Departmental Plan 2017–2018

Minister's message

As the minister responsible for the Canada School of Public Service (the School), it is my pleasure to present the School's 2017–18 Departmental Plan.

This Plan provides parliamentarians and Canadians with information on what we do and the results we are trying to achieve during the upcoming year. To improve reporting to Canadians, we are introducing a new, simplified report to replace the Report on Plans and Priorities.

The title of the report has been changed to reflect its purpose: to communicate our annual performance goals and the financial and human resources forecast to deliver those results. The report has also been restructured to tell a clearer, more straightforward and balanced story of the actual results we are trying to achieve, while continuing to provide transparency on how tax payers' dollars will be spent. The Departmental Plan describes the School's programs and services for Canadians, its priorities for 2017–18, and how its work will fulfil its departmental mandate commitments and the government's priorities.

As we mark the 150^th anniversary of Confederation and the upcoming 150^th anniversary of the public service, innovation and continuous self-renewal remain the hallmarks of a strong public service, and learning is essential to them both. The School's common curriculum for public service employees supports a culture of learning from coast to coast to coast and a whole-of-government approach to establishing it. Building on the major three-year transformation that is now close to completion, the School's programming will continue to evolve in 2017–18 to support the Government of Canada's commitments, promoting results and delivery, a renewed relationship with Indigenous Peoples, service excellence and a healthy and respectful workplace. In keeping with my mandate to instil measurement and evaluation as integral values in government programs, the organization will explore new, evidence-based approaches when launching and refining public service learning, using data strategically and collaborating with partners internal and external to the public service.

The public service must anticipate and respond to the evolving needs of Canadians, and the School will continue to provide public service employees with the learning needed to stay ahead of the curve and deliver the results Canadians expect. I am proud of the School's leadership in learning and its contribution to public service renewal. To find out more about the School's activities and the learning opportunities it provides to public service employees, please visit its website at www.myschool-monecole.gc.ca.

Plans at a glance

The Canada School of Public Service (the School) is the common learning service provider for the federal public service. It equips public service employees with the common knowledge, skills and competencies they need to fulfil their responsibilities in serving Canadians. In its Eighth Report to the Prime Minister, the Advisory Committee on the Public Service established learning as a key tool for developing the kind of culture envisioned in Blueprint 2020. Destination 2020, a report on ideas brought forward through the Blueprint 2020 exercise, highlighted the School's key role in a whole-of-government commitment to learning—a culture change to be implemented in partnership with senior management and employees across federal organizations.

In support of this whole-of-government approach to learning, the School works with 93 federal departments and agencies across the public service—along with additional organizations that have "opted in" to the School's services—to create an innovative, agile, collaborative and high-performing public service. Government and public service priorities, feedback from stakeholders and new learning approaches and technologies all present the School with ongoing opportunities to enhance its curriculum and the way it is delivered.

The School has recently undergone a significant transformation, enhancing its approach to collaboration and stakeholder engagement, modernizing its curriculum and service delivery and renewing its governance structure and internal management practices. The transformation has reoriented the School's service delivery, improving access for learners and their organizations regardless of location or learning style and focusing on the common learning needs and priorities of the public service. The transformation also introduced a new business model, moving from cost recovery to a funding model based primarily on appropriations.

Thanks to these changes, the School is better positioned than ever to support the Minister's mandate by driving public service culture towards learning, measurement, evaluation and innovation. Accordingly, the School will focus on three key areas in 2017–18:

Public service-wide learning

Continued collaboration with partners and stakeholders will enable the School to set priorities aligned with collective learning principles, update its curriculum to meet those priorities and deliver its products in a way that maximizes learning for a variety of learning styles.The School's suite of learning products will continue to evolve in response to new and emerging priorities and shifting public service needs. This will ensure the ongoing relevance and responsiveness of the School's curriculum. Investing in data will provide a better understanding of patterns related to learners and their needs. This strategic insight on learning will also allow the School to support deputy heads by providing the information they need to make the most of the School's curriculum and promote a learning culture within their organizations.

The learning experience

The School's learning platform, GCcampus, provides public service employees with a central access point to a variety of learning opportunities available any time and from anywhere. Through GCcampus, learners can register for in-class learning, pursue self-paced online learning and tune into the hundreds of learning events held each year, among other activities.

