2003-2004
Communication Canada
PWGSC

Coordinate public opinion research at the government level.

The government’s Public Opinion Research program was thoroughly reformed in the past year.

Implement a corporate “listening function” that shares information through existing programs.

1 800 O-Canada attained its third consecutive world-class rating through the survey:

• 86% of callers said they were “very satisfied,” up from 81% in 2002-03.
  
• Service agents handled 45 information services projects in 2003-04, resulting in 318,000 calls answered, 10,633 citizens contacted and about 27,000 e-mail messages answered.

Improve communications between Canadians and the Government of Canada by:

• Focusing on federal-provincial-territorial issues within the context of government priorities, as outlined in the Speech from the Throne.
  
• Gathering information to assist the government in the management of emerging issues.
  
• Providing a window on the concerns and primary issues for Canadians as reported in the media Supplying information relating to regional perspectives.

Received 1,919 information requests for media monitoring and analysis services, products and reports. Activities included the following:

• Providing comprehensive communication products on specific initiatives and events, such as First Ministers’ Meetings, the Speech from the Throne and federal budgets, and supporting other departments in relation to unforeseen issues such as SARS, BSE and the Asian flu.
  
• Providing support to the Ministerial Tours Program in Quebec, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
  
• Supporting other federal institutions (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and Western Economic Diversification) by providing media monitoring and analysis products on specific issues related to economic development.

An independent survey indicated 80% of clients were highly satisfied with Media Room and Info-Region products.

Renew GoC advertising and POR management programs nationally and in the regions in accordance with Treasury Board policies.

A new Advertising and POR Management Framework consistent with the Communications Policy was put into effect for all government institutions. See Annex C, Advertising Coordination.

Coordinate the GoC Exhibitions Program.

Thirty departments participated in 13 major events across Canada and attracted 1.2 million visitors. See Annex A, GoC Exhibitions Program.

Increase the role of the regions in the delivery of the Sponsorship Program.

Staff in regional offices worked to ensure delivery at the regional end. Sponsorship agreements were approved as follows: Alberta 44; British Columbia 80; Manitoba 46; Saskatchewan 47; Ontario 140; Quebec 254; New Brunswick 43; Newfoundland and Labrador 22; Nova Scotia 50; Prince Edward Island 29; Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon 8; and National Capital Area 15. See Annex D, Government of Canada Sponsorship Program.

Increase the accessibility and the leadership of Electronic Media Monitoring (EMM) across government.

The Electronic Media Monitoring (EMM) program provided federal institutions with a central electronic media monitoring service in support of their media monitoring activities. Highlights of EMM were:

• Communication Canada chaired the EMM User Group -an interdepartmental forum on electronic media monitoring -to promote best practices. The User Group met regularly in 2003-04.
• An average of 30 departments participated in EMM User Group meetings.
• Over 70% of client departments were very satisfied with the service. 69 departments had access to EMM news sources (an increase of 7% compared to the previous year).

Conduct a major review of regional operations to ensure the involvement of regional interests in all communications programs.

For details of CC’s programs with regional items, see Annexes: A - GoC Exhibitions Program / Canada Pavilion - Federal Presence; B: Citizen Information Initiative (CII) - Pilot Projects; and D - GoC Sponsorship Program.

Promote GoC programs, services and access channels.

Provide government information services and products to Canadians.

Target Canadian population segments corresponding to GoC priorities.

Ensure that corporate communications are accessible to all audiences.

1 800 O-Canada service achievements are as follows:

• 1.3 million enquiries were received.
• 27,000 e-mail messages were handled on behalf of the Canada Site.
• 53.2 million “page requests” were received.
• 87% of the 1.3 million calls received were answered within 18 seconds, exceeding the target of 85%.
• The On-Line Enquiries team replied to 41.9% of the 27,000 e-mails it received within one business day.

An independent client satisfaction survey revealed that 86% of callers were “very satisfied” with the service they had received, and in two areas - level of caring shown by information officers and ability to understand a caller’s enquiry - 1 800 O-Canada was the top performer of all the call centres taking part in the study.

Disseminate all formal public notices, official appointments, and proposed and new regulations from government departments and agencies.

The Canada Gazette’s performance data is as follows:

• More than 6,577 pages were viewed, and the average length of the visits was just over 15 minutes.
• 12,600 pages were published.
• Over 2 million pages were downloaded in 2003-2004, for an average of 3,000 to 5,000 pages a day.
• 1.4 million pages were downloaded in HTML.
• 147 countries accessed the Canada Site, compared to 87 the previous year.
• Major deadlines were met.
• The Canada Gazette continues to achieve a less than 1% error count annually.

GoC publishing programs work closely with author departments.

Publications program performance is as follows:

• Almost 94,000 orders for government publications were received (37,699 of which were for guides produced by Communication Canada).
• The publications website is a single window for obtaining information about GoC publications. It provides access to:
  • Over 130,000 free and priced publications.
  • Over 20,000 e-documents.
  • Approximately 125 titles added to the database every week, plus titles that are available for downloading.

Publishing service statistics are as follows:

• 18.7 million hits were received on the website in 2003-04, an increase of 32% over 2002-03
• 66,044 e-mails were received (up 72%).
• 61,933 enquiries were received (a 16% increase).
• 4,149 new releases were produced.
• Over 300,000 copies of publications were sold.
• Over 1,000 orders for 4.26 million individual items were processed.

Crown Copyright and Licensing (CCL) protects the GoC’s intellectual property rights.

CCL operating performance is as follows:

• Over 46,000 requests and enquiries were received (an increase of 48% over 2002-03).
• A total of approximately 10,000 applications were granted (an increase of 80%).

For the fourth year running, Canada ranked first in Accenture’s annual e-government study.

The Association for the Export of Canadian Books selected all 11 books submitted by Communication Canada on behalf of the Government of Canada to appear in Books on Canada 2004. Many of these books made the front list of the catalogue and formed part of the Canadian Studies Travelling Book Displays.

Canadian Government Publishing has been the Government of Canada’s official publisher for over 100 years and manages Crown Copyright and Licensing assets.

The Canada Gazette website now includes a “consultation page” where Canadians can provide input on current proposed regulations.

The Depository Services Program (DSP) supplies GoC publications at no cost to a network of more than 900 libraries in Canada and abroad.

In 2003-04, 45 Regional Initiatives Fund (RIF) Projects were planned or carried out in partnership with other government departments in each region, more than doubling the federal investment in government-wide communications across Canada.

*Operating includes statutory items such as contributions to employee benefit plans

.**Cost of services provided by other departments includes accommodation, employee insurance premiums, worker’s compensation and legal services.

*The 2001-02 Actual does not include the activities of the former Communication Coordination Services Branch, which represent approximately $75M. These activities were reported under Public Works and Government Services Canada.

*Revenues include the sales of the Canada Gazette, the sales of publications from Canadian Government Publishing and of promotional items, and cost recoveries from other government departments for the Government Enquiry Centre, Depository Services and Crown Copyright and Licensing.

**Communication Canada does not have non-respendable revenue.

*The increase in planned spending for contributions in 2003-04 is based on the implementation of the new Sponsorship Program, as approved by Treasury Board and later terminated by the government.