Report to Parliament 2011–2016

MESSAGE FROM THE DEPUTY MINISTER

INTRODUCTION

ABOUT THE SCHOOL

• Who We Are and What We Do
• How We Do It

WHERE WE'VE BEEN

• The School Five Years Ago
• The Foundations of Change
• The School's Learning Ecosystem
• The Common Curriculum
  • Foundational development
  • Specialized development
  • Management development
  • Executive development

WHERE ARE WE NOW

• Achieving Results: Making Learning More Relevant, Responsive and Accessible
• Demonstrating Value

WHERE WE'RE GOING

CONCLUSION

ANNEX A – PERFORMANCE BY THE NUMBERS

• Gaining Efficiencies

ANNEX B – STRENGTHENING GOVERNANCE

As Deputy Minister and President of the Canada School of Public Service (the School), I am pleased to report on the activities of the School for the period December 1, 2011 to November 30, 2016. This report fulfils the requirements of subsection 19(3) of the Canada School of Public Service Act, which stipulates that such a report be made every five years.

The School has changed significantly over the last five years, most recently with the transformation of the approach to learning to make it more relevant, responsive and accessible. In this regard we have transformed the business model, undertaken a full review and renewal of the curriculum and modernized the learning platform in support of government and public service priorities. We are working closely with client departments and organizations to develop a culture of learning across the public service.

As part of the Blueprint 2020 initiative and overall public service renewal, the School is contributing to the development of a more engaged, innovative and agile public service that is capable of performing to the highest standards and delivering results for Canadians.

Wilma Vreeswijk

Since its Report to Parliament 2006–2011, the Canada School of Public Service has changed considerably. The School has gone from a model based mostly on classroom learning and cost recovery to a more modern, tech-enabled and accessible system that keeps public service learning relevant and timely at no cost to the individual learner.

Through a new government-wide approach to learning and a dynamic ecosystem of learning resources, the School equips public service employees to better serve Canadians today and into the future.

Who We Are and What We Do

The School's primary responsibility under the Canada School of Public Service Act is to provide a range of learning opportunities and develop a culture of learning within the public service. It has one strategic outcome: Federal public service employees have the common knowledge, skills and competencies to fulfil their responsibilities in serving Canadians.

LEADING CHANGE AND INNOVATION

The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, addressed the 2016 Assistant Deputy Minister Forum: Achieving Culture Change Through Leadership. In his remarks, the Prime Minister affirmed the importance of an empowered public service in delivering results on government promises and priorities. He emphasized the role of assistant deputy ministers as the critical link for senior leaders and challenged forum participants to lead transformation by inspiring innovation across the public service. Close to 250 learners participated in this event delivered by the School.

The School acts much like a "corporate university" for the federal public service, with headquarters in the National Capital Region and campuses across the country. The School's learning opportunities support employees at key stages throughout their public service careers. Orientation programming introduces new employees to the public service context. Training for specialists (e.g. in human resources, finance, procurement or information management) builds expertise and strong communities of practice. Development programs for supervisors, managers and executives hone leadership skills at every transition.

How We Do It

The School works closely with other federal organizations to implement Canada's whole-of-government approach to learning. With the learning needs of the public service constantly evolving, this task demands ongoing agility and innovation, and the School continues to renew itself accordingly. New government priorities, client feedback and new technologies are all opportunities for the School to enhance its curriculum and the way it's delivered.

The School Five Years Ago

In 2011, more than half of the School's budget was funded through cost recovery. As a result, the need for revenue limited both what the School could offer and how organizations could benefit. The School's curriculum, which was mostly offered in the classroom, was resource intensive, varied by region and was driven by demand rather than organizational needs. Organizations, meanwhile, were limited by their ability to pay for learning opportunities and by regional availability of the School's offerings.

To ensure that its curriculum met the learning needs of public service employees efficiently, equitably and effectively, the School undertook in-depth research, analysis and consultations in 2013. After reviewing best practices from other national governments, academia and the private sector, the School developed a tech-enabled, whole-of-government approach that would make learning more accessible to public service employees across Canada. This approach was carefully designed to also make learning more relevant and responsive while ensuring that its implementation would be self-funded by the School.

This comprehensive review of the School's business dovetailed with the Blueprint 2020 vision of a world-class public service equipped to serve Canadians now and into the future. The Destination 2020 report included a commitment to enterprise-wide learning and identified the School as a key player in developing a culture of excellence within the public service.

