Annual Report on the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act 2021 to 2022

Enquiries

Public servants may make enquires about the disclosure process without making a formal disclosure or allegation. In 2021-2022 the number of enquiries under the Act increased substantially to 384, the highest number in the past five years. As shown in Figure 1, the number of enquiries and allegations show a similar trend line, which suggests that raising awareness and providing information about the Act to public servants is essential to the disclosure process.

Disclosures

OCHRO asked organizations to report on the number of allegations of wrongdoing received through each disclosure brought by public servants to their supervisor or the senior disclosure officer in 2021-22. This is because a single disclosure may include more than one allegation of wrongdoing, as outlined in section 8 of the Act. Appendix C contains a glossary of the key terms used in this report. 

Figure 1 - Text version

Type	2017 to 2018	2018 to 2019	2019 to 2020	2020 to 2021	2021 to 2022
Number of enquiries about the Act	293	323	250	172	384
Number of allegations under the Act	296	272	220	174	381

After two years of gradual decline in the number of enquiries received and the number of allegations of wrongdoing received, the numbers rebounded in 2021–22 to the point of exceeding all results for any of the past five years. While the data does not permit a conclusion on this point, the movement could reflect an impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, with fewer enquiries and allegations made during remote work and a resurgence as people return to the office. The trend may also be influenced by other factors.  

Step 1: disclosures and allegations

In 2021–22, 194 public servants made 178 disclosures containing 381 allegations, trending up to the highest number of allegations in the last five years (Figure 3).

Figure 3 - Text version

Type	2017 to 2018	2018 to 2019	2019 to 2020	2020 to 2021	2021 to 2022
Number of allegations carried over from previous fiscal year	128	173	238	192	160
New allegations received in disclosures that fiscal year	291	269	220	174	381

Due to various factors, including the complexity of some investigations and the volume of new allegations received, some allegations are carried over into future years before they are resolved. There was a decrease in the number of allegations that were carried over from the previous fiscal year, from 192 allegations in 2020–21 to 160 in 2021–22. Of the 160 allegations carried over from 2020–21 to 2021–22, 78 (49%) were originally received in 2020–21 and 82 (51%) were originally received in 2019–20 or before.  

Federal public sector organizations have indicated that one barrier to being able to resolve disclosures quickly stems from of a lack of internal investigative capacity. To mitigate this challenge, a National Master Standing Offer (NMSO) for investigative services has been made available to organizations since 2018. New investigative resources are continually assessed and added to the list of available service providers on the NMSO. Nine organizations used the NMSO in the reporting period. Some of the positive responses related to the benefit of securing qualified investigative services easily and quickly, and access to these important services for organizations that do not have internal investigation capacity.

Step 2: assessment of the allegations

Each allegation is assessed by the organization’s senior officer for internal disclosure to determine whether it falls within the Act’s definition of wrongdoing and warrants further action, or if it should be referred to another recourse mechanism. Those allegations not assessed are carried over to the following year.

In 2021–22, there was an increase in the percentage of total allegations assessed.^{Footnote 2} Around 63% (344 of 541) of allegations handled were assessed in 2021–22. In the previous year, the rate of assessment of allegations was 51% (Figure 4). Of the 344 allegations assessed in 2021–22, 120 (35%) were carried over from previous years.

Figure 4 - Text version

Type	2017 to 2018	2018 to 2019	2019 to 2020	2020 to 2021	2021 to 2022
Total allegations	424	445	458	366	541
Allegations assessed	230	243	280	187	344

New allegations received in 2021–22

In 2021–22, there were 381 allegations received, compared to 174 allegations received last year, reflecting a significant increase in activity. Of the allegations received, 192 dealt with a serious breach of a code of conduct, an increase from 63 in the previous year. Serious breaches of a code of conduct continue to be the most prevalent allegations of wrongdoing, rising to 50% of new allegations this year, up from 36% last year.

