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Protecting the Future of Western Canadians
As Minister responsible for Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD), I am pleased to present the department's Report on Plans and Priorities for 2010–2011.
Western Canada is blessed with an abundance of natural resources, which have been the foundation of the western economy and made the region a driving force behind Canada's prosperity.
However, the global economic downturn has demonstrated that the West must further diversify its economy to ensure that it remains strong, innovative and competitive.
WD is taking action to ensure the West emerges from the downturn stronger than ever by helping deliver Canada's Economic Action Plan in the western provinces. Specifically, the department is delivering the Recreational Infrastructure Canada (RInC) program and the Community Adjustment Fund (CAF). These short-term programs not only provide timely, targeted and temporary economic stimulus to Canadian communities, they create and maintain jobs, improve the health and quality of life of our communities, and pave the way for future growth and prosperity.
For more than 20 years, WD has worked closely with the West to diversify the western economy. The department will continue to build on the solid foundation it has laid of strategic projects, partnerships and programs that support entrepreneurship, foster innovation, strengthen our communities and open international markets.
Creating Economic Prosperity for the West
Since its establishment in 1987, Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD) has been acting on the priorities of western Canadians by focusing on growing small business, creating local jobs, and attracting more investment to expand the economy.
2009 was an extraordinary year, with the worldwide recession requiring an immediate and comprehensive action plan from the Government of Canada. WD played a major role in this action plan by working to maintain and create jobs for Western families, workers, and businesses to weather the economic storm.
As we are now reaching the second year of the plan, WD will continue to deliver the Community Adjustment Fund and Recreational Infrastructure Canada program for western communities. But WD's work won't stop there – we will continue to focus on growing a competitive western economy that responds to the needs of industry, both locally and abroad.
WD is committed to a strong West that will grow and prosper. We will continue to do this by working together with our partners so we can deliver even more results for western Canadians.
Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD) was established in 1987 to lessen Western Canada's (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia) economic dependence on its natural resources. Under the Western Economic Diversification Act, 1988, the department is mandated to:
“promote the development and diversification of the economy of Western Canada and to advance the interests of the West in national economic policy, program and project development and implementation.”
To support these outcomes, WD's programs encourage business development, innovation and community economic development in rural and urban communities. The department plays an important leadership and coordination role in furthering western interests and responding to western challenges. WD works strategically through partnerships – with all orders of government, academic and research institutes, industry associations, and not-for-profit organizations – to implement initiatives that leverage funds and expertise for the benefit of the West and westerners.
To be leaders in creating a more diversified western Canadian economy that has strong, competitive and innovative businesses and communities
WD's Deputy Minister is based in the department's Headquarters office in Edmonton, Alberta. Regional offices are located in each of the western provinces – Vancouver, Edmonton, Saskatoon, and Winnipeg, with a liaison office in Ottawa and regional satellite offices in Calgary and Victoria.
Through its core resources, WD:
The department is also responsible for delivering initiatives under the Government of Canada's Economic Action Plan in the West, including:
In support of national initiatives on behalf of the federal government, WD also:
The diagram below illustrates WD's Program Activity Architecture (PAA) which is a requirement of all federal departments. WD's PAA provides an inventory of the department's programs, and reflects how WD is structured and how accountabilities are managed. Furthermore, it defines how program activities contribute to WD's strategic outcome. The program activities of the PAA are the first level of activity reflecting how WD allocates and manages the resources under its control to achieve intended results.
