In 2018–19, CAS supported seven main organizational priorities. The following summarizes performance for the fiscal year against these priorities.
Articulate a strategy to provide the Courts, litigants and CAS with an enabling, modern and integrated IT environment supportive of their needs.
CAS, advanced its efforts in 2018–19 to enhance court and registry technologies. Five new e-courtrooms were completed during the fiscal year, with four located in Toronto and one in Montréal. A new Electronic Judicial Calendar for the FC was also completed to manage the scheduling of proceedings and the assignment of judges. In addition, CAS continued its efforts to secure funding to support the acquisition, implementation and operation of a modern CRMS to replace current technologies used to manage the business of the Courts and their registries2. A modern CRMS would provide efficient and effective support to the Courts, enable the Courts and their registries to work digitally and to deliver the e-services demanded by members of the Courts, litigants and lawyers from the moment documents are filed to the time a decision is made public.
Implement a sustainable human resources model to meet the current and future needs of CAS and the Courts.
To address capacity needs in registry and judicial services, efforts were deployed in 2018–19 to staff priority positions across the four Courts. At the end of the fiscal year, positions staffed provided much needed resources to effectively support the Courts’ business. The training model for the registries was also reviewed in 2018–19 to determine how to best enhance delivery methods and the content of training materials to better meet the unique requirements of each Court and the development needs of employees.
CAS’s operational staffing service delivery model was reviewed in 2018–19, and as a result, new collective and express staffing units were established to improve the responsiveness of staffing actions across the organization. Phase 1 of CAS’s succession plan strategy was completed while the remaining phases are expected to be completed in the next fiscal year. Work also continued to advance for CAS’s work description update with the review of positions in Judicial and Registry Services completed and substantial progress made with Corporate Services positions.
To promote mental health, a number of training programs and seminars were offered to both managers and employees throughout the fiscal year. The Guarding Minds at Work survey was also administered to employees to assess how to best respond to mental health in the workplace. The feedback received will inform CAS’s integrated strategy on mental health, civility, and values and ethics, which is under development.
Ensure that CAS’s space envelope meets operational requirements of the Courts and CAS and provides a safe and accessible environment for members of the Courts, employees and court users.
To ensure its facilities’ plans meet the current and evolving requirements of the Courts, CAS undertook a number of initiatives in 2018–19. CAS continued to work with Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) to establish National Judicial Fit-up Standards outlining requirements for judicial special purpose space to ensure they reflect the status of the Courts and meet modern court standards.
Additionally, CAS received $4.6 million as part of program integrity funding in Budget 2018 to acquire additional space at the Toronto regional office to accommodate resources necessary to manage workloads as well as the expansion of court business. Funding of $24 million over five years beginning in 2019–20 was also received in Budget 2019 for the relocation of the federal courthouse in Montréal. The Montréal courthouse is the Courts’ third largest location in Canada and a new building is necessary to ensure a continuous and uninterrupted court presence in Montréal. While PSPC will lead the construction of the new building, the funding received will cover CAS’s portion of the project costs. Planning also advanced for projects to be undertaken in several locations across Canada to accommodate the increasing workload of the Courts, as well as address accessibility issues.
Implement a new translation model to support effective service delivery.
CAS modified its translation model in 2018–19 to improve quality, efficiency and timeliness of translation of decisions of the Courts. Additionally, funding received in Budget 2019 — $8.5 million over five years beginning in 2019–20 and $1.7 million ongoing — will be used to increase CAS’s translation capacity, facilitate making decisions available in both official languages in a timely manner, and ensure that decisions posted on the Courts’ websites are of the expected quality, equivalency and accessible to the visually impaired.
Finalize enhancements to physical and IT security for members of the Courts, their users and employees.
Efforts were exerted in 2018–19 to further improve the proactive security posture for the Courts and CAS. Building on work carried out in previous years, the majority of security enhancements identified as part of funding received in Budget 2015 were completed within established timeframes. The CSO program continued to be implemented with CAS deploying screening equipment in facilities and off-site locations. CAS’s BCPs and EMPs were reviewed in 2018–19 to enable continued delivery of operations in the event of a business disruption or incident. Finally, several software and hardware improvements were made to enhance IT security.
Adopt and implement the required systems, tools and practices for the effective management, sharing and use of information and records for program and service delivery.
CAS continued to advance its efforts in 2018–19 to adopt modern information management principles, practices and standards with the roll-out of a new DMS for its corporate services which utilizes the GCdocs platform for the storage, search, retrieval and lifecycle management of electronic information resources. It is anticipated this system will be deployed to other operational areas and regional offices in the future.
Develop and implement effective approaches, tools, media and materials to facilitate information sharing and engage employees.
In 2018–19 CAS continued to develop and implement communications strategies, tools, media and materials. As part of these efforts, CAS assisted the FC with the redesign and reconfiguration of its website. The new website has a more user-friendly interface and updated content to help legal counsel, SRLs and the public to easily find the necessary information they require to bring actions forward and to navigate proceedings. The FCA, CMAC and TCC are in the process of updating their websites.
To address the results of the 2017 PSES an Action Plan was developed to implement initiatives that would bring positive improvements to the workplace and work environment. To ensure the needs and concerns of all groups across the organization were reflected, a multi-tiered, multi-stakeholder, collaborative approach was used. Implementation of the Action Plan was a success, with 75% of the items completed in the Plan’s first year. The positive effects of measures undertaken were evident in the 2018 PSES results with improvements seen across the board.
2 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.