette, Part I
2. final approval of the regulation

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The process begins with early stakeholder consultation and policy development. Following these consultations, federal regulators undertake:

• planning and preliminary review
• analysis of the potential impact of regulations
• drafting of the proposed regulations
• a review of the regulatory submission that will be brought to Treasury Board (Governor in Council)

During this process, federal regulators are supported by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, which reviews and provides feedback on the regulatory submission.

The Treasury Board (Governor in Council) reviews the regulatory submission and decides if it is ready for pre-publication in part 1 of the Canada Gazette, or, if the submission will be exempt from pre-publication. If the draft regulation is published, it allows the public an opportunity to provide comments on it. Federal regulators then address the comments and review the final regulatory submission before it is brought to the Treasury Board (Governor in Council) for final approval.

Once approved, the regulation is registered and published in part 2 of the Canada Gazette. The regulation is set to be reviewed by the Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations at a later date to ensure it is compliant with legal requirements.

Federal roles in regulatory development

In addition to the Treasury Board, other key federal partners support regulatory development:

Text version

This image shows the key federal partners who, in addition to the Treasury Board, support regulatory development.

Sponsoring Ministers bring forward regulatory proposals in keeping with their mandates.

The Treasury Board Secretariat reviews authorities, conducts regulatory design and analysis and supports Treasury Board decision-making.

The Privy Council Office ensures examination and registration according to the Statutory Instruments Act.

The Department of Justice Canada provides legal review to ensure compliance with the Statutory Instruments Act.

Public Services and Procurement Canada publishes draft and final regulations in the Canada Gazette.

The Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations examines and scrutinizes regulations made by the government.

How the Treasury Board Secretariat supports you

Annex: legal and policy frameworks for Governor in Council regulatory proposals

Executive summary

The President of the Treasury Board has two principal roles in the federal regulatory system:

• leading the Government of Canada’s work on regulatory policy
• chairing the Treasury Board, which considers regulatory proposals and orders-in-council

The President is also the Minister responsible for regulations related to public administration (e.g. access to information) and employer-related issues (e.g. pensions and official languages). An annex has been included that outlines regulatory initiatives that are underway.

Introduction

Regulations are a type of law and a key policy instrument used by the federal government to support a broad range of policy objectives, including the protection of health, safety, security and the environment. While legislation sets out an overarching legal framework, regulations establish requirements and operational details. A strong regulatory system helps build public confidence in government and in the safety of regulated products and services. Regulations also support a fair and competitive economy.

The principles for the federal regulatory system are enshrined in the Cabinet Directive on Regulation. Led by the President of the Treasury Board, the directive serves as the regulatory policy framework for departments and agencies. The directive provides guidance on the regulatory life cycle:

• regulatory development (e.g. stakeholder consultation, regulatory impact analysis and regulatory cooperation)
• regulatory management (e.g. compliance and enforcement)
• regulatory review (e.g. review of regulatory stock and programs)

Additional legal requirements for federal regulations are set out in the Red Tape Reduction Act (for which the President of the Treasury Board is responsible) and the Statutory Instruments Act (for which the Minister of Justice is responsible).

Through legislation, Parliament has delegated the authority to make regulations to the Governor in Council, ministers and administrative agencies; this is why regulations are also referred to as “delegated,” “secondary” or “subordinate” legislation. The Governor in Council is the Governor General acting on the advice and with the consent of the Queen’s Privy Council. The Treasury Board is the Cabinet committee responsible for considering most Governor in Council matters (i.e. it is not responsible for the approval of senior appointments). It carries out this function as a committee of the Privy Council, with the official title of “Treasury Board (Governor in Council).” This committee is often referred to as “Treasury Board (Part B).” By comparison, Treasury Board (Part A) acts as the government’s expenditure manager (e.g. by preparing the government’s expenditure plans and approving the use of new money that has been set aside in the budget), management board (e.g. by setting the rules that establish how people, public funds and government assets are managed) and employer of the core public administration (e.g. through collective bargaining and determining the terms and conditions of employment).