Strategic Outcome | Program Activities | Program Sub-Activities |
---|---|---|
The western Canadian economy is developed and diversified | Business Development | Improve Business Productivity |
Market and Trade Development | ||
Industry Collaboration | ||
Foreign Direct Investment | ||
Access to Capital | ||
Innovation | Technology Adoption and Commercialization | |
Technology Linkages | ||
Technology Research and Development | ||
Community Innovation | ||
Technology Skills Development | ||
Knowledge Infrastructure | ||
Community Economic Development | Community Planning | |
Community Development | ||
Community Economic Adjustment | ||
Community Infrastructure | ||
Policy, Advocacy and Coordination | Collaboration and Coordination | |
Research and Analysis | ||
Advocacy | ||
Internal Services | Governance and Management Support | |
Resource Management Services | ||
Asset Management Services |
WD received Treasury Board approval to amend its Program Activity Architecture (PAA) in May 2009. The change was made in relation to the department's continued implementation of the Treasury Board Policy on Management, Resources and Results Structure (MRRS), a government-wide approach to the collection, management and reporting of financial and non-financial performance information. The new streamlined PAA will enable the department to improve its focus on objectives and outcomes in planning and reporting, allow it to improve the communication of results and benefits to the public, and assist it to strengthen the capacity to evaluate outcomes and results that will improve management capacity to allocate resources.
The table below illustrates the changes made to WD's PAA (the Internal Services program activity remains unchanged).
PAA for 2009-2010 | New PAA for 2010-2011 |
---|---|
Strategic Outcome(s) | |
1. Entrepreneurship and Innovation: The western Canadian economy is competitive, expanded and diversified |
1. The western Canadian economy is developed and diversified |
2. Community Economic Development: Communities in Western Canada are economically viable | |
3. Policy, Advocacy and Coordination: Policies and programs that strengthen the western Canadian economy | |
Program Activities | |
1.1 Business Development and Entrepreneurship | 1.1 Business Development |
1.2 Innovation | 1.2 Innovation |
2.1 Community Economic Planning, Development and Adjustment | 1.3 Community Economic Development |
2.2 Infrastructure | |
3.1 Advocacy | 1.4 Policy, Advocacy and Coordination |
3.2 Collaboration and Coordination | |
3.3 Research and Analysis |
The tables below provide a summary of the department's total planned spending and human resources for the next three fiscal years. The decrease in financial and human resources from fiscal year 2010-2011 onwards is primarily due to the planned conclusion of funding received under Canada's Economic Action Plan, which expires at the end of the 2010-2011 fiscal year.
2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 |
---|---|---|
428,958 | 173,196 | 160,259 |
2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 |
---|---|---|
474 | 396 | 396 |
Performance Indicators | Targets |
---|---|
Real gross domestic product (GDP) growth in western Canada | 3.0% (stable growth rate) |
Labour productivity growth in Western Canada, measured as year-over-year change in real GDP per hour worked | 1.2% (stable growth rate) |
Primary production as a % of GDP | 14% (continuation of downward trend) |
Research & Development (R&D) intensity: gross domestic expenditures on R&D (GERD) as % of GDP | 1.3% (stable growth rate) |
The following table illustrates the distribution of WD's overall funding by the five program activities that make up WD's Program Activity Architecture over the next three fiscal years. This table includes funding received by the department through Canada's Economic Action Plan1.
($ thousands)Program Activity | Forecast Spending 2009-10 |
Planned Spending | Alignment to Government of Canada Outcomes | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | |||
Business Development | 52,072 | 39,157 | 42,575 | 42,575 | Strong Economic Growth |
Innovation | 80,344 | 59,455 | 49,207 | 49,207 | An Innovative and Knowledge-based Economy |
Community Economic Development | 325,430 | 303,053 | 54,206 | 41,269 | Strong Economic Growth |
Policy, Advocacy and Coordination | 9,521 | 8,873 | 8,879 | 8,879 | Strong Economic Growth |
Internal Services | 20,785 | 18,420 | 18,329 | 18,329 | Strong Economic Growth and an Innovative and Knowledge-based Economy |
Total | 488,152 | 428,958 | 173,196 | 160,259 |
For 2010-2011, WD has identified three operational priorities and four management priorities to support the achievement of its strategic outcome.
The economies of communities across western Canada face varied and distinct challenges depending in part on their size, historical and current industrial base, and geographic location. In pursuing each of these three operational priorities, WD will strive to ensure that both rural and urban communities benefit from departmental programming.
