ARCHIVED - Human Resources and Social Development Canada

• Previous Page
• Table of Contents
• Next Page

This page has been archived.

Ministers' messages

Message from the Minister of Human Resources and Social Development

I am pleased to present to Parliament the 2006-2007 Departmental Performance Report for the Department of Human Resources and Social Development. This Performance Report represents achievements against the commitments set out in the Report on Plans and Priorities, and provides Canadians with the assurance that their government is accountable for results achieved.

Canada's New Government has made it clear that we want to bolster Canada's competitiveness. Advantage Canada - our long-term economic plan - is designed to make us a world leader for today and future generations. One of its key pillars is building a Knowledge Advantage; we have set a bold, but achievable, goal to create the best educated, most skilled and most flexible workforce in the world.

Budget 2007 put the Knowledge Advantage in action with the announcement of the new Labour Market Architecture. Through this new architecture, the government will invest $3 Billion over 6 years to increase participation in the workforce through new agreements with provinces and territories. In addition, I have signed agreements with Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Quebec and the Yukon for the Targeted Initiative for Older Workers. As well, Budget 2007 enhanced the Aboriginal Skills and Employment Partnership Program by $105 million over five years.

As Minister of Human Resources and Social Development, I have had the opportunity to see first hand how the Department touches the lives of citizens. I am excited by the important steps we are taking as a department to help Canadians seize opportunities and build better lives for themselves and their families.

During this past year, Canada's New Government has also taken a leadership role in supporting the choices of Canadians to actively participate in society. In July 2006 we launched Canada's Universal Child Care Benefit. Some two million families now receive benefits that support their child care choices.

We are also helping persons with disabilities take advantage of opportunities and participate more fully in our society. We have put in place changes to the Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security Act (Bill C-36) that provide enhanced disability benefits for long time contributors to the Canada Pension Plan. At the same time, in collaboration with Canada Revenue Agency, seniors who file income tax returns will benefit from the on-going renewal of the Guaranteed Income Supplement without having to re-apply every year.

As well, in December 2006, Canada's New Government delivered on its commitment to help those who are homeless and those at risk of becoming homeless by introducing a new Homelessness Partnering Strategy. Combined with renewed investment in Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's renovation programs, this represents an investment of $526 million over two years to assist vulnerable Canadians.

Finally, Service Canada is the Government of Canada's one stop service delivery network. In partnership with other departments, agencies and levels of government, it provides Canadians with a growing range of government programs and services. We have introduced an automated, on-line reading service to assist the visually impaired and introduced 171 new points of service, some of which provide multi-lingual service. This has resulted in ninety-five percent of Canadians now living within 50 kilometres of a Service Canada point of service.

Human Resources and Social Development Canada is committed to service and excellence. We will continue to serve Canadians with a focus on enhancing accountability and real results.

The Honourable Monte Solberg, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Human Resources and Social Development

Message from the Minister of Labour

The Labour Program plays a pivotal role in creating a successful and prosperous Canada by promoting and protecting the rights and well-being of employees and their employers. The workplace is where Canada's wealth is generated and where most Canadians spend a significant part of their lives. It is the goal of the Labour Program to help ensure that the workplace functions well.

Through our programs and services, the Labour Program helps both employees and employers meet the challenge and opportunities of the changing workplace. By promoting fair, stable, safe, healthy and productive workplaces and by providing labour related research and information, we help improve the quality of life of all Canadians.

We are proud of our successes in the last year, which include:

• the resolution of important labour disputes;
• the modernization of rules and regulations, and improvement of enforcement and compliance related to occupational health and safety;
• advancements related to issues concerning employment and pay equity, wage earner protection and the review of labour standards;
• promotion of a racism free workplace; and
• advancements in the negotiation and implementation of international labour cooperation agreements and related activity programs.

The Labour Program works with other orders of government in many of its activities. We collaborate with our provincial and territorial partners to help build better workplaces across Canada. On the international stage, where we are the voice of Canadians concerning labour issues, we work with our international partners to promote core labour standards and improved living and working conditions.

The collaborative efforts of the Labour Program and Human Resources and Social Development Canada, will continue to ensure that Canadian employees and employers are provided with every opportunity to compete and thrive in the new global workplace and to build a stronger, more sustainable Canada.

The Honourable Jean-Pierre Blackburn, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Labour and Minister of the Economic Development
Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec

Management Representation Statements

Human Resources and Social Development Canada

I submit for tabling in Parliament, the 2006-2007 Departmental Performance Report for Human Resources and Social Development Canada.

This document has been prepared based on the reporting principles contained in the Guide for the Preparation of Part III of the 2006-2007 Estimates: Reports on Plans and Priorities and Departmental Performance Reports:

• It adheres to the specific reporting requirements outlined in the Treasury Board Secretariat guidance;
• It is based on the Department's approved Strategic Outcome(s) and Program Activity Architecture that were approved by the Treasury Board;
• It presents consistent, comprehensive, balanced and reliable information;
• It provides a basis of accountability for the results achieved with the resources and authorities entrusted to it; and
• It reports finances based on approved numbers from the Estimates and the Public Accounts of Canada.

__________________________________________________
Janice Charette
Deputy Minister Human Resources and Social Development

Labour

To the best of my knowledge, the results achieved in support of the Labour program are presented in a complete, accurate and balanced manner in the 2006-2007 Departmental Performance Report for Human Resources and Social Development Canada.

__________________________________________________
Munir A. Sheikh
Deputy Minister of Labour and Associate Deputy Minister
of Human Resources and Social Development

Service Canada

To the best of my knowledge, the results achieved in support of Service Canada are presented in a complete, accurate and balanced manner in the 2006-2007 Departmental Performance Report for Human Resources and Social Development Canada.

__________________________________________________
Hélène Gosselin
Deputy Head of Service Canada and Associate Deputy Minister
of Human Resources and Social Development

Section I Overview

Human Resources and Social Development Canada

Departmental Overview

Introduction

This document reports on the performance of Human Resources and Social Development Canada for the period from April 1, 2006 to March 31, 2007. It reports on the Department's achievements related to the commitments set out in the 2006-2007 Report on Plans and Priorities.

This section provides a departmental overview, including a brief description of the socio-economic environment, and a summary of departmental performance. Section II includes detailed performance results information by strategic outcome. The financial tables and information concerning the specified purpose accounts are in Section III, and Section IV provides more details on programs supporting activities and the consolidated financial statements.

The Department's vision is to build a strong and competitive Canada, to support Canadians in making choices that help them live productive and rewarding lives and to improve Canadians' quality of life. The Department's broad economic and social mandate touches all Canadians: from families with children to seniors, from school to work, moving from one job to another, from unemployment to employment, and from the workforce to retirement. The Department works to provide Canadians with the tools they need to thrive and prosper in the economy and society through access to learning and training opportunities, safe and productive working conditions and labour-management relations, as well as policies, programs and services that support the well being of individuals and families and their participation in the economy and society.

Ensuring Canadians have the tools they need to participate fully in the knowledge-based economy and to face today's labour market challenges, requires the active participation of a multitude of partners with the Department acting as a catalyst. Human Resources and Social Development Canada works closely with its provincial and territorial partners, building on established relationships through multilateral and bilateral forums. Employers and unions have an important role in workplace skills investments. Promoting socio-economic well-being also involves working in partnership with the voluntary sector and not-for-profit organizations, learning partners, community groups, including official language minority communities, and the private sector to develop integrated programs and provide information and services to Canadians. The Department works with numerous international partners to learn and share best practices and approaches to maximizing participation of Canadians in economic and social development.

