Highlights from the 2018-19 Departmental Results Reports

February 29, 2020

On February 26, Treasury Board President Jean-Yves Duclos tabled the 2018-19 Departmental Results Reports on behalf of 87 government departments and agencies.

Departmental Results Reports replaced the former Departmental Performance Reports, which are part of the Estimates and Supply process. They provide details on an organization’s mandate, commitments and results achieved.

Below are some highlights of interest to the Canadian library and information management community as identified by individual departments and agencies.

Administrative Tribunals Support Service of Canada

Results at a glance

Case Management Systems and IM/IT Solutions

• The ATSSC began the development of a new case management system (CMS) for the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) which will modernize tribunal operations and inform an overall ATSSC CMS strategy.
• Access to justice was improved by enhancing the usability and functionality of some tribunal websites.
• E-filing solutions were improved or introduced, notably enabling parties to e-file with the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) without needing to submit paper copies and enabling staffing complaints to be e-filed with the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board (FPSLREB).

Results: what we achieved

Core Responsibility
Support services and facilities to federal administrative tribunals and its members.

The ATSSC enhanced operations and improved access to justice through the modernization and maintenance of existing IM/IT systems. This included network consolidation and supporting some tribunals in improving user experience and enhancing functionality of their websites. The ATSSC dedicated resources to support tribunals in enhancing their electronic transaction capacities through the implementation of new e-enablement solutions and the development of new solutions for videoconferencing, secure transmission of files, and secure remote access for members. These investments to enhance electronic capacities and functionalities of the ATSSC’s IM/IT infrastructure increased accessibility and assisted those seeking access to justice, regardless of their location. While some tribunals received support in these areas, it was recognized that more substantive strategies should be developed to address these requirements across the remaining tribunals supported by the ATSSC.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Results: what we achieved

Internal Services

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada continues to contribute to the Government of Canada Open Data and Open Information initiatives and deliver on the mandated commitments to make data and information more accessible to the Canadian public. In 2018–19, the Department released 66% of known eligible data, information resources and inventories to the public through the Open Government portal. By ensuring that timely, usable, and relevant data and information resources are released to the public, the Department contributes to Government of Canada commitments to increase transparency, as well as citizen engagement and innovation.

Corporate information – Raison d’être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do

Operating context and key risks

Risk: Information management and information technology
The Department’s ability to adopt new services and technologies, including updating aging systems, may hinder our ability to effectively and efficiently deliver programs and services to Canadians.

Response strategy

• Monitoring activities and actions were determined to be tolerable based on the controls and the response strategy in place and/or being implemented.
• The Department has made progress in updating aging equipment and technology capacity.
• The Department continues to implement measures to improve performance and capabilities of its essential information technology and services and prioritize investments to address emerging business requirements and trends in technologies. This supports proper information management and supporting technology that allows for an effective and responsive organization, meeting client needs and expectations across government, industry and academia.

Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency

Results: what we achieved

Internal Services

ACOA continued to strive for excellence with organizational initiatives that prioritized streamlining and improving processes and systems. For example, the Agency digitized or streamlined processes related to invoice management, travel approvals, fleet management, post-payment verification and client proposal processing, while providing Government of Canada Wi-Fi services in its main regional offices to support a more modern and mobile workplace. Further, it collaborated with other regional development agencies to improve the efficient delivery of programs and services to Canadians, including the development of a common platform for the management of grants and contributions programs.

Canada Revenue Agency

Operating context and key risks

Risk 1: Cybersecurity

There is a risk that cyber threats will compromise CRA services and taxpayer information.

Mitigating strategy and effectiveness:

• Implemented the Data Security Initiative to further reduce the risk of data being shared with unauthorized parties
• Adopted advanced malware to protect against threats to our web services
• Used Application Control to strengthen the CRA’s ability to manage cyber-threats and protect its information
• Used artificial intelligence technologies for advance threat detection

Results: Tax

Digital services

Many Canadians prefer to access services digitally, and they expect those services to be easy to use. To meet their expectations in an ever-evolving environment, this year we launched new digital services, and enhanced existing ones, with the goal of simplifying the tax filing experience for Canadians. We also made other improvements to streamline how clients interact with us. In 2018–19, we:

• introduced the “Find a tax clinic” application on Canada.ca, making it easier for taxpayers to find a CVITP clinic
• introduced the ability to use “Auto-fill my return” with the tax-filing software we provide to CVITP volunteers, simplifying the process of filing returns and improving accuracy by automatically filling in parts of returns with information the CRA has on hand
• enhanced options for clients to request or submit documents electronically:
  • business owners and authorized representatives can now create their own filing and balance confirmation letters online to obtain a compliance summary for all their program accounts
  • tax preparers can submit business authorization requests, which are validated and processed in real time, providing tax preparers immediate access to their clients’ accounts
  • taxpayers who use goods and services tax/harmonized sales tax (GST/HST) Internet File Transfer software can register for online mail
  • taxpayers can digitally file for GST/HST new housing rebates
  • Canadian business owners going through a trust account examination can submit their books and records electronically through My Business Account and Represent a Client portals
• continued collaborating with Employment and Social Development Canada on the direct deposit address information sharing initiative for over 647,787 Canada Pension Plan (CPP) recipients; this initiative is an example of simplifying access to services for clients
• merged the online mail and Account Alerts services to improve email notifications for Canadians; registered users will receive email notifications when there is new mail to view in My Account and in My Business Account, and when important changes are made to their account
• launched a new and improved My Account in October 2018, based on user experience design and testing; this redesigned secure online portal makes it easier for clients to find the information they need and to interact with the CRA
• continued to provide new online payment methods, adding Interac eTransfer and PayPal as options this year, ensuring individuals and businesses can use the method they find most convenient and safe
• improved content on Canada.ca for clients’ tasks related to GST/HST, payroll, business registration and account maintenance to help them find the correct information and successfully complete their tasks

