Departmental Plan 2019–2020

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• © Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, as represented by the
   President of the Treasury Board, 2019
  •  Catalogue No.: SC100-9E-PDF
  •  ISSN: 2371-8382

Table of contents

• Minister's message
• Plans at a glance and operating context
• Planned results: what we want to achieve this year and beyond
  • Core Responsibilities
    • Common public service learning
      • Description
      • Planning highlights
    • Internal Services
      • Description
      • Planning highlights
• Spending and human resources
  • Planned spending
  • Planned human resources
  • Estimates by vote
  • Future-Oriented Condensed Statement of Operations
• Additional information
  • Corporate information
    • Organizational profile
    • Raison d'être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do
    • Reporting framework
  • Supporting information on the Program Inventory
  • Supplementary information tables
  • Federal tax expenditures
  • Organizational contact information
• Appendix: definitions

Minister's message

Plans at a glance and operating context

Rapidly advancing technologies, shifting demographics and global relations are changing the context in which Canada's public service operates. To adapt, public servants are being challenged to adopt a digital mindset and work in more results-focused, evidence-based and horizontal ways.

As the common learning provider for the core public service, the Canada School of Public Service plays a key role in helping public servants to keep in step with these changes and continue to serve Canadians with excellence in a digital age.

Established on April 1, 2004, under the Public Service Modernization Act, the School operates under the authority of the Canada School of Public Service Act (CSPS Act).

Under the CSPS Act, the School has the mandate 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
• conduct research and encourage greater awareness of public management and administration

The School delivers a common curriculum to equip core public service employees with the knowledge, skills, and competencies they need to fulfil their responsibilities in serving Canadians with excellence.

To enhance its focus on key government and public service priorities and improve the learning experience for public servants, the School is realigning the common curriculum into five new business lines:

• Government of Canada and Public Sector Skills
• Transferable Skills
• Digital Academy
• Indigenous Learning
• Respectful and Inclusive Workplace

The School will also enhance its digital learning platform to further improve access to and satisfaction with the learning it provides. Planned enhancements will provide a more open, user-centric learning experience that better meets the needs and expectations of today's public servants.

The School has also identified opportunities to provide new types of learning and innovation services to respond to the need for deeper and more targeted knowledge and skills development in the core public service. Developed in collaboration with partners in the public, private and academic sectors, these new services will complement the School's delivery of common learning and help it to support and promote innovation and change across the Government of Canada.

New services will also be introduced to address additional public service needs. These will include:

• providing premium and tailored learning to meet specialized learning needs
• conducting research in public administration
• carrying out innovative projects to test novel practices
• developing tools that can be used to enhance the development and delivery of government policy and programs (for example, projects to test artificial intelligence and analyze human resources needs)

For more information on the School's organizational commitments, see the Minister's mandate letter.

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

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

Core Responsibilities

Common public service learning

Description

The Canada School of Public Service provides common learning to all employees of the core public service to serve Canadians with excellence.

Planning highlights

To fulfil its core responsibility to provide common public service learning, the School has four expected results: to deliver common learning that is responsive, high-quality, and accessible and to strengthen capacity for innovation across the core public service.

1. Common learning is responsive to learning needs

   In line with its mandate to foster pride and excellence in the public service, the School provides learning opportunities that respond to public service learning needs and lay the groundwork for a public service culture based on shared values and ethics, common practices, and management excellence.

   In 2019–20, the School will continue to refocus the common curriculum into business lines in five key areas to better meet learning needs and support government and public service priorities.

   The first business line is Government of Canada and Public Sector Skills, which will provide agile, responsive and comprehensive learning opportunities in areas unique to the craft of government. These areas include financial management, delegation of authority, career transitions and executive development, as well as core training for various functional specialists.

   The School will also provide learning products through a new Transferable Skills business line to help public servants develop portable knowledge and skills that are applicable inside and outside of government. These skills will include enhanced project management, public and client engagement, effective communication, and leadership fundamentals, among others.

   Through the new Digital Academy, the School will provide a range of learning opportunities to help public servants develop the skills and networks needed to enhance digital service delivery and meet Canadians' needs and expectations in a digital world. The Academy will use a blend of online, in-class, and practical learning to sustain and deepen digital capacity across the public service in support of developing an open, digital government.