To deliver on its mandate, the Department provides programs and services to millions of Canadians. This includes providing income support through legislated pension benefits, temporary income support during periods of unemployment, and employment programs that enable Canadians to prepare for, find and keep employment. The Department promotes lifelong learning by encouraging skills development in workplaces and by developing and disseminating information about the labour market. Human Resources and Social Development Canada also financially invests in learning to facilitate access to post-secondary education and adult learning opportunities, and reduce barriers to adult learning and literacy and early childhood development. The Department's social policies and programs help to ensure that children and families, seniors, people with disabilities, homeless persons, communities, and others who face barriers have the support and information they need to maintain their well-being and participate in society and the workplace. The Department also promotes stable industrial relations and safe effective workplaces within the federal jurisdiction, as well as negotiating and implementing trade-related international labour agreements.

Service Canada provides one stop access to services of Human Resources and Social Development Canada and a number of other federal departments. It builds on best practices in service excellence found within Canada and abroad and builds on over a decade of work within the Government of Canada to improve the delivery of service to Canadians. The Service Canada delivery network brought together close to 600 points of service in communities throughout Canada; a national 1 800 O-Canada telephone service providing Canadians with information about federal government services and 23 other networked call centres; benefits processing infrastructure and, a range of on-line services at http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/en/home.html.

Human Resources and Social Development Canada's programs and services are designed to achieve results across a broad range of social and labour market outcomes. Five strategic outcomes form the structure for reporting plans, priorities and resources in this report:

"Policies and programs that meet the human capital and social development needs of Canadians"
"Enhanced Canadian productivity and participation through efficient and inclusive labour markets, competitive workplaces and access to learning"
"Safe, healthy, fair, stable, cooperative, productive workplaces and effective international labour standards"
"Enhanced income security, access to opportunities, and well-being for individuals, families and communities"
"Achieve better outcomes for Canadians through service excellence"

Canada's Performance

Canada's Performance is an annual report to Parliament on the federal government's contribution to Canada's performance as a nation, highlighting both strengths and areas for improvement. As a companion piece to the Departmental Performance Reports, the report provides an overview of how the performance of individual departments and agencies contributes to broader, government-wide outcomes in the following key policy areas: economic affairs, social affairs, international affairs, and government affairs.

The strategic outcomes developed by Human Resources and Social Development Canada contributed to several government-wide outcomes as set out in Canada's Performance 2006.

HRSDC	Government of Canada Outcome
√	Strong economic growth
√	An innovative and knowledge-based economy
√	Income security and employment for Canadians
√	A fair and secure marketplace
√	Healthy Canadians
√	A diverse society that promotes linguistic duality and social inclusion
√	Safe and secure communities
√	A prosperous global economy that benefits Canadians and the world

For more information on Canada's Performance 2006, please visit:
http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/report/govrev/06/cp-rc_e.asp

Click on image to enlarge

Text version: Program Activity Architecture

Department of Human Resources and Social Development - Program Activity Architecture

Vision: A strong and competitive Canada that enables individuals to make choices that help them live productive and rewarding lives.
Enhanced Canadian productivity and participation through efficient and inclusive labour markets, competitive workplaces and access to learning			Safe, healthy, fair, stable, cooperative, productive workplaces and effective international labour standards	Enhanced income security, access to opportunities and well-being for individuals, families and communities			Achieve better outcomes for Canadians through service excellence
Labour Market	Workplace Skills	Learning	Labour	Social Investment	Children and Families	Housing and Homelessness	Service Canada
Employment Insurance Labour Market Programs	Workplace Partnerships Foreign Workers and Immigrants Skills and Labour Market Information	Student Financial Assistance Canada Education Savings Program Adult Learning, Literacy and Essential Skills Program International Academic Mobility	Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service National Labour Operations International and Intergovernmental Labour Affairs Workplace Policy and Information	Seniors and Pensions Disability Programs Canada Pension Plan - Disability Community Development and Partnerships	Child Care Universal Child Care Benefit Multilateral Framework for Early Learning and Child Care Early Childhood Development Agreements National Child Benefit	Supporting Communities Partnership Initiative Urban Aboriginal Homelessness Regional Homelessness Fund National Research Program Homeless Individuals and Families Information System Surplus Federal Real Property for Homelessness Initiative	Seamless, Citizen-Centred Service ● Integrity ● Collaborative, Networked Government Service	Results for Canadians
Policies and programs that meet the human capital and social development needs of Canadians
Policy, Research and Communication
Strategic Policy Knowledge, Analysis, Audit and Evaluation Public Affairs and Engagement

Mandate

On February 6, 2006, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada and the former Social Development Canada were consolidated into the Department of Human Resources and Skills Development to be styled Human Resources and Social Development. The powers, duties and functions of the Minister of Social Development were transferred to the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, and the Minister was styled as Minister of Human Resources and Social Development. The Minister was also made responsible for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Further, a Secretary of State for Seniors was appointed on January 4, 2007.

Until new legislation is enacted, the Minister will rely on the provisions of the Department of Human Resources and Skills Development Act and the Department of Social Development Act for specific authorities.

The Department of Human Resources and Skills Development Act defines the powers, duties and functions of the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, the Minister of Labour, and of the Canada Employment Insurance Commission. The legislative mandate of Human Resources and Skills Development is to improve the standard of living and quality of life of all Canadians by promoting a highly skilled and mobile labour force and an efficient and inclusive labour market. The Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development has overall responsibility for the employment insurance system, while the administration of the Employment Insurance Act is the responsibility of the Canada Employment Insurance Commission.

The Department of Human Resources and Skills Development Act provides for the appointment of a Minister of Labour who is responsible for the Canada Labour Code and the Employment Equity Act, as well as other legislation on wages and working conditions. The departmental statute provides that the Minister of Labour make use of the services and facilities of the Department. The Act also sets out the mandate of the Minister of Labour to promote safe, healthy, fair, stable, cooperative and productive workplaces.

The Department of Social Development Canada Act defines the powers, duties and functions of the Minister of Social Development. The mandate of Social Development Canada is to promote social well-being and security. In exercising the power and performing the duties and functions assigned by this Act, the Minister is responsible for the administration of the Canada Pension Plan, the Old Age Security Act, and the National Council of Welfare, and the Universal Child Care Benefit Act.

Service Canada operates within the legislative mandate and framework of the current departmental legislation. Its mandate is to work in collaboration with federal departments, other orders of government and community service providers to bring services and benefits together in a single service delivery network.

On June 1, 2006, the Policy Research Initiative was integrated into the Human Resources and Social Development Canada portfolio. It leads horizontal research projects in support of the medium-term policy agenda of the Government of Canada and identifies data needs and priorities for future policy development.

Expenditure profile

Human Resources and Social Development Canada includes resources of the former Human Resources and Skills Development and the former Social Development departments. Human Resource and Social Development Canada expenditures on programs and services total more than $79 billion, of which $75 billion or almost 95% are direct benefits to Canadians through Employment Insurance (EI), the Canada Pension Plan, Old Age Security, loans disbursed under the Canada Student Financial Assistance Act and other statutory transfer payments. The Department expenditures were $1.0 billion in voted grants and contributions; $33.6 billion in statutory grants and contributions; and $2.1 billion for Employment Insurance Part II.