All three priorities are ongoing, having been committed to at least three fiscal years prior to 2010-2011.
Technology Commercialization
Why is this a priority?
Plans for meeting the priority, WD will:
Trade and Investment
Why is this a priority?
Plans for meeting the priority, WD will:
Business Productivity and Competitiveness
Why is this a priority?
Plans for meeting the priority, WD will:
To improve the management practices of the department in 2010-2011, WD will focus on the following four management priorities to support the achievement of its strategic outcome:
The first three priorities listed above have been previously committed to two years prior to the 2010-2011 fiscal year. The latter priority is new for 2010-2011.
Public Service Renewal
Why is this a priority?
Plans for meeting the priority:
WD will sustain the necessary complement of qualified, motivated and knowledgeable staff by focusing on:
Performance Measurement
Why is this a priority?
Plans for meeting the priority:
To support improved performance measurement, WD will focus on:
Integrated Risk Management
Why is this a priority?
Plans for meeting the priority:
To continuously improve risk management, WD will focus on:
Information Management
Why is this a priority?
Plans for meeting the priority:
To support improved information management, WD will focus on:
After a historic year of decline in which the Canadian and global economies contracted more than two per cent, most analysis suggests that economic recovery will begin to slowly build momentum through 2010 and accelerate over the latter part of 2011, with the Canadian economy closing its output gap in approximately 20137. Despite this optimism, much uncertainty remains and WD faces challenges in pursuit of its strategic outcome and priorities for 2010-2011. The priorities and plans outlined in this document are designed to be flexible and responsive, addressing current economic conditions as well as the long-term challenges confronting Western Canada.
As a commodity driven, trade-oriented economy, Western Canada's economic dependence on resources makes it particularly vulnerable to international market conditions and commodity prices. In 2009, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia experienced significant declines in economic activity (GDP fell between 2.5 to 2.7 per cent for these provinces8) after experiencing record levels of growth in the previous year. The economic downturn of the past year has not affected all western provinces equally. In spite of struggling mining and manufacturing sectors, Manitoba has proven to be one of the most resilient economies in the country, posting 0.8 per cent GDP growth in 20099.
Despite being hit hard in 2009, public and private sector forecasts suggest the western provinces will be leading a tentative Canadian recovery in 2010. This encouraging outlook is the result of monetary stimulus, improving financial conditions, higher commodity and energy prices, lower construction costs, and strong infrastructure stimulus spending by the federal and provincial governments10.
As the federal government's regional development agency for Western Canada, WD is well positioned to deliver economic stimulus as part of the Government of Canada's Economic Action Plan. Over the next year, the department will maintain its commitment to the Community Adjustment Fund and the Recreational Infrastructure Canada initiatives increasingly shifting its focus from project development to stewardship and oversight, ensuring value for money and results for Canadians.
In the long term, Western Canada's prosperity will depend largely on its ability to become more competitive by increasing participation in international markets and attracting foreign direct investment. There are growing commercial opportunities for value-added goods and services in non-traditional markets and with growing capacity in both emerging sectors, such as biotechnology and the life sciences, clean energy and environmental technologies, nanotechnology, and established sectors, such as aerospace and value added agriculture, the western innovation system is well positioned to take advantage of these opportunities. Over the next year WD will promote western participation in global value chains and export development in the United States and Mexico, the Asia-Pacific region, Latin America, and other priority markets in order to capitalize on the West's strategic geographic location and access to trade gateways and corridors.
To improve its competitive position in the global environment, Western Canada must strive to establish a more innovative, productive, and diversified economy tailored to the strengths within the region11. Accordingly, businesses and research institutions will need to support innovation, value-added production, and the commercialization of new products, technologies and services; public investments in the western Canadian economy should leverage private sector investments and build on existing strengths in the industrial structure of each province.