To support a variety of learning styles, the School is advancing the modernization of its infrastructure, including its online platform, classrooms and facilities, and is exploring dynamic new learning approaches such as virtual learning labs, podcasts and mobile learning. To this end, the School will continue to collaborate with Shared Services Canada (SSC), Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) and other partners to strengthen the technological infrastructure and improve classrooms. These ongoing improvements will help to deliver learning effectively and increase access to learning in remote locations.

The School is examining options to build on its interactive online learning platform and expand its virtual library to provide learners with greater access to online publications and resources at their fingertips. Identifying and securing highly respected speakers and quality content for events such as the high-profile Manion Lecture, the Policy Innovation Fair, the Federal Youth Network's Career Boot Camp and orientation events for students will remain a key objective.

Innovation for results

In meeting the learning needs of the public service, the School will continue to promote an internal culture of innovation, intelligent risk taking, service excellence, results delivery and employee development as well as a healthy and inclusive work environment. As the School completes its transformation, the organization is also undertaking a medium-term planning exercise to determine its path to the future. As part of this initiative, the School will redesign its organizational structure and work descriptions, realign its financial structure accordingly and review and streamline its administrative processes.

These priorities and key initiatives support the government-wide commitments to a whole-of-government approach to learning and a strengthened culture of innovation and experimentation, measurement of progress and evaluation of results in program design and delivery.

For more information on the School's plans, priorities and planned results, see the "Planned results" section of this report.

Raison d'être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do

Raison d'être

The School has a legislative mandate to provide a range of learning activities to build individual and organizational capacity and management excellence within the public service.

Mandate and role

Established on April 1, 2004, under the Public Service Modernization Act, and operating under the authority of the Canada School of Public Service Act (CSPS Act), the School has one strategic outcome: Federal public service employees have the common knowledge, skills and competencies to fulfil their responsibilities in serving Canadians.

The School is mandated under the CSPS Act to

• encourage pride and excellence in the public service;
• foster a common sense of purpose, values and traditions in the public service;
• support deputy heads in meeting the learning needs of their organizations; and
• pursue excellence in public management and administration.

In this regard, the School acts much like a corporate training and development institution for its client organizations. It supports common public service learning at all levels nationwide and across 93 federal departments and agencies, while federal organizations focus on mandate-specific training and development.

In delivering on the Prime Minister's mandate for the President of the Treasury Board of Canada, the School promotes a culture of measurement, evaluation and innovation in its program design and delivery. Evidence-based decision making anchored in meaningful data and indicators will enable the School to better monitor progress and to pave the way for the results expected from a high-performing and professional public service. Reflecting the whole-of-government scope of its mandate, the School is also developing initiatives in support of government priorities such as Indigenous relations, results and delivery, engagement, sustainable development, diversity and inclusion, and mental health. As outlined in the Planned Results section, the School draws on its ability to collaborate, put insights into action and develop and deliver accessible, practical learning products to respond to learning priorities. These examples illustrate the agility of the School's curriculum and service delivery, which allow the School to fulfil its role in fostering public service excellence and achieving the government's agenda.

For more general information about the School, please see the "Supplementary information" section of this report. For more information on the department's organizational mandate letter commitments, see the Minister's mandate letter on the Prime Minister of Canada's website.

Operating context: conditions affecting our work

A summative (impact) evaluation of the School's transformation (i.e. the Strategic Directions Summative (Impact) Evaluation) will be completed in 2017–18 to inform further improvements. The School is also undertaking a medium-term planning exercise to determine its path to the future and create an organization that fully supports the development of an innovative, agile, collaborative and high-performing public service.

Key risks: things that could affect our ability to achieve our plans and results

The transformation completed over the past three years supports the School's ultimate goal of providing relevant, responsive, accessible and dynamic government-wide learning to support public service employees in serving Canadians with excellence now and into the future. Given the new internal and external conditions created by this transformation, the School's previously reported risks to the relevance of the curriculum and meeting client expectations are becoming even more important. The School's new governance structure, which includes interdepartmental consultation committees, serves to anchor its curriculum and service delivery in areas that are relevant to its clients and stakeholders. It is therefore prudent to revisit these risks to ensure they continue to reflect the School's new reality.