Table 1: Human Resources and Social Development Canada (millions of dollars)
Human Resources and Social Development Canada - Gross Expenditures			Statutory Transfer Payments
Budgetary			Grants and Contributions
Net Operating Costs		969.7	Old Age Security		22,878.8
Add Recoveries in relation to:			Guaranteed Income Supplement		6,901.1
Canada Pension Plan	261.9		Allowance Payments		504.1
Employment Insurance Account	1,290.0		Other Statutory Payments:
Workers Compensation	87.1	1,639.0	Canada Student Loans	347.7
Gross Operating Costs		2,608.7	Canada Education Savings Grant	505.0
Voted Grants and Contributions		1,031.7	Canada Learning Bond	21.8
Total Gross Expenditures		3,640.4	Energy Cost Benefits	3.7
			Universal Child Care Benefit	1,784.4
Other - Workers' Compensation and EI/CPP Charges and Recoveries		512.8	Child Care - Prov./Terr. Agreements	650.0
			Others	0.1	3,312.7
Non-Budgetary Loans disbursed under Canada Student Financial Assistance Act (CSFAA)		1,231.9	Sub-Total		33,596.7
			Canada Pension Plan benefits		26,115.3
			Employment Insurance benefits
			Part I	11,992.5
			Part II	2,086.9	14,079.4
			Other Specified Purpose Accounts		48.6a
			Total Statutory Transfer Payments		73,840.0
a.  This amount includes payments related to Government Annuities Account and Civil Service Insurance Fund.

Socio-economic year in review

This section provides an overview of the socio-economic context for 2006, covering the broad macroeconomic and social indicators that are of interest to Human Resources and Social Development Canada.

The issues that were facing the Canadian economy and labour market in 2005 became even more pronounced during 2006. Economic growth was strong and modest productivity growth was accompanied by employment gains. The sources of growth have been shifting west in response to high commodity (especially energy) prices, and the capacity of the economy to grow is being constrained by available labour supply, despite inter-provincial migration towards those fast-growing provinces.

The Canadian economy performed well in 2006

Canada's economy grew by 2.7 percent in 2006, a rate slightly less than the previous year. Relative to previous years, the drivers of economic growth were domestic, led by spending by Canadian consumers and business investment. Strong domestic demand, combined with a high Canadian dollar and competition from low-cost countries such as China helped imports to grow faster than exports and lead to a deteriorating trade surplus. General global economic strength and booming demand from China pushed up commodity prices as evidenced by the Bank of Canada's commodity price index which has almost doubled since 2002.

Canadian labour productivity slowed in 2006. Most of this weakness is attributable to recent declines in productivity growth in the resource sector. In particular, shortages of skilled labour in the west and developments associated with activity in Alberta's oil sands, resulted in strong growth in the volume of hours worked without generating increases in production. Canada's productivity growth was again below that in the United States.

Employment continued to advance strongly

Employment advanced at a rate of 2.0 percent (315,000 jobs) in 2006, outpacing the gains recorded in 2005 and for the third consecutive year, gains in employment were predominantly full-time. The employment rate —the percentage of people aged 15-64 who are working — rose to a record 72.9 percent in 2006, surpassing the previous record registered over the prior two years.

Employment growth was constrained by the capacity of the labour force to grow. For the third consecutive year, labour force growth stalled, largely reflecting a slower population growth but also an absence of gains in labour force participation. The participation rate for those working age Canadians remained almost unchanged in 2006 from the previous year at 77.9 percent. In contrast, the unemployment rate fell to a 30-year low of 6.3 percent. The long-term unemployed (people unemployed a year or more) made up only 8.7 percent of all unemployed in 2006, its lowest share since 1990 (the average share of long-term unemployed among the G-7 countries is 30.9 percent).

The Bank of Canada estimates that the economy was operating very close to its potential during 2006.

High energy prices and the high Canadian dollar are leading to shifts in economic activity, employment and even populations

The Canadian economy is a mix of regional economies, each with its own mix of industry and resources. The Canadian economy has, overall, benefited from high commodity and energy prices and falling manufacturing prices, as Canada is an energy and commodity exporter and (on net) a manufactured products importer. However, these major changes in commodity and manufactured goods prices have had quite different impacts on particular sectors and regions.

On the one hand there have been booming investments in the energy sector, higher incomes overall and even better fiscal positions on the part of governments. As a result, the West, particularly Alberta and British Columbia, have been quite strong and recorded the fastest employment gains.

On the other hand, the combination of the high energy and material input costs, the high value of the Canadian dollar, and the high level of competition from emerging economies has led to another cycle of considerable weakness in the manufacturing sector. Manufacturing output growth has been weak and Canadian manufacturing has now joined the almost world-wide trend of economies losing manufacturing jobs. Ontario and Quebec have been the most affected provinces.

Yet, by historical standards, economic health has actually been quite widespread provincially. With the exception of Nova Scotia, all provinces recorded job gains in 2006. When looking at unemployment, labour market health seems to be even more widespread than employment growth. All provinces except Prince Edward Island had falling rates of unemployment, and most were at or near their lowest unemployment rates on record. Large provincial differences in unemployment rates persisted, however. Alberta had an unemployment rate of 3.4 per cent, the lowest while the rate in Newfoundland and Labrador was 14.8%, the highest. During 2005, Alberta attracted over 100,000 inter-provincial migrants and even more during 2006. These are coming from across Canada, with over a third from Ontario alone.

Earnings increased steadily and at a faster rate than inflation

Economic progress is not just about jobs, it is about earnings in those jobs. In 2006, average hourly earnings rose 3.3%, up slightly from 2005. With inflation running near 2.0% last year, these were significant real gains in average real hourly earnings. Among unionized workers, major wage settlements negotiated between employers and their unions gave average annual increases in base rates of 2.5% in 2006, slightly higher than the average increases in 2005.

The low-income rate remains unchanged for most family types

Earnings gains are, of course, not evenly distributed and poverty is an ongoing issue, often best measured by how many families fall below a particular income level and by how much. In 2005, an estimated 655,000, or 7.4%, of all Canadian families were below the Statistics Canada after-tax 'Low-Income Cut-Off ' Families in low-income needed an average of $7,900 to bring their income above the cut-off. While, overall, the incidence of low-income remained unchanged between 2004 and 2005, female lone-parent families experienced a 6.9-percentage point decline in their low-income rate over the period. This decline continued a four-year downward trend — reflecting sustained increases in the earnings and in the proportion of earners among lone mothers. Despite these gains, the incidence of low-income among female lone-parent families remains more than four times as high as that of two-parent families with children.

... but the gap between the lowest- and highest-income families and between the ones with the lowest and highest net worth is wider

The difference in income between the top and bottom 20 percent of families widened during the past decade. While this gap fluctuated between 1980 and 1996, by 2005 it had reached $105,400. Though all income groups benefited from the positive economic conditions that have prevailed since the early 1990s, the largest gains were for the top 20 percent. Current evidence suggests that the recent gains observed in the top quintile of percent of families accrued mainly to the top 1 percent of families. Interestingly, between 1999 and 2005, the median net worth of families in the top 20% of the wealth distribution increased by 19%, while the net worth of their counterparts in the bottom 20% remained virtually unchanged.

Canadian communities

According to the 2006 Census more than 81% of the Canadian population lived in an urban centre of 10,000 people or more, up from 76% in 1971. About 68% of Canada's population now live in communities located within the nation's 33 census metropolitan areas. International migration continues to be the major population driver of large urban centres. In 2001, 62% of all immigrants lived in Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver compared to 52% in 1981. As a result, projections suggest that visible minorities could represent 50% of the population of Toronto and Vancouver by 2016.