The Foundations of Change

Since then, the School has transformed its business model to keep pace with the evolving public service reality. It gradually moved to a funding model that is based primarily on appropriations rather than cost recovery.

2014–2015 was the first year of this transformation. Since then, the School has

• renewed its learning products to deliver a common curriculum in line with government priorities and the learning needs of the public service;
• used technology to modernize and broaden its learning tools, resources and products;
• expanded its reach across regions by making learning more accessible; and
• offered better value for money through more efficient and cost-effective learning solutions.

The School plans to complete its transformation in early 2017 by further enhancing its learning products and learning platform, by strengthening its internal management practices to ensure an effective use of resources, and by continuing to focus on collaboration and engagement with its stakeholders to collectively build a culture of learning in the public service.   

The School's Learning Ecosystem

The School's approach to learning was developed in consultation with federal organizations and other key stakeholders to better understand the learning needs of public service organizations. This approach guides the School in developing learning priorities and delivering a common curriculum to support employees at every level.

Complete modernization of the School's delivery of learning is important in this final year of transformation. To provide public service employees across Canada with learning that addresses the whole-of-government context, the School introduced a flexible, easy-to-access online platform called GCcampus in May 2016. Built on the School's previous online tool, GCcampus has become the main portal to an increasingly rich and diverse collection of learning resources, including online courses, virtual classrooms, peer and social learning, videos, webcasts, job aids, workshops and other learning events. All of these resources are available anytime and from anywhere at no cost to the individual learner.

The School continues to enhance GCcampus in response to new priorities, needs and perspectives. Learning products are tested, improved and enriched with blogs, videos and other resources to ensure an innovative and engaging space for learning and development. This evolving, flexible and dynamic learning ecosystem, which also includes traditional classroom learning, is well suited to the changing needs of the public service.

The Common Curriculum

In 2015, the School unveiled the centrepiece of the new whole-of-government approach to learning: a standardized curriculum that supports public service employees through key career transitions, ensuring they are equipped to serve Canadians with excellence.

Under the new curriculum, public service employees across Canada now have access to tech-enabled learning on the fundamentals of public service. The curriculum's rich, diverse collection of resources is designed to

• deliver public service-wide learning that responds to government priorities;
• align individual learning with the needs of federal organizations and the public service as a whole;
• support shared values and a culture of excellence within the public service;
• ensure that employees understand their ethical and legal obligations;
• integrate learning with performance and talent management; and
• support integrated planning for learning with other federal organizations.

The common curriculum includes foundational development, specialized development, management development and executive development. In each of these areas, as new learning products are launched, they are tested and refined. In this way, the full suite of learning products is strengthened and refined over time to be more accessible and responsive to changing needs, priorities and perspectives.

FOUNDATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Laying the groundwork for a common public service culture based on shared values, ethics and priorities, foundational development equips public service employees to thrive in the public service environment. The School's progress on this aspect of the curriculum includes the following:

• introducing a revamped Public Service Orientation, providing public service employees with a foundational understanding of government and their role in serving Canadians with excellence;
• delivering an online Security Awareness course to over 75,000 learners in order to support the Treasury Board Policy on Government Security and promote public service-wide awareness and understanding;
• launching a new Briefing Series for employees to support concise, clear communications;
• launching the first phase of the Transformation curriculum, tailored to the different roles of employees, managers and executives, to support the transformation of the public service in line with the Blueprint 2020 vision; and
• offering online language maintenance products to help employees maintain proficiency in their second official language, thereby supporting the delivery of services to Canadians in both official languages.

SPECIALIZED DEVELOPMENT

Specialized development opportunities are tailored to the unique learning needs of functional specialists (e.g. in human resources, finance, procurement, information management). To promote common practices across federal organizations, the School works with the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat and each functional community to ensure that the curriculum reflects changes in Treasury Board policy and responds to learning needs.

MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT

To provide public service employees with the skills and knowledge they need to make the critical transition to management responsibilities, the School has launched the following programs since 2014–2015:

• The Supervisor Development Program, which prepares employees to take on supervisory duties and manage team performance to deliver results and promote best practices. The program is for new supervisors who are supervising one or more employees for the first time, and its emphasis is therefore on the development of skills in people management.
• The Manager Development Program, a four-phase learning program that includes both online and in-class components. The program provides new managers (typically at the EX minus 1 or 2 level) with a solid understanding of the fundamentals of public service management, including performance management, leadership, and values and ethics. Since its launch, nearly 3,000 learners have registered for this program. The scope of this program is wider than that of the program for supervisors, since managers move beyond one-on-one supervision to manage entire teams at the organizational level along with a more complex set of corporate and strategic responsibilities.

