CAS has in place a risk management process through which corporate risk profiles are developed and used annually to create an Enterprise Risk Management Framework for the fiscal year. This process is applied consistently throughout CAS and engages the most senior levels of the organization — the Chief Justices of the Courts, the Departmental Audit Committee, the Executive Committee, and the Senior Management Committee — in the identification and evaluation of the most pertinent risks for the organization, and the determination of appropriate response strategies to effectively manage these risks. Assigned risk owners are responsible for monitoring risks and the effectiveness of mitigation strategies, and presenting quarterly reports to the Executive Committee.
There is a risk that access to justice could be compromised by insufficient financial resources and in turn impact the judicial independence of the Courts.
Factors driving this risk in 2018–19 included nondiscretionary work associated with the escalation in the number of multi-day hearings; a large number of self-represented litigants SRLs across all Courts; the effects of legislative and regulatory changes and amendments to the Court Rules on workloads; the number of documents received by the Courts; ongoing public demands for online services; the number of decisions that CAS has to translate and the requirement to support Canada’s fiscal objectives.
Ongoing program integrity funding in Budget 2018 has in large part mitigated this risk by providing a stable resource base for a number of areas critical to delivering CAS’s core mandate. In addition, CAS received funding in Budget 2019 for other important initiatives including a slight increase for the translation of Court decisions and the relocation of the federal courthouse in Montréal.
However, due to the ongoing requirement for funding for a modern CRMS, in the short-term, CAS will maintain its efforts to address this need. CAS will also continue to assess its requirement for translation.
There is a risk that system applications and infrastructure will be unable to respond to the current and evolving requirements of the courts, litigants and CAS, impacting service delivery efficiency and access to justice.
The inefficiency of legacy systems to meet current needs, the susceptibility to system failures, potential of IT security incidents, an ongoing lack of dedicated funding for a modern CRMS, and the growing public demand for digital service, were all factors that continued to drive this risk. To mitigate this risk, CAS continued to advance its efforts in 2018–19 to secure funding to implement a new CRMS.1
In light of the continued risks with current systems, it was determined the likelihood and impact of this risk was increasing by the end of 2018–19.
There is a risk that a lack of succession planning, insufficient capacity, high staff turnover, workload pressures, work culture and work environment will negatively impact the wellness and productivity of employees.
Factors driving this risk in 2018–19 included the need to continue to invest in succession planning, insufficient staff capacity, high staff turnover, workload pressures, and to improve work culture and work environment.
Several mitigation strategies were implemented during the fiscal year to address this risk. These included staffing positions identified for program integrity funding; completing CAS’s succession planning strategy and making significant progress on the work description review; delivering a number of training and awareness events on mental health / workplace wellness; and developing and implementing an action plan to respond to employee needs identified in the 2017 PSES.
The mitigation strategies adopted were successful in decreasing the likelihood and impact of this risk by the end of 2018–19.
There is a risk of loss, damage or inability to access records of business value or historical jurisprudence and in turn impact decision-making.
Factors driving this risk in 2018–19 included the need to implement a modern document management system DMS for CAS and the Courts; the volume of court documents processed and managed by CAS; and the large volume of paper documents archived by CAS. Risk mitigation strategies, including the roll-out of a DMS for all corporate services; continued work with the document retention standards; and exploring the potential for the digitization of archival court documents were implemented over the course of the fiscal year.
The mitigation strategies adopted were successful in decreasing the likelihood and impact of this risk by the end of 2018–19.
There is a risk that the security of members of courts, court users and CAS employees, facilities, information and IT could be compromised.
In 2018–19, the evolving security requirements and the results of a number of threat analyses continued to drive this risk. A variety of mitigation strategies were implemented over the course of the fiscal year to respond to this risk. These included the continued implementation of the Court Security Officer CSO program; application of CAS’s standardized methodology and approach to establishing security measures for high-risk hearings and events; the review of BCPs and update of the BCP policy; and maintaining solid partnerships that strategically position the organization within various high-level committees that support security-related initiatives. In addition, the vast majority of security enhancements identified as part of funding allocated in Budget 2015 were completed.
The mitigation strategies adopted were successful in decreasing the likelihood and impact of this risk by the end of 2018–19.
1 At the time of publication, CAS had been accorded in-year funding of $52 million over five years beginning in 2019–20 and $6.7 million ongoing to support the acquisition, implementation and operation of a modern CRMS.