There remains significant work ahead to implement a whole-of-government approach to learning. Facilitating the seamless integration of common learning into the daily operations of federal organizations will be key. The School will require continuous investments to meet new learning needs and priorities and to ensure systems continue to evolve to enable seamless, effective and efficient IT-enabled learning approaches. The School will also need to constantly improve its learning and support environment to achieve greater accessibility and to enhance learners' experience. These efforts will need to be achieved within a tighter financial context in the years ahead.

Planned results: what we want to achieve this year and beyond

Programs

Program title Learning Services

Description The School offers learning opportunities for all public service employees. It is transforming its learning platform and products to support a more modern approach to learning so that public service employees are supported in acquiring the common skills and knowledge they need to deliver real, positive change for Canadians. This includes greater use of technology-enabled learning products and tools.

Planning highlights

The School delivers relevant, responsive, accessible and dynamic learning that connects and supports public service employees in achieving results for Canadians. It also supports a whole-of-government approach to learning as well as deputy head people management accountabilities in meeting the learning needs of their workforce.

The School's curriculum provides learning opportunities that contribute to a professional workforce. It supports key career transitions for public service employees, provides learning for functional specialists (e.g. in IT, HR, communications, or finance) in the federal government context and offers products that support public servants in their day-to-day activities. These products include short, focused learning interventions on specific issues and topics in the form of events and workshops as well as more in-depth learning programs addressing topics like management and executive leadership development. With its focus on individual and shared learning, the School plays a key role in supporting performance and talent management.

In 2017–18, the School will focus on three priority areas:

1. Public service-wide learning

With the pace of change continually accelerating, public service transformation and innovation is becoming more and more important. The public service needs to be flexible and agile in order to anticipate and respond to the evolving needs of Canadians. The School is completing a transformation to be able to meet the needs of a 21^st century public service, one that is engaged, tech-savvy, mobile, open and connected. The School will help public service employees to stay ahead of the curve by delivering a curriculum that is more relevant and more responsive to their learning needs.

More Relevant

To better understand the learning needs of the public service, the School will continue to place a priority on its engagement activities, which include outreach to central agencies and federal organizations as well as policy leads, regional federal councils and functional communities, stakeholder groups, academia, think tanks and the private sector.

The goal of this approach is to establish meaningful learning priorities for the public service, to further enrich the common curriculum and to ensure that products deliver the best possible support for developing key skills and competencies. It also ensures that the School's learning products are aligned with government priorities, legislation and management policies.

2. The learning experience

The renewed and modernized delivery model resulting from the School's three-year transformation makes learning available to public service employees where and when they need it. Learners can now manage the scope and pace of their own learning. More accessible and timely learning is also more efficient, and the School is renewing its client service function, including the development of service standards, to better support public service employees in their learning. With an increased range of learning opportunities that do not require travel, there has been an almost three-fold increase in the total number of public service employees taking online training across Canada since 2011 (from 44,832 in 2011–12 to 129,651 in 2015–16). The map below illustrates this trend across Canada.

The School's delivery model is also more dynamic, as it provides new learning approaches and technologies to accommodate diverse learning styles.

• Text version

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  The figure shows the increasing number of online learners across Canada from 2011–12 to 2015–16. Provinces and territories are marked in different colours on a map of Canada with the increase in online unique learners indicated in percentage points. From West to East, the increases were as follows: 89% in the Yukon, 243% in British Columbia, 57% in the Northwest Territories, 244% in Alberta, 297% in Saskatchewan, 172% in Nunavut, 228% in Manitoba, 247% in Ontario, 141% in the National Capital Region, 278% in Quebec, 204% in Newfoundland and Labrador, 303% in New Brunswick, the highest increase of 319% in Prince Edward Island and finally 243% in Nova Scotia. There was also a 9% increase in online unique learners outside of Canada.

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More Accessible

Online products have enhanced the School's capacity to reach public service employees across Canada and abroad. Building on this progress, the School is building capacity to increase accessibility of its learning products in remote regions and through the use of both official languages and universal design.