EXECUTIVE DEVELOPMENT

Executive development supports employees in making the transition to more complex leadership roles and leading transformation. Since 2014–2015, the School has delivered its Leadership and Executive Development curriculum to more than 6,500 learners and launched three new programs:

• The Executive Development Program for Aspiring Directors, which grounds aspiring directors in the knowledge, skills and competencies required to assist promising individuals to take on more senior leadership roles;
• The Executive Development Program for New Directors, which introduces new executives to what is expected of them as an executive in today's environment and how to effectively lead transformation and achieve results in a context of constant change;
• The Directors General Program, which offers an orientation session for newly appointed directors general as well as webinars, workshops and networking events for the director general community.

These new programs focusing on key career transitions—from supervisors to directors general—have been in such high demand that the School has increased the number of offerings while obtaining an overall satisfaction rate of 4.4 out of 5 from learners. Ongoing refinement and enhancement of the programs' content based on feedback from learners continues to contribute to a dynamic learning platform and to the overall success of these programs.

Achieving Results: Making Learning More Relevant, Responsive and Accessible

The School is now, more than ever, uniquely positioned to make learning more relevant, responsive and accessible to public service employees. 

MORE RELEVANT

Since 2011, the School has strengthened its outreach and engagement with its stakeholders in order to inform the re-design of the School's curriculum.

To better understand the learning needs of the public service, the School developed an integrated approach to learning in consultation with central agencies, other federal organizations, policy leads, regional federal councils and functional communities (see Figure 1). The goal of this approach is to guide the establishment of meaningful learning priorities for the public service, further enrich the common curriculum and ensure the relevance of delivery types in support of the development of key public service competencies.  

This approach also allows the School to ensure its learning products are aligned with government priorities, management policies and the learning needs of the public service. For instance, over the past year, the School has provided learning opportunities that support evidence-based policy development, delivery of results, diversity and inclusion and healthy workplaces, among other priorities.

Figure 1: 2016–2017 learning and development priorities

• Alternative Text for Figure 1: 2016–2017 learning and development priorities

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  Figure 1 shows the School's learning and development priorities in 2016–2017. The figure is divided into four columns.

  The first lists priorities for the Government (delivering on results, Indigenous awareness, federal–provincial–territorial relations, evidence-based policy, stakeholder engagement, open government, communications, sustainable development, diversity and inclusion) and for the public service (healthy workplaces, performance/talent management, service excellence, change management, project management).

  The second column lists the elements of the common curriculum that address these priorities: foundational learning (values and ethics, how government works, respectful workplaces, ATIP, performance management), transformational learning (service excellence, risk, change management, IT savviness, results and delivery), specialized learning (all enabling functions, IM/IT, communications, finance, HR, security, procurement, policy) and management and leadership development (supervisor, manager and executive learning at key career transitions).

  The third column lists the delivery methods available through the learning ecosystem: self-paced online, classroom, events, crowd / social learning, online resources, performance support / job aids, mobile learning and virtual classroom.

  The last column outlines the key competencies and expected outcomes of the learning provided by the School, both for employees (demonstrate integrity and respect, think things through, work effectively with others, show initiative and be action-oriented) and for executives (create vision and strategy, mobilize people, uphold integrity and respect, collaborate with partners and stakeholders, promote innovation and guide change, achieve results).

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The School's products are reaching an increasing number of public service employees from across Canada. Since 2011, the number of unique learners^Footnote1 using the School's common learning platform (classroom and online) has almost doubled (going from 77,511 unique learners in 2011–2012 to 141,261 in 2015–2016).^Footnote2 With the recent launch of GCcampus, which facilitates easy access to the full suite of learning opportunities, the School expects this number to continue to increase in the coming year.

Figure 2: Increasing number of unique learners (classroom and online) over the past five years

Source: I-LMS Registration Cube as of October 4, 2016

• Alternative Text for Figure 2: Increasing number of unique learners (classroom and online) over the past five years

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  Figure 2 shows the School's increasing number of unique learners, both in the classroom and online, between 2011–2012 and 2015–2016. In 2011–2012, there were 77,511 unique learners. This number decreased to 73,487 in 2012–2013 and then grew to 100,962 in 2013–2014, 108,338 in 2014–2015 and finally 141,261 in 2015–2016.