Summary of Departmental Performance by Strategic Outcome

This section summarizes achievements of Human Resources and Social Development Canada by strategic outcome and provides a report card on the Department's programs' performance against indicators and objectives outlined in the 2006-2007 Reports on Plans and Priorities.

Policies and programs that meet the human capital and social development needs of Canadians

During the year, the Department provided strategic policy, research, and communication expertise in support of the government's efforts to improve the standard of living and quality of life of Canadians, and promote their social well-being and security. A major focus of this work was supporting the government's commitments contained in the 2006 Budget and economic and fiscal update, including supporting the principle of creating new opportunities and choices for people that was announced in Advantage Canada: Building a Strong Economy for Canadians.

In 2006-2007 a number of strategic initiatives were launched that will help the Department become a recognized centre of excellence for labour market and social development policy and knowledge. One such initiative included progress in developing an approach that recognizes the importance for economic and social strategies to be mutually reinforcing, and that fairly reflects both the social development and economic aspects of the Department's mandate. A medium-term policy planning process was launched that implements a forward-looking perspective through which the Department can identify and prepare for challenges expected to emerge over the medium-term. To ensure that it remains current over time, a provision was built into the planning process that calls for regular reassessment of emerging issues.

Significant progress was made during the year on integrating the Department's extensive knowledge capacity to better inform its policy and program development functions, including the development of a draft knowledge plan that encompasses priority setting for creating, maintaining, using, and disseminating knowledge, data, and research.

Enhanced Canadian productivity and participation through efficient and inclusive labour markets, competitive workplaces and access to learning

During 2006-2007 Human Resources and Social Development Canada worked on a number of broad fronts—supporting labour market efficiency and inclusiveness, enhancing the competitiveness of workplaces, and helping Canadians gain access to learning opportunities—toward the common goal of supporting Canada's continuing prosperity through enhanced productivity and participation. The Department's labour market, workplace skills, and learning programs complemented each other in working to create the best educated, most skilled and flexible labour force, and in contributing to a number of broad Government of Canada outcomes: strong economic growth, an innovative and knowledge-based economy, income security employment for Canadians including targeted groups and those facing barriers, and employment for Canadians, and a fair and secure marketplace. Departmental efforts under this strategic outcome and its major program activities were consistent with the principle of creating new opportunities and choices for people that is outlined in the Government's economic plan: Advantage Canada: Building a Strong Economy for Canadians.

Labour Market

Work by the Department's labour market program activity to increase labour market inclusiveness and enhance participation was pursued through a variety of horizontal initiatives and collaborative efforts involving other federal departments, provinces and territories, external organizations, and other stakeholders. An important accomplishment was the devolution of the Labour Market Development Agreement to Ontario, in keeping with the government's goal of transferring such agreements to provinces and territories. Efforts to improve Aboriginal labour market outcomes included working with partners to strengthen the Aboriginal Human Resources Development Strategy in the areas of urban service delivery, labour market research, and private sector engagement. As well, agreements under the Targeted Initiative for Older Workers were signed with three provinces and one territory to help meet the needs of displaced older workers. All others who have indicated they will participate in this initiative signed the agreements in 2007-2008.

The Employment Insurance program provided Canadians with temporary income support while they were unemployed, or took a temporary absence from work for sickness, pregnancy, childbirth, or to care for a family member. To ensure the Employment Insurance program continues to support individual well-being and economic stability, various measures were undertaken, including the implementation of a pilot project that tests the labour market impacts of offering five additional weeks of regular benefits in regions of high unemployment, and an expansion of the eligibility for the Compassionate Care Benefit so more people can access it.

Workplace Skills

Through its workplace skills program activity Human Resources and Social Development Canada worked to improve Canada's economic competitiveness and enhance the competitiveness of Canadian workplaces. This work, undertaken in collaboration with numerous partners, focused on encouraging employers to invest in the skills development of their workers so they can adapt to evolving skills requirements. The Department took a number of actions to increase the pool of skills available to the Canadian labour market and promote effective participation of skilled workers. Efforts to help Canadian workplaces benefit from the skills possessed by internationally trained individuals and help these individuals integrate more successfully into the labour market included making investments pertaining to the recognition of foreign credentials. Work to increase access to apprenticeships in Red Seal trades and promote inter-provincial mobility included launching the application process for the Apprenticeship Incentive Grant. By year end, more than 4,900 applications had been received for the grant, which helps eligible apprentices registered in a Red Seal trade program cover expenses. The Department also made investments to help improve inter-provincial mobility within priority health occupations.

Learning

With lifelong learning becoming increasingly vital to individual well-being and Canada's productivity, competitiveness and prosperity, the learning program helped Canadians gain access to the learning they need to better participate in a knowledge-based society and economy. Departmental efforts supported the objective as outlined in the Government's economic plan Advantage Canada: Building a Strong Economy for Canadians of exploiting Canada's knowledge advantage to create the best-educated, most skilled and most flexible workforce in the world. The Department worked to make Canadians aware of the importance of lifelong learning and the need to save, plan and pay for post-secondary education; facilitated access to post-secondary education and adult learning opportunities; and worked with partners on the delivery of learning programs and services. The Department helped to make post-secondary learning opportunities accessible to thousands of Canadians through student loans and study grants, as well as access grants for groups that are under-represented in post-secondary education. Eligibility for Canada Student Loans was expanded by reducing the expected parental contribution, effective for the 2007-2008 academic year. Financial supports and incentives were also provided to encourage Canadians to save for post-secondary education, and more support was provided for education savings by low-income families. This support through an enhanced Canada Education Savings Grant and the Canada Learning Bond became widely available by the end of 2006-2007 once more financial institutions had signed agreements with the Department and upgraded their systems. The Department also implemented the Government's commitment to adult literacy through an integrated program, the Adult Learning Literacy and Essential Skills Program, in partnership with the provinces and territories.

Safe, healthy, fair, stable, cooperative, productive workplaces and effective international labour standards

Labour

Throughout the year, the Labour Program worked to ensure safe, healthy, fair, stable, cooperative and productive workplaces within the federal jurisdiction, administered labour related legislation governing federally regulated industries, fostered cooperation within the network of labour jurisdictions in Canada, and managed Canada's international labour affairs. This work cast its influence over a broad spectrum of labour issues: maintaining a fair balance in the relationship between employers and employees; creating competitive workplaces; supporting Canada's productivity and promoting international respect for labour rights. For example, mediation and conciliation assistance provided to employers and unions led to over 96 percent of collective bargaining disputes being settled without a work stoppage; a program was implemented to help ensure an adequate supply of labour negotiators and mediators in the future; and funding was provided to labour capacity-building programming in Canada's trading partners in the Americas. The final report Fairness at Work: Federal Labour Standards for the 21^st Century, by the independent Commissioner reviewing Part III (Labour Standards) of the Canada Labour Code was released. The Minister of Labour met with key stakeholders to obtain their views regarding the report's recommendations on modernizing labour standards in the federal jurisdiction. The Labour Program's efforts also contributed to numerous Government of Canada outcomes: a fair and secure marketplace; safe and secure communities; a safe and secure world through international cooperation; and a strong and mutually beneficial North American partnership.

