2018–19 Departmental Results Report

Table of contents

• Commissioner’s message
• Results at a glance
• Results: what we achieved
  • Core Responsibility
  • Internal Services
• Analysis of trends in spending and human resources
  • Actual expenditures
  • Actual human resources
  • Expenditures by vote
  • Government of Canada spending and activities
  • Financial statements and financial statements highlights
    • Financial statements
    • Financial statements highlights
• Supplementary information
  • Corporate information
    • Organizational profile
    • Raison d’être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do
    • Operating context and key risks
  • Reporting Framework
  • Supporting information on the Program Inventory
  • Supplementary information tables
  • Federal tax expenditures
  • Organizational contact information
• Appendix: definitions
• Endnotes

Commissioner’s message

Our 2018–19 Departmental Results Report is an important way to share information with Canadians about our mandate, our activities and the results we have achieved in the past year and hope to achieve in the upcoming year.

The success of our Office, as an independent Agent of Parliament responsible for the external whistleblowing regime for the federal public sector, depends on people knowing who we are, what we do and how to reach us when they need our help. It also requires that people trust us to handle their disclosures of wrongdoing and complaints of reprisal in a fair, neutral and confidential manner.

The focus of our ongoing work is to ensure timely and effective handling of disclosure and reprisal cases by adapting and improving operational procedures and approaches, as well as ensuring that we recruit and support the development of professional expertise to carry out our important mandate with sensitivity and skill. In this regard, we had an independent evaluation of our Legal Access Request program completed last year. This program provides up to $3,000 to individuals involved in disclosure or reprisal cases to obtain independent legal advice. In the coming year, we will have an evaluation of our core operational activities completed. In both cases, the goal is to identify ways to improve how we carry out our mandate to ensure maximum effectiveness. In addition, our work will continue in reaching out to public servants to ensure they know who we are and how we can help them. This is a core function and an ongoing challenge. The goal of all our activities is to support people in making informed and confident decisions about coming forward with disclosures of wrongdoing and reprisal complaints, and to treat these matters in a timely, complete and professional manner.

Our core mandate is what guides the allocation and use of our financial and human resources, and, while that mandate remains constant, we are committed to exploring ways to ensure efficiency, to demonstrate success through results and, in doing so, to build confidence in our Office and in the federal public sector.

Results at a glance

The Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner of Canada (the Office) supports the duties of the Commissioner by ensuring disclosures of wrongdoing and complaints of reprisal are dealt with in a timely and effective manner, raising awareness about the Office and the whistleblowing regime and ensuring public servants and members of the public have access to information to make an informed decision about disclosures of wrongdoing and complaints of reprisal.

Following the implementation of Treasury Board Policy on Results, the Office adjusted its reporting structure and started using a new Departmental Results Framework. Under this new framework, the Office reports to Canadians on the results it aims to achieve in relation to its core responsibility, namely the handling of Public Sector Disclosures of Wrongdoing and Complaints of Reprisal. The Office is using five performance indicators to track progress on its results. The planned results, indicators and related targets, were outlined in the 2018–19 Departmental Plan.

This Departmental Results Report outlines the achievements of the Office’s results identified in the 2018–19 Departmental Plan and the resources that it allocated toward achieving these results.

For more information on the Office’s plans, priorities and results achieved, see the “Results: what we achieved” section of this report.

Results: what we achieved

Core Responsibility

Public Sector disclosures of wrongdoing and complaints of reprisal

Description

The Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner of Canada increases oversight of government operations by providing public servants and members of the public with an independent and confidential process for making disclosures of wrongdoing in, or relating to, the federal public sector. The Office receives and investigates these disclosures and reports founded cases of wrongdoing to Parliament and makes recommendations to chief executives on corrective measures. The Office also provides a mechanism for public servants and former public servants for making complaints of reprisal. It receives and investigates these complaints of reprisals and can refer cases to the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Tribunal.

Results

In 2018–19, the Office received 148 disclosures of wrongdoing and 54 complaints of reprisal. This represents a marked increase in the number of both disclosures and complaints over the past two years.

The Office also administers a contributions program established under the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act (the Act) to provide discretionary funding up to $3,000 for independent legal advice to individuals involved in disclosures of wrongdoing or reprisal complaints. In 2018–19, the Office received 36 requests for funding for legal advice under the Act.

In its 2018–19 Departmental Plan, the Office focused on two specific areas to achieve the expected results and targets related to its core responsibility. This section describes how the Office performed against each result.

Result No. 1: Public sector disclosures of wrongdoing and complaints of reprisal are dealt with in a timely and effective manner.

To achieve this result, the Office focused on identifying and implementing additional operational efficiencies by exploring new innovative and efficient approaches to operational processes. It also continued to be responsive and improve its approach to service delivery by respecting its service standards and continuing to develop new standardized policies, procedures and tools. Building on the success achieved through the LEAN exercises carried out in previous years, the Office has launched the Team on Efficiency and Efficacy Management (TEEM) initiative. The purpose of TEEM was to review processes and actions taken by the Operations and Legal teams with the intent of finding ways to increase productivity to meet or exceed the Office’s service standards. This new team completed several focused training to address specific issues that affected the timeliness of the Office’s investigative process and the reoccurring quality assurance challenges. The initiative was successful and the Office achieved its results and met 100% of its service standards.

In 2018–19, the Office added two new performance indicators to better measure progress: the percentage of recommendations to chief executives that are followed up on after the tabling of Case Reports; and the number of contributions for legal advice approved by the Commissioner for individuals involved in disclosures of wrongdoing and/or complaints of reprisal. A follow-up on the status of recommendations is made six months after a Case Report is tabled in Parliament. This is then included in the Commissioner’s annual report in accordance with paragraph 38 (1)(d) of the Act. The Office received 36 requests for funding for legal advice, of those, eight were approved. On average, the Office historically granted funding for legal advice to 15 individuals per year.