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Throughout its transformation, the School has focused on its relevance while continuing to deliver quality learning. Course evaluation results over the past five years indicate an increased level of learner satisfaction, as demonstrated in the figure below. Note that learner satisfaction for online courses was tracked beginning in 2012–2013. Course evaluation results are monitored closely to ensure the quality of the design and delivery of the School's learning products.

Figure 3: Increasing learner satisfaction

2014–2015 (grey area) marks the beginning of the School's transformation period.
Note: Any minor numerical differences are due to rounding.
Source: Level 1 Learning Evaluation Results as of end of fiscal year 2015–2016.

• Alternative Text for Figure 3: Increasing learner satisfaction

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  Figure 3 contains two line graphs, both showing the increasing satisfaction of learners on a five-point scale from 2011–2012 to 2015–2016.

  The first graph presents the increasing learner satisfaction for online courses from 2012–2013 to 2015–2016. Learner satisfaction rose from 3.88 in 2012–2013 to 4.01 in 2013–2014, 4.25 in 2014–2015 and 4.26 in 2015–2016. Note that 2014–2015 marks the start of the School's three-year transformation.

  The second graph tracks the increasing learner satisfaction for in-class courses from 2011–2012 to 2015–2016. Learner satisfaction rose from 4.29 in 2011–2012 to 4.44 in 2012–2013, 4.49 in 2013–2014, 4.54 in 2014–2015 and 4.53 in 2015–2016. Note that 2014–2015 marks the start of the School's three-year transformation in this graph as well.

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MORE RESPONSIVE

A standardized curriculum aligned with government priorities and an enhanced, easy-to-access online platform are making the School more responsive to government-wide learning needs. For example, in response to the Clerk's priority on respectful workplaces with a focus on mental health, the School delivered related training to nearly 24,000 learners in 2015–2016.

More recently, the School has been developing a range of new initiatives to support learning in line with the government's commitment to delivering of meaningful results to Canadians and to renewing the relationship between Canada and Indigenous peoples. These initiatives include, for example, providing learning opportunities for the public service related to the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat's initiatives to strengthen, streamline and renew Treasury Board policies and to focus on results and delivery to achieve results through measurable goals.

The School continues to call on high-performing subject matter experts—an impressive number of approximately 400 instructors from across government, academia and the private sector—to deliver high-quality learning. The School also offers the expertise of influential and innovative guest speakers at its learning events, allowing public service employees to learn from colleagues across government and from experts and leaders in the private and academic sectors.

In the past years, the School has enriched the scope and content of its learning events across Canada, all of which are offered at no cost to learners. These events, which include interactive seminars, workshops, armchair discussions and forums, provide opportunities for dialogue on the latest issues facing the public service.

Highlights of the School's learning events have included the following, among many others:

• The 2016 Manion Lecture, which addressed values and ethics, featured Dick Pound, international leader, former president of the World Anti-Doping Agency and Chancellor Emeritus of McGill University, who shared his insights about ways to manage the ethical challenges and complexities that all leaders must face.
• In February 2016, the School hosted keynote speaker Sir Michael Barber, a leading authority in results and delivery who served the United Kingdom government as head of the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit for the administration of former prime minister Tony Blair.
• The School welcomed the Honourable Louise Arbour, a Canadian lawyer, prosecutor and jurist, formerly the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, as well as former justice of the Supreme Court of Canada and the Court of Appeal for Ontario, to host the March 2016 Deputy Minister Seminar, where she engaged deputies in a dialogue on the balance between protecting the safety and security of citizens and maintaining Canada's tradition of protecting human rights.

• A special event on innovation, media and the impact of technology featured Don Tapscott, a leader of innovation and media, an expert on the economic and social impact of technology and author and co-author of 15 widely read books. His latest book, Blockchain Revolution: How the Technology Behind Bitcoin is Changing Money, Business and the World, explains how blockchain technology will fundamentally transform the internet.

The School is increasingly using webcasting to distribute content. Public service employees are now given access to events that were previously delivered only to those who could attend in person. The number of learners participating in an event in person increased by 61 percent from 2011–2012 to 2015–2016, while participation by webcast almost doubled in the same period.

Learning events have been an important way for the School to expand its reach and impact in responding to emerging learning needs. The School has almost tripled the number of learning events offered in a year to public service employees across Canada, from 132 in 2011–2012 to more than 300 in 2015–2016.