Enhanced income security, access to opportunities and well-being for individuals, families and communities

The Department continued helping individuals, families, and communities achieve their potential in contributing to Canadian society and sharing in the opportunities society provides. Challenges require that the Department be flexible in finding the most effective ways to provide assistance. At times this involved providing direct assistance, such as the financial benefits paid to parents to help them choose the kind of care they want for their young children. Other approaches included working horizontally with other federal departments and orders of government; working with groups at the community level; tapping the capacity of non-profit organizations; or generating awareness about issues among the public at large. Some challenges, such as enhancing the income security of seniors, affect a broad segment of the population and involved providing pensions to millions of people; other challenges called for a more tailored approach to address particular circumstances, such as providing the assistance that helped more than 2,500 people with disabilities improve their employability. A new Homelessness Partnering Strategy that increases horizontality and partnerships was developed to improve access to the range of services and programs that homeless individuals and families need to move toward self-sufficiency. Working towards this strategic outcome also contributed to a number of Government of Canada outcomes, such as A Diverse Society that Promotes Linguistic Duality and Social Inclusion, Safe and Secure Communities, Income Security and Employment for Canadians, Strong Economic Growth and an Innovative and Knowledge Based Economy.

Social Investment

Under its Social Investment activity the Department administered Canada's national pension plans, which constitute important sources of secure income for seniors, who are the fastest growing age segment of Canada's population, and to people with disabilities who are often unable to earn adequate income from employment. As an illustration of how important such pensions are to seniors, the most recent figures available, for 2004, indicate that Old Age Security accounted for more than half of the total post-retirement income of low-income seniors and that Old Age Security and Canada Pension Plan benefits accounted for more than 40% of the total post-retirement income for seniors.

Other efforts to help targeted groups improve their well-being and participation in communities included approving 775 new projects under the community based New Horizons for Seniors Program to provide funding to encourage seniors to share their knowledge and skills with others in their communities and reduce their social isolation. Also, investments were made in 99 projects under the Social Development Partnerships Program for early childhood development, children and families, official language minority communities and voluntary sector initiatives. As lead federal department on issues affecting people with disabilities, HRSDC administered a number of programs to help them improve their employability and well-being, including Labour Market Agreements for Persons with Disabilities, the Opportunities Fund, and the Disability Component of the Social Development Partnership Program.

Children and Families

Recognizing the priority that families place on child care and the diversity of challenges this presents to parents, the children and families program activity oversaw implementation of the new Universal Child Care Benefit, which provided financial assistance to help parents decide for themselves what form of child care best suits their circumstances. In the last month of 2006-2007, 1.5 million families with young children received the Universal Child Care Benefit. Budget 2007 announced $250 million for child care. Financial assistance and services were provided to low income families through the National Child Benefit, a partnership among federal, provincial and territorial governments, including a First Nations component. The National Child Benefit Supplement for low-income families was increased by approximately $185 per child. The federal government also provided substantial financial assistance through the Canada Social Transfer to support early childhood development by means of such Human Resources and Social Development Canada-managed federal, provincial and territorial initiatives as the Multilateral Framework on Early Learning and Child Care, and the Early Childhood Development Agreement.

Housing and Homelessness

People become homeless through a variety of circumstances, and the homeless population has many faces. The housing and homelessness program activity leads work in this area in collaboration with numerous partners and stakeholders. The Department invested in communities across Canada to help them develop the tools and a range of interventions to help homeless people move towards self-sufficiency. For example, approximately $175.5 million in National Homelessness Initiative funding helped 1,140 homelessness-related projects provide services in 121 communities. A new Homelessness Partnering Strategy that increases horizontally and partnerships was developed to improve access to the range of services and programs that homeless individuals and families need to move toward self-sufficiency. The new Strategy shifts the emphasis from remedial interventions to prevention and reduction of homelessness through transitional and supportive housing. The strategy relies on partnerships, improved collaboration, and better alignment of investments by the various partners to implement local solutions for local problems.

Achieve better outcomes for Canadians through service excellence

Service Canada continued to work towards the goal of providing high-quality, personalized, one-stop service for Canadians. To this end, new services were provided and existing ones were expanded, new points of services were opened, internet service was improved, efforts were made to improve stewardship of public funds, and partnerships with other federal departments and orders of government were strengthened. An important step included implementing client advisory groups that provided a unique perspective on the service needs and priorities of particular segments of clients, such as people with disabilities, and members of the voluntary sector. Access to service was improved through new points of service, as well as a new user-friendly internet website. The range of services delivered by Service Canada also continued to expand, for example, access to pleasure craft licences and the Universal Child Care Benefit, which, by helping parents decide for themselves the kind of care they want for their young children, embodies the government's principle of expanding choices for people. Improvements to existing services included expanding the number of locations providing passport application service to Canadians in smaller and remote communities that do not have a Passport Canada office. Efforts to cope with increased demand for telephone service included extending hours of service, and providing service on Saturday. Measures to ensure that the benefits Service Canada issues go to the right person, in the right amount, and for the purpose for which they were intended, included a continued emphasis to strengthen the integrity of the Social Insurance Number and become a safe and secure common identifier. Examples of work to expand and strengthen partnerships included providing new or expanded service on behalf of five federal departments, working collaboratively with the province of Alberta to streamline the application process for persons with disabilities, and managing the transfer of design and delivery responsibilities for Employment Insurance funded labour market programming to the province of Ontario.

Seamless, citizen-centred service

Through this program activity, service delivery is being transformed from a program focus, which required clients to navigate through an array of government programs to find the services they wanted; to a focus centred on client needs that provides integrated, personalized services available through a variety of service channels. Implementing a client community service strategy has enabled Service Canada to gain a better insight into the needs and priorities that are unique to specific segments of clients. Such insight helped to implement better service to persons with disabilities, such as an automated reading service that assists visually impaired users of the Service Canada internet site. Service Canada's presence grew through the introduction of 171 new points of service, several of which provide multilingual service, putting ninety-five percent of Canadians within 50 kilometres of a Service Canada point of service. Efforts to cope with a 22% increase in demand for telephone service, to a total of over 60 million calls, included extending hours of service, and providing call service on Saturday. Internet service was improved with the launching of a more user-friendly web-site that incorporates a client feedback capability, a voice feature that reads out content for clients, and increased availability of internet service to more than 99% of the time. More than 22 million visits were made to the Service Canada web site in 2006-2007. Accountability and transparency were strengthened through the publication of the first Service Canada annual report.

Integrity

Maintaining sound stewardship of public funds and generating savings included efforts to strengthen the integrity of the Social Insurance Number as a safe and secure common identifier. This included numerous Social Insurance Number investigations, providing assistance to individuals with a compromised Social Insurance Number, and helping Canadians to become aware of proper and improper uses of their Social Insurance Number and testing ways to improve the quality and integrity of Social Insurance Number issuance.

Savings were realized through a combination of measures, including program integrity strategies that helped to ensure benefit payments went only to those who were eligible and improvements to procurement practices for goods and services.

Collaborative, networked government service

Work under this program activity included increasing Service Canada's capacity to become a one-stop point of service for Canadians. To that end, activity focused on expanding relations with other departments and government organizations, efforts that resulted in an increased number of organizations for whom Service Canada delivers service, such as Transport Canada on whose behalf Service Canada issued more than 123,000 pleasure craft licences. Additional progress was made in expanding the use of automated processes, which saw the renewal of Employment Insurance claims through electronic means exceed 30%, and an additional 24,000 employers registering to provide Record of Employment information online. Measures were also undertaken to improve the process through which vital event information is provided to Service Canada by provincial and territorial government organizations which will help to ensure greater accuracy of identification information in the Social Insurance Registry which is crucial for the detection of fraud and abuse.