In 2017–18, the School will:

• continue to collaborate with SSC and other partners to strengthen the technological infrastructure needed for effective online delivery and for improved access in remote locations;
• enrich GCcampus and integrate it into the GCTools suite, contributing to a government-wide initiative to streamline the public service's digital workspace;
• gradually expand its virtual library, providing learners with greater access to online resources;
• provide access to high-quality learning by securing influential subject matter experts and highly respected and innovative guest speakers from within and outside the public service to allow public service employees to learn from colleagues across government and from experts and leaders in the private and academic sectors;
• continue to ensure key events, such as the Manion Lecture and Career Boot Camp, are available through webcast and on-demand video enabling nationwide access;
• work with its regional partners to deliver in-person "learning weeks" focused on areas of interest to employees across Canada; and
• advance the modernization of its classrooms and facilities for learners to benefit from a richer, more hands-on space in which to brainstorm, interact with instructors, connect with colleagues and develop skills and competencies. This work will gradually advance upgrades to the School's facilities, including improvements such as flexible, reconfigurable learning spaces, increased access to technology and virtual delivery methods.  

More Dynamic

The School's online learning platform, GCcampus, has been transformed over the past 18 months. It now offers a large variety of learning products and delivery types, including online courses, virtual classrooms, videos, webcasts, job aids (e.g. checklists, flowcharts, decision tables) and learning events. New products are piloted, tested and improved as they are launched. In this way, the full suite of learning products is continuously refined and updated, providing a dynamic platform to respond to changing priorities, needs and perspectives. As demonstrated by the following charts, course evaluation results over the past five years indicate an increased level of learner satisfaction with the School's products. Note that learner satisfaction for online courses was tracked beginning in 2012–13.

Source: Level 1 Learning Evaluation Results as of end of fiscal year 2015–16.

• Text version

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  The figure contains two line graphs, both showing the increasing satisfaction of learners on a five-point scale from 2011–12 to 2015–16.

  The first graph (from left to right) presents the increasing learner satisfaction for online courses from 2012–13 to 2015–16. Learner satisfaction rose from 3.88 in 2012–13 to 4.01 in 2013–14, 4.25 in 2014–15 and 4.26 in 2015–16. Note that 2014–15 marks the start of the School's three-year transformation.

  The second graph tracks the increasing learner satisfaction for in-class courses from 2011–12 to 2015–16. Learner satisfaction rose from 4.29 in 2011–12 to 4.44 in 2012–13, 4.49 in 2013–14, 4.54 in 2014–15 and 4.53 in 2015–16. Note that 2014–15 marks the start of the School's three-year transformation in this graph as well.

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The School is also enriching the scope and content of its learning events across Canada, including interactive seminars, workshops, armchair discussions and forums that provide opportunities for dialogue on the latest issues facing the public service. As the adjacent chart illustrates, the School has almost tripled the number of learning events offered in a year to public service employees across Canada, from 132 in 2011–12 to more than 300 in 2015–16.

To support a wide variety of learning styles and approaches, the School will:

• continue to scan the market for innovative approaches, learning methods, content and delivery formats to ensure a diverse range of learning opportunities for public service employees;
• explore, pilot and incorporate new and improved ways of learning such as virtual learning labs, audio podcasts and crowdsourcing;
• explore a mobile learning approach, mobile-friendly platforms and mobile learning activities; and
• examine the possibility of delivering workshops and networking sessions on global issues with whole-of-government innovation groups.

• Text version

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  The figure shows the School's increasing number of learning events from 2011–12 to 2015–16 with a line graph indicating the number of events. The number of events decreased from 132 in 2011–12 to 127 in 2012–13 and 81 in 2013–14 before rising sharply to 148 in 2014–15 and 312 in 2015–16.

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3. Innovation for results

Note: The difference between the 2017–18 Main Estimates and the 2017–18 Planned Spending represents expenditures that the School plans to self-fund from unspent revenue carried forward under the provisions of Section 18(2) of the Canada School of Public Service Act. 

The School has developed a financial strategy to ensure that it can self-fund investments to undertake necessary modernization of facilities, improvements to classroom space and ongoing renewal of the curriculum and GCcampus. Spending will decline in 2018–19 and thereafter once these investments are completed.

Full-time equivalents will decline in 2018–19 as the School winds down transformational initiatives in 2017–18.

Information on the School's lower-level programs is available on the School's website and in the TBS InfoBase.

