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2.1 Income Security Programs

Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) has responsibility for the administration and delivery of the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Old Age Security (OAS) programs. These programs provide benefits to seniors, persons with disabilities and their children, survivors and migrants. In 2000-2001, the department estimates it will provide benefits to nearly 5 million Canadians and more than 135,000 clients living abroad. Total benefits paid under the programs are estimated at $43.8 billion for 2000-2001 and it is expected that administration and delivery costs will be $277.4 million.

2.2 Outreach

Income Security Programs (ISP) Outreach is intended to promote awareness of CPP and OAS at the community level, and to improve citizens' understanding of how these benefit programs fit within overall retirement planning and income security. Outreach works with several other ISP groups whose overall objective is to ensure that people obtain the benefits they qualify for, and that they see these benefits as a reliable part of their retirement income planning. In short, ISP Outreach's mission is to be leaders in the community at providing Old Age Security and Canada Pension Plan information to enable Canadians to plan and manage transitions in their lives.

ISP Outreach was created as a separate entity from ISP Communications in April, 1998 as a result of an ISP Omnibus Submission approved by the Treasury Board.

2.2.1 Rationale and Objectives

The principle objectives of ISP Outreach are as follows:

• raise awareness and knowledge of CPP and OAS among current and future clients of the programs;
• improve Canadians' understanding of the role of CPP and OAS within overall retirement planning and income security;
• improve confidence in the CPP and OAS programs; and
• work with other ISP areas to increase the proportion of individuals that receive the benefits to which they are entitled under the Income Security Programs.

The first three objectives have been actively pursued under the current design and implementation of the program. However, the activities necessary to achieve the fourth objective have not yet been made fully operational on a national basis.

2.2.2 Resources and Management Approach

ISP Outreach has a national budget of $4.5 million which includes approximately $3 million for salaries. This salary budget is allocated for 82 Full time Equivalents (FTE's). Of these, eight are at national headquarters in Ottawa. The remaining 74 are spread across the 10 regions.

The approach to staffing varies from region to region. In some regions (e.g., Manitoba, Quebec and Saskatchewan) staff are dedicated to Outreach. In other regions (e.g., Ontario, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and British Columbia), individuals are allocated to Outreach on a fractional basis and also perform other duties relating to the Income Security Programs.

Outreach managers in the regions report to the ISP regional manager. The national director of ISP Outreach provides functional guidance to regional Outreach managers.

2.2.3 Outreach Activities

There is distinct variation in the activities of the program from region to region, due to the staffing and management approaches noted above. Nevertheless, program activities fall into the following four broad categories:

Category 1 Direct Contact with Individuals

This has been a major focus of ISP Outreach. Attending public events (e.g., booths at home shows), giving presentations to the public via retirement and pre-retirement seminars are examples of Category 1 activities. Outreach personnel may also receive inquiries from members of the public whom they have encountered at such events. While the standard protocol is to refer these individuals to the department's formal information sources (i.e., 1-800 number; brochures; website and ISP administrative personnel), in many instances, Outreach personnel deal with the information request directly.

These activities are not always considered to be the most cost-effective approach in achieving Outreach objectives although, based on quantitative/qualitative information, the numbers of individual Canadians contacted greatly exceeded the targets of the program. Outreach headquarters management expects to reduce the number of resources dedicated to individual contact over time in favour of working through leveraged partnerships.

The Omnibus TB Submission noted that with the funding requested (and provided), ISP Outreach would conduct incremental activities which fall into the categories noted below. The table identifies the volume of activity targets and results for the 1998/99 and 1999/2000 fiscal years. Note that the figures were derived largely from the Outreach reporting database but were supplemented as required by estimates and manual figures in regions where the database was not operational during the full two-year period under review.

Note that the Treasury Board (TB) Submission does not differentiate between presentations and training sessions which target the general public and those which target intermediaries/partners.

Category 2 Working with Intermediaries

The planning materials for Outreach refer to partnerships and promote an increased use of partners to get information to the ultimate client. In our interviews, these "partners" were also referred to as "non-individual clients" or intermediaries, which is a more accurate description of their role. Groups and organizations which Outreach has worked with include the following:

• other federal and provincial departments and agencies;
• health and education organizations;
• advocacy groups;
• MP and MLA constituency office staff;
• finance and insurance companies;
• consulting firms; and
• funeral homes.

While this is a diverse group, they all have relationships with Canadians who — in turn — require information about Income Security Programs. Consequently, they are generally interested in working with ISP Outreach since whatever they learn is knowledge which they require in order to perform their own role better and serve as an information broker to their own staff or clients.

The Omnibus TB Submission committed ISP Outreach to incremental activities which relate to the categories noted below. The table identifies the volume of activity targets and results for the 1998/99 and 1999/2000 fiscal years. Note that the figures were derived largely from the Outreach reporting database but were supplemented as required by estimates and manual figures in regions where the database was not operational during the full two-year period under review.

As noted above, targets for presentations and training sessions include both Category 1 and Category 2 activities.

Category 3 Communicating through the Media

In many regions, media inquiries are routinely referred to ISP Outreach personnel while in others they are sent to Communications or program managers. Outreach personnel have also been involved in writing newspaper columns and appearances on radio shows and Cable TV community programs. The following table identifies the volume of activity targets and results for the 1998/99 and 1999/2000 fiscal years. Note that the figures were derived largely from the Outreach reporting database but were supplemented as required by estimates and manual figures in regions where the database was not operational during the full two-year period under review.

Category 4 Identifying Those Entitled to But Not Receiving Benefits

The fourth objective of ISP Outreach is a by-product of its educational goal and is to work with other ISP areas to "increase the proportion of individuals that receive the benefits to which they are entitled under the Income Security Programs". To some extent, all of the information activities in the first three categories are expected to help fulfill this objective. However, it has been increasingly recognized that there may be some groups on the margins of society who are at risk of not receiving benefits to which they are entitled. ISP Outreach has identified the following groups as "target groups" for more proactive approaches. An asterisk (*) indicates the two groups which are currently considered a priority for Outreach although the priority of the risk groups is currently being reassessed:

• aboriginal Canadians (*);
• Canadians with a disability;
• women who have raised children;
• self-employed Canadians;
• low-income seniors and near-seniors (*);
• Canadians living in rural areas;
• functionally illiterate Canadians;
• third language Canadians;
• senior and near-seniors living in institutions; and
• youth.