This is possibly because codes of conduct include explicit standards for expected behaviours, which may make it easier for public servants to identify serious breaches. There was a decrease in the percentage of allegations that dealt with the misuse of public funds or assets, contraventions of any act of Parliament or of the legislature of a province, and gross mismanagement in the public sector (Figure 5).

Figure 5 - Text version

Type	381 new allegations received by types of wrongdoing
A serious breach of a code of conduct	50%
A gross mismanagement in the public sector	19%
A contravention of any act of Parliament or of the legislature of a province	9%
A misuse of public funds or a public asset	8%
Knowingly directing or counselling a person to commit a wrongdoing	6%
An act or omission that creates a substantial and specific danger to the life, health or safety of persons, or the environment	8%

Allegations meeting the definition of wrongdoing in 2021–22

In 2021–22, of the 344 allegations assessed, 190 were found to have met the definition of wrongdoing under the Act. Of these 190 allegations, 85 of them were received in 2021–22, 47 were received in 2020–21, and 58 were received in 2019–20 or before.

In addition to this, 154 of the 344 allegations assessed did not meet the definition of wrongdoing. These 154 allegations included 139 allegations received in 2021–22, and 15 received in 2020–21.

As shown in Figure 6, the volume of allegations that met the definition of wrongdoing compared to those that did not has fluctuated annually throughout the previous four years. We saw a high of 60% of allegations of wrongdoing acted on in 2017–18 (139 of 230) down to a low of 41% in 2019–20 (116 of 280). In 2020–21, 59% of allegations were acted on (111 of 187). In 2021–22, 55% of allegations were acted on (190 of 344).

Figure 6 - Text version

Type	2017 to 2018	2018 to 2019	2019 to 2020	2020 to 2021	2021 to 2022
Allegations of wrongdoing not acted upon	91	129	164	76	154
Allegations of wrongdoing acted upon	139	114	116	111	190
Total allegations assessed in that fiscal year	230	243	280	187	344

In 2021–22, there were 154 allegations that did not meet the definition of wrongdoing. Figure 7 illustrates the actions taken in those cases.

Forty-nine percent were referred to other recourse processes, an increase from 41% in the previous year, whereas 18% of these allegations were not referred to another recourse process and required no further action.

Thirty-two percent led to other actions (for example, resolved informally, referred to senior management or resolved through internal processes), representing a small increase from 30% in the previous year.

Figure 7 - Text version

Type	154 allegations     did not meet the definition of wrongdoing
Other action taken	32%
Not referred to a recourse process listed below	18%
Referred to the harassment and violence complaint process, provided for under the Canada Labour Code	23%
Referred to human rights complaint process, provided for under the Canadian Human Rights Act	18%
Referred to the grievance process, provided for under the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations Act	8%
Referred to staffing complaint process, provided for under the Public Service Employment Act	0%
Referred to the privacy complaint process, provided for under the Privacy Act	1%

This suggests that ongoing efforts to steer public servants toward the right recourse process to address their concerns or issues persist. Some organizations have found success by creating a single window portal where all types of complaints/concerns are triaged and referred accordingly, while still being treated as protected disclosures under the Act.

Step 3: investigations

In 2021–22, 85 formal investigations^{Footnote 3} were launched, the highest number in the past four years. Most of these investigations examined between one and five allegations, whereas one examined 19. Of the 85 investigations, 56 were based on allegations made in 2021–22, 18 were based on allegations made in 2020–21, and 11 were based on allegations made in 2019–20 or earlier.

By March 31, 2022, 50 investigations were closed. Of these, 33 examined 46 allegations made in 2021–22, 12 examined 20 allegations made in 2020–21, and 6 examined 34 allegations made in 2019–20 or earlier.

Finally, there were 34 investigations still ongoing at the end of the reporting period and these will be carried over to the next fiscal year. Of these, 22 are examining allegations made in 2021–22, 9 are examining allegations made in 2020–21, and 5 are examining allegations made in 2019–20 or earlier.