Governor in Council decisions are final and do not require ratification by other Cabinet committees or Cabinet. Most Governor in Council proposals are made public after approval, although a small number are exempted from publication in the Canada Gazette under section 15 of the Statutory Instruments Regulations; many of these exemptions relate to issues of national security.

The Treasury Board (Governor in Council) considers two types of Governor in Council proposals: regulations and orders-in-council.

• regulations (form of law): examples include food and drug safety, environmental protection, and transportation safety
• an order-in-council (legal decision): examples include authority to enter into an international agreement, tabling of budgetary estimates and release of supply, and bringing legislation into force

Roles of the Treasury Board President in the federal regulatory system

The President of Treasury Board has two principal roles in the federal regulatory system.

As the Minister responsible for federal regulatory policy, the President of Treasury Board is responsible for:

• leading whole-of-government work to continuously improve and streamline the regulatory system
• advancing the government’s regulatory policy priorities and regulatory cooperation

The President of the Treasury Board (Governor in Council) also:

• chairs the Treasury Board (Governor in Council), which considers most regulations and orders-in-council
• ensures that regulatory proposals are consistent with relevant Cabinet directives, are within ministerial authorities and are in the public interest

In addition, the President of Treasury Board is also the Minister responsible for the Treasury Board Secretariat and is responsible for regulations related to public administration (e.g. access to information) and employer-related issues (e.g. pensions and official languages).

Roles of the Treasury Board Secretariat in the federal regulatory system

The Treasury Board Secretariat supports the President as the lead Minister for federal regulatory policy and as chair of the Treasury Board (Governor in Council).

The Treasury Board Secretariat is responsible for the following:

1. Supporting Treasury Board through review and challenge of regulatory submissions and orders-in-council

The Treasury Board Secretariat reviews, applies due diligence and challenges regulatory submissions to the Treasury Board (Governor in Council) to ensure that they meet the requirements of the Cabinet Directive on Regulations. Similarly, the Treasury Board Secretariat reviews and challenges orders-in-council submitted for Board approval. Treasury Board Secretariat officials brief the President and their staff and make recommendations to the Treasury Board regarding regulatory and order-in-council submissions.

Annually, the Treasury Board (Governor in Council) considers 100 to 200 regulatory proposals and 200 to 300 orders-in-council. These include proposals to add, remove and update regulations to address emerging technologies and new challenges to health, safety, security and the environment.

2. Central oversight of Canada’s regulatory system and regulatory policy framework

The Treasury Board Secretariat provides central oversight, and it assesses and reports publicly on the government’s overall performance in delivering on recent regulatory reforms and on its regulatory policy framework.

The Treasury Board Secretariat has also been leading whole-of-government efforts to review regulatory requirements and practices that hinder economic growth and innovation. Examples of this work include:

• establishing the Centre for Regulatory Innovation to help regulators respond to technological advances and leverage novel regulatory approaches
• leading the development of annual omnibus legislation to remove or update outdated or redundant requirements
• leading the legislative review of the Red Tape Reduction Act, which includes the One-for-One Rule that requires regulators to remove a regulation each time they introduce a new regulation that imposes new administrative burden on business

3. Regulatory cooperation

The Treasury Board Secretariat works with other federal regulators, as well as provinces, territories and international partners, to reduce duplicative requirements and barriers between jurisdictions that impede trade or business investment.

The Treasury Board Secretariat also works to promote good regulatory practices internationally through leadership roles in international forums such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, and through the negotiation of good regulatory practices and regulatory cooperation provisions and chapters in trade agreements.

4. Supporting the federal regulatory community and supporting departments

The Treasury Board Secretariat works closely with departments to support the regulatory community and help departments in the development of regulatory proposals. For example, the Treasury Board Secretariat works with the Canada School of Public Service and the Community of Federal Regulators to provide training to regulators on regulations and cost-benefit analysis.

Regulatory initiatives underway

For an overview of regulatory initiatives currently underway, see the Appendix.

