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Expenditure Management

Reports on Plans and Priorities

2012-13

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ARCHIVED - Public Works and Government Services Canada - Report


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Section II - Analysis of Program Activities by Strategic Outcome

Strategic Outcome - PWGSC's strategic outcome is to achieve high-quality, central programs and services that ensure sound stewardship on behalf of Canadians and meet the program needs of federal institutions.

Program Activities

The following section describes PWGSC's program activities and planning highlights. It also includes an overview of the financial and human resources, the expected results, the performance indicators and targets for each program activity. Additional information is available on our departmental website at www.pwgsc-tpsgc.gc.ca.

Program Activity: Acquisitions

Program Activity Description

This program activity shows Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) as the government's primary procurement service provider offering federal organizations a broad base of procurement solutions such as specialized contracts, standing offers and supply arrangements. The role of PWGSC in this area is to provide timely value-added acquisitions and related common services to Canadians and the federal government.

Financial Resources ($ millions)

Totals may not add up due to rounding.

Human Resources (FTEs)



1 Measure of $1.85 billion based on reported volumes (calendar year) captured through Treasury Board's Annual Procurement Activity Report.

2 This measure was adopted to demonstrate the proportion of the contract volume that is awarded through competitive processes. The target is based on historical results over a 5-year period.

Planning Highlights

"Smart Procurement" remains the main strategic initiative for this Program Activity. The intent is to make procurement simpler, where possible; faster, where prudent; and, more flexible, to respond to shifting and increasing demands and expectations. More specifically, we aim to ensure that:

Departments and agencies will have better access to pre-competed instruments using electronic tools through buyandsell.gc.ca. They will also have the goods and services they need delivered faster through streamlined procurement processes, and will continue to be empowered to exercise their delegated authorities. The objective is to continue to improve how departments and agencies acquire the goods and services that meet their operational needs.

Suppliers will have better opportunities to do business with the Government of Canada through increased awareness of existing opportunities and greater access to procurement information via improved e-tools. In addition, increased engagement and consultation with suppliers will result in improved procurement outcomes, which serve to inform future procurement delivery approaches.

The PWGSC procurement workforce will be positioned to focus on more complex and higher risk procurement, as well as to develop tools to better manage the supply chain. They will capitalize on lessons learned through innovative procurement approaches such as the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy. PWGSC will be able to give more customized, timely and flexible solutions and, therefore, offer a more responsive service to their clients.

The Government of Canada will continue to have access to improved spend data to inform decision-making.

Success will be determined by the caliber and timeliness of services provided to clients, the effectiveness of the relationships we form with suppliers, and the degree to which acquisition is open, fair, and transparent, and is viewed as such.

Program Activity: Accommodation and Real Property Services

Program Activity Description

PWGSC provides federal departments and agencies with safe, healthy and affordable office and common use accommodation that support the effective delivery of their programs and services. The department acts as steward for various public works such as buildings, bridges and dams, and national treasures such as the Parliamentary Precinct and other heritage assets across Canada. PWGSC also provides other federal departments and agencies with responsive and cost-effective real property services.

Financial Resources ($ millions)

Totals may not add up due to rounding.

Human Resources (FTEs)



3 Which includes employee workstation, support areas and circulation space.

4 Through which we provide a large volume of real property services such as the management and construction of buildings and facilities under the stewardship of PWGSC and other government departments.

Planning Highlights

  • Looking ahead, PWGSC will continue to be an innovative, best practice leader across all elements of its real property fundamentals by being the government's centre of expertise for real property; providing value for money; ensuring sound stewardship; delivering quality services and demonstrating due diligence, oversight and effective custodianship.

  • In managing real property assets, including our portfolio of engineering assets (bridges, dams, wharves, the portions of the Alaska Highway under PWGSC custodianship and the Esquimalt Graving Dock), we will exercise prudent stewardship while maximizing economic benefit for Canadians. We aim to deliver projects on time, on budget and within scope. Further, in an environment of increased scrutiny and transparency, we will exercise due diligence and oversight.