Business intelligence and data analytics

The strategic use of business intelligence and data analytics is helping the CRA to more precisely target non-compliance in a timely manner and direct resources toward addressing the highest risk cases. In 2018–19, in relation to our use of data analysis and business intelligence, we:

• implemented an Agency data program, under the leadership of a Chief Data Officer, that provides a business-led coordinated approach to the acquisition, governance and use of data; this program increases the CRA’s ability to curate existing and new data and to use it better
• launched an awareness campaign that takes a targeted approach to sectors of the population that are non-compliant, which includes using nudge letters and automated phone messages to emphasize the importance of filing to get benefits and credits
• received over 16.3 million reports of international electronic transactions over $10,000, to help identify wealthy individuals and their related entities who may be engaged in aggressive tax planning
• undertook our first exchanges under the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) in the fall of 2018, now with over 80 jurisdictions; the CRS allows the CRA to know when non-resident individuals hold financial accounts in participating countries
• issued unnamed persons requirements to property developers and builders in high-risk markets in British Columbia and Ontario, to identify buyers who might not be reporting their real estate transactions
• began to automate the process of matching and risk‑assessing electronic funds transfer records that do not contain a client identifier with existing CRA taxpayer data
• used advanced analytics to develop predictive models for identifying small and medium enterprises at high risk of not meeting their income tax obligations
• implemented a solution to identify abusive GST/HST schemes and prevent the payment of unwarranted GST/HST refunds
• developed a new forecasting model to further understand the impacts that the Canadian economy has on the tax debt; an additional model to help the Agency better understand the trends that affect collection intakes is currently under development

Internal Services

Integrity and security

During the 2018–19 year, we continued supporting and promoting integrity and security through our continuous investment in our information technology infrastructure. We developed and promoted awareness tools to ensure employees and managers understand their responsibilities when it comes to protecting the integrity of CRA programs, data, and systems. During 2018–19, we:

• continued to safeguard client information by monitoring employee access and actions on CRA systems while ensuring employees have the accesses they need to serve Canadians

Access to information and privacy

Parliamentarians, journalists and the general public want access to CRA information that is transparent, complete and meaningful. Working toward the CRA’s objective of ensuring that the information it releases to the public respects our clients’ right to privacy, in 2018–19, we:

• hired a consulting firm in March 2019 to assist us in implementing recommendations to reform the CRA privacy management program, with implementation of recommendations expected in 2019–20
• developed a workload management plan to help ensure that all access to information and privacy requests are treated within the targeted timeframe

Canada School of Public Service

Results: what we achieved

Core responsibilities: Common public service learning

Common learning is responsive to learning needs

In 2018–19, the School provided learning offerings based on a responsive curriculum that aligned with Government of Canada priorities.

Innovation in digital government

In 2018–19, the School increased capacity in digital learning across government through its Innovation and Policy Services Branch (IPSB) and the Digital Academy (DA). Three large Digital Academy events, including the Annual Digital Open Government Forum, reached an audience of over 1,600 public servants from across the country. As well, Busrides.ca, a pilot micro-learning platform, offered learners the ability to watch, listen or read up on the latest digital topics. Seven episodes were launched, reaching 2,994 users.

The School piloted a premium line of learning offerings to managers and supervisors on topics such as agile leadership, design, data, artificial intelligence and DevOps.

The School also enhanced its own digital footprint, with a revitalized web and social media presence.

Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency

Results: what we achieved

Internal Services

The Agency leveraged information management and information technology expertise to prepare for the new legislative and policy changes. This included modernizing the Agency’s public access portal. Specifically, the Agency initiated the redesign of its public Registry, using a user-centred approach involving clients in the design process in order to improve the usability and accessibility of the Registry. This redesign includes legislated impact assessment information, enhanced search functionality, and new online public engagement and commenting capabilities.

Canadian Food Inspection Agency

Results at a glance

Digital First Tools and Services

CFIA’s digital-first tools and digital services approach aims to provide clients a full range of services and information they need to comply with regulations. MyCFIA remains a convenient and secure way to do business online with CFIA, serving as a preferred method of requesting and receiving services, such as for a permit, certificate, or license. CFIA inspectors are capturing the results of their inspection activities in the Digital Services Delivery Platform. The next step of the platform development is to make services available to our plant and animal business lines. CFIA is also advancing other digital export certification activities, which will be available in early 2019-20. This includes: the Certificate of Free Sale, the Dairy Standard certificate, and a pilot for live cattle to the USA which has been planned with two phases. CFIA is continuing to advance work to automate fish and plant health certificates through My CFIA in 2020-21. Through the use of technology, CFIA strives to free inspectors from administrative tasks and instead to focus their work on verifying compliance and ensuring that only safe food, and healthy plants and animals, make it to market.