Internal Services

Description

Internal Services are those groups of related activities and resources that the federal government considers to be services in support of programs and/or required to meet corporate obligations of an organization. Internal Services refers to the activities and resources of the 10 distinct service categories that support Program delivery in the organization, regardless of the Internal Services delivery model in a department. The 10 service categories are: Management and Oversight Services; Communications Services; Legal Services; Human Resources Management Services; Financial Management Services; Information Management Services; Information Technology Services; Real Property Services; Materiel Services; and Acquisition Services.

Planning highlights

Efforts under Internal Services contribute to meeting the School's priorities as outlined in the Planned Results section and support the strategic management of risks identified in the Key Risks section. Solid internal services ensure that the School can deliver on its mandate to support a high-performing and professional public service that is equipped to deliver results for Canadians with excellence. Internal services are often delivered in conjunction with other organizations such as SSC, the Chief Information Officer Branch of TBS and PSPC.

In 2017–18, the School will continue to streamline internal services to better align with reduced overall resources of the organization by:

• improving its budget management, procurement, information management and technology and business continuity planning practices and implementing lean business processes to ensure that resources are properly supported and monitored and that they are used as effectively as possible;
• improving practices to strengthen employee engagement, wellness and workplace well-being;
• identifying capacity gaps and supporting learning and talent management within the organization to build the skills needed to successfully deliver the new learning model;
• renewing its staffing framework and streamlining processes in accordance with the Public Service Commission's New Direction in Staffing initiative; and
• conducting an organizational review of its reporting structures and job descriptions to ensure its organizational design is appropriate to the new business model and supports the effective and efficient delivery of its mandate.

Note: The difference between the 2017–18 Main Estimates and the 2017–18 Planned Spending represents expenditures that the School plans to self-fund from unspent revenue carried forward under the provisions of Section 18(2) of the Canada School of Public Service Act.

Planned expenditures and full-time equivalents in Internal Services will decline through 2018–19 as the School continues to streamline support functions.

Spending and human resources

Planned spending

Departmental Spending Trend Graph

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  The figure depicts the evolution of the School's funding and expenditures, indicating statutory, voted and total amounts. The bar graph shows $50,575,626 statutory, $37,933,386 voted and $88,509,012 in total for 2014–15; $41,328,405 statutory, $50,823,726 voted and $92,152,131 in total for 2015–16; $14,396,582 statutory, $71,949,899 voted and $86,346,481 in total for 2016–17; $20,436,294 statutory, $63,416,105 voted and $83,852,399 in total for 2017–18; and $14,161,432 statutory, $63,090,105 voted and $77,251,537 in total for both 2018–19 and 2019–20.

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Note that the School does not have any existing or anticipated sunset programs.

Most initiatives related to the School's three-year transformation, which reflects a higher level of spending for self-funded investments, will be completed in 2016–17.

In 2017–18, the School plans to self-fund additional investments in facilities and classroom space and in its curriculum and GCcampus. The decline in expenditures in 2018–19 and thereafter reflects reduced funding for the School as a result of the funding model implemented during the three-year transformation, whereby expenditures are now primarily funded from voted appropriation.

Note: The difference between the 2017–18 Main Estimates and the 2017–18 Planned Spending represents expenditures that the School plans to self-fund from unspent revenue carried forward under the provisions of Section 18(2) of the Canada School of Public Service Act.

As noted in the 2017–18 Main Estimates, funding for the School is declining to $77.6 million in 2017–18 and to $77.3 million in 2018–19 and thereafter. These reductions reflect the decline of funding after the three-year transformation and the beginning of a steady operational state.

The higher level of spending during the three-year transformation from 2014–15 to 2016–17 reflects the investments required to modernize the School's learning platform and to develop a common curriculum tailored to the needs of the core federal public administration. This transformation was self-funded by the School from within its own budgetary resources.

Although most transformational initiatives undertaken by the School are expected to be completed in 2016–17, further investments are required in facilities and classroom space. Continued investments will also be required in 2017–18 to maintain GCcampus and to keep the curriculum up to date and aligned with government priorities. To this end, the School has developed a financial strategy to self-fund these investments. In 2017–18, planned spending of $83.9 million includes base funding of $77.6 million from the 2017–18 Main Estimates, with the balance to be self-funded from anticipated unspent revenue brought forward from the previous fiscal year. 