  • As a modern corporate real estate organization, our continued partnership with the private sector will allow us to be agile in the delivery of our services. The implementation of better information systems will allow for more accurate and integrated reporting; and improved relationships with our clients, partners and other stakeholders will enhance our role as trusted advisor. With a progressive improvement philosophy embedded along all lines of our business, we will advance key initiatives such as Workplace 2.0, the Real Property Business Systems and Processes Project (NOVUS).

  • Remediation of the Sydney Tar Ponds and Coke Ovens will continue by eliminiating the channels (e.g. water) which lead to exposure to contaminants. This project continues to be a strong contributor to the sustainable development of the Cape Breton community, and is a major contributor to building capacity in areas of Aboriginal procurement.

  • PWGSC will continue to preserve our parliamentary heritage with a focus on restoring key heritage buildings on and adjacent to Parliament Hill. Fully restoring the West Block, 180 Wellington (Wellington Building) and the Sir John A. Macdonald (144 Wellington) buildings are PWGSC's current priorities, as well as carrying out projects to stabilize the East Block, Centre Block and the Confederation Building in advance of their future major restoration. Specific projects to be completed in 2012-13 include the East Block - North West Tower and upgrades to the Confederation Building's water and storm drainage systems.

Program Activity: Receiver General for Canada

Program Activity Description

This program activity manages the operations of the federal treasury and maintains the Accounts of Canada. It provides federal departments with an optional financial management system, bill payments services and document imaging.

Financial Resources ($ millions)

Totals may not add up due to rounding.

Human Resources (FTEs)



Planning Highlights

  • PWGSC will carry out mission critical functions by: managing the operations of the federal treasury through the issuance and settlement of more than 300 million annual payments and the collection of revenue for all government departments, amounting to over $2 trillion in cash flow; maintaining the Accounts of Canada; producing the government's Monthly Statements of Financial Operations, the annual Public Accounts of Canada; and, enhancing the systems that support these functions in order to respond to changes in the business environment. In addition, we will continue to provide departments with an optional financial management system offering, and an image-based bill-payment service.

  • PWGSC will, in conjunction with its partners and stakeholders, strive to obtain for a 14th consecutive year an unqualified opinion from the Auditor General on the Financial Statements of the Government of Canada published in the Public Accounts.

  • PWGSC will continue to pursue an electronic authorization and authentication signature solution to ensure the integrity of payment files.

  • PWGSC will continue its fraud detection activities in close collaboration with federal/provincial law enforcement agencies on major fraud cases involving payments issued by the Receiver General for Canada.

  • PWGSC will continue to promote direct deposit as a more reliable, efficient, secure and greener payment method.

  • PWGSC will increase awareness of Document Imaging Services, based in Matane, Quebec, to federal government departments and agencies to help reduce the need to store large volumes of paper documents and allow client Departments to reduce their operational costs by automating manual processes.

  • PWGSC will create a Payment innovation group which will be responsible for assessing emerging payment options to determine if there are benefits to implementing them within the Government of Canada.

  • PWGSC will continue to streamline its banking and payment processes in order to achieve greater levels of efficiency. In support of PWGSC's Client Service Strategy at the departmental level, and to meet specific needs of the Receiver General for Canada program activity, PWGSC will implement a series of instructional videos on the function of the Receiver General of Canada directed to federal departments and financial institutions.

  • In an effort to facilitate cheque encashment by financial institutions and to minimize opportunities for fraud, PWGSC will implement a website that financial institutions will be able to access to verify the legitimacy of cheques being presented for encashment.

  • PWGSC will support Shared Services Canada in relation to its Receiver General functions.

Program Activity: Information Technology Infrastructure Services

Program Activity Description

Effective August 4, 2011, Shared Services Canada was created, pursuant to s. 31.1 of the Financial Administration Act and Order-in-Council PC Number: 2011-0877. Shared Services Canada's mandate is to standardize and consolidate information technology services in the federal government in order to reduce costs, improve services, and leverage capacity in the public and private sectors through pooled resources and greater buying power.