Departmental Scorecard for Program Indicators

NOTE TO READER: For 2006-2007 the number of indicators and the range of activities covered substantially increased in comparison to the number of indicators that existed in the two former departments prior to their merger. The 2006-2007 indicators were aligned with the new Department's Program Activity Architecture and Strategic Outcomes. The Scorecard that follows represents the first set of program performance indicators developed by Human Resources and Social Development Canada since the new Department was created.

In recognition of the need for greater rigour and focus on results, efforts were made to further refine the departmental Performance Measurement Framework. This led to a more concise and consistent set of indicators being proposed for 2007-2008. Work also began on the development of a plan to guide the further evolution of performance measurement with the goal to increase the Department's capability and readiness for measurement and reporting of performance leading to better strategic decision making and continuous performance improvement.

Program indicators are among several sources used for evaluating departmental performance. Program evaluations and audits and the Employment Insurance Monitoring and Assessment Report are also tools to provide a comprehensive understanding of performance.

The Scorecard displays results information for the Department's program performance indicators that were published in the 2006-2007 Report on Plans and Priorities. For indicators that have an established target, the Scorecard provides a rating in terms of whether expectations were met, mostly met, or not met. No rating is provided for indicators that do not have established targets. Brief comments are included for indicators where required. More detailed comments on indicator results are included in the section of the document that discusses performance by strategic outcome.

Table 2 Summary of Departmental Program Performance by Strategic Outcome

LEGEND
●Target met or exceeded	Target mostly met	○ Target not met	N/A Not applicable
Rating	Program indicators	2006-2007 Target	Results
Enhanced Canadian productivity and participation through efficient and inclusive labour markets, competitive workplaces and access to learning
Labour Market
Access
N/A	Percentage of unemployed targeted by the Employment Insurance program eligible to collect regular Employment Insurance benefits		2005 Result: 83.4%
N/A	Rate of participation of designated groups (self-identified) and older workers in Employment Benefits and Support Measures (EBSM)
		Rate of Participation in EBSM 2005-2006	Percentage of the entire unemployed labour force (2001 census)
	Women	50.0%	45.5%
	People with disabilities	4.6%	9.8%
	Aboriginal persons	7.2%	6.5%
	Visible minorities	6.8%	16.2%
	Older workers (55 and over)	6.5%	17.3%
Adequacy
N/A	Proportion of regular entitlement collected by Employment Insurance claimants (%)		(2004-2005) 59.8%
N/A	Proportion of Employment Insurance maternity/parental entitlement collected by Employment Insurance claimants		Result: (2004-2005) 93.5%
Labour market efficiency
●	Number of youth clients who return to school or become employed following an employment program intervention under the Youth Employment Strategy and proportion of these clients in the total number of action plans closed	7,400	8,539 Proportion: 65.29%
Comments: These targets do not include returns to school following participation in the Summer Career Placements initiative under Summer Work Experience
●	Number of Aboriginal clients who return to school or become employed following an employment program intervention under the Aboriginal Human Resources Development Strategy and proportion of these clients in the total number of action plans closed	20,500	23,230 Proportion: 54.17%
●	Number of clients employed or self-employed following an employment program intervention, and proportion of these clients in the total number of action plans closed	220,000	226,453 Proportion: 59.15
Workplace skills
N/A	Number of apprentices that received the Apprenticeship Incentive Grant	New Measure	Service Canada received more than 4,900 applications for the Grant as of March 31st, 2007
●	Increase in the number of trades people who are fully mobile in Canada through Red Seal endorsement	15,000	20,386 (2006)
Comments: Red Seal statistics are reported annually, based on the January to December time period.
●	Number of tools and processes completed to be used in verifying and recognizing foreign credentials and work experience of foreign-trained professionals	85	89 (April 2004 — March 2007)
Learning
N/A	3-year loan default rate (direct loans only for 2006-2007)	26%	On track to meet targeted 3-year result (actual available in 2009-2010)
●	Number of Canadians who have ever received a Canada Education Savings Grant and who are attending postsecondary education in the current fiscal year	192,000	190,000 (calendar year)
●	Percentage of Canadians under 18 years of age who have ever received a Canada Education Savings Grant	34%	34%
○	Percentage of children eligible for the Canada Learning Bond who have a Registered Education Savings Plan	22%	8%
Comments: Widespread availability was delayed until July 2006 when a significant number of financial institutions became ready to offer the new Canada Learning Bond.
Service indicators
●	Client satisfaction with the overall quality of services provided by the Canada Student Loans Program	76%	75%
●	Client (Registered Education Savings Plan providers) satisfaction with the overall quality of services provided by the Canada Education Savings Program	88%	92%
Safe, healthy, fair, stable, cooperative, productive workplaces and effective international labour standards
Labour
●	Percentage of collective bargaining disputes settled under Part I (Industrial Relations) of the Canada Labour Code without work stoppages	90%	96.9%
●	Percentage of unjust dismissal complaints settled by inspectors (Part III of the Canada Labour Code)	75%	74%
●	Disabling injury incidence rate (DIIR) measuring the change in the rate of lost time injuries, illnesses and fatalities within federal jurisdiction industries from year to year	10% reduction over 5 years from 2001 to 2005	All industries reduced by 11.0% High priority industries reduced by 20.2%
●	Percentage of money collected in relation to the amount found to be owed for complaints under Part III (Labour Standards) of the Canada Labour Code (excluding unjust dismissal complaints)	75%	74%
Service indicator
●	Client satisfaction with the quality of Workplace Information Directorate data	80%	96.4% rated as good, very good and excellent
Enhanced income security, access to opportunities and well-being for individuals, families and communities
Social Investment
N/A	Proportion of CPP contributors who have contributory coverage/eligibility for CPP Disability	New measure	67% (males) 62%(females)
N/A	Number of CPP Disability recipients who report a return to work and leave benefits - proportion of this group of clients who have remained off benefits for six months or more	New measure	2,107
N/A	Number of partnerships concluded that provide the public with knowledge of the OAS/CPP programs	New measure	Results not available (indicator being pilot tested)
Labour Market Agreements for Persons with Disabilities (LMAPD)
	Number of participants in programs/services under the LMAPD	199,812	Results not available
	Number and percentage of participants completing a program or service through LMAPD programming, where there is a specific start and end point to the intervention, by province	76,311 (38%)	Results not available
	Number and percentage of participants who obtained or were maintained in employment through LMAPD programming, where the program or service supports the activity	43,680 (22%)	Results not available
Opportunities Fund for Persons with Disabilities
	Number of clients served	5,539	4,923
●	Number and percentage of clients who obtained employment	1,711 (31%)	1,757 (36%)
●	Number and percentage of clients with enhanced employability	2,198 (40%)	2,642 (54%)
	Number and percentage of clients who sought further skills upgrading (returned to school)	242 (4%)	223 (4.5%)
Social Development Partnerships Program
N/A	Knowledge is created and disseminated to meet the social development needs of citizens	New measure	yes
Understanding the Early Years Initiative
N/A	Number of communities that apply through the Call For Proposals process during each year	New measure	33 communities applied for funding
New Horizons for Seniors Program
N/A	Number of seniors leading and or involved in funded project activities within the community	New measure	106,745 (estimate)
Social Development Partnerships Program Office for Disability Issues
●	Number of proposals (from contribution agreements) funded	46	61
Children and families
N/A	Incidence of low income - the change in the number and percentage of families and 2006-2007 Departmental Performance Report children that fall below the post-tax Low Income Cut-off, due to the National Child Benefit, in one year	Actual data to be reported	In 2003, 60,500 families with 159,000 children were prevented from living in low income due to the National Child Benefit, a reduction of 12.4% in families with low income with children
Comments: Most recent analysis is year 2003
N/A	Depth of low income - the change in the aggregate amount of income that low-income families would need to reach the post-tax Low Income Cut-Off, due to the National Child Benefit, in one year	Actual data to be reported	In 2003, National Child Benefit reduced depth of low income, low income gap for families with children who received National Childcare Supplement by a total of $610 million.
	Number of children under six years of age for whom their parents are receiving the Universal Child Care Benefit	95% of all children under six years of age.	95%
Housing and Homelessness
●	Percentage of investments directed toward the continuum of supports and services based on priorities established by the community	At least 75% invested in community priorities	100%
●	Ratio of total National Homelessness Initiative investments versus funding by type of partners for each province and territory 2003-2007	1 to 1.5	1% to 1.89
●	Increase in accessible sources of information/data on homelessness	Evidence of uptake of data/information	yes
Comments: The National Homelessness Initiative website received an average of 1,593 "visits" per day from 2006-2007, showing an ongoing uptake of information on homelessness.
Achieve better outcomes for Canadians through service excellence
Service Indicators
●	Increase in number of Service Canada points of service (from 320 in March 2005)	533	587
●	24/7 availability of Internet - information and transaction (compared to March 2005 where only information was accessible online)	95%	99.3%
○	Percentage of calls answered by an agent within 180 seconds	95%	58.5%
Comments: A number of changes were made to address the service challenges posed by summer and winter peak periods.
	Extend hours of service in Service Canada Centres (from 0 in March 2005)	60	53
●	Percentage of availability of Interactive Voice Response System	95%	98%
N/A	Maintain or reduce number of official language complaints	Actual results to be reported	23
●	Establish Official Language Minority Community Groups points of service (from 0 in March 2005)	17	33
●	Offer service in languages other than English or French (from 0 in March 2005)	10	19
●	Provide forms online in formats accessible for people with disabilities	10	11
○	Percentage of notifications sent within seven days of receipt of applications	80%	65.6%
Comments: Results will improve with automation of claims.
●	Percentage of Employment Insurance payments issued within 28 days of filing	80%	79.7%
	Percentage of passports delivered by Passport Canada within 20 working days of receiving the application from Service Canada, excluding mailing time	90%	Accountability rests with Passport Canada to report on results
Comments: Memorandum of Understanding between Human Resources and Social Development Canada and Passport Canada was signed where there was an agreement to measure the "effectiveness of the Passport Receiving Agents (Service Canada)". Indicators were developed to measure critical and non-critical errors committed by Service Canada as a receiving agent.
●	Percentage of Canada Pension Plan retirement first payment within the month of entitlement	85%	92.8%
●	Percentage of Old Age Security first payments issued within 30 days of entitlement	90%	94.1%
	Percentage of pleasure craft licences issued in one visit (service not offered in March 2005)	90%	80%
○	Percentage of Social Insurance Numbers issued in one visit (service not offered in March 2005)	90%	67%
Comments:Results for this new service showed a steady increase throughout the fiscal year from a base of 0.
N/A	Maintain or increase client satisfaction	Actual results to be reported	Results not available (survey not conducted)