Results: what we achieved

Core responsibility: safe food and healthy plants and animals

Departmental result 1: food sold in Canada is safe and accurately represented to Canadians

Integrated risk management

Comparative Risk Model and risk-based planning

The Comparative Risk Model is an analytical tool that uses data from external and internal sources to compare risks across CFIA activities. CFIA has continued to advance its Comparative Risk Model for use in identifying and assessing risks across and within its three business lines (animal, plant and food). CFIA conducted a number of pilot studies which leveraged risk-informed analytics, data, and intelligence to support data-driven decision-making. The pilot results are being reviewed and refined by technical experts.

The model uses a combination of data from multiple sources and Agency experts to assess the impact of CFIA’s controls on diverse risks and how they might be allocated differently to more closely align with its risk management goals and for more cost effective risk reduction. The model supports risk informed decision-making at different levels in CFIA. This ability to look and compare horizontally across CFIA activities allows it to plan to shift resources to the higher risk areas.

In the food program, the Comparative Risk Model results are an input to risk-based program design and planning using the Program Management Framework process. In 2018 to 2019, this process was used to identify changes to CFIA’s activities to more effectively use our resources to manage the risk of pathogens in eggs. These changes were included in the business decisions in strategic and tactical planning for 2019 to 2020 and beyond.

Canadian food safety information network

The Canadian Food Safety Information Network (CFSIN) is a CFIA-led initiative designed to strengthen the ability of food safety authorities across Canada to better anticipate, detect and respond to food safety incidents and emergencies. Through a secure online platform, the network will link food safety authorities and food testing laboratories across the country, allowing for the sharing of data, expertise, analysis and scientific techniques.

CFIA has been incorporating more technology into the management of the food safety system through the CFSIN platform. CFIA’s focus has been on onboarding, supporting, and developing the network with food safety partners. A Pan-Canadian approach to federal, provincial and territorial (FPT) food surveillance activities will also build synergies among FPT partners. Moving forward, CFIA looks to eventually engage with the food industry and academia to grow the network.

CFSIN is currently in its implementation phase and is on target to be fully implemented by March 2020. In 2018 to 2019, in collaboration with its federal, provincial and territorial partners, CFIA developed the CFSIN food and hazard classification systems, and is on schedule to deliver a tool to facilitate a collaborative and systematic approach to environmental scanning in June 2019.

CFSIN will enable CFIA to respond more quickly and effectively to food safety events and minimize their impact on Canadians while demonstrating the effectiveness of Canada’s food safety system to trading partners.

Digital First Tools and Services

MyCFIA

In-line with the Government of Canada’s shift towards a digital-first approach to offering services to the public and Canadian business sectors, CFIA is providing access to a range of services and information through its online service platform, MyCFIA, and making better use of the data it gathers. MyCFIA allows businesses to register and request services such as licences and permissions to import and export food, animal and plant products.

MyCFIA is a digital platform that allows registered establishments holding a licence under the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations convenient and secure access to online services. CFIA continues to evolve and develop this platform to increase functionality within the plant and animal business lines.

Departmental result 2: plant and animal resources are protected from diseases and pests and are safe for Canadians and the environment

Integrated risk management

Federal Geospatial Platform

The Federal Geospatial Platform is an online platform for federal geospatial data – location-based information that is collected and used by federal organizations to collectively enhance the responsiveness, efficiency, and sustainability of the federal geomatics (a branch of science that deals with the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data relating to the earth’s surface) and earth observations infrastructure.

In 2018 to 2019, CFIA contributed to the operational development of the platform, and became a member of the platform’s board of directors. The Agency reviewed datasets for publication, and published new/updated datasets related to plant pest regulated areas (such as emerald ash borer) on the platform.

The platform allows for the integration of economic, social, and environmental geospatial data from multiple departments and agencies to better support location-based decision making on a range of complex issues. The platform plays an important role in supporting Open Government by ensuring geospatial data and applications are made available coherently to Open Maps on the Open Government Portal.

Internal services

Enhancing open and transparent government

The Government of Canada has strongly committed to ensuring that government science is fully available to the public and that this science informs policies and decision-making. Increasing the accessibility of government science:

• Supports innovation and economic growth
• Informs Canadians of opportunities to engage in federal science activities
• Provides the opportunity to enhance the impact of scientific government data and information

From the time its transparency agenda was first initiated in 2011, openness and transparency have been key considerations underpinning CFIA’s values. In 2018 to 2019, as part of maintaining trust in Canada’s regulatory system for food, plants, and animals, CFIA built on its past experience and developed the next phase of its transparency agenda.

CFIA completed consultations with Canadians and stakeholders on how and where it should increase openness and transparency, and received their feedback on two key documents that would guide the Agency’s future approach: the Open and Transparent Framework and Policy.