Figure 4: Increasing number of learning events

Source: I-LMS Registration Cube as of September 2, 2016

• Alternative Text for Figure 4: Increasing number of learning events

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  Figure 4 shows the School's increasing number of learning events from 2011–2012 to 2015–2016 with a line graph indicating the number of events. The number of events decreased from 132 in 2011–2012 to 127 in 2012–2013 and 81 in 2013–2014 before rising sharply to 148 in 2014–2015 and 312 in 2015–2016.

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MORE ACCESSIBLE

A key goal of the transformation was to increase the accessibility of learning. Prior to the School's shift towards an online learning platform, public service employees outside the National Capital Region had fewer courses available to them. The School's new enriched online platform has provided learners with new learning resources, including online courses, virtual classrooms, peer and social learning, videos, webcast, job aids (e.g. checklists, flowcharts, decision tables), workshops and other learning events. As well, alternative media such as CDs and USBs were made available to learners in remote locations. In addition, the School works with regional partners to deliver in-person learning weeks focused on areas of interest to employees in the regions.

The School's online platform has made learning not only more accessible but also more timely. Learners across Canada can now better manage their learning with a wide selection of online learning opportunities available at no cost and at their convenience.

More accessible and timely learning is also more efficient. 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 2011–2012 to 129,651 in 2015–2016). The map below illustrates this trend across Canada; in most provinces, the number of online unique learners has nearly tripled.

Figure 5: Increasing number of online unique learners across Canada (2011–2012 to 2015–2016)

Source: I-LMS Registration Cube as of October 4, 2016

• Alternative Text for Figure 5: Increasing number of online unique learners across Canada (2011–2012 to 2015–2016)

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  Figure 5 shows the increasing number of online learners across Canada from 2011–2012 to 2015–2016. 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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Online products have greatly enhanced the School's capacity to reach public service employees across Canada. The increase in the School's online unique learners in the past five years, shown in Figure 6, demonstrates a new preference for online learning over classroom courses. The proportion of unique online learners has gone up from almost 60 percent of unique learners in 2011–2012 to over 90 percent in 2015–2016.

Figure 6: Increasing percentage of unique online learners

Source: I-LMS Registration Cube as of October 4, 2016

• Alternative Text for Figure 6: Increasing percentage of unique online learners

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  Figure 6 shows the School's increasing percentage of unique online learners from 2011–2012 to 2015–2016 by comparing the percentage of learners in online and in-class courses. There were 44,832 unique online learners in 2011–2012, increasing to 48,068 in 2012–2013, 84,063 in 2013–2014, 91,950 in 2014–2015 and 129,651 in 2015–2016. There were 32,679 unique classroom learners in 2011–2012, falling to 25,419 in 2012–2013, 16,899 in 2013–2014, 16,388 in 2014–2015 and 11,610 in 2015–2016.Online learning has gone from accounting for slightly more than half of the School's unique learners in 2011–2012 to more than 90% in 2015–2016.

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The School will continue to collaborate with Shared Services Canada and other partners to strengthen the technological infrastructure. While progress has been made, the School is committed to continuously improving accessibility of learning products to public service employees across Canada, especially in remote regions.

Demonstrating Value

By making learning more relevant, responsive and accessible and by delivering a government-wide approach to learning based on a standardized curriculum and a wide variety of learning resources available nationwide, the School is delivering more to learners than ever before despite a tighter financial context. The dramatic expansion of the School's reach has been of clear value to learners, as demonstrated by substantial increases in the number of learners, the number of events and the use of online products.

The School is also increasing its value to federal organizations by working together with them to set government-wide learning priorities and by taking into consideration the learning needs identified in performance and talent management exercises. This continuous engagement and collaboration has resulted in a more relevant curriculum tailored to reflect the learning needs of public service employees and organizations as well as emerging government priorities.

Internally, the School has enhanced its capacity to meet the increasing demand for learning even as its workforce has decreased (from 892 full-time equivalents in 2011–2012 to 684 in 2015–2016) and as its expenditures have declined (from $125,940,826 in 2011–2012 to $92,152,131 in 2015–2016, with further reductions projected for 2017–2018 to $78,893,944).^Footnote3 The School continues to identify capacity gaps and support learning within the organization to build the skills necessary to successfully deliver the new learning model and culture.