Human Resources and Official Languages Indicators

The Department has worked throughout the year to develop and implement initiatives aimed at achieving the objectives of the government's 2003-2008 Action Plan for Official Languages and its Horizontal Results-Based Management and Accountability Framework. For example, under the literacy initiative, teaching materials for trainers and learners were distributed in Canada's Official Language Minority Communities and efforts to increase awareness about the importance of family literacy among target clients and within these communities were undertaken. Other accomplishments include the establishment of a formal coordinators' network to strengthen collaboration between official language minority communities and departmental officials; development of promotional tools for training and information sessions to departmental employees, and participation in external workshops, meetings and conferences.

Human Resources and Social Development Canada initiated work on a departmental framework on gender and diversity. Training sessions were organised to help ensure that gender and diversity considerations are fully integrated in the Department's policies and programs and provide departmental employees with concrete tools to apply gender and diversity analysis in their work.

The Department participated in the Canadian delegation for the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women 50th session and in collaboration with Heritage Canada, two information sessions on the Canadian Multiculturalism Act were recently organised for departmental employees.

Departmental Corporate Management

Human Resources and Official Languages Indicators
Legend
●Target met or exceeded	Target mostly met	○ Target not met	N/A Not applicable
Employment Equity
	Representation of visible minority persons	9.4%	9.0%
●	Representation of Aboriginal persons	3.0%	4.1%
●	Representation of people with disabilities	3.6%	8.1%
●	Representation of women	60.1%	70.8%
Comments: These results are the designated group representation percentages that will be reported in the 2006-07 Employment Equity Annual Report.
Official language complaints
N/A	Language of work	Actual results to be reported	2
N/A	Service to the public	Actual results to be reported	5
Comments:These do not include Service Canada.

Management Priorities

Human Resources and Social Development Canada has focused on strengthening the auditing and accountability functions within the Department and on participating in the review by the Blue Ribbon Panel on Grants and Contributions.

Other priorities for the planning period include work on performance indicators to strengthen accountability and a sustained focus on governance, financial stewardship and human resources management.