Comments received from stakeholders and CFIA employees were analyzed and used to improve these documents. Feedback provided to the Agency was summarized in a What We Learned report posted to CFIA’s website in February 2019, followed by the final framework and policy in early April.

Canadian Heritage

Results at a glance

Core responsibility 1: Creativity, arts and culture

• Supported the establishment of the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review Panel, along with a secretariat to support the Panel’s work.
• Approved the investment of $72.6 million in support of 178 cultural infrastructure projects for the Canada Cultural Spaces Fund, of which $19 million supported 11 creative hub projects.

Core responsibility 2: Heritage and celebration

• The Department funded a total of 2,040 summer jobs and 320 internships, through Young Canada Works – Heritage. Those opportunities were provided to young Canadians to enable them to gain professional experience in museums and related heritage organizations.
• The Canadian Conservation Institute completed the fourth year of the RE-ORG Canada training program, which focused on the Western region, and launched the fifth and final edition of the program in the Prairies and Northern region. Through webinar sessions and hands-on training, RE-ORG Canada has benefited 27 participating institutions, five host institutions and over 60 individual professionals.

Results: what we achieved

Creativity, arts and culture

Canadian Heritage increased federal funding to the Canada Media Fund to support jobs for Canadian writers, producers, directors, actors and technical crews. The Department implemented arrangements to put in place funding up to $172 million over five years, as announced in Budget 2018. In 2017-18, the Fund provided $284.6 million in funding for the production of 497 convergent stream projects that triggered $1.3 billion in production activity. According to the Canada Media Producers Association, the Fund supported 26,700 direct and spin-off jobs in 2017-18.

In order to conduct the review of both the Broadcasting Act and the Telecommunications Act, as announced in Budget 2017, the Department collaborated with Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada to establish the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review Panel and to put in place a secretariat, resourced by both departments to support the Panel’s work.

The Parliamentary review of the Copyright Act was launched in March 2018 under the leadership of the Standing Committee of Industry, Science and Technology. To support the review, the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage conducted a study on remuneration models for artists and creative industries. Throughout the review process, officials at Canadian Heritage and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada monitored committee meetings, analyzed stakeholder submissions and met with copyright stakeholders.

In 2018-19, the Canada Cultural Spaces Fund approved the investment of $72.6 million (including multi-year projects) in support of 178 cultural infrastructure projects, of which $19 million supported 11 creative hub projects.

Among these projects, $2 million were invested towards the cooperative Méduse in Quebec City, a leading creative hub of producers and presenters dedicated to the arts, culture and community outreach, for the replacement of fire safety and security systems, heating and ventilation, the purchase of specialized equipment and the reconfiguration of the lobby and creation spaces to increase collaboration among members and offer a varied programming.

In April 2018, the Canada Cultural Investment Fund provided $252,000 to the Cultural Human Resources Council to support a series of initiatives to equip the cultural sector with the tools, practices and training for building and maintaining respectful workplaces under the title “Respectful Workplaces in the Arts.” These new tools and resources will be made available to over 1,750 arts organizations across Canada.

Heritage and celebration

A total of 2,040 summer jobs and 320 internships, funded by Young Canada Works – Heritage, were provided to young Canadians to enable them to gain professional experience in museums and related heritage organizations. In 2018-19, the program received supplemental funding under Budget 2017 through the horizontal Youth Employment Strategy, led by Employment and Social Development Canada. This investment enabled the creation of 529 (of the 2,040) summer jobs for Canadian students and 248 (of the 320) internships for young Canadian graduates to gain professional experience in museums and related heritage organizations.

The Canadian Conservation Institute explored e-learning possibilities by converting the content of two of its regional on-site workshops: Training in Preservation Housekeeping for Heritage Sites and Small Museums, and Emergency and Disaster Preparedness for Cultural Institutions, are now ready to be delivered through e-learning modules or virtual workshops. After a successful pilot project held in February 2019 with the British Columbia Museums Association, the Canadian Conservation Institute will carry on with e-learning training development in partnership with the museum community by converting six others workshops by 2022.

Ten informative online videos related to many subjects in the realms of preventive conservation, conservation and the digital management of collections were developed and made accessible on the Canadian Conservation Institute’s YouTube channel.

The Canadian Conservation Institute completed the fourth year of the RE-ORG Canada training program, which focused on the Western region, and launched the fifth and final edition of the program in the Prairies and Northern region. Through webinar sessions and hands-on training, RE-ORG Canada has benefited 27 participating institutions, five host institutions and over 60 individual professionals directly, as well as 27 partner institutions indirectly. The heritage institutions who have gone through the program now benefit from better access to their collections in storage, and can make better use of them to engage their communities. In the coming years, the Institute will further strengthen the existing network by training RE-ORG coaches who will in turn organize hands-on workshops for other institutions across the country.

The Building Communities through Arts and Heritage program encouraged citizen engagement and social inclusion through arts and heritage by supporting 712 local festivals across the country. For example, the program provided funding to the Eel Ground First Nation Annual Powwow, which took place in Eel Ground, New Brunswick. The festival featured traditional Mi’kmaq drumming, dancing and ceremonies, promoting the work of 217 local artists, artisans and heritage performers. The festival took place with the help of 100 volunteers for an audience of 3,500 people.

