Departmental Plan 2020–21

The Honourable David Lametti, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Table of Contents

From the Chief Administrator

Plans at a glance

Core responsibilities: planned results and resources, and key risks

• Administration services for the federal courts

Internal Services: planned results

Spending and human resources

• Planned spending
• Planned human resources
• Estimates by vote
• Condensed future-oriented statement of operations

Supplementary information

• Corporate information
  • Organizational profile
  • Raison d’être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do
  • Operating context
  • Reporting Framework
  • Supporting information on the Program Inventory
  • Supplementary information tables

Organizational contact information

Appendix: definitions

Endnotes

From the Chief Administrator

I am pleased to present the 2020–21 Departmental Plan of the Courts Administration Service (CAS). This report highlights our main areas of focus, and the results we aim to achieve in providing administrative services to the Federal Court of Appeal (FCA), the Federal Court (FC), the Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada (CMAC) and the Tax Court of Canada (TCC) — the Courts.

The coming year marks an important point in time for the Courts and CAS as we are embarking on an ambitious agenda to respond effectively to upcoming challenges and enable continued access to justice for all Canadian. This will fundamentally transform the way we conduct business and deliver services to Canadians.

Three priorities will lead our efforts. First is the transition to digital courts, where we will begin to implement infrastructure and systems that enable the digitization and electronic management of court business. Central to this priority will be the acquisition and preparation for a new Courts and Registry Management System (CRMS) and the further expansion of e-courts and e-services. Second, we will seek to build a workforce of the future. Our goal is to ensure that we have skilled and innovative employees able to meet the evolving requirements of the Courts and a changing work environment. Finally, through our National Accommodation Strategy, we will invest in our facilities in order that they meet the modern operational requirements of the Courts and provide workspaces that enable employees to succeed in a digital environment.

To navigate this period of great change, it will be important to have in place the right tools to facilitate this transition. That is why change management will be at the forefront. Through an effective change management strategy, we will ensure that across the organization changes are understood, thoroughly and smoothly implemented, and that the lasting benefits of change are achieved.

With the continued dedication of our employees and the invaluable collaboration of the Chief Justices, I am confident that we will successfully advance our transformative agenda. Our collective actions will build a new future for the Courts and CAS.

I look forward to what lies ahead.

Daniel Gosselin, FCPA, FCA
Chief Administrator

Plans at a glance

In 2020–21, CAS will pursue the following organizational priorities in delivering its core responsibility to provide administration services to the Courts.

Transition to Digital Courts: Begin the implementation of infrastructure and systems to enable the digitization and electronic management of court business.

In 2020–21, CAS will move forward with the transition to a digital environment where members of the Courts, litigants, lawyers and the public can access court services electronically. This will also allow CAS employees to deliver judicial, registry and administrative services digitally. The centerpiece will be the acquisition and preparation for a new CRMS. Additionally, CAS will work with the Courts to enhance e-filing capacity, the use of e-trials, and move towards implementing e-payment options. New e-courtrooms will be set-up with the infrastructure necessary to support an increasing demand for e-court proceedings. Information Technology (IT) network infrastructure enhancements will also be undertaken to get ready for the implementation of the new CRMS.

Workforce of the Future: Ensure a competent and innovative workforce able to meet the evolving requirements of the Courts within a safe and healthy workplace establishing a reputation as an employer of choice.

To prepare for the workforce of the future, CAS will equip its employees with the tools necessary to function in a digital environment and adapt to new working arrangements. A new strategic HR plan will be implemented in 2020–21 to ensure CAS has an innovative, agile, workforce to meet the evolving requirements of the Courts within a safe and healthy workplace. To facilitate the successful transition of the organization during a period of great change, special consideration will be placed on change management. This will include a variety of activities to help employees understand, commit to, accept, and embrace changes in their work environment. Additionally, strategies will be deployed to improve employee retention in order to reduce turnover, provide opportunities to allow employees to succeed and grow in the organization, and make CAS an employer of choice. Finally, workplace wellness and mental health will remain top priorities for 2020–21, with the focus on sustaining a physically and psychologically healthy and safe workplace.

National Accommodation Strategy: Ensure that the National Accommodation Strategic Plan is innovative and meets the modern operational requirements for the Courts and CAS.