It should be noted that in 2017–18, the School will complete its Strategic Directions Summative (Impact) Evaluation, which will include an assessment of the new funding model to determine whether it is appropriate to successfully meet the common learning needs of the public service.

Planned human resources

Full-time equivalents will decrease in 2017–18 and 2018–19, reflecting the end of the transformation initiatives and transition to a reduced funding envelope.

Estimates by vote

For information on the Canada School of Public Service's organizational appropriations, consult the 2017–18 Main Estimates.

Future-Oriented Condensed Statement of Operations

The Future-Oriented Condensed Statement of Operations provides a general overview of the School's operations. The forecast of financial information on expenses and revenues is prepared on an accrual accounting basis to strengthen accountability and to improve transparency and financial management.

Because the Future-Oriented Condensed Statement of Operations is prepared on an accrual accounting basis, and the forecast and planned spending amounts presented in other sections of the Departmental Plan are prepared on an expenditure basis, amounts may differ.

A more detailed Future-Oriented Statement of Operations and associated notes, including a reconciliation of the net cost of operations to the requested authorities, are available on the School's website.

The financial information in the table above is prepared on an accrual basis. Total expenses include amortization costs and costs related to services received without charge for accommodations and the employer's contribution to the health and dental insurance plans. Total expenses exclude expenses related to the acquisition of capital assets.

The net cost of operations before government funding and transfers is projected to decline by approximately $1 million in 2017–18. The reduction in total expenses in 2017–18 is offset by a decline in total revenue.

Supplementary information

Corporate information

Organizational profile

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

Institutional head: Wilma Vreeswijk, Deputy Minister/President

Ministerial portfolio: Treasury Board

Enabling instrument(s): Canada School of Public Service Act, S.C. 1991, c. 16

Year of incorporation / commencement: 2004

Reporting framework

The School's Strategic Outcome and Program Alignment Architecture for 2017–18 are shown below.

• 1. Strategic Outcome: Federal public service employees have the common knowledge, skills and competencies to fulfil their responsibilities in serving Canadians.
  • 1.1 Program: Learning Services

Internal Services

Supporting information on lower-level programs

Supporting information on lower-level programs is available on the School's website and in the TBS InfoBase.

Supplementary information tables

The following supplementary information tables are available on the School's website.

• Upcoming evaluations over the next five fiscal years
• Upcoming internal audits for the coming fiscal year

Federal tax expenditures

The tax system can be used to achieve public policy objectives through the application of special measures such as low tax rates, exemptions, deductions, deferrals and credits. The Department of Finance Canada publishes cost estimates and projections for these measures each year in the Report on Federal Tax Expenditures. This report also provides detailed background information on tax expenditures, including descriptions, objectives, historical information and references to related federal spending programs. The tax measures presented in this report are the responsibility of the Minister of Finance.

Organizational contact information

Telephone: 1-866-703-9598
Fax: 1-866-944-0454
E-mail: csps.registrar-registraire.efpc@canada.ca
Website: www.myschool-monecole.gc.ca

Appendix A: definitions

appropriation (crédit)

Any authority of Parliament to pay money out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

budgetary expenditures (dépenses budgétaires)

Operating and capital expenditures; transfer payments to other levels of government, organizations or individuals; and payments to Crown corporations.

Core Responsibility (responsabilité essentielle)

An enduring function or role performed by a department. The intentions of the department with respect to a Core Responsibility are reflected in one or more related Departmental Results that the department seeks to contribute to or influence.

Departmental Plan (Plan ministériel)

Provides information on the plans and expected performance of appropriated departments over a three-year period. Departmental Plans are tabled in Parliament each spring.

Departmental Result (résultat ministériel)

A Departmental Result represents the change or changes that the department seeks to influence. A Departmental Result is often outside departments' immediate control, but it should be influenced by program-level outcomes.

Departmental Result Indicator (indicateur de résultat ministériel)

A factor or variable that provides a valid and reliable means to measure or describe progress on a Departmental Result.

Departmental Results Framework (cadre ministériel des résultats)

Consists of the department's Core Responsibilities, Departmental Results and Departmental Result Indicators.