Step 4: findings of wrongdoing and corrective measures

In 2021–22, the 50 investigations that were closed by March 31, 2022, examined 100 allegations and resulted in 5 allegations that led to a finding of wrongdoing and 26 allegations that led to corrective measures.^{Footnote 4} For 22 of the allegations that led to corrective measures, no wrongdoing was found (Figure 8). Only 4 allegations of wrongdoing led to both a finding of wrongdoing and corrective measures.

A few trends were observed, as follows:

• There was a decrease in the number of allegations that led to both a finding of wrongdoing and corrective measures compared to the previous year
• There was an increase in the number of allegations that led to corrective measures only, compared to previous years

Figure 8 - Text version

Type	2017 to 2018	2018 to 2019	2019 to 2020	2020 to 2021	2021 to 2022
Allegations that led to a finding of wrongdoing and corrective measures	16	7	3	12	22
Allegations that led to corrective measures without a finding of wrongdoing	28	20	11	7	4
Total corrective measures	44	27	14	19	26

Senior officers and communities of practice

To properly support senior officers for disclosure of wrongdoing and in order for managers to support public servants in their organizations, the Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer (OCHRO) continued to facilitate a government-wide community of practice to share promising strategies and discussions of recent developments in the fields of values and ethics, disclosure of wrongdoing, reprisal protections, and conflict of interest resolution. This included hosting meetings of the Interdepartmental Network on Values and Ethics practitioners and supporting meetings of the Internal Disclosure Working Group.

Policy on People Management and Directive on Conflict of Interest

The Policy on People Management and the accompanying Directive on Conflict of Interest are meant to support deputy heads in their obligations to prevent and resolve conflicts of interest and conflicts of duties. The OCHRO led virtual interdepartmental meetings throughout the year with values and ethics advisors from various departments to discuss and collaborate on best practices related to conflicts of interest, ethics in the virtual world, managing a healthy workplace culture and coping during the pandemic, ethical implications of volunteering in the war on Ukraine, ethical leadership, ethical risk and promoting integrity within the public sector.

Preventing and resolving harassment and violence in the workplace

A workplace free of harassment and violence is an essential part of an environment where employees feel safe to come forward with disclosures of wrongdoing. Since the coming into force of the Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations (WPHVP Regulations) on January 1, 2021, the National Joint Council (NJC) Service Wide Occupational Health and Safety Committee (SWOHS) has developed and widely distributed tools for use by departments and agencies to effectively implement the new regulations and the Treasury Board (TB) Directive on the Prevention and Resolution of Workplace Harassment and Violence published in December 2020.

Unresolved occurrences of workplace harassment and violence require an investigation by a qualified investigator. In collaboration with Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), efforts are underway to refresh and expand the standing offer for investigative resources. The Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Team at OCHRO supports the implementation of the Regulations by actively engaging with the OHS Community of Practice (CoP), responding to hundreds of questions from across the public service, providing advice and guidance on the application of the Directive and the Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations, organizing knowledge transfer discussions with the CoP, participating in public service–wide learning events held by the Canada School of Public Service (CSPS) and leading the development of related training and tools. OCHRO organized a second CoP for designated recipients, that is, the departmental officials responsible for managing the prevention and resolution of harassment program within each organization. The interdepartmental network will increase the level of expertise by providing advice and guidance, sharing experiences and supporting tools across departments and agencies.

Diversity and inclusion in the workplace

A public service that is diverse, equitable and inclusive is crucial to a workplace culture where all public servants, including from equity-seeking groups, feel comfortable in disclosing wrongdoing. Since the establishment of the Centre on Diversity and Inclusion (CDI), the CDI has collaborated with employment equity networks, equity-seeking groups, as well as other stakeholders and rights holders to lead new and innovative initiatives on diversity and inclusion. This included co-developing solutions for recruitment and talent management with representative networks across the Federal Public Service.