To ensure its facilities meet the current and evolving requirements of the Courts, CAS will advance the implementation of its ten-year National Accommodation Strategic Plan (NASP) to align with the most recent analysis of the Courts and CAS’s current and future accommodations needs. CAS will continue to examine options for a long-term accommodation for the Courts in Hamilton and Winnipeg, as well as collaborate with Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) to advance work required for a new federal courthouse in Montréal, assess the possibility of relocating the headquarters of the Courts and CAS in Ottawa to a Crown-owned building, and potentially increasing its presence in the regions.

For more information on the Courts Administration Service’s plans, priorities and planned results, see the “Core responsibilities: planned results and resources, and key risks” section of this report.

Core responsibilities: planned results and resources, and key risks

Administration services for the federal courts

Description

Provide timely and efficient judicial, registry, court security and electronic court services to the FCA, the FC, the CMAC and the TCC; coordinate the provision of services among the four Courts; and safeguard the independence of the Courts by placing administrative services at arm’s length from the Government of Canada.

Planning highlights

In 2020–21, CAS will continue to emphasize, promote and enhance access to justice for all Canadians, while fine-tuning and aligning its services with the long-term strategic vision of the Courts. The following outlines the key initiatives that are planned to support its core responsibility — administration services for the Courts. Each initiative supports the achievement of CAS’s expected departmental results.

Courts and Registry Management System

A key focus of CAS’s efforts over the planning period will be the acquisition and preparation for a new CRMS to replace existing, outdated systems currently in use. This new system will provide the Courts and their registries with a complete, integrated, efficient, user-centric and adaptable solution aligned with their respective Court Rules and procedures.

A new CRMS will allow the Courts and CAS to deliver e-services for litigants, lawyers and the public enhancing access to justice by allowing court business to be conducted electronically from e-filing of initiating documents, to processing at the registry, to use by the judiciary and parties in preparation for and during proceedings. It will also lead to efficiencies in terms of workflows and automation, and the move towards paperless digital capacity. Additionally, the CRMS will serve as a tool to monitor key performance indicators and support strategic organizational research to enable management decisions based on complete, reliable and readily available data.

Following the completion of the project definition phase in 2019–20, CAS will complete work early in the fiscal year to launch a request for proposals (RFP) process to solicit bids from vendors for a CRMS solution. Once a vendor has been selected, plans will be finalized to define the specific requirements for each Court, followed by the configuration of the new system over the coming years.

Transition to Digital Courts

CAS will undertake a variety of initiatives in 2020–21 to support the transition to a digital environment where members of the Courts, litigants and the public can access court services electronically. This will also allow CAS employees to deliver judicial, registry and administrative services digitally. Many of these initiatives are required to prepare for, and integrate with, the new CRMS as well to deliver improved e-service in the interim. For example, CAS will work with the Courts to enhance e-filing capacity, use of e-trials, and move towards implementing e-payment options. Additional e-courtrooms will be set-up with the infrastructure necessary to support an increasing demand for e-court proceedings. IT network infrastructure enhancements will also be undertaken to prepare for the new CRMS. CAS will also look to deploy Wi-Fi in its offices, public spaces and courtrooms. CAS will also work with the FCA, CMAC and the TCC to redesign and reconfigure their websites to be more user-friendly and provide updated content.

Modernizing Registry Services

An initiative to modernize the operational training model for the registries will continue to advance in 2020–21. This new model will offer training that is user-friendly, relevant and optimizes the use of technology to facilitate learning. In addition, existing training modules will be updated. These will be adapted in the future to meet new processes resulting from advances in e-courts and the implementation of the new CRMS. Recommendations from the review of the efficiency of the delivery of registry services, conducted last fiscal year, will continue to be implemented to improve the function of registry services for the Courts and service delivery for Canadians.

Human Resources

To support the onboarding of new employees, and assure that existing staff retain their knowledge and competencies, training remains a priority in 2020–21. CAS will equip its workforce with the tools necessary to function in a digital environment and adapt to new working arrangements such as teleworking and activity-based workplaces, based on operational requirements. Additionally, strategies will be deployed to improve employee retention in order to reduce turnover, provide opportunities to allow employees to succeed and grow in the organization, and make CAS an employer of choice. CAS will also focus on recruiting skilled employees who are able to meet the evolving needs of the Courts. As part of these efforts, CAS will build alliances with colleges, universities and professional organizations across Canada that offer legal training. The objective will be to ensure that curricula reflect the knowledge and skills required to meet the demands of the future work environment.