Departmental Results Report (Rapport sur les résultats ministériels)

Provides information on the actual accomplishments against the plans, priorities and expected results set out in the corresponding Departmental Plan.

full-time equivalent (équivalent temps plein)

A measure of the extent to which an employee represents a full person-year charge against a departmental budget. Full-time equivalents are calculated as a ratio of assigned hours of work to scheduled hours of work. Scheduled hours of work are set out in collective agreements.

government-wide priorities (priorités pangouvernementales)

For the purpose of the 2017–18 Departmental Plan, government-wide priorities refers to those high-level themes outlining the government's agenda in the 2015 Speech from the Throne, namely: Growth for the Middle Class; Open and Transparent Government; A Clean Environment and a Strong Economy; Diversity is Canada's Strength; and Security and Opportunity.

horizontal initiatives (initiative horizontale)

A horizontal initiative is one in which two or more federal organizations, through an approved funding agreement, work toward achieving clearly defined shared outcomes, and which has been designated (e.g. by Cabinet, a central agency, etc.) as a horizontal initiative for managing and reporting purposes.

Management, Resources and Results Structure (Structure de la gestion, des ressources et des résultats)

A comprehensive framework that consists of an organization's inventory of programs, resources, results, performance indicators and governance information. Programs and results are depicted in their hierarchical relationship to each other and to the Strategic Outcome(s) to which they contribute. The Management, Resources and Results Structure is developed from the Program Alignment Architecture.

non-budgetary expenditures (dépenses non budgétaires)

Net outlays and receipts related to loans, investments and advances, which change the composition of the financial assets of the Government of Canada.

performance (rendement)

What an organization did with its resources to achieve its results, how well those results compare to what the organization intended to achieve, and how well lessons learned have been identified.

Performance indicator (indicateur de rendement)

A qualitative or quantitative means of measuring an output or outcome, with the intention of gauging the performance of an organization, program, policy or initiative respecting expected results.

Performance reporting (production de rapports sur le rendement)

The process of communicating evidence-based performance information. Performance reporting supports decision making, accountability and transparency.

planned spending (dépenses prévues)

For Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports, planned spending refers to those amounts that receive Treasury Board approval by February 1. Therefore, planned spending may include amounts incremental to planned expenditures presented in the Main Estimates.

A department is expected to be aware of the authorities that it has sought and received. The determination of planned spending is a departmental responsibility, and departments must be able to defend the expenditure and accrual numbers presented in their Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports.

plans (plan)

The articulation of strategic choices, which provides information on how an organization intends to achieve its priorities and associated results. Generally a plan will explain the logic behind the strategies chosen and tend to focus on actions that lead up to the expected result.

Priorities (priorité)

Plans or projects that an organization has chosen to focus and report on during the planning period. Priorities represent the things that are most important or what must be done first to support the achievement of the desired Strategic Outcome(s).

program (programme)

A group of related resource inputs and activities that are managed to meet specific needs and to achieve intended results and that are treated as a budgetary unit.

Program Alignment Architecture (architecture d'alignement des programmes)

A structured inventory of an organization's programs depicting the hierarchical relationship between programs and the Strategic Outcome(s) to which they contribute.

results (résultat)

An external consequence attributed, in part, to an organization, policy, program or initiative. Results are not within the control of a single organization, policy, program or initiative; instead they are within the area of the organization's influence.

statutory expenditures (dépenses législatives)

Expenditures that Parliament has approved through legislation other than appropriation acts. The legislation sets out the purpose of the expenditures and the terms and conditions under which they may be made.

Strategic Outcome (résultat stratégique)

A long-term and enduring benefit to Canadians that is linked to the organization's mandate, vision and core functions.

sunset program (programme temporisé)

A time-limited program that does not have an ongoing funding and policy authority. When the program is set to expire, a decision must be made whether to continue the program. In the case of a renewal, the decision specifies the scope, funding level and duration.

target (cible)

A measurable performance or success level that an organization, program or initiative plans to achieve within a specified time period. Targets can be either quantitative or qualitative.

voted expenditures (dépenses votées)

Expenditures that Parliament approves annually through an Appropriation Act. The Vote wording becomes the governing conditions under which these expenditures may be made.

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