The School is achieving further improvements by renewing its governance structure to promote collaboration and joint planning. In 2012, the Board of Governors was replaced with a deputy minister-level Advisory Committee and working-level committees representing a range of federal organizations to facilitate engagement and responsiveness. For more information on the governance structure, please refer to Annex B. The School has also undertaken a number of steps to strengthen management practices overall. These steps will ensure that the School can demonstrate excellence in public management and administration.

The School will continue to refine its learning products and services so that public servants have access to a dynamic and responsive learning platform. GCcampus is proving to be a great asset to the federal public service, and the School will continue to develop and optimize this online platform for the benefit of learners across Canada.

The School will also continue to lead by example in moving towards a culture of learning, focusing on improving communications within the School and strengthening an internal culture of collaboration to proactively meet upcoming learning needs of federal organizations.

Reduced spending in 2017–2018 will call for strong planning and budget management to ensure that resources are used as effectively as possible. These processes are currently being reviewed to ensure they are robust.

Finally, improving analytics will allow the School to better understand patterns related to its learners and learning needs. This will provide a foundation for further refinement of learning products to be responsive to learner needs. In support of deputy heads' accountability for workforce development within their organizations, the School will also provide deputy heads with the strategic intelligence their organizations need to better leverage the common curriculum, make choices to enhance learning and drive their own learning agenda.

The School has made significant progress and is on track to achieving its transformation objectives. These achievements support the School's ultimate goal of providing relevant, responsive and accessible government-wide learning to support public service employees in serving Canadians with excellence now and into the future.

Over the past two years, the School enhanced its learning platform, redesigned its curriculum and modernized both its delivery of learning and its business model to provide public service employees with the best learning experience possible.

This is an important time for learning in the federal public service. The implementation of the whole-of-government learning approach is already contributing to a more engaged, up-to-date, innovative and agile public service, consistent with the direction set out in the Clerk of the Privy Council's most recent report.

The School will continue to foster a culture of learning within the public service and equip public service employees to serve Canadians with pride. The School is building a strong foundation for the future of the federal public service.

Through GCcampus, renewed relationships with partners and improved services, the School is proving itself to be a meeting place for the federal public service—a place for ideas, discussion and collaboration.

Gaining Efficiencies

The School has reduced its number of employees by 23 percent (from 892 in 2011–2012 to 684 in 2015–2016). The number of full-time equivalents in 2015–2016 was higher than planned due to the temporary resources required to continue and advance the School's transformation.

Figure 7: Increasing number of unique learners despite fewer employees

• Alternative Text for Figure 7: Increasing number of unique learners despite fewer employees

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  Figure 7 shows the School's increasing number of unique learners despite fewer employees from 2011–2012 to 2015–2016. The graph includes two lines. The first indicates the number of unique learners and shows a decrease from 77,511 in 2011–2012 to 73,487 in 2012–2013 before rising to 100,962 in 2013–2014, 108,338 in 2014–2015 and 141,261 in 2015–2016. The second line shows the School's number of full-time equivalents (FTEs) falling from 892 in 2011–2012 to 691 in 2012–2013, 622 in 2013–2014, 651 in 2014–2015 and 684 in 2015–2016.

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Since the launch of its transformation, the School has significantly increased its number of online products. Public service employees now have access to nearly 300 self-paced online courses, videos, webcasts, programs for functional communities, special events, job aids and tools—all accessible where and when learners need them. This shift allowed the School to move away from more expensive and labour-intensive classroom courses by 54 percent.

Figure 8: Increasing number of online products and decreasing number of classroom products

• Alternative Text for Figure 8: Increasing number of online products and decreasing number of classroom products

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  Figure 8 shows the School's increasing number of online products and its decreasing number of classroom products from 2011–2012 to 2015–2016. The graph includes two lines. The first line shows a reduction in the number classroom products from 266 in 2011–2012 to 219 in 2012–2013, followed by a slight rise to 223 in 2013–2014 before continuing to fall to 202 in 2014–2015 and 135 in 2015–2016. The second line shows an ongoing increase in the number of online products from 120 in 2011–2012 to 130 in 2012–2013, 162 in 2013–2014, 232 in 2014–2015 and 302 in 2015–2016.

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Figure 9 depicts total funding and expenditures for the School by fiscal year, showing a 27% decrease in expenditures (from $125,940,826 in 2011–2012 to $92,152,131 in 2015–2016). As set out in the School's Report on Plans and Priorities 2016–17, the School's base budget is projected to decline to $78,893,944 by 2017–2018.