Appendix: regulatory initiatives underway

Executive summary

Sound stewardship of government resources relies on robust financial and management oversight functions, supported by a comprehensive policy framework that incorporates three elements:

1. Financial Management
   • Transfer payments
   • Costing
   • Public Accounts
   • Service Fees Review
   • Financial Management Trasformation
2. Acquired services and assets
   • Investment Planning
   • Procurement
   • Project and programme management
   • Asset Management
3. Iinternal Audit
   • Profesional practices
   • Central audit function
   • Appointment of audit committee members

The Treasury Board President and Treasury Board ministers, supported by the Treasury Board Secretariat through the Office of the Comptroller General, help ensure government departments and agencies have the tools and practices to deliver effective programs and spending.

Introduction

Canadians expect the government to make the most of finite public resources. Meeting this expectation requires government departments and agencies to spend public money in an accountable, effective, and transparent manner.

The Treasury Board, as the government’s management board, sets policies and provides oversight to support these goals. The responsibilities assigned to the Treasury Board President, as Chair of the Treasury Board, are inseparable from this overall mandate. The Treasury Board President is supported by the Office of the Comptroller General, part of the Treasury Board Secretariat.

Background and context

Comptrollership incorporates multiple disciplines working to provide essential support to government programs. At the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, it incorporates financial management (e.g. how financial federal resources are managed in the delivery of programs), the management of assets (e.g. how we manage our federal real property and procure goods and services), and internal audit (e.g. providing feedback on government management practices and activities).

The Financial Administration Act as legal underpinning

The Financial Administration Act provides the Treasury Board with legislative authority to establish administrative policies for the Government of Canada, giving it specific authority to issue directions in areas related to the management and control of public funds.

Treasury Board’s role includes approving comptrollership-related policies and any proposals for exceptions or exemptions from those policies. It also approves departmental investment plans, thresholds for approval of government contracts, projects, real property transactions, and appointments of Audit Committee members (internal audit).

Role of the Treasury Board President

In addition to the responsibilities as Chair of the Treasury Board, there are specific responsibilities assigned to the Treasury Board President through the Financial Administration Act. These include:

• establishing the Public Accounts format and tabling the Public Accounts by December 31 of each year (or, if Parliament resumes after that date, within 15 sitting days)
• receiving and tabling reports required under legislation or under Treasury Board policy, such as the President’s Report on Fees that summarizes the revenues and costs related to service fees
• recommending individuals from outside the public service to serve on departmental audit committees (who are then appointed by Treasury Board)

Role of the Treasury Board Secretariat and the Comptroller General of Canada 

The Treasury Board Secretariat supports the Treasury Board and the Treasury Board President by providing government-wide leadership on resource management through the Office of the Comptroller General.

The Office of the Comptroller General is led by the Comptroller General of Canada. The Comptroller General provides direction for all of government on financial management, transfer payments, internal audit, investment planning, procurement, project management, and the management of real property and materiel.

Key functions of the Office of the Comptroller General

The Office of the Comptroller General supports comptrollership by:

• ensuring that sound and modern policies are in place
• overseeing policy compliance across the federal government
• conducting horizontal audits, regional development agency audits and audits in small departments that do not have an internal audit function
• managing the Departmental Audit Committee recruitment and appointment process
• playing a due diligence function on Treasury Board submissions and Memoranda to Cabinet in areas such as costing, financial management, contracting, real property, and transfer payments and by ensuring that Treasury Board submissions transparently identify and disclose the financial risks of the proposal
• building capacity in departments and agencies for comptrollership, including:
  • increasing costing capacity
  • ensuring departments and agencies use appropriate accounting standards
  • improving and maturing the way in which departments oversee and manage projects and programs, assets and procurements
  • supporting the performance of internal audit
  • maintaining and building diverse professional communities through a range of recruitment and development activities
• supporting the COVID-19 response (e.g. through exemptions and amendments to Treasury Board policies)

The Treasury Board Policy Suite

• In this section

  • Executive summary
  • Introduction
  • Background and context