3. Responsive Government
To become more responsive, the Government of Canada will:
- make its programs and services cost-effective and accessible;
- ensure that its internal operations and business processes are efficient and effective; and
- plan, manage, and report on priority programs on a whole-of-government basis to achieve meaningful results.
Historically, the Government of Canada has managed and delivered programs through individual departments and agencies. This approach worked reasonably well in the past
because citizen and business needs were more uniform and predictable. Today, however, client needs are more diverse and complex. A senior citizen, for example, may require
government programs and services offered through Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, Social Development Canada, Veterans Affairs Canada, Health Canada, and
Canada Revenue Agency.
Too often, however, accessing programs and services requires Canadians to sort out government themselves and navigate through different organizations, complex program
definitions, confusing criteria, and duplicative requests for information. In many cases, people who could benefit from programs are unaware that they exist. This model is
inefficient and frustrating for citizens and businesses. Furthermore, it makes it difficult for government to assess performance across its programs and operations and
make investment decisions for optimal results.
More needs to be done to simplify and integrate services and improve their accessibility, convenience, and ease of use. Government needs to manage service delivery
channels—the Internet, telephone, mail and in-person service—as an integrated suite to provide cost-effective and responsive services.
Internally, because the government’s administrative services evolved in response to individual programs within departments and agencies, most back-end systems
cannot share information, even when they perform similar functions. Currently, only five per cent of information technology services are common across government. While
the government has reduced the total number of different systems it uses, there are still 14 separate systems that support human resources management and seven for
financial and materiel management.
Efforts to achieve responsive government are focussed in two areas:
- improving service and results for Canadians; and
- improving services within government.
Improving Service and Results for Canadians
Providing Seamless, Responsive Service
Canada Revenue Agency introduced 1) Netfile; 2) state of the art call centres; and 3) a unique identifier for federal, provincial, and territorial governments to
increase efficiency and reduce compliance costs for businesses in their information transactions with the Agency. These have been key in increasing citizen
satisfaction ratings.
The Government of Canada offers a broad range of services to Canadians—as both individuals and businesses, at home and abroad. These include social and tax
benefits, passports, services that minimize risks of crime and threats to national security, and services for youth and seniors. Because its services touch the lives of
most Canadians, the government has made efforts to improve services. Canadians are clear in their service expectations: they want easy access to government, a choice in
how they do so, and respectful and individual service in the official language of their choice. Accordingly, more needs to be done to meet these expectations, particularly
to make services from a range of departments and agencies more readily available at one time and in one place.
A commitment to service excellence will guide the improvement of services across all of government. In 2006, the government will publish a vision for the evolution of
service delivery and propose a multi-year strategy to implement it. Client satisfaction will remain a central focus. To strengthen the performance
relationship between service providers and their clients, the government will establish service charters that detail commitments to service quality for
major areas of service delivery.
Service Canada is a significant step forward in implementing this service vision.
Officially launched in September 2005, Service Canada collaborates with federal departments and agencies and with other governments to bring services
together in a way that is simple and convenient for citizens. Service Canada is designed to:
- deliver seamless, citizen-centred service by providing integrated, one-stop service based on citizen needs and helping deliver better policy
outcomes;
- enhance the integrity of programs by building trust and confidence in the integrity of our social programs and by achieving savings in program
payments;
- work as a collaborative, networked government by building whole-of-government approaches to service that enable information sharing, integrated
service delivery, and strategic investment for the benefit of Canadians;
- demonstrate accountable and responsible government by delivering results for Canadians and government, and transparency in reporting; and
- build a service excellence culture by supporting our people with effective training and tools, encouraging innovation, and building leadership and
capacity to provide citizen-centred service.
Service Canada provides Canadians with timely, informative, one-stop service in person, through the Internet, by telephone, and by mail.