CDI provided support for the development and adoption of diversity and inclusion-related amendments to the Public Service Employment Act. Of note, the amendments, which received Royal Assent in June 2021, in part empower the Public Service Commission (PSC) and Deputy Heads to investigate errors, omissions or improper conduct resulting from biases or barriers in staffing that disadvantage individuals from equity-seeking groups. In January 2022, CDI collaborated with the PSC to facilitate engagement sessions with the DSOEEDI Community of Practice, and equity-seeking employee networks, to present the upcoming changes to the Act and gather feedback in order to ensure an inclusive implementation of these new investigative authorities.

Mental health in the workplace

Having the right workplace conditions to support mental health and wellness generates higher levels of employee engagement and adds to public servants’ confidence in coming forward with concerns about wrongdoing. OCHRO’s Centre of Expertise on Mental Health in the Workplace supports federal organizations in aligning with the National Standard of Canada: Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace and advancing the Federal Public Service Workplace Mental Health Strategy.

The results of the most recent Public Service Employee Survey (PSES), conducted in 2020, showed overall improvements in mental health awareness, satisfaction with actions taken by managers to support employees’ mental health, and incidents of harassment and violence. At the same time, the 2020 PSES results show that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated key workplace stress factors, such as heavy workload, unreasonable deadlines, not enough employees to do the work, overtime or long work hours, and balancing work and personal life.

This is particularly true for EXs, who reported that these factors cause them stress at work in percentages roughly two to three times higher than for non-EXs. These findings were supported by the more recent 2021 APEX Executive Work and Health Study, the findings of which notably raise concern around burnout, with 75% of EXs reporting severe exhaustion, compared to 54% in 2017.

In 2021, the Centre of Expertise continued to curate a suite of mental health resources for public servants, adding to the tools developed in 2020 to help employees who face challenges while working remotely. Tools developed in 2021 focused on preventing and recovering from burnout as well as addressing anxieties and other challenges related to the return to the workplace.

International engagement

OCHRO continues to collaborate with international organizations on global integrity and anti-corruption efforts. These international engagements help OCHRO to stay up to date on global activities, research, and best practices in the areas of integrity, anti-corruption, and disclosure regimes, and allow us to continue to share and promote Canada’s successful strategies. Some examples of our international engagement included:

• representing Canada on the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Working Party of Senior Public Integrity Officials (SPIO), which involved contributing to the development of the Public Integrity Indicators by themes in line with the Public Integrity Maturity Model and Public Integrity Handbook. This year’s theme was accountability (conflict of interest, lobbying, and financing of political parties). In addition, OCHRO contributed to revisions to the OECD Recommendation on Principles for Transparency and Integrity in Lobbying and participated in meetings of the SPIO
• supporting Global Affairs Canada on resolutions for the ninth session of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) Conference in December 2021, and in their Modernizing the Peruvian Public Service project.

Education and awareness activities

Public Service Employee Survey: ethics in the workplace

There was no PSES in 2021. The last survey was conducted in 2020 and the next survey is scheduled to launch later in 2022.

The PSES allows the public service to gauge what it is doing well and what it could be doing better to ensure the continual improvement of people management practices in government.^{Footnote 5} It includes information related to public servants’ perception of an ethical environment in their workplaces, as well as insights into how public servants are being equipped to address issues such as values and ethics dilemmas. It also looks at disaggregated information on public servants’ differing views based on demographics, region or organization and allows for comparisons with other groups and the public service as a whole.