The Building Communities through Arts and Heritage program also contributed to 44 projects celebrating and preserving the history and identity of Canada’s diverse local communities through its Community Anniversaries and Legacy Fund components.

In order to inform policy and program design decisions the Department led a Survey of Heritage Institutions in 2017 which revealed the following information:

• The heritage sector full-time and part-time workforce is predominantly made up of more females (66 percent) than males (34 percent).
• Approximately 31 percent of the heritage sector workforce are under 25 years of age, 37 percent are between the ages of 25 to 44, while 32 percent are over the age of 45.
• Overall, the percentage of visible minorities in the heritage sector workforce is four percent.

Internal Services

In 2018-19, the Department continued to invest in its data analytics capacity with a strong focus on leveraging Data Visualization platforms and methods to generate new insights and support better management decision making. In addition, the Department continued to explore the use of digital platforms to expand the breadth and scope of engagement, and pursue opportunities to collaborate with stakeholders to discuss issues affecting Canada and Canadians.

Canadian Heritage led an Open by Design pilot project that focused on opportunities to maximize the ongoing release of information across the Department by building digital delivery into its operations and service design. The Department will expand and leverage this work as it addresses its new proactive disclosure obligations under Bill C-58, An Act to amend the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts.

In 2018-19, the Department worked to provide Canadians with access to more than 37,000 documents linked to Canadian Heritage grants and contributions programs. The Department is committed to continuing to support and enhance the transparency of funding decisions for the general public, and of the processes involved in reviewing applications.

Canadian Heritage also leveraged artificial intelligence to monitor official language use by funding recipients. The pilot project applied artificial intelligence in order to learn how to assess all clients’ digital communications, and to provide real-time results. The software assessed websites and social media feeds to determine whether communication was provided in both official languages.

The Department employed advanced analytics to generate insights on economic activity in cultural sectors. This project aimed to uncover insights and trends automatically using data mining techniques. The software automatically analyzes datasets from the United Nations and Statistics Canada, among others, in order to identify new approaches for analyzing trade data.

Canadian Human Rights Commission

Results: what we achieved

Internal Services

The Commission also developed a new line of business solutions (i.e., Secure Remote Access (SRA), wi-fi enabled workplace) in addition to launching a digitization pilot.

Canadian Institutes of Health Research

Results: what we achieved

Internal Services

CIHR engaged Innovative Solutions Canada to explore the potential use of artificial intelligence (AI) in its financial oversight activities, in an effort to better detect anomalies within the financial context of the organization. The project identified numerous data quality issues to be addressed before deploying such a technological solution. Despite this, the outcomes of this experiment produced a body of knowledge that CIHR will be able to leverage as it innovates and modernizes its legacy financial systems.

Canadian Space Agency

Results at a glance

As part of the CSA’s objective to improve the lives of Canadians by providing space-based information and technologies to different Government of Canada departments and agencies, 96 services were offered to Canadians in 2018–19 that depended on data from CSA assets, representing an increase from the 83 services offered to Canadians in 2017–18 and exceeding the target of 85 services. CSA data and assets are used for services to Canadian in a wide range of important areas such as safety and security, ships’ oil spill detection, as well as soil moisture, coastal erosion and climate change monitoring. The RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM), which will expand and ensure data continuity and extend operational use to more departments and agencies through space-based solutions, was successfully launched in June 2019, a few months past the expected launch in 2018–19.

Results: what we achieved

Canada in space

Result 3—Space information and technologies improve the lives of Canadians

In 2018–19, the CSA provided space-based data, information and services to other government departments and agencies in support of the delivery of their mandates and encouraged the development of space capabilities, technologies, facilities and systems that can be adapted to generate economic benefit and improve the lives of Canadians. As a result of CSA efforts to provide space-based solutions, 96 services were offered to Canadians in 2018–19 that depended on data from CSA assets, such as ship detection, land-use mapping, wildfire detection and disaster support for flooding. This represents an increase from the 83 services offered to Canadians in 2017–18 and exceeds the target of 85 services. This result, largely above target, is mainly due to the addition of six open databases that were put online in 2018 as part of the Open Government initiative.

The CSA, in collaboration with Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), provided public access to more than 36,000 processed RADARSAT-1 images residing in Canada, resulting in a broader uptake of the RADARSAT-1 data archives, furthering the socio-economic benefits of this initiative. Two months after this dataset was released from commercial rights, RADARSAT-1 images residing in Canada were downloaded over 600 times by new users worldwide, and queries continue to increase. The general public now has access to RADARSAT-1 data in addition to traditional long-standing Government of Canada user departments.