Facilities

To ensure its facilities meet the current and evolving requirements of the Courts, CAS will advance implementation of its ten-year NASP based on the most recent analysis of the Courts and CAS’s accommodations needs and long-term strategic vision of the Courts. Facilities projects to be undertaken next year including the move of the Winnipeg local office, expansion of the Toronto regional office and improvements at the headquarters of Courts and CAS in the National Capital Region. CAS will continue to examine options for a long-term accommodation for the Courts in Hamilton, as well as collaborate with PSPC to advance work required for a new federal courthouse in Montréal and to assess the possibility of relocating the headquarters of the Courts and CAS in Ottawa to a Crown-owned building. Additionally, CAS will study the feasibility of opening new offices in Saskatchewan and Victoria.

Information Management

CAS will continue in 2020–21 to work with the Courts to review retention standards and security classifications for judicial information, as well as to develop a schedule for the retention and disposal of various types of court records. An analysis of options to digitize court records will be conducted in order to identify how CAS could begin to digitize the large volume of paper records it manages. In addition, CAS will look to onboard other operational areas and the regional offices to its corporate document management system for the storage, search, retrieval and lifecycle management of electronic information resources.

Branding and Communications

CAS is committed to modernize and ensure the continued success of the brand of the Courts and the organization. The objective is to reinforce the identity, image and strengths of the Courts and CAS, while increasing visibility and recognition among the public. This will take into consideration the unique characteristics and needs of each Court. It will also seek to leverage the use of social media and emerging technologies to enhance how the Courts and CAS communicate and disseminate information to Canadians.

Security

CAS will maintain its efforts to employ a proactive security stance to deliver the level of security required for the judiciary, employees and court users to operate within a safe and secure environment. After the completion of a comprehensive threat and risk assessment (TRA), CAS will put in place measures to address findings as necessary. In addition, CAS will carry on with standardizing the elements of its security management framework to conform to requirements outlined in the revised Policy on Government Security. Ongoing efforts to implement enhancements to the physical security of facilities, collaborate with the law enforcement community across Canada to inform strategic security decisions and strengthen services provided to the Courts will also continue over the next fiscal year.

Translation of Court Decisions

CAS will continue to make available translated court decisions within establish timeframes to meet the requirements of the Official Languages Act. Subsequent to the modification of its translation model and a slight increase in ongoing funding received in 2019–20, CAS will monitor its ability to translate and post decisions within timeframes given current volumes and available resources.

Consideration of Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA+) in Planned Initiatives

CAS is committed to the full implementation of gender-based analysis plus (GBA+) in the development of policies, programs and initiatives, including consideration of differentiated impacts on diverse groups of women and men. Further information on gender-based analysis plus is available on the Courts Administration Service’s website^{Footnote i}.

Consideration of Risk in Planned Initiatives

For 2020–21, CAS has developed a Corporate Risk Profile, which identifies the organization’s key risks, demonstrates how they are tied to CAS’s core responsibility and priorities, and categorizes the risk response strategies to be implemented. Further information on key risks is available on the Courts Administration Service’s website^{Footnote ii}.

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

Internal Services: planned results

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

CAS will implement a new five-year strategic business plan beginning in 2020–21. This will outline the Chief Administrator’s vision for the organization, identify fundamental priorities and activities, and highlight the corporate objectives underlining these priorities. The strategic business plan will also help inform and prioritize investment decisions, support human resource development activities, and introduce for implementation, a number of modern change management principles. All this will be done with the view to providing effective and efficient judicial and registry services to the Courts in the exercise of their judicial responsibilities.

A new strategic HR plan will also be implemented in 2020–21 to provide the framework to ensure the organization has an innovative, agile, workforce to meet the evolving requirements of the Courts within a safe and healthy workplace. Key among the priorities to be pursued include preparing to meet the demands of the future of work; delivering e-HR services by digitizing HR processes and tools; promoting talent management and succession planning; supporting employee learning; and encouraging a diverse and inclusive workforce.

To facilitate the successful transition of the organization during a period of great change, special consideration will be placed on change management. This will include a variety of activities to help employees understand, commit to, accept, and embrace changes in their work environment. It will also emphasize the importance of changes being implemented to help employees better understand the reasons for change, management’s expectations, the resulting benefits, and their role in adopting and sustaining change.