As a result, Public Works and Government Services Canada transferred to Shared Services Canada the control and supervision of operational domains related to email, data centres and network services, including telecommunications for voice and data, IT Security and Distributed computing services, along with the associated funding. Approximately 1,400 Public Works and Government Services Canada positions associated with the delivery of these services were transferred to the new Department. Remaining planned spending for this Program Activity is reflected in the table below. Any remaining resource adjustments will be reflected in future Estimates exercises.

While common shared services have been transferred to Shared Services Canada, the Department's Chief Information Officer is responsible for delivering the remaining internal Information Technology Services at PWGSC. Some of these services include but are not limited to Desktop Renewal, major IM/IT projects, and moving towards greater environmental sustainability of PWGSC's IT assets.

Financial Resources ($ millions)

Totals may not add up due to rounding.

Program Activity: Federal Pay and Pension Administration

Program Activity Description

This program activity provides reliable central systems and processes for pay and pension administration to other federal organizations. Through our pay and pension services, PWGSC ensures that federal government employees and pensioners are paid accurately and on time.

Financial Resources ($ millions)

Totals may not add up due to rounding.

Human Resources (FTEs)



Planning Highlights

  • PWGSC will complete the Transformation of Pension Administration Project for the Public Service Pension Plan with the implementation of the final release and the associated business processes. This last release will provide the core pension processes for retired members (annuitants) and the accounting functions. PWGSC will continue the development activities for the migration of the RCMP pension administration to PWGSC.

  • The definition phase of the Pay Modernization Project to modernize the pay system and processes is expected to be completed by June 2012. Following Project Authority Approval, the department will start the implementation phase and complete the detail design for the new system. PWGSC will, over a five-year period starting in 2012-13, gradually transfer pay administration services to a Centre of Expertise at Miramichi within PWGSC for departments using the Government of Canada Human Resources Management System (PeopleSoft).

Program Activity: Linguistic Management and Services

Program Activity Description

This program activity defines the Translation Bureau as a key component of the federal government's service delivery infrastructure. The Translation Bureau is the sole internal linguistic services provider and offers translation, revision, interpretation and other linguistic services for Parliament, the judiciary, and federal departments and agencies. It is also the terminology authority within the federal government and has been mandated to develop terminology standards to ensure clear, uniform and quality communications within government. Moreover, it ensures that there is a sustainable, qualified and secure supply of linguistic resources available to support any linguistic requirements of the government and to support Canada's economic and social agenda. This program is mandated under the Translation Bureau Act.

Financial Resources ($ millions)

Totals may not add up due to rounding.

Human Resources (FTEs)



Planning Highlights

  • PWGSC's Translation Bureau will continue implementing the Rethinking the Bureau initiative to modernize its business model for delivering linguistic services to the Government of Canada and achieve efficiency gains of at least 10%.

  • The Translation Bureau will also endeavour to strike the right balance between using its in-house resources and going to the private sector. To do this, it intends to conduct an environmental scan of the linguistic services sector in Canada by holding consultations with key stakeholders (translation firms, professional associations and universities) and a benchmarking analysis to determine the Canadian translation industry's capacity to meet national and government demand. It will also look at how much it can draw from the best practices of international organizations of comparable size.

  • In addition, the Translation Bureau will take advantage of technological advances to increase employee productivity and reduce operating costs by installing tools, such as machine translation and a shared translation memory, on the translators' work stations, thereby making their work easier.

  • In support of PWGSC's Client Service Strategy, the Translation Bureau will take part in the implementation of departmental service agreements, in addition to establishing and tracking its service standards.

  • Furthermore, the Translation Bureau will continue development of the two initiatives for which it is responsible in keeping with the Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality 2008-13: Acting for the Future:

    • it will help strengthen the language sector and provide support for the development of a skilled labour force in Canada in accordance with the Canadian Language Sector Enhancement Program;

    • it will continue the expansion of the Language Portal of Canada to showcase Canada's collective wealth of linguistic and terminological knowledge.

Program Activity: Specialized Programs and Services

Program Activity Description

This program activity provides federal organizations with high quality, timely and accessible specialized services and programs in support of sound, prudent and ethical management and operations.