   Building on current curriculum, the Indigenous Learning business line will offer a range of learning opportunities to enhance all public servants' knowledge and awareness of Indigenous peoples in Canada. It will also offer learning targeted for Indigenous public servants. Creating a centre of excellence in Indigenous learning will demonstrate the School's support for the Government of Canada's commitment to reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.

   The School's Respectful and Inclusive Workplace business line will provide learning products and events on topics such as diversity and inclusion, gender-based analysis plus, and mental health awareness, among others. These learning products will help public servants respond to the Clerk of the Privy Council's call, in his Twenty-Fifth Annual Report to the Prime Minister on the Public Service of Canada, to create healthy and respectful workplaces across the public service.

   To mitigate the risk that its learning offerings may not respond to public service needs across the country, the School will establish a regional client relations and partnership function to complement its national client relations activities. This measure will help the School continue to engage with public service and external stakeholders across Canada to identify learning needs and advance collaboration in learning and development.

2. Quality common learning is provided to the core public service

   To maintain the quality of common learning for the core public service, the School will continue to systematically review learning products to ensure they are accurate and up to date. It will also continue to pilot new learning products as they are developed in order to gather learner feedback, make adjustments, and enhance the quality of the products before they are fully implemented.

   Furthermore, the School will continue to work with partners within and outside of government to develop and apply more user-centric, agile methods to speed up the design, development, and delivery of learning. This will involve experimenting with new learning methods and technologies to test their effectiveness. It will also include sharing learning content across departments and agencies to deliver learning more efficiently, reduce duplication, and foster collaboration.

   Exploring opportunities to access expertise and tools will also help ensure the quality of the School's learning products. For example, the School will continue to develop partnerships with academia and other sectors to develop new learning opportunities, carry out research, and promote knowledge sharing.

   As noted, the School will develop premium learning to provide deeper, more substantive skills development and curriculum offerings that go beyond the basics, such as the new gender-based analysis plus premium course piloted in fall 2018. Other premium offerings will include courses designed to develop advanced digital literacy for public servants, offered through the Digital Academy.

   Tailored learning will be developed to build on the foundations of the common curriculum. Upon request, the School will work with departments to adapt some learning products to their unique contexts and provide learning that is customized to address their specific learning needs.

   The School will continue to modernize its metrics on the quality and impact of the learning it provides by:

   • adopting internationally recognized methods
   • revamping its survey methodology in collaboration with industry experts
   • experimenting with artificial intelligence tools to mine learner feedback

   The School will use this data, along with client service feedback, to improve the design, development, and delivery of learning and client services. These measures will ensure that the products and learning experience the School provides are of optimal quality and will mitigate any risks in this regard.

3. Common learning is accessible to all employees of the core public service

   The School will continue to enhance access to in-class and online learning for core public service employees nationwide in both official languages. For this, the School will leverage partnerships with the Regional Federal Councils, the National Managers' Community, the Policy Community Partnership Office and the Federal Youth Network to identify and address regional learning needs.

   For example, the School will develop and deliver targeted offerings in both official languages of instructor-led courses, events, workshops, and webcasts. It will also continue to bring in-person learning to public servants working in remote or underserved areas across the country through "learning weeks."

   Building on previous experimentation, the School will use advanced data analytics to examine how GCcampus is being used and identify ways to provide better access and a more user-friendly experience. By examining how users navigate through learning products, the School can use this information to develop performance support tools and take learners directly to the knowledge they wish to acquire.

   The School will also work to improve learners' mobile experience on GCcampus and revitalize its website and social media platforms to make some learning content open and easier to access, including a number of videos, job aids and online courses. The GCcampus platform will be upgraded to a more modern architecture with improved technical performance that is aligned with government digital standards.

   To mitigate the risk that it may be unable to provide consistent access to GCcampus for public service employees nationwide, the School will continue working with Shared Services Canada and other organizations to maintain its technology and network capacity and respond to security risks as they arise.

4. Strengthened capacity across the core public service to use innovative approaches

   Recognizing that innovation represents learning at the organizational level, the School will provide new services to strengthen the core public service's capacity for innovation and help employees keep pace with the demands of a rapidly evolving digital environment. These services include experimental projects that make use of novel technologies and approaches.