Workplace wellness and mental health will also remain top priorities for 2020–21, with the focus on sustaining a physically and psychologically healthy and safe workplace. As part of these efforts, CAS will launch an integrated strategy on mental health, civility and respect, and values and ethics. This strategy will be used to improve psychological support to employees and managers, develop a culture of trust, honesty and fairness, and foster an environment of civility and respect.

Open communication is essential for the ongoing generation of ideas, establishing a culture of engagement and providing a healthy, stimulating environment for employees and clients. Building on the successes of prior years, CAS will continue to promote a supportive work and service environment for all employees. Central to CAS’s efforts will be to ensure its internal communications activities, tools and messaging promote organizational objectives and resonate with employees. This will include developing tools and processes that encourage sharing, input and dialogue to strengthen connections across the organization, and between management and employees.

CAS will be one of the first departments and agencies to implement the new Government of Canada Financial and Materiel Management (GCFM) solution in 2020–21. This new system, based on the latest SAP technology and best business practices, will provide CAS with a robust financial tool for budgeting, planning and forecasting, and reporting. GCFM will also offer added value in terms of enhancing business intelligence to inform better decision-making, the allocation of resources, performance management and accountability.

Following the transition to an in-house internal audit capacity in 2019–20, this function will continue to provide independent, objective assurance and consulting to add value and improve the organization's performance. These efforts will include monitoring the implementation of management action plans resulting from audits. This will ensure that the Chief Administrator receives assurance and advice from the Audit Committee and internal audit function to inform decision-making, improve risk management, control and governance.

Spending and human resources

This section provides an overview of the department’s planned spending and human resources for the next three consecutive fiscal years, and compares planned spending for the upcoming year with the current and previous years’ actual spending.

Planned spending

Departmental spending 2017–18 to 2022–23

The following graph presents planned (voted and statutory) spending over time.

Budgetary planning summary for core responsibilities and Internal Services (dollars)

The following table shows actual, forecast and planned spending for each of the Courts Administration Service’s core responsibilities and to Internal Services for the years relevant to the current planning year.

Table Note: Planned Spending for 2020–21 and beyond exclude all Treasury Board central vote funding (Operating Budget Carry Forward and expenditures such as severance pay and parental benefits). In addition, prior-year expenditures for 2017–18 have been realigned to the new DRF for comparability purposes.

Note:

The increase between 2017–18 and 2018–19 expenditures is mostly due to increases in funding provided by Budget 2018 commitments to support Canada’s Court system and to support a new intellectual property strategy, which gave CAS funding to support three prothonotaries related to this strategy.

The increase from 2018–19 expenditures and 2019–20 forecast spending is mostly due to increases in funding provided by Budget 2019 to enhance the integrity of Canada’s borders and asylum system and supporting the delivery of Justice through the timely translation of court decisions. In addition, the forecast spending of 2019–20 also includes expenditures to date related to authorities received from Treasury Board central votes.

These central votes (Operating Budget Carry-Forward, ratified collective agreements) are excluded from the planned spending information due to its unpredictability and therefore offset the increases in funding which results in the decrease from 2019–20 forecasted spending and the 2020–21 Main Estimates. Other minor decreases are relating to the decrease in Budget 2019 funding related to the one-time construction costs of chambers in 2019-20 for the integrity of Canada’s borders and asylum initiative.

The decrease in planned spending from 2020–21 and 2021–22 relates to the portion of sunsetting funding of the Budget 2018 commitment to support Canada’s Court System and all of the Budget 2019 commitment to enhance the integrity of Canada’s borders and asylum system funding.

Planned human resources

The following table shows actual, forecast and planned full-time equivalents (FTEs) for each core responsibility in the Courts Administration Service’s departmental results framework and to Internal Services for the years relevant to the current planning year.

Table Note: Prior-year full-time equivalents (FTEs) for 2017–18 have been realigned to the new DRF for comparability purposes.

Note:

The variance between 2017–18 and 2018–19 actual FTEs is a renewed emphasis on staffing as CAS obtained funding to support Canada’s Court system. This funding primarily focused on supporting CAS’s operational requirements. The turnover experienced in 2017–18 as well as this additional funding created many vacant positions that were staffed in 2018–19 and furthermore in 2019–20. The increase between 2018–19 actual FTEs and 2019–20 forecasted FTEs is due to the ramp-up in Budget 2018 funding which represents additional FTEs as well as additional funding through Budget 2019 commitments. Small increases are planned for 2020–21, as funding for the asylum initiative ramps-up in FTEs to support judicial appointments. The reduction in planned FTE’s in 2021–22 is the sunsetting funding of all asylum initiative funding which had only two years of funding attached to the Budget 2019 commitment.

