Profile of the Department

• Who We Are
• What We Do
• Opportunities for Business
• The Future
• At Your Service Across Canada

Serving Government, Serving Canadians

Who We Are

Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) is about more than managing office buildings for public servants and contracting and using the latest technologies. We are nearly 14,000 people strong — men and women across Canada (as well as locations in the U.S.A. and Europe) supporting the daily operations of nearly 140 federal departments and agencies. By focusing on what we do best — providing innovative service and solutions to government — we help departments focus on what they do best, serve Canadians.

Did You Know?

We help Canada play a lead role in the international marketplace through ongoing support of the Government of Canada's commitment to making Canada the most connected country in the world.

We create thousands of opportunities for businesses every day throughout Canada and ensure fair, equal and open access to these opportunities.

We create or maintain tens of thousands of jobs through our contracting opportunities, particularly for small and medium-sized businesses, the drivers of economic growth in Canada.

We provide full-service integrated solutions to clients. For example, we supported an ambitious project to supply influenza vaccine for Canadians. In partnership with Health Canada and every province and territory, we issued contracts to ensure long-term price stability and access to the vaccine, as well as the development of sufficient production capacity in Canada and the availability of raw materials in the event of a pandemic. We helped place Canada among the few nations in the world offering such protection to their citizens.

We protect Canadians and the environment through our ongoing greening government efforts and special projects, such as the establishment of standing offers for environmentally sound products. In the National Capital Area, we operate a fleet of more than 100 cars, trucks and vans, including four ethanol-powered mini-vans and seven propane-operated full-size cargo vans. We recently added eight compressed natural gas vans and four natural gas refueling compressors to the fleet, underlining our commitment to greening government.

We respect cultural diversity, promoting our national identity, and providing service in the official language of choice to all Canadians.

Working to protect the nation's natural resources, we achieved a world-wide first at the Esquimalt Graving Dock in British Columbia. Through our remarkable efforts in sound environmental management, Canada's largest dry dock is now attracting private-sector ship repair firms who, in turn, are attracting environmentally conscious customers in the cruise ship industry.

We help meet the needs of Canadian youth in education and in their transition to the world of work through our participation in internship and post-secondary recruitment programs, and in providing summer and co-op student employment opportunities.

We contribute to the enhancement of Canada's presence on the world stage. With the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, we played a leading role in one of the most important international events of 2001 — the Summit of the Americas in Québec City. Among many other international events we supported that year was the conference of the G20, International Monetary Fund and World Bank, held in Ottawa.

We also assist other countries as part of Canada's international development commitment. For example, we helped Poland reform its property tax system through the International Property Tax Institute, a Canadian not-for-profit professional association. We helped the Government of Bermuda convert to accrual accounting using software we developed. And we were pleased to share our Government On-Line expertise with our counterparts in Singapore.

What We Do

Procurement

As Canada's largest buyer of goods and services, with about $10.5 billion annually in purchases that cover some 58,000 contracting opportunities for business, we are a major player in the nation's economy. These opportunities spur on our economy and create or maintain jobs in every sector.

IM/IT Infrastructure Providing Public Access

We're taking a lead role in enabling Canadians to access government information, programs, services, and opportunities. As the planners, builders and managers of the extensive IM/IT infrastructure essential to on-line government, with our private sector partners, we're developing a number of applications, including the secure channel, to ensure on-line privacy for Canadians.

Property, Accommodation and Building Management

We provide office accommodation and other facilities for more than 187,000 public servants and Parliamentarians working in more than 2,500 locations across Canada. We manage a real property inventory of more than $6.8 billion, and negotiate and administer some 2,000 leases in every province and territory.

Major Construction and Restoration Projects

Building for Canada's future and protecting our heritage, by managing major construction and restoration projects across the country, is also part of our job. For example, in 2001, we won prestigious awards from national and international design and architectural societies for some projects located in Ottawa.