In the past five years, the School's total authorities available for use included appropriations, revenues earned from course offerings and unspent revenues brought forward from the previous fiscal years. Fiscal year 2015–16, the second year of the School's three-year transformation, was the final year for charging fees; thereafter, the School shifted to a model based primarily on appropriations.

The School's transformation initiative has been entirely self-funded within the organization's existing funding authorities. As such, no additional funds were sought to support the transformation to the new business model.

Increased expenditures through 2016–2017 reflect the investments required to complete the School's self-funded transformation. Following the completion of the transformation in 2016–2017, planned expenditures are expected to decline to a steady operating level.

Figure 9: Evolution of the School's funding and expenditures

• Alternative Text for Figure 9: Evolution of the School's funding and expenditures

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  Figure 9 shows the evolution of the School's funding and expenditures, indicating statutory, voted and total amounts. A bar graph shows $75,567,449 in statutory, $50,373,377 voted and $125,940,826 in total for 2011–2012; $51,812,939 statutory, $45,452,288 voted and $97,265,227 in total for 2012–2013; $41,941,023 statutory, $42,820,558 voted and $84,761,581 in total for 2013–2014; $50,575,626 statutory, $37,933,386 voted and $88,509,012 in total for 2014–2015; $41,328,405 statutory, $50,823,726 voted and $92,152,131 in total for 2015–2016; $22,701,142 statutory, $69,217,505 voted and $91,918,647 in total for 2016–2017; $14,027,439 statutory, $64,866,505 voted and $78,893,944 in total for 2017–2018; and $14,027,439 statutory, $64,540,505 voted and $78,567,944 in total for 2018–2019.

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In 2012, in order to streamline oversight and reduce reporting burden, the legislative responsibility of the School's Board of Governors was removed.

To improve governance and accountability, a horizontal governance structure has been created with representation from across the public service and clear accountabilities to allow for integrated and informed decision making. Bilateral relationships have been established with federal organizations to assess organizational learning needs and to prioritize access to training for learners.

Governance has been enhanced to support whole-of-government learning by

• strengthening the mandate of the existing Canada School of Public Service Advisory Committee (appointed by the Clerk of the Privy Council) to increase capacity to provide strategic advice on government priorities and the learning needs that support performance and results;
• expanding the membership of the Advisory Committee to ensure broader representation of small organizations, functional communities, major users and regions across Canada; and
• creating an assistant deputy minister-level Sub-Committee to support the Advisory Committee, to identify emerging priorities for curriculum development and to liaise with other federal organizations and communities.

More recently, the School has renewed its internal decision-making structure to promote collaboration and joint planning. The new governance structure, illustrated below, is made up of committees related to the School's workforce, finances and strategic and operational leadership. These committees empower the School's executives, enhance engagement and support a leaner, more streamlined approach to decision making at the School.

Figure 10: Senior-level governance structure

• Alternative Text for Figure 10: Senior-level governance structure

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  CSPS Senior-level Governance Structure
  
  Figure 10 shows the structure of the School's senior-level governance. The figure divides the School's senior governance structure into three tiers. The first, labelled Consultative and Decision Making, includes the Deputy Minister and various committees at the deputy minister and vice-president level: the Executive Committee, supported by the Executive Emergency Management Team and the Evaluation and Audit Coordination Committee; the VP Resourcing Committee; the Procurement Review Committee; and the Strategy and Operations Committee. Additional committees in this tier include the National Labour Management Consultation Committee, the Occupational Health and Safety Committees and the Extended Management Forum. The second tier, labelled Direction and Implementation, is connected to the first by the Strategy and Operations Committee. Committees at this level are the Data Strategies and Integration Committee, the GCcampus/Web Committee, the Facilities Renewal Committee, the Service Excellence and Communications Committee and the School Content Integration Committee. The third tier consists of various branch committees and ad hoc groups. Consultative interdepartmental committees are listed separately and include the CSPS Advisory Committee and the CSPS Advisory Sub-Committee as well as the Enterprise Editorial Board.

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Features

Empowering Public Servants Through Strong Leadership (TRN4-E39)

(November 27, 2024)

2024 Government of Canada Workplace Charitable Campaign: Quiz for a Cause – DM Trivia (WMT2-E16)

(November 28, 2024)

Practical Artificial Intelligence Series: Reimagining Government Communications and Access to Services (DDN1-E11)

(December 5, 2024)

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