Estimates by vote

Information on the Courts Administration Service’s organizational appropriations is available in the 2020–21 Main Estimates^{Footnote iv}.

Condensed future-oriented statement of operations

The condensed future oriented statement of operations provides an overview of the Courts Administration Service’s operations for 2019–20 to 2020–21.

The amounts for forecast and planned results in this statement of operations were prepared on an accrual basis. The amounts for forecast and planned spending presented in other sections of the Departmental Plan were prepared on an expenditure basis. Amounts may therefore 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 Courts Administration Service’s website^{Footnote v}.

Note:

Forecast and planned results were determined based on an analysis of actual expenditures, results of internal forecasting exercises and prior year trends, and the use of professional judgment. With all assumptions, there is a measure of uncertainty surrounding them. This uncertainty increases as the forecast horizon extends.

CAS’s total expenses are estimated to decrease from $124,893,321 in 2019–20 to $123,507,021 in 2020–21, a variance of $1,386,300 (-1%). The two major categories of expenses are salary and employee benefit expenses, and operating expenses.

• Salary and employee benefit expenses: Salary and employee benefit expenses are estimated to decrease from $67,115,866 in 2019–20 to $65,188,133 in 2020–21, a variance of $1,927,733 (-3%). On an accrual basis, over half of the CAS’s total expenses consist of salaries and employee benefits (54% of total expenses in 2019–20 and 53% of total expenses in 2020–21). This variance is mainly attributable to one-time funding in 2019–20 for specific projects that will be risk managed in 2020–21.

• Operating expenses: Operating expenses are estimated to increase from $57,777,455 in 2019–20 to $58,318,888 in 2020–21, a variance of $541,433 (1%). This variance is mainly attributable to services provided without charge.

CAS’s total revenues are estimated to be $3,111 in both 2019–20 and 2020–21. The majority of the CAS’s revenues are earned on behalf of Government (i.e., non-respendable revenues). The total revenues figure presented in the above table is net of these non-respendable revenues and relates to respendable revenue from the sale of Crown assets. Further details on CAS’s non-respendable revenues can be found in the detailed Future-Oriented Statement of Operations and associated notes^{Footnote vi}.

Supplementary information

Corporate information

Organizational profile

Appropriate minister: The Honourable David Lametti, P.C., M.P.

Institutional head: Daniel Gosselin, Chief Administrator

Ministerial portfolio: Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Enabling instrument: Courts Administration Service Act, S.C. 2002, c. 8^{Footnote vii}

Year of incorporation / commencement: 2003

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 Courts Administration Services website^{Footnote viii}.

Operating context

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

Reporting Framework

The Courts Administration Service’s approved departmental results framework and program inventory for 2020–21 are as follows.

Graphical presentation of Departmental Results Framework and Program Inventory

Supporting information on the Program Inventory

Supporting information on planned expenditures, human resources, and results related to the Courts Administration Service’s program inventory is available in the GC InfoBase ^{Footnote x}.

Supplementary information tables

The following supplementary information tables are available on the Courts Administration Service’s website.^{Footnote xi}

• Gender-based analysis plus^{Footnote xii}

Organizational contact information

Further information on the strategic planning portion of this document can be obtained by contacting:

Director, Strategic Planning, Communications and Corporate Secretariat
Courts Administration Service
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0H9
Info@cas-satj.gc.ca

Further information on the financial portion of this document can be obtained by contacting:

Director General, Finance and Contracting Services
Courts Administration Service
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0H9
Info@cas-satj.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 priority (priorité ministérielle)

A plan or project that a department has chosen to focus and report on during the planning period. Departmental priorities represent the things that are most important or what must be done first to support the achievement of the desired departmental results.

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)

The conducting of activities that seek to first explore, then test and compare, the effects and impacts of policies and interventions in order to inform evidence-based decision-making, and improve outcomes for Canadians, by learning what works and what doesn’t. Experimentation is related to, but distinct form innovation (the trying of new things), because it involves a rigorous comparison of results. For example, using a new website to communicate with Canadians can be an innovation; systematically testing the new website against existing outreach tools or an old website to see which one leads to more engagement, is experimentation.

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.

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.

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 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.