   The following projects are some examples:  

   • A project will be completed in partnership with other organizations to examine federal regulations using artificial intelligence, to demonstrate how this method could be used for policy development.
   • A pilot project will be completed in collaboration with Statistics Canada to develop a tool to analyze human resource capability. It will create a database of employee information, such as education, skills and learning interests, and test whether this method could be used across the public service to identify skills gaps and associated learning needs.
   • Pilot projects will be undertaken to place public servants in organizations within or external to the public service to develop their knowledge and skills and allow them to bring these skills and experiences back to their workplaces. For example, the School will build on Canada's Free Agent program by exploring ways to send public service employees into organizations outside of the public service.

   The School will also carry out research in collaboration with other sectors to develop and share knowledge that encourages greater awareness of issues related to public sector management and public administration, with a view to becoming a gathering place for innovative practices in public administration. It will support innovation communities of practice across government and with external partners.

   There is a risk that the School may lack access to the leading-edge technology it needs to deliver new services. To mitigate this risk, it will leverage existing technological infrastructure and innovative solutions. It will also continue to engage with key partners including Shared Services Canada, the Canadian Digital Service, and the Office of the Chief Information Officer at the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.

The School is planning to continue to invest in its digital learning platform, its new Digital Academy, and innovation and policy development in public administration. At the same time, the School is reviewing its options to increase the amount of revenues it collects in 2020–21 and beyond to maintain its level of investment in leading-edge learning activities for the core public service.

Financial, human resources and performance information for the Canada School of Public Service's Program Inventory is available in the GC 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 services that support Program delivery in the organization, regardless of the Internal Services delivery model in a department. These services are:

• Management and Oversight Services
• Communications Services
• Legal Services
• Human Resources Management Services
• Financial Management Services
• Information Management Services
• Information Technology Services
• Real Property Management Services
• Materiel Management Services
• Acquisition Management Services

Planning highlights

Effective Internal Services support the School's delivery of common learning and new innovation services for the core public service. To this end, the School will implement a three-year financial risk-based plan to assess the effectiveness of internal control and improve its financial processes.

The School is revitalizing its Communications Services to enhance the ways in which it informs and engages with learners. This will include strengthening its web and social media presence and developing a marketing strategy to help public servants find available learning opportunities. The School will also improve internal communications for its employees through an enhanced intranet and other digital tools.  

The School will enhance key human resources functions to improve support for its workforce, including improvements to staffing, classification, and compensation processes. The School will also finalize and implement a gender-based analysis plus framework, through which it will examine its internal processes to ensure they are inclusive and barrier-free. Responding to the Clerk of the Privy Council's report on Safe Workspaces, the School has created an Ombud Office to act as a focal point for employee support and foster a safe and productive workplace.

Experimenting with new information technologies and tools will help the School enhance its delivery of learning. For example, the School is implementing barcode technology to manage attendance at key events, such as the Manion Lecture and Public Service Orientation.

To create a more mobile and telework-friendly environment, the School will further invest in and modernize its Information Management and Information Technology Services. To achieve this, the School will equip its employees with mobile devices that are faster and easier to use, including for videoconferencing. It will also enhance access to Wi-Fi for learners at its learning sites across Canada.

Spending and human resources

Planned spending

Departmental spending trend graph

Statutory spending is comprised of employee benefit plans and unspent revenues carried forward from the previous fiscal year in accordance with subsection 18(2) of the Canada School of Public Service Act.

Spending declined in 2017–18 compared with the previous year because 2017–18 ended a three-year period in which the School had made significant investments in its digital learning platform and curriculum.

Planned spending is increasing in 2018–19 and 2019–20 mainly due to new investments in the development of the Digital Academy and premium learning, which is designed to meet public servants' need for deeper, more targeted learning.

As previously noted, the School is reviewing its options to increase the amount of revenues it collects to maintain the level of investments in the leading-edge learning activities it provides for the core public service beyond 2019–20.

Program expenditures in 2018–19 and the 2019–22 planning period are expected to increase over 2017–18 expenditures as a result of planned investments.

Continuous investments are required in 2018–19 and the following years to enhance GCcampus, keep the curriculum up to date and aligned with government priorities, host the Digital Academy, and promote targeted innovation services to advance leading-edge practices in public service. 

The School will fund these additional investments, as well as the development of partnerships with academia and outside experts, through prudent reinvestment using accumulated revenues in accordance with the provisions of subsection 18(2) of the Canada School of Public Service Act. The School will review its options to increase the amount of revenues collected from 2020–21 and beyond to maintain its level of investment in leading-edge learning activities for the core public service.