WD will support innovation by continuing to build technology commercialization capacity and infrastructure, and by increasing the capacity of research institutions to respond to the needs identified by industry. WD will support competitiveness by working with business and industry to enhance business productivity and strengthen the economic fundamentals of Western Canada.
Throughout its activities, WD remains aware that the department's success is largely dependent on its ability to maintain strong relationships with partners in industry, provincial and local governments, academic and financial institutions, communities, and third-party delivery partners. Given the uncertainty of the current economic climate and limited fiscal capacity of some of our partners going forward, it is more important than ever to work closely with these partners to collaboratively leverage available resources.
In striving to respond to pressing economic concerns as well as long-term competitiveness issues, WD must continue to be mindful of its own organizational risks. Over the next fiscal year these risks, as profiled by WD at a corporate level, relate to the need to: demonstrate value for money spent; renew a skilled workforce in what is expected to become an increasingly competitive labour market; and ensure its operations and decision-making is efficient and effective. WD will respond to these risks by placing a priority on public service renewal, performance measurement, integrated risk management, and information management while continuing to streamline reporting requirements and maintaining strong, flexible partnerships with key stakeholders.
WD's plans and priorities for 2010-2011 reflect the needs of the western Canadian economy and key Government of Canada priorities, as outlined in the 2009 Speech from the Throne, Advantage Canada, the Global Commerce Strategy, and the Science and Technology Strategy - Mobilizing Science and Technology to Canada's Advantage and the National Policy Framework for Strategic Gateways and Corridors. As the global economy continues to adjust to the recent economic and financial turmoil, the department will maintain a flexible policy framework to ensure it remains relevant to western Canadians.
WD plans to spend $428.9M during fiscal year 2010-2011. Compared to the 2009-2010 fiscal year's forecast spending of $488.1M, this represents a total net decrease of $59.2M. The majority of the decrease results from a decline in WD's core resources and the planned conclusion of funding for certain programs and initiatives. Highlights of WD's change in level of financial resources include:
Planned spending of $173.2M in 2011-2012, compared to the 2010-2011 planned spending of $428.9M, represents a total decrease of $255.7M. This decrease is primarily due to the following:
Canada's Economic Action Plan (CEAP) under Budget 2009 provided new resources to WD for the delivery of two programs: the Community Adjustment Fund (CAF) and the Recreational Infrastructure Canada program (RInC). These initiatives have the goal of providing timely, targeted and temporary economic stimulus for communities to mitigate the impacts of the economic downturn.
Nationally, CAF and RInC were allocated $1B and $500M, respectively, over two years. WD received $305.3M for CAF and $152.6M for RInC (excludes Public Works and Government Services Canada accommodations costs). The fiscal year breakdown of CEAP spending by program is as follows for Western Canada:
($ thousands)CEAP Program | Forecasted Spending 2009-10 |
Planned Spending 2010-11 |
Total |
---|---|---|---|
RInC | 64,149 | 88,450 | 152,594 |
CAF | 152,732 | 152,608 | 305,340 |
Canada Business Network | 3,919 | 3,919 | 7,838 |
Other12 | 45 | 45 | 90 |
Total | 220,845 | 245,022 | 465,862 |
Under the CEAP, WD continues to administer the Building Canada Fund – Communities Component, to accelerate the construction of community projects. The department was also provided with $3.9M annually for the renewal of the Canada Business Network in Western Canada. In addition, WD received funding under the Enhanced Federal Students Program to hire additional students above its normal student staffing levels.
The graph below illustrates the financial spending trend (actual and planned) between the fiscal years of 2006-2007 and 2012-2013.
Vote # or Statutory Item (S) | Truncated Vote or Statutory Wording | 2009-10 Main Estimates |
2010-11 Main Estimates |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Operating expenditures | 41,725 | 54,894 |
5 | Grants and contributions | 195,245 | 368,189 |
(S) | Contributions to employee benefit plans | 4,801 | 5,873 |
(S) | Minister of State - salary and motor car allowance | - | 2 |
Total | 241,771 | 428,958 |