Through an investment of $2.6M in 2018–19 in the Earth Observation Application Development initiative, the CSA further supported government departments and agencies at the federal, provincial and territorial levels, as well as academic and industry stakeholders, to increase the number of services provided to Canadians. For instance, a new process using multiple sources of data has resulted in detailed forest maps that include information such as the height, age, volume biomass quantity and species composition of forests across Canada. This national satellite-driven mapping effort has resulted in new information regarding forest conditions, change and land cover, which is provided as open data, free for download without any restrictions. The data is being used to inform federal reporting and by provincial and territorial governments for information regarding detection of clear-cut and partial-cut harvesting, monitoring of forest regeneration and estimates of biomass and forest cover density.

As per the most recently available data, past CSA investments resulted in 16 Canadian space technologies being adapted for use on Earth or re-use in space in 2017, thus generating economic benefits and improvement in the life of Canadians. This result is above target because space technologies are yielding an increasing number of applications on Earth. Thus, six of the reuse reported in 2017 are technologies that have been adapted for land use. For example, a technology developed by a Canadian company designed to extend the capabilities of a laser induced breakdown spectroscopy for use on future international planetary and asteroids missions was adapted and reused in food processing and safety processes and also for biomedical applications in clinics and hospitals.

Internal Services

In order to ensure modern, efficient and relevant delivery of internal services, in 2018–19, the CSA continued the implementation of its various renewal initiatives to create an efficient organization that will allow the CSA to meet the challenges ahead:

• Work on all approved Accelerated Infrastructure Refit projects at the David Florida Laboratory was substantially completed as well as a complete renovation of the Larkin Kerwin Library at headquarters to provide work spaces focussed on innovation and collaboration.
• IT projects have been implemented to improve enterprise technologies in the workplace and improve digital services. In information management, the CSA has started planning activities with regard to the appropriate use of information on network drives. The CSA supported the implementation of the Directive on Open Government with a particular focus on open science activities in order to ensure a greater dissemination of open data and information related to CSA’s activities. Finally, the CSA data centre of expertise’s business model was developed to respond to the needs of all sectors within the Agency.

Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP

Results: what we achieved

Internal Services

Key results for this reporting period include:

• Continued refinement and integration of records management and case management systems and their application in all aspects of the complaint, review, and investigation processes.

Correctional Service Canada

Results: what we achieved

Internal Services

CSC was successful in onboarding 11,000 users to GCDOCS across all sectors, regions and community offices, and in implementing the Physical Offender Case File Management Module at all central registries and depots. CSC expanded its scope to the management of enterprise data, including the development of an enterprise Data Strategy that is expected to be finalized by third quarter 2019-20.

CSC engaged all 13 provinces and territories in bilateral discussions to update the Memoranda of Understanding to share court information and modernize the document transmittal process to an electronic information sharing solution, which will increase efficiencies.

Courts Administration Service

Results at a glance

Information Management: Adopt and implement the required systems, tools and practices for the effective management, sharing and use of information and records for program and service delivery.

• Implemented a new document management system for all corporate services.

Results: what we achieved

Internal Services

CAS continued to adopt modern information management principles, practices and standards with the roll-out of a new document management system for its corporate services. This system utilizes the GCdocs platform, which is the Government of Canada’s solution for information management. It is anticipated that this system will be deployed to other operational areas and regional offices in the future.

Operating context and key risks

Information Management

There is a risk of loss, damage or inability to access records of business value or historical jurisprudence and in turn impact decision-making.

Factors driving this risk in 2018–19 included the need to implement a modern document management system (DMS) for CAS and the Courts; the volume of court documents processed and managed by CAS; and the large volume of paper documents archived by CAS. Risk mitigation strategies, including the roll-out of a DMS for all corporate services; continued work with the document retention standards; and exploring the potential for the digitization of archival court documents were implemented over the course of the fiscal year.

The mitigation strategies adopted were successful in decreasing the likelihood and impact of this risk by the end of 2018–19.

Department of Justice Canada

Results: what we achieved

Internal Services

Promoting Innovation and Collaboration

The Department continued to advance an open-by-default approach to information sharing while leveraging technology to improve collaboration. The Digital Workspace provides a platform for collaboration and document management across the Department, and is a fundamental service for the management of corporate information.

Innovation and collaboration are central to the Department’s efforts to provide more strategic, proactive and relevant communications to all Canadians. In 2018-19, the Department continued to use a digital-by-design, digital-first communications approach to reach Canadians. This included using social media to its fullest capacity to share accurate and timely information and develop storylines that dynamically explain laws and policies to Canadians. Over the report period, the Department gained more than 21,400 new followers across its multiple social media platforms.

The Department began implementing a modernized Legal Case Management System. This tool will assist employees in improving data integrity, timekeeping, document management and collaboration.

The Department continues to explore the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud services to identify key areas where these tools could have the greatest impact. The Department’s AI Task Force launched a new working group to develop legal guidance in this emerging area of law. An AI area of practice on Justipedia (the Department’s legal knowledge portal) was launched, and training focused on AI and the law was developed.

Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces

Results: what we achieved

Internal Services

National Defence stood up the Data, Innovation and Analytics (DIA) organization in July 2018, encompassing the position of Chief Data Officer. DIA’s mission is to provide strategic leadership, governance, and guidance to transition the Department of National Defence (DND) and the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) to a data-driven organization, with people who manage data as an enterprise asset and use it effectively for evidence-based decision-making. As a result, DND/CAF is implementing an enterprise analytics capability through Analytics Support Centres. During FY 2018-19, DIA created a network of federated data enablers and started forming a Centre of Expertise, where datasets are being organized and catalogued. DIA also created a change management unit that will support the analytics community and lead the broader departmental digital business transformation. DIA has engaged with stakeholders across DND/CAF to identify key areas of concern, data needs, data types and sources, and potential data uses. Additionally, a program management function was launched as the oversight body for enterprise digital business transformation initiatives. DIA also drafted Accountabilities, Responsibilities and Authorities, delivered enterprise models for building Analytics Support Centres across the Defence Enterprise, performed an initial evaluation of analytics maturity, drafted a DND/CAF Data Strategy, and began work on a Master Data Management Strategy. Furthermore, DIA contributed to the advancement of Artificial Intelligence practices and policy and launched a survey to assess the degree of adoption of Artificial Intelligence across the DND/CAF.

Employment and Social Development Canada

Internal Services

Information technology and information management

The department improved its strategy and roadmap to manage information. These outline the activities and projects the department will undertake over 5 years to improve the way it manages information. The roadmap brings 3 changes to the department:

• changes in thinking and culture
• changes in information handling
• changes in technology

Data strategy

In fiscal year 2018 to 2019, the department completed the first phase of its Data Strategy. It began implementing the tools and processes required to use data and analytics more effectively to improve services. In particular, the department:

• created a Data and Privacy Committee to oversee the sound management of data and the protection of personal information across the department
• drafted its first Data Policy and put in place an Artificial Intelligence Strategy
• shared data openly with the public through Open Government and Open Data initiatives
• improved data access and research by establishing a process to share data with Statistics Canada and academic research networks
• developed internal capacity to discover, understand and communicate patterns in data, for example by using machine learning and artificial intelligence

The department developed a Privacy Management Roadmap to:

• respond to the use of new data practices and technologies
• identify and assess emerging threats to personal information
• support the Data Strategy and Service Transformation Plan.

Open and transparent government

The department made sure it was ready to comply with the proposed legislative amendments to the Access to Information Act. Certain amendments require online publication of departmental documents that were not published online before. The department adjusted business processes, re-designed templates, mobilized employees, and raised awareness about the new requirements. The department also launched, on its intranet site, a web page to provide employees with key information, tools and resources.

Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario

Results: what we achieved

Economic Development in Southern Ontario

In 2018–19, FedDev Ontario provided business information services to entrepreneurs and small businesses across southern Ontario through Small Business Services (SBS), previously known as Canada Business Ontario. Through the work of SBS, FedDev Ontario supports entrepreneurs at any stage of their business development by providing information on federal and provincial programs, services and regulations, and secondary market research, all free of charge. The team’s contact centre responded to 17,344 enquiries and completed 470 secondary market research requests during 2018–19. Ontario clients generated 1.2 million visits to the Innovation Canada (Canada Business Network) website and 550,000 visits directly to the SBS website. In 2018–19, SBS strengthened its engagement with underrepresented groups, including women, youth, Francophone communities and Indigenous peoples. The team had over 2,700 direct interactions at 84 entrepreneurial events across Ontario in 2018–19.

Internal Services

Another area of FedDev Ontario’s strong internal service functions included the Agency’s information management and information technology (IM/IT) advances, providing employees with the tools suited to an innovative, agile, equipped and inclusive workplace. These advances included the adoption of Windows 10 with Microsoft Teams functionality, allowing staff to connect through virtual meetings and improving client services. A pilot program for the use of digital signature and digitization was introduced to the Agency, with the goal of creating efficiencies in approval processes and reducing the use of paper resources. The launch of the first phase of the Grants and Contributions Program Management (GCPM) tool and ongoing improvements in document management through corporate software like GCdocs also contributed to internal efficiencies.

Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada

Results at a glance

Leverage our expertise to anticipate and address future challenges

In 2018–19, FINTRAC continued to implement the initiatives highlighted in its Information Management/Information Technology Strategy 2017–20, which focuses on the people, partnerships and services that are required to support FINTRAC’s transformation agenda while continuing to meet operational demands. The Centre initiated a comprehensive review of its analytics modernization to ensure the best path forward in upgrading its analytics capabilities to allow for the full and timely use of its data and knowledge.

Key risks

Security and Privacy Risk – There is a risk that the information entrusted to FINTRAC may be improperly accessed, used, obtained and/or compromised.

Risk response strategy

FINTRAC employs a comprehensive suite of safeguards and controls to address security and privacy risk from both internal and external threats. Some of the most important of these include:

• FINTRAC’s Personnel Security Program ensures that all personnel and contractors are screened to appropriate levels;
• Information Management and Security programs that provide direction and guidance on the capture, storage, protection, access to, classification, dissemination and eventual disposition of all information;
• Business Continuity Plans are in place for all critical functions or services with strategies and action plans to mitigate the impact of any incident and resume operations in a reasonable amount of time; and
• A Privacy Management Framework is in place to ensure that privacy protection is reflected in all aspects of program operations.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Results: What We Achieved

Fisheries

The Department is committed to the Government of Canada’s Open Data Initiative, which increases public access to its scientific information holdings. DFO has worked closely with several government departments, academic institutions, and non-governmental organizations to advance the Canadian Integrated Ocean Observing System to make ocean science data more readily available.