With respect to Internal Services, expenditures are expected to remain stable.

Planned human resources

The increase in the number of full-time equivalents in Core Responsibilities starting in 2018–19 is primarily a result of new services such as premium learning and research. These new services will allow the School to:

• provide in-depth, customized learning
• disseminate knowledge on best practices
• raise awareness of issues related to public sector management

The number of full-time equivalents in Internal Services is projected to increase to a lesser extent and will ensure continued support for these new initiatives.

Estimates by vote

Information on the Canada School of Public Service's organizational appropriations is available in the 2019–20 Main Estimates.

Future-Oriented Condensed Statement of Operations

The Future-Oriented Condensed Statement of Operations provides a general overview of the Canada School of Public Service'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. The forecast and planned spending amounts presented in other sections of the Departmental Plan are prepared on an expenditure basis; as a result, 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 Canada School of Public Service's website.

The financial information in the table 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 employee benefit plans. Total expenses exclude those related to the acquisition of capital assets.

The reduction in the net cost of operations before government funding and transfers is mainly due to higher revenues in 2019–20, which will be reinvested towards the School's activities. The increased revenues in 2019–20 are due to unspent revenues carried forward from 2018–19. The School is not projecting to carry forward unspent revenues from 2019–20 to 2020–21.

Additional information

Corporate information

Organizational profile

Appropriate minister: The Honourable Joyce Murray, President of the Treasury Board and Minister of Digital Government

Institutional head: Taki Sarantakis, President

Ministerial portfolio: Treasury Board

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

Year of incorporation / commencement: 2004

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

"Raison d'être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do" is available on the Canada School of Public Service's website.

Reporting framework

The Canada School of Public Service's Departmental Results Framework and Program Inventory of record for 2019–20 are shown below.

Supporting information on the Program Inventory

Supporting information on planned expenditures, human resources, and results related to the Canada School of Public Service's Program Inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.

Supplementary information tables

The following supplementary information tables are available on the Canada School of Public Service's website:

• Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy
• Gender-based analysis plus

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, as well as evaluations, research papers and gender-based analysis. 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
Email: csps.registrar-registraire.efpc@canada.ca
Website: www.myschool-monecole.gc.ca Home Page

Appendix: 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)

A report 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)

Any 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)

The department's Core Responsibilities, Departmental Results and Departmental Result Indicators.

Departmental Results Report (rapport sur les résultats ministériels)

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

evaluation (évaluation)

In the Government of Canada, the systematic and neutral collection and analysis of evidence to judge merit, worth or value. Evaluation informs decision making, improvements, innovation and accountability. Evaluations typically focus on programs, policies and priorities and examine questions related to relevance, effectiveness and efficiency. Depending on user needs, however, evaluations can also examine other units, themes and issues, including alternatives to existing interventions. Evaluations generally employ social science research methods.

experimentation (expérimentation)

Activities that seek to explore, test and compare the effects and impacts of policies, interventions and approaches, to inform evidence-based decision-making, by learning what works and what does not.

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.

gender-based analysis plus (GBA+) (analyse comparative entre les sexes plus [ACS+])

An analytical process used to help identify the potential impacts of policies, Programs and services on diverse groups of women, men and gender-diverse people. The "plus" acknowledges that GBA goes beyond sex and gender differences. We all have multiple identity factors that intersect to make us who we are; GBA+ considers many other identity factors such as race, ethnicity, religion, age, and mental or physical disability.

government-wide priorities (priorités pangouvernementales)

For the purpose of the 2019–20 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 b Economy; Diversity is Canada's Strength; and Security and Opportunity.

horizontal initiative (initiative horizontale)

An initiative in which two or more departments are given funding to pursue a shared outcome, often linked to a government priority.

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 Information Profile (profil de l'information sur le rendement)

The document that identifies the performance information for each Program from the Program Inventory.

performance reporting (production de rapports sur le rendement)

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

plan (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.

planned spending (dépenses prévues)

For Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports, planned spending refers to those amounts 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.

priority (priorité)

A plan or project 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 Departmental Results.

Program (programme)

Individual or groups of services, activities or combinations thereof that are managed together within the department and focus on a specific set of outputs, outcomes or service levels.

Program Inventory (répertoire des programmes)

Identifies all of the department's programs and describes how resources are organized to contribute to the department's Core Responsibilities and Results.

result (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.

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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