A.1 Disclosure activity from fiscal years 2017–18 to 2021–22

A.2 Organizations reporting activity under the Act in the 2021–22 fiscal year

A.3 Organizations that reported a finding of wrongdoing under the Act in the 2021–22 fiscal year

A.4 Organizations that reported no disclosure activities in 2021–22

1. Accessibility Standards Canada
2. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
3. Atlantic Pilotage Authority
4. Bank of Canada
5. Business Development Bank of Canada
6. Canada Council for the Arts
7. Canada Development Investment Corporation
8. Canada Infrastructure Bank
9. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
10. Canada School of Public Service
11. Canadian Air Transport Security Authority
12. Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety
13. Canadian Commercial Corporation
14. Canadian Grain Commission
15. Canadian Heritage (Department of Canadian Heritage)
16. Canadian Human Rights Commission
17. Canadian Institutes of Health Research
18. Canadian Museum for Human Rights
19. Canadian Museum of History and Canadian War Museum
20. Canadian Museum of Nature
21. Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency
22. Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission
23. Canadian Space Agency
24. Canadian Tourism Commission (Destination Canada)
25. Canadian Transportation Agency
26. Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
27. Defence Construction Canada
28. Department of Women and Gender Equality
29. Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec
30. Farm Products Council of Canada
31. Federal Bridge Corporation Limited, The
32. Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario
33. Financial Consumer Agency of Canada
34. Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada
35. Great Lakes Pilotage Authority
36. Impact Assessment Agency of Canada
37. International Joint Commission (Canadian Section)
38. Invest in Canada Hub
39. Laurentian Pilotage Authority
40. Library and Archives Canada
41. Military Police Complaints Commission
42. National Arts Centre Corporation
43. National Battlefields Commission, The
44. National Capital Commission
45. National Gallery of Canada
46. National Museum of Science and Technology (Ingenium)
47. National Security Intelligence Review Agency
48. Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
49. Office of Infrastructure of Canada
50. Office of the Auditor General of Canada
51. Office of the Chief Electoral Officer
52. Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada
53. Office of the Correctional Investigator
54. Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
55. Office of the Secretary of the Governor General
56. Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada
57. Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner of Canada
58. Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions
59. Pacific Economic Development Canada^{Footnote 6}
60. Pacific Pilotage Authority
61. Parole Board of Canada
62. Patented Medicine Prices Review Board Canada
63. Prairies Economic Development Canada4
64. Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada
65. Public Sector Pension Investment Board
66. Public Service Commission
67. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
68. Standards Council of Canada
69. Statistical Survey Operations
70. Supreme Court of Canada
71. Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

A.5 Organizations that do not have a senior officer for disclosure of wrongdoing that declared an exception under s. 10.4 of the Act

1. Administrative Tribunal Support Services of Canada
2. Canada Lands Company Limited
3. Canadian Dairy Commission
4. Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat
5. Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21
6. Canadian Race Relations Foundation
7. Copyright Board of Canada
8. Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation
9. Military Grievances External Review Committee
10. National Film Board of Canada
11. Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada
12. Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages
13. Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
14. Polar Knowledge Canada
15. Royal Canadian Mounted Police External Review Committee
16. Telefilm Canada
17. Transportation Safety Board of Canada

Other relevant terms

allegation of wrongdoing

The communication of a potential instance of wrongdoing as defined in section 8 of the Act. The allegation must be made in good faith, and the person making it must have reasonable grounds to believe that it is true.

disclosure

The provision of information by a public servant to their immediate supervisor or to a senior officer for disclosure of wrongdoing that includes one or more allegations of possible wrongdoing in the public sector, in accordance with section 12 of the Act under Disclosures of Wrongdoing.

disclosure that was acted upon (admissible disclosure)

An allegation received in a disclosure where action, including preliminary analysis, fact-finding and investigation, was taken to determine whether wrongdoing occurred and where that determination was made during the reporting period.

disclosure that was not acted upon (inadmissible disclosure)

An allegation received in a disclosure for which the designated senior officer for disclosure of wrongdoing determined that the definition of wrongdoing under the Act was not met. The allegation in the disclosure was either referred to another process or required no further action.

general enquiry

An enquiry about procedures established under the Act or about possible wrongdoings, not including actual disclosures.

investigation

A formal investigation triggered by a disclosure. An investigation may look into one or more allegations that result from a disclosure of possible wrongdoing.