Service Canada has over 20,000 employees dedicated to providing responsive service in over 320 Service Canada centres across the country. These centres also provide
free Internet access and help in navigating on-line services through http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca. Service Canada will also
use outreach and third-party delivery to double its points of service to provide rural, remote, and smaller communities—and more than 1.25 million
Canadians—with better access to services. Citizens will also benefit from a newly co-ordinated Service Canada national call centre network, which includes 1
800 O-Canada and 23 centres that Social Development Canada formerly operated.
Today, Service Canada offers services on behalf of a number of departments, including Passport Canada, Public Works and Government Services Canada, Human Resources and
Skills Development Canada, Social Development Canada, Veterans Affairs Canada, Canadian Heritage, Canada Revenue Agency, and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. For example,
Canadians can now submit passport applications in 23 Service Canada locations in addition to existing Passport Canada offices. Through pilot efforts, Service Canada has
received more than 12,500 passport applications, and has achieved high levels of client satisfaction. Service Canada has published a service charter that outlines its
current service commitments to Canadians. Over time, more services will be delivered by Service Canada on behalf of other departments, as well as other levels of
government, underpinned by an appropriate accountability regime.
PROVIDING SEAMLESS, RESPONSIVE SERVICE
ACTIONS TAKEN
NEXT STEPS
Responsive Service
- In 2006, publish a vision and strategy for the transformation of services and their delivery
- In 2006, establish a regime to strengthen service management through service charters and key performance indicators
Service Canada
- In 2006, create the Service Canada campus of the Canada School of Public Service to provide a learning program for service excellence
- In 2006, implement a strategy to double Service Canada points of service
- In 2006, establish collaborative service delivery agreements with provincial and territorial governments
- In 2006, publish the first annual Service Canada Performance Scorecard
Implementing Smart Regulation
The government is also working with stakeholders and citizens to build a more effective, predictable, and efficient regulatory system. The aim is to protect the health
and safety of Canadians, ensure a sustainable environment, and create the conditions for an innovative and competitive economy.
Through its Smart Regulation initiative, the Government of Canada is:
Industry Canada's Paper Burden Reduction Initiative will cut red tape so that businesses can spend more time doing business and less time filling out forms.
- strengthening regulatory management through the development of a new policy and tools;
- improving co-ordination of regulation across the federal government, with other jurisdictions in Canada, and internationally; and
- implementing the principles of Smart Regulation in areas such as health, environmental sustainability, safety and security, Aboriginal prosperity and northern
development, and business innovation and productivity.
IMPLEMENTING SMART REGULATION
ACTIONS TAKEN
NEXT STEPS
- In 2005, release the second Report on Actions and Priorities to highlight progress and accomplishments
- In 2006, complete cross-country public consultations and finalize the Government Directive on Regulation
- In 2006, establish a regulatory advisory body to monitor the implementation of Smart Regulation
Tailoring programs to client needs
To improve access and achieve meaningful results in key policy areas, the government will be more client-focussed in the design and management of its programs
and services, and will report on their performance on a whole-of-government basis.
For example, the government currently provides approximately 300 programs to Aboriginal Canadians through 32 departments and agencies. Furthermore, Aboriginal
organizations must submit over 60,000 reports annually to government—a burden that diminishes their capacity to pursue improvements in their communities. In
collaboration with Aboriginal organizations, the government is examining ways to streamline administrative processes and compliance requirements without compromising the
rigour of oversight. It will also review the mechanics of programs (such as terms and conditions) for other key client groups.
Improving Services Within Government
Improving the government’s services, programs, and regulatory process requires effective internal operations—the administrative, financial, human resources,
and information technology support upon which public service employees depend to do their work.
TAILORING PROGRAMS TO CLIENT NEEDS
ACTIONS TAKEN
- Gathered information on spending in three areas: Aboriginal programs, public security and anti-terrorism, and climate change
NEXT STEPS
- In 2005, report spending on all federal programs directly targeted to Aboriginal peoples, broken out as applicable to Inuit, Métis, or First Nations
groups
- In 2006, complete a review of climate change programming
- In 2008, report to Parliament on spending and performance of climate change programs
Implementing Shared Internal Services
A responsive government is connected. It shares more of its “back office”—the operations and infrastructure that, historically, departments and
agencies have operated on their own. Doing so will reduce overall administrative and transaction costs and produce better results for internal clients. Therefore, the
Government of Canada is moving toward standardizing business processes and how information is defined, catalogued, protected, and made available for use
and re-use. These efforts, in turn, will produce the timely and accurate information needed for effective decision making.