Financial Resources ($ millions)

Totals may not add up due to rounding.

Human Resources (FTEs)



5$149 is 2% above the average for the previous 5 years (2006-07 through 2010-11) which was $146.

Planning Highlights

  • PWGSC will continue to work with its partner departments in researching and developing policies, strategies and guidance to reduce the environmental footprint of federal government operations. PWGSC is a participant in the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy (FSDS) and contributes to the following greening government operations target areas: Green Buildings, Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Federal Operations, Electronic Waste, Printing Units, Paper Consumption, Green Meetings and Green Procurement. For additional details please see PWGSC's Greening Government Operations Supplementary Table in Section III: www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/rpp/2011-2012/inst/svc/st-ts02-eng.asp.

  • PWGSC will support law enforcement organizations by providing expert forensic accounting services in relation to criminal investigations involving financial components such as proceeds of crime, commercial crime, money laundering, security market fraud investigations and terrorist financing activities.

  • The Department will also contribute to the government's security agenda to protect Canadians and support industry competitiveness by strengthening the Industrial Security Program (ISP). In 2012-13, PWGSC will further modernize and transform Industrial Security Program (ISP) operations with the goal of reducing red tape and setting the stage for the increased portability of security clearances and elimination of duplication. In addition, ISP will also complete the planned enhancements to the Controlled Goods Program to ensure a smooth implementation that allows Canadian Industry to take full and immediate advantage of the new ITAR dual national rule.

  • PWGSC provides Canadians with access to centralized Government of Canada information and provides organizations with specialized services to improve the delivery of selected Government of Canada communication activities. In 2012-13, PWGSC will:

    • place a greater emphasis on its government-wide capacity building and outreach activities. This means working with stakeholders to stay abreast of emerging trends and needs, and equipping federal organizations with working tools and learning opportunities to respond to the changing environment;

    • update and modernize its information systems, production tools and extranet websites;

    • prepare for the renegotiation of the government-wide contracts for media monitoring;

    • obtain cost savings through bulk purchases for Government of Canada advertising activities.

  • PWGSC will provide high quality, timely and cost-effective corporate administrative systems and Human Resources services to other departments and agencies. We will support the delivery of endorsed standardized administrative shared systems, services and business on a cost-recovery basis by:

    • identifying opportunities for administrative efficiencies, PWGSC will expand its suite of services to improve horizontal management of corporate administrative services;

    • supporting and aligning processes with government-wide horizontal initiatives and policies and continuing to be a major component in the government's strategy for internal service transformation;

    • reducing risks facing small departments and agencies by addressing capacity issues and business continuity concerns.

  • Through the Ministers Regional Offices, PWGSC will continue to contribute to the Government of Canada's broad-based agenda activities by providing assistance and support to Ministers in support of their responsibilities throughout the country, outside of the National Capital Region. This includes providing office space and administrative services to Ministers and their staff, ensuring efficiency, effectiveness, sound security and cost savings.

Program Activity: Procurement Ombudsman

Program Activity Description

This program activity, operating at an arms length from the government, reviews procurement practices across federal departments and agencies, investigates complaints from potential suppliers with respect to awards of contracts for goods and services below certain threshold, and complaints concerning the administration of contracts, and ensures the provision of an alternative dispute resolution program for contracts. This activity helps to promote fairness and transparency of the procurement process.

Financial Resources ($ millions)

Totals may not add up due to rounding.

Human Resources (FTEs)



Planning Highlights

  • The Procurement Ombudsman will provide an independent and neutral avenue to address complaints from suppliers regarding contract award and administration. While all Canadian suppliers benefit, small and medium-sized enterprises, in particular, will find a neutral focal point to address their concerns and complaints.

  • Alternative Dispute Resolution services will be offered to departments and suppliers, which will constitute an independent and affordable option over lengthy and expensive litigation. It will help level the playing field and strengthen business relations between government and Canadian suppliers.

  • Procurement practices of departments and agencies will be reviewed to focus on fairness, openness and transparency and to make practical recommendations. The practice reviews will pay particular attention to the simplification of the rules and the reduction of paper burden on suppliers while ensuring the integrity of the procurement process. A collaborative approach will be used requiring input from departments and agencies. Benchmarks will be established and best practices will be shared to promote partnerships and allow departments and agencies to benefit from each other's success stories.