Achievements Against Priorities

Plan	2006-2007 Achievements
Management Priorities
Governance and Effective Management
Strong leadership and communication in managing the integration of the Department	Developed and implemented communications strategies to support the integration of Human Resources and Social Development Canada.
Modernize shared corporate services	Managed the ongoing delivery of Shared Transactional Services from Service Canada. Established Assistant Deputy Minister level Shared Services Governance Tables for Human Resources, Information Technology, Administration, including one overarching Shared Service Table and a Sub-Table on Accommodations, to directly address day-to-day service delivery issues, focus on results, and identify joint work, track priorities and the achievement of milestones.
Ensure effective governance relationship among policy development, program design and service delivery through Service Canada	Assistant Deputy Ministers' committees were established to ensure discussion on program policy and service delivery issues.
Ensure effective governance of the Department's significant engagement in horizontal and intergovernmental activities	In 2006-2007, the Department worked closely with provincial and territorial governments through multilateral forums as well as through bilateral interaction in advancing policy and program priorities. The Minister and Deputy Minister of Human Resources and Social Development Canada met with their provincial and territorial social services counterparts and discussed child care, persons with disabilities and low-income families. Federal Provincial and Territorial Ministers Responsible for Seniors also met in September of 2006. The Department held regular Federal Provincial and Territorial meetings under the Forum of Labour Market Ministers. During the summer and fall of 2006, the Minister and the Deputy Minister of Human Resources and Social Development Canada consulted their provincial and territorial counterparts responsible for labour market and post-secondary education. These consultations helped inform the development of a labour market strategy and the Government of Canada's Advantage Canada.
Implement the new communications governance model for grants and contributions	Developed new communications protocols for grant and contribution agreements designed to strengthen the consistency, coherence, collaboration, compliance and relevancy across the portfolio.
Pursue a robust internal communications program that supports a common culture, and which provides timely information and communications tools to HRSDC employees	Provided communications support and advice for over 90 corporate initiatives.
Financial Stewardship
Enhance and sustain the integrity of financial analysis, monitoring and reporting to support managerial and parliamentary decision-making	Organizational changes were announced to strengthen policy, programs and corporate management at Human Resources and Social Development Canada. As part of these changes, a Chief Financial Officer position was created to strengthen the overall stewardship of departmental resources and to support the Deputy Minister as the Accounting Officer for Human Resources and Social Development Canada, the Labour program and Service Canada. Guidelines were also developed to improve financial forecasting processes and regular meetings of senior management officials were held to review the departmental financial situation on a portfolio-wide basis.
Improve performance measures and management of departmental risks	The Departmental Performance Measurement Framework was improved through the development of a more concise and consistent set of indicators for 2007-2008 and risk information was integrated in the 2007-2008 business planning cycle.
Strengthen integrity of programs by improving identity information and reducing error and fraud	Consistent with commitments made to the Auditor General, Service Canada continued to enhance integrity initiatives. These included 9,000 investigations of possible abuse related to Social Insurance Numbers and the launch of a Social Insurance Number Code of Practice to inform Canadians and key stakeholders of ways to use Social Insurance Numbers properly. Expanded online authentication by Canadians of their identity, particularly for online access to services, validating 11.7 million transactions against the Social Insurance Registry Piloted a Social Insurance Number Quality Management Strategy to improve identity information and reduce error and fraud, while supporting the automated processing that can improve service to Canadians, while reducing costs and processing errors.
Strengthen internal audit, in accordance with the Internal Audit Policy	Developed a three-year, risk-based internal audit plan which was approved by the Management Audit and Evaluation Committee. In addition, developed and approved a comprehensive Policy Implementation Plan to ensure the timely and appropriate implementation of the new Treasury Board Secretariat Policy on Internal Audit.
Review the management of grants and contributions	Supported the work of the Independent Blue Ribbon Panel on Grant and Contribution Programs. Created a departmental, Director-level Grants and Contributions Policy and Program Committee and a Learning and Development Sub-Committee.
Through Service Canada, realize Expenditure Review savings commitments	Service Canada had set a savings target of $355 million but has exceeded the target, generating $424 million. Savings were largely realized as a result of increased activities to address the most common forms of abuse in Employment Insurance and public pension benefit programs. Savings were also achieved through reductions in procurement costs and salaries.
Human Resources Management
Nurture a values-based organization that is fair, enabling and safe, as well as productive and principled	An Informal Conflict Management System was established, following consultations with the unions, and services were provided on an ongoing basis through contracts with Justice and Health Canada. The Department developed a Values and Ethics framework during 2006, the foundation of which was the launching of a Values and Ethics Intranet site, the establishment of a Values and Ethics Advisory Group, and a regular agenda of values and ethics events and messaging. An update on Values and Ethics was presented to unions. A union representative was invited to the Advisory Group meetings. The intranet site houses values and ethics information from all events, and useful links to Canada Public Service Agency material. The Values and Ethics Advisory Group meets bimonthly, and has representation from all branches. Agenda items include branch-specific challenges and needs, and sharing of best practises. A regular agenda of values and ethics events includes Lunch and Learn and information sessions on values and ethics-related issues identified as risk areas needing more awareness, and monthly messaging takes place via internal email. The Department strives to reinforce values and ethics as the basis of all actions, and will continue to improve upon what has been created to date to ensure values and ethics remain strong in the Human Resources and Social Development Canada working culture.
Enhance the sustainability and adaptability of the departmental workforce through human resources planning, recruitment, succession management, performance management and continuous learning	The Department held learning initiatives to support learning culture, inclusiveness and diversity and to promote leadership and open communication. Action learning group pilots were established for the Administrative Services, Middle Manager and Executive groups.
Become a model employer with respect to accessibility in all aspects of the employment relationship	Supported managers in meeting their Employment Equity and Duty to Accommodate obligations by working to eliminate under-representation for members of visible minority groups and supporting the integration of Employment Equity analysis with Human Resources planning.

Corporate Risk

Over the past fiscal year, the Department continued to strengthen the practice of risk management to effectively manage ongoing strategic and operational risks in delivering programs and services. The Department faced three corporate risks in achieving its objectives and commitments for 2006-2007. A summary of the key risks and associated strategies implemented are outlined below. The three key risks are:

• building relationships with external partners and stakeholders
• recruiting and retaining competent and skilled people
• exercising appropriate governance and oversight

Building relationships with our external partners and stakeholders

At risk is the ability to engage in and build the right relationships with external partners and stakeholders to ensure timely progress in the social and economic agenda and delivery on commitments.

An important component of the work conducted by the Department involves consultation and collaboration with the public and private sectors. In 2006-2007, increased focus was placed on revitalizing relationships with partners and stakeholders. The planned results were met. A new Intergovernmental Relations Directorate was created and provides a focal point for the conduct of federal, provincial, territorial and international relations to advance federal objectives across the portfolio. Emphasis was also placed on supporting bilateral ministerial consultations with provincial and territorial governments, as well as roundtables with major post-secondary education stakeholders including businesses, students, faculty, colleges and universities.

In addition, an engagement strategy was implemented which enables on-line consultations and roundtables, participation in public activities to engage academics and experts, on-going emphasis on partnerships and collaboration with communities and stakeholders, and monitoring of media and stakeholder perspectives.

To better serve citizens, Service Canada collaborated with a number of other government departments to help reach more Canadians, such as, delivering the Canadian Agricultural Skills Service Program on behalf of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, receiving passport applications on behalf of Passport Canada and issuing pleasure craft licensing on behalf of Transport Canada.

Recruiting and retaining competent and skilled people

At risk is the capacity to attract competent and skilled people, and retain and develop them, which may hinder the ability to deliver on commitments and to exercise due diligence.

The Department recognized the importance of ensuring the development of a strong organization, with a skilled staff and a representative workforce. In support of this, Human Resources and Social Development Canada held learning initiatives to support strong linkages and to promote leadership and open communication. Development programs for several specialized professional communities are under development and action learning group pilots were also established. Human Resources and Social Development Canada continues to reinforce values and ethics as the basis of action with a view to promoting a healthy, supportive and respectful working environment.

In support of the re-integration of the departments, an action plan was developed and implemented in 2006-2007. In addition, an Agenda for Excellence, focusing on People, Partnerships and Knowledge, was developed to further integration objectives and to serve as a roadmap for the new Human Resources and Social Development Canada.

To ensure that staff are trained and equipped to provide quality service to Canadians, the newly launched Service Canada College provided training, development and accreditation of staff in service excellence.

Exercising appropriate governance and oversight

At risk is the ability to exercise appropriate governance and oversight on the stewardship of resources and the state of internal controls within an environment of major organizational changes and evolving accountability relationships.

Human Resources and Social Development Canada strengthened coordination between policy and program design and delivery through regular senior level meetings to ensure a strategic and corporate approach to management, policy program design and service delivery issues. A Corporate Secretariat was established with the mandate to consolidate ministerial and corporate executive support and to facilitate information sharing across the portfolio.

The Department supported the Government-wide response to the Report of the Blue Ribbon Panel and efforts to review and streamline the administration of federal government grants and contributions and created a Grants and Contributions Centre of Excellence in Human Resources and Social Development Canada.

The Department developed a forecasting guideline package and portfolio-wide briefings of the Human Resources and Social Development Canada resource situation. The Department initiated work for long-term capital planning with the identification of business requirements for major technology projects and building institutional capacity to establish a corporate investment process. In addition to these activities, a risk-based internal audit plan was also developed.

• Previous Page
• Table of Contents
• Next Page