Shared Service Organizations
The government spends more than $11 billion annually in corporate administrative services such as human resources (HR), materiel management, and financial management,
and on information technology (IT) services. Shared service organizations (SSOs) that provide departments and agencies with many of these services
have the potential to increase cost-effectiveness and efficiency.
Canada Revenue Agency is currently providing common administrative services to Canada Border Services Agency through integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP),
finance, and HR systems and a growing range of finance and HR-related self service options for managers and employees, as well as IT desktop services to 10,000
employees in the National Capital Region.
To ensure that it manages risks, and tests and validates its approach, the government will proceed with SSO implementation in phases, with waves of
departments and agencies moving to SSOs over several years.
For example, the government is currently actively preparing a first wave of central agencies and science departments for shared corporate and administrative
services. This approach will enable government to identify best practices as it converts progressively larger organizations to the SSO model. While, over time,
the more efficient provision of corporate and administrative services will require less work, proper planning and the phased multi-year approach will allow government to
use attrition to minimize the impact on employees. The objective is not to lay off employees. Furthermore, employees will have opportunities to help shape the
implementation strategy, and government will ensure the timely provision of the training they may require to adjust to the changes.
Integrated, streamlined, and common internal administrative systems and processes allow the government to improve services, decisions, and results.
The government will begin to standardize information definitions and develop consistent system solutions for administrative services throughout 2006 and
2007. This groundwork will allow it to make decisions on its approach to shared services, including the first wave of departments and agencies, the pace of the
transition, the combination of administrative services that SSOs could provide, and the implications for services in 2007 and 2008.
The government is assessing a second SSO to provide IT services, starting with government-wide desktop computing and data centre services. The potential exists to move
departments and agencies to the IT-SSO in phases beginning in 2006.
IMPLEMENTING SHARED INTERNAL SERVICES
ACTIONS TAKEN
- Completed reviews of corporate administrative services and strategies to improve the management of IT
- Launched feasibility work for SSOs in both areas
- The Secure
Channel, the government’s reliable telecommunications network that provides secure, on-line access to services, is fully operational
NEXT STEPS
- In 2005, finalize multi-year strategies for internal service transformation for consideration by the Treasury Board
- In 2006, confirm the initial common HR, finance, materiel, and IT (including Secure Channel) services and the potential first wave of departments and agencies
that could receive them
- In 2007–08, potentially deliver shared services to the first wave of departments and agencies
Improving procurement and real property management
As highlighted in Budget 2005, the government will adopt a system-wide approach to key aspects of materiel, asset, project, and procurement management—areas where
it can realize significant efficiencies. The government will consolidate its purchasing to leverage its buying power, receive the best prices, and reduce
administrative and reporting costs.
The government will be more efficient in meeting the needs of managers and of departments and agencies. For example, it will rigorously manage the unit cost of
supplies and track purchase volumes to achieve efficiencies. It will bring the average level of space utilization more in line with private-sector
benchmarks, improve leasing strategies to ensure better use of
lower-cost accommodation, and adopt measures to lower the cost of project management. It will redirect these savings, in turn, to priorities and improvements to its
operations.
IMPROVING PROCUREMENT AND REAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT
ACTIONS TAKEN
- Completed a review of the government’s capital assets
- Implemented initial measures to reform management of assets and acquired services, including:
- pilot projects
- new procurement policies
- publication of standards
- improved certification regime
- training courses and tools
NEXT STEPS
- In 2006, implement pilot projects for a new approach to capital funding proposed in the capital assets review
- In 2006, implement updated government-wide systems in phases to support monitoring, reporting, and expanded disclosure of contracts on the Web
- In 2006, implement the certification program for specialists in procurement and materiel management
- In 2007–08, implement new policies in phases to establish stronger management controls across government and strengthen Treasury Board oversight of
investments and of complex or high-risk issues
Conclusion
A responsive government serves Canadians and manages itself as one connected organization with various parts. A whole-of-government approach to programs and services,
both internal and external, aligns departments and agencies and promotes co-ordination with other levels of government and the private and not-for-profit sectors. Better
government-wide planning and management helps individuals and businesses gain seamless access to services centred on their needs, without having to negotiate a myriad of
disconnected structures. Improved management and efficiencies are achieved with more shared services.
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