  • An outreach program will be implemented to raise awareness of the OPO's role and services and to promote the sharing of procurement-related intelligence/information to all federal procurement stakeholders, using multi-level communication to foster a greater understanding of federal procurement.

  • The Procurement Ombudsman will produce an Annual Report of the Office of the Procurement Ombudsman (OPO) shortly after the end of the fiscal year.
    (See opo-boa.gc.ca/ for more details on the Office of the Procurement Ombudsman).

Program Activity: Internal Services

Program Activity Description

Internal Services are groups of related activities and resources that are administered to support the needs of programs and other corporate obligations of an organization. Internal Services include only those activities and resources that apply across an organization and not those provided specifically to a program, such as human resources, information technologies, finance and corporate services.

Financial Resources ($ millions)

Totals may not add up due to rounding.

Human Resources (FTEs)


Planning Highlights

  • The first phase (year one) of PWGSC's Strategic Review was successfully completed. PWGSC is committed to deriving benefit from the lessons learned and sharing them with the public service human resources community while applying workforce management best practices. In this context and in accordance with PWGSC's core values and commitment to its staff, the main objectives are to continue to support our employees in this period of change, while strengthening workforce capacity for the needs of tomorrow through developing existing employees, attracting new qualified employees, and creating a sustainable and flexible workplace.

  • Following Treasury Board approval of the Departmental Integrated Investment Plan and its governance framework, PWGSC will continue to be one of the leaders in integrated investment planning for the Government of Canada.

  • We will continue to implement the Budget Management Excellence Framework to strengthen and enhance financial forecasting and ensure resource optimization and alignment to priorities. The results will be integrated into PWGSC's three-year financial plan.

  • The Department will deliver cost effective common services to other government departments through effective and timely implementation of PWGSC's Cost Recovery Framework.

  • Continued investment in expanding the functionality of the Department's Enterprise Resource Planning system will ensure that PWGSC meets the requirements of its business lines, while providing the required infrastructure and expertise to all stakeholders, including Shared Services Canada.

  • The Departmental Oversight Branch (DOB) will continue to provide our Minister and Deputy Minister with assurance that Departmental operations are being carried out with prudence, integrity, probity and transparency, in accordance with established legislation, regulations, policies and practices. Working in close collaboration with other Branches in PWGSC, the DOB oversight function seeks to ensure that PWGSC is guided by modern management practices, ongoing and increasing focus on ensuring the integrity of activities, processes and results, and the sound stewardship of public funds.

  • The Office of Audit and Evaluation (OAE) will continue to contribute to the integrity and effectiveness of departmental operations by delivering objective internal audits that provide reasonable assurance on departmental controls, risks and governance, and neutral evaluations on the relevance and performance of the Department's programs and initiatives. The OAE plays an important role in supporting the Deputy Minister in discharging his responsibilities as Accounting Officer.

  • In addition to achieving the 95% compliance rate for responding to Access to Information requests on time, ATIP plans to complete the Management Action Plan created in 2010-11 in response to the report from the Information Commissioner. As well, a gap analysis of the PWGSC privacy framework will be conducted, and a subsequent privacy risk management action plan will be developed. In order to maintain consistent results in ATI response rates, we will be expanding and enhancing training and support for ATI coordinators and liaison staff in the department. A performance management logic model and maturity model for ATIP will be developed, with an action plan leading to a more mature organization.

  • PWGSC remains committed to ensuring sound and effective management of our most valuable resource: our employees. Every effort is being made to give modern expression to our commitment to excellence and leadership so that we have a skilled, engaged, service-oriented and sustainable workforce, one that will contribute to the continuous improvement of government operations. To this end, the Department continues to invest in the renewal of the workplace, an enabling environment conducive to employee development and dedicated to providing outstanding service to government and Canadians, while upholding the highest standards of prudence and probity with respect and integrity.



Date Modified: 2012-05-08
 
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