In June 2018, the Office also completed an evaluation of its contribution program for receiving legal advice. The evaluation focused on the issues of relevance, design, delivery, effectiveness and efficiency. The evaluation found that the contribution program remains relevant, was implemented as designed and intended, is well administered and produced outputs efficiently and economically. Two considerations were provided in terms of monitoring of performance and enhancing communication and awareness. As a response to the evaluation, the Office developed an action plan to be implemented by March 2020, which addresses these two considerations. The evaluation and action plan are available on the Office's website.^{Footnote i}

Result No. 2: Continue to improve and implement outreach and engagement strategies

Awareness of and trust in the Office play a vital role in ensuring that public servants and members of the public are able to disclose wrongdoing. Fear of reprisal continues to be a challenge and plays a fundamental role in an individual’s decision to disclose. To improve awareness and build trust in the Office, in 2018–19 we continued to increase engagement efforts by attending 26 outreach events targeted to public servants. These events provided an opportunity to speak with thousands of public servants face-to-face, answer questions and distribute educational materials.

In order to remain relevant in the digital world, the Office has increased its activity on social media, which in turn, has increased subscription to social media accounts, and provided opportunities to redirect individuals to the Office’s website where they can access educational content and make disclosures and complaints of reprisal online. The most significant outreach initiative undertaken in the past year was the launch of the new website, which provides dynamic and searchable pages, as well as a more user-friendly experience.

Results achieved

Note: The Office adjusted and created new performance indicators in 2017–18. No actual results are available as fiscal year 2017–18 was serving as a baseline to establish targets. Targets for the 2018–19 Departmental Plan were not available, as the baseline to establish targets was not completed at the time of writing the report. The Office completed the baseline, obtained the targets for its indicators and added them to the current report.

Budgetary financial resources (dollars)

Human resources

Financial, human resources and performance information for the Office’s Program Inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.^{Footnote iii}

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 refer 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:

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

Results

In its 2018–19 Departmental Plan, the Office planned to achieve three additional results related to internal services.

Result No. 3: Continue to upgrade the information technology infrastructure

The Office planned to continue to upgrade its information technology infrastructure to ensure the safeguard of its information and procure a new case management system for managing its information relating to service delivery. As a micro-organization, the Office relies on service providers for internal services support. In 2018–19, the Office hired its first information technology employee to support all organizational staff and provide direct advice on information management and information technology issues. The Office also purchased new hardware and software. Because the Office moved in 2018–19, the procurement of a new case management system was postponed due to time constraints.

Result No. 4: Relocate the Office

The Office had started its plans to relocate the office in 2017–18 to meet current and future needs. In 2018–19, the Office started to re-fit a new space that promoted sustainable design principles as well as a productive work environment. The relocation project was successfully completed, with the actual moving of all employees to the new location in June 2019.

Result No. 5: Invest in our people

As a micro-organization, there are challenges with regard to sourcing and retention of staff. In 2018–19, ongoing staffing actions took place in support of Case Analyst and Investigator positions, to ensure that a pool of qualified candidates is available at all times. These positions are essential in carrying out our mandate. The Office also maintained liaison with other investigative organizations to share pools of qualified staff and used the Government of Canada’s tools and resources to secure qualified and interested candidates. The Office continues to invest in ongoing development opportunities and continuous training for all employees, as well as providing flexible work arrangements and workplace wellness initiatives.

Budgetary financial resources (dollars)

Human resources

Analysis of trends in spending and human resources

Actual expenditures

The Office spending has increased consistently from 2016–17 to 2018–19. More specifically in 2018–19, the Office’s total spending was $5,621,112, which represent 97% of its available authorities. The majority of expenditures is related to employees’ salaries. The increase of $671,279 in expenditures between 2017–18 and 2018–19 is mainly attributable to relocating the Office. The Office is planning to continue utilizing its full budget to deliver on its mandate.

Departmental spending trend graph

Supplementary information

Corporate information

Organizational profile

Appropriate minister: The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, President of the Treasury Board

Institutional head: Joe Friday, Public Sector Integrity Commissioner

Ministerial portfolio: Treasury Board Secretariat

Enabling instrument: Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act (S.C. 2005, c. 46)^{Footnote vii}

Year of incorporation / commencement: 2007

Other: The Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner of Canada supports the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner, who is an independent Agent of Parliament.

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 Office’s website.^{Footnote viii}

Operating context and key risks

Information on operating context and key risks is available on the Office’s website.^{Footnote ix}

Reporting Framework

The Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner’s Departmental Results Framework and Program Inventory of record for 2018–19 are shown below.

Supporting information on the Program Inventory

Financial, human resources and performance information for the Office’s Program Inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.^{Footnote x}

Supplementary information tables

The following supplementary information tables are available on the Office’s website:^{Footnote xi}

• Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy

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.^{Footnote xii} 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

Mailing address:   
60 Queen Street, 4^th floor   
Ottawa, Ontario  K1P 5Y7

Telephone: 613-941-6400 or 1-866-941-6400 (toll-free)

Email: info@psic-ispc.gc.ca

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 an appropriated department 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)

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

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 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 2018–19 Departmental Results Report, 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 initiative (initiative horizontale)

An initiative where 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 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 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 Strategic Outcome(s) or 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.

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.

Strategic Outcome (résultat stratégique)

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

target (cible)

A measurable performance or success level that an organization, program or initiative plans to achieve within a specified 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.