Tabling of the 2005-2006 Reports on Plans and Priorities

[ Backgrounder ]

For immediate release
March 24, 2005

Ottawa – Reg Alcock, President of the Treasury Board, today tabled the federal government's Reports on Plans and Priorities for 90 departments and agencies.

"Our commitment to improving the way government reports to Parliament sets Canada apart as a world leader in accountability and reporting to legislatures," said Minister Alcock.  "These reports provide Canadians with a detailed description of how departments and agencies are planning to deliver on the government's commitments within the context of its financial framework.  They also provide a basis upon which to assess our progress towards these goals." 

The tabling of the 2005-2006 Reports on Plans and Priorities completes the 2005-2006 Estimates process.  These reports constitute Part III of the Estimates.  Parts I and II of the Estimates were tabled on February 25, 2005.

The Reports on Plans and Priorities are based on planned spending levels established in the 2005 Budget.  These reports provide comprehensive departmental expenditure plans for the coming three-year period and clearly demonstrate the strategic direction of the 90 departments and agencies involved. 

As well as outlining planned activities – and the results expected from them – the Reports on Plans and Priorities also provide information on the resources required.  The Reports on Plans and Priorities establish the basis against which performance is measured in the Departmental Performance Reports, which are usually tabled in the fall. 

Please refer to the attached backgrounder for more information on the 2005-2006 Reports on Plans and Priorities.  The reports are posted on the Treasury Board Secretariat Web site at http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/est-pre/20052006/deptlist_e.asp. 

- 30 -

For more information, contact:

Lise Jolicoeur
Press Secretary
Office of the President of the Treasury Board and Minister responsible for the Canadian
Wheat Board
(613) 957-2666 

Michelle Laliberté
Media Relations
Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
(613) 957-2640

If there is a discrepancy between any printed version and the electronic version of this news release, the electronic version will prevail.

TTY (Telecommunications device for the hearing impaired) — (613) 957-9090

Backgrounder

Overview of the 2005-2006 Reports on Plans and Priorities

Introduction 

The Government of Canada presents its overall spending priorities through the expense plan set out by the Minister of Finance in the Budget, with the most recent being tabled on February 23, 2005.  The plan is implemented through a series of legislative measures, including the Estimates and related appropriation bills. 

As Part III of the Estimates process, the Reports on Plans and Priorities are tabled in Parliament by the President of the Treasury Board on behalf of the ministers who preside over the departments and agencies identified in Schedules I, I.1 and II of the Financial Administration Act.  Crown corporations do not produce a Report on Plans and Priorities.  They report separately to Parliament through their corporate plans. 

The Report on Plans and Priorities sets out the department or agency's expenditure plans for the next three years based on the department or agency's strategic outcomes.  Departments and agencies are asked to identify in their reports specific planned results for the planning period, along with the key activities and initiatives that would be undertaken to achieve them, consistent with their planned expenditures.  This supports the priorities established in Results for Canadians:  A Management Framework for the Government of Canada, which was tabled in the House of Commons by the President of the Treasury Board in March 2000. 

Accordingly, the Reports provide Members of Parliament and Canadians with a succinct description of how departments and agencies are planning to deliver on the government's commitments within the context of its financial framework.  They also provide a basis upon which to describe actual progress. 

The information on planned expenditures and results provides parliamentarians with a context for their review of the Estimates and an opportunity to discuss and influence the longer-term plans of the government.

Budgetary Expenses

The following table sets out planned budgetary expenses for 2005-2006. 

[ Click on image to enlarge ]

Program Expenses 

The following table provides details on major transfer payments for 2005-2006. 

Direct program spending does not include major transfer payments or public debt charges.  It consists of operating and capital spending, a number of subsidies and transfer payments such as those to Aboriginal peoples, and funding for regional and industrial development, agriculture and international aid.  Direct program spending might be described as the cost of the "machinery" of government and comprises the hundreds of programs and services that directly support the economic, cultural and social fabric of the nation. 

Total program expenses of $161.3 billion in 2005-2006 is consistent with the planned expense levels for that year as set out in the February 2005 Budget. 

The white section of the following chart focuses on the distribution of $79.1 billion in 2005-2006 direct program spending across the various ministries of the Government of Canada. 

[ Click on image to enlarge ]

Program Spending by Ministry 

The following table sets out the planned budgetary program spending by ministry that consists of those departments, agencies and Crown corporations for which a given minister is accountable to Parliament.  The presentation is consistent with the financial information contained in the Reports on Plans and Priorities.

^[1] Includes the 2005-2006 Main Estimates as well as adjustments from previous Budgets, including Budget 2005, which will be requested thought the 2005-2006 Supplementary Estimates exercise.

^[2] Includes the Expenditure Review Committee savings and planned procurement savings from PWGSC, as announced in Budget 2005.

^[3]The major component of the Consolidated Specified Purpose Accounts item is the Employment Insurance Account.

^[4] Those amounts which for Budget and accounting purposes have been charged to prior years when the obligations were incurred (e.g., multilateral debt reduction agreements, assistance to provinces related to natural disasters, contaminated sites remediation), adjustments related to accrual accounting and projected lapses.  It also includes funds for initiatives that were announced in the Budget, but which require further development.  The difference between this amount and the amount in the previous table is due to rounding.