From the Canadian Association of Landscape Architects, we won the National Citation Awards for the Parliament Hill Landscape Plan and the Police and Peace Officers' Memorial Pavilion. From the American Society of Landscape Architects, we won a National Merit Award in the design category for Parliament Hill Site Furniture. From the International Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, we won an Award of Merit for the National War Memorial and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Sustainable Development

Long-term environmental preservation, protection and restoration are major goals for us. Through our sustainable development and greening government initiatives, we help maintain the environment for the benefit of present and future generations of Canadians.

As builders and caretakers of buildings, we protect the environment by reducing solid waste, greening the construction and operation of our buildings, conserving energy and water, improving fleet management, minimizing the effects of our operations on climate change, and increasing environmental protection and conservation. For example, in 2001, we introduced $6.5 million in annual energy savings for Canadians by decreasing the use of non-renewable resources and reducing emission of greenhouse gases at our facilities.

Receiver General for Canada

We perform the government's Receiver General functions, preparing the Public Accounts, and banking and disbursing all public monies for the federal government.

Good Government for Canadians

We provide expertise in a broad range of other areas. These include financial systems, compensation, translation, terminology and interpretation, management consulting and audit, standards development and certification, and other services to departments and agencies across government.

Providing good government for Canadians means identifying services that Canadians need and that government is best able to provide, and then delivering them to ensure the best value and quality, the greatest efficiency, and the protection of the public interest.

By trying new approaches and technologies, and seeking new solutions based on cooperation and collaboration, we have become leaders in innovative service delivery for government.

Partnership

We collaborate with other government departments and levels of government to reduce costs and increase our service capacity, accessibility and effectiveness. Our work with other federal departments, the provinces and territories, municipalities, and 17 telephone companies across Canada to develop and improve telephone directory Blue Pages is a good example. No fewer than 145 Blue Pages directories were redesigned to provide Canadians with user-friendly access to government programs and services.

While we maintain centres of expertise and deliver core services for government, we also work in partnership with the private sector for service delivery in many areas. For example, in collaboration with private and public-sector partners, we developed a package of computer network services that meet the technological needs of government departments and agencies in delivering services on-line.

Innovation

The use of new approaches is also part of our effort to find new and better ways to deliver services. We use innovative contracting to fund energy conservation retrofits in buildings we manage, saving Canadians energy, water and money.

With the private sector, Canadian universities and research institutes, we invest millions of dollars annually in research and development into new construction, engineering and design techniques that improve the durability, safety, quality and environmental performance of federally owned buildings.

New Technology

Providing effective government for Canadians means that we're also looking ahead to meet the needs of tomorrow. As the planners, builders and managers of the government's considerable networks at the core of on-line government, we're playing a key role in making it a reality for Canadians.

We're working closely with departments and agencies to develop innovative approaches to the design and delivery of services on-line that will enable government to provide the faster, more responsive services that Canadians deserve.

Opportunities for Business

We make it easier for the private sector to do business with government by making sure that business opportunities are managed fairly through open, accessible practices and a well-understood approach. This ensures that Canadians receive the best value possible for the money we spend on their behalf.

We spearheaded the development and launch of Contracts Canada a few years ago, providing a single point of access to information on federal contracting. This interdepartmental collaboration has improved supplier and buyer awareness and simplified access to federal government purchasing information.

MERX^TM is the national on-line tendering system used by the Government of Canada. It provides access to tens of billions of dollars in contract opportunities and ensures a level playing field for businesses of all sizes competing on procurement opportunities. All levels of governments, as well as academic institutions, school boards and hospitals use MERX^TM to advertise contract opportunities.

MERX^TM also announces opportunities in the United States and other countries that are subject to international trade agreements, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement and the World Trade Organization Agreement on Government Procurement, giving Canadian businesses an edge in the global marketplace.

The Future

At PWGSC, we're committed to helping Canada build a world-leading economy, driven by innovation, talent and enterprise. Through our service and solutions, we're helping shape the future of this country and helping Canadians enjoy the fastest rate of growth in the world.

We're people helping people, every day, in every part of Canada, from coast to coast to coast.

At Your Service Across Canada

For More Information

For additional copies of this booklet or to get more information about us and our many services, please contact Communications Sector by telephone at (819) 956-5385, by fax (819) 956-5417, or by e-mail at questions@pwgsc.gc.ca