Internal Services

Fisheries and Oceans/Coast Guard began a transition to cloud-based computing to modernize services to Canadians, with the first version of the DFO cloud environment up and running. This cloud environment is already providing data storage and computing solutions for DFO scientists. In addition, a high-performance computing proof of concept was completed, which showcased problem-solving for complex analytical and modelling problems for departmental scientists using hundreds to thousands of computing cores.

The implementation of the Government of Canada’s Electronic Documents Records Management Enterprise Solution (GCDocs) has been extended by three years in order for adjustments to be made to the onboarding process to allow for better support regarding change management. To improve uptake, the Department will revisit its rollout strategy and will migrate content from the old document management system. Once completed, the implementation of GCDocs will modernize information management processes, support meeting directives for effective recordkeeping practices within the Department, and ensure that information is organized, available, and managed throughout its lifecycle to better support departmental decision-making, implementation of programs, and improved service to Canadians.

Health Canada

Results: What We Achieved

Internal Services

Information Management Services / Information Technology Services / Real Property Services

The Department continued to modernize the workplace in order to enable a safe and productive workforce, providing employees with access to modern tools and facilities. IM-IT Security awareness to mitigate cybersecurity threats was enhanced through training and a phishing awareness campaign. All activities planned for this second year of the multi-year IT Security Strategic Plan were completed, resulting in the introduction of new and revised IT security standards.

Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

Results: What We Achieved

Internal Services

Internal Services were critical to the IRB’s successes in 2018–19 by ensuring that human and financial resources as well as the necessary training, business tools and infrastructure were in place to support the implementation of Board priorities. Investments were also made in system enablers such as information technology, providing the basis for strengthened performance measurement and reporting and the transition from paper to digital files at the RAD, among other improvements. These investments are expected to deliver even greater benefits to the organization in future years.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

Results: what we achieved

Core Responsibility 1: Visitors, International Students and Temporary Workers

Reducing threats to Canadian safety and security

Last year, IRCC launched two pilot projects using computer analytics to help officers triage online TRV applications from China and India. The goal of the pilot projects is to identify applications that are routine and straightforward by analyzing data and recognizing patterns in applications; complex files are triaged for a more thorough review. With a significant volume of routine cases facilitated by computer analytics, officers now have more time to scrutinize complex applications and better detect fraud and security threats that may present risks to Canadian safety and security. The pilots’ expected results are to facilitate the reduction of application processing times, which improves service and supports Canada’s tourism industry; and to enhance system efficiency, which contributes to the efficient use of public funds.

Internal Services

Improving the client experience

The Department also deployed “Quaid,” a chatbot powered by artificial intelligence. As part of a broader client service pilot for IRCC’s social media channels, Quaid is currently being piloted on Facebook Messenger to respond to general inquiries, in both official languages, without human intervention. Between October 2, 2018 and March 31, 2019, Quaid provided 39,250 responses.

In the last fiscal year, the Department also launched the IRCC Usability Space to observe how clients experience IRCC services and identify where and why issues occur. Using a dedicated space, client-facing tools, forms, letters and messaging were tested by clients to make sure they are easy to use and understand. Testing results are already informing improvements and enhancements to IRCC services.

Improving how clients seek information on the status of their applications

Many clients use the access to information and privacy (ATIP) process to seek the status of their applications. As a result, the Department continued to experience a significant increase in volume of ATIP requests. In 2018-2019, the volume increased to 98,041 requests from 77,602 in 2017-2018 (a 26% increase). While this volume exceeded the Department’s capacity to respond to all requests within legislated deadlines, IRCC was still able to process 69,671 requests within legislative requirements compared to 51,528 last year.

IRCC aims to offer more meaningful information to clients in order to reduce their use of the ATIP process to seek their application status. In 2018-2019, IRCC simplified the information provided to clients in their “My immigration or citizenship account” including more meaningful case status text in addition to launching a service standard progress bar for Express Entry applicants.

Several other initiatives are also under way to reduce the volume of ATIP requests, such as engaging stakeholders (the Canadian Bar Association, the Canadian Association of Professional Immigration Consultants and the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council) to raise awareness of ATIP best practices.

Improving efficiencies across all lines of business

During the last fiscal year, the Department continued to implement and build upon various initiatives to help manage increasing workloads and processing pressures. Specifically, IRCC has utilized work-sharing projects to improve efficiencies and decrease processing times for certain lines of business. Having nimble workload management will result in a decrease in application backlogs in certain programs and increased corporate knowledge among processing officers. The Department also continues to enhance the use of artificial intelligence to automate low-risk decision-making processes, which is helping to reduce processing times.

Key risks

To carry out its responsibilities, IRCC holds and manages an extensive inventory of sensitive information. The Department remains vigilant in ensuring the personal information of Canadians and other clients is safeguarded, and that accurate information is available for decision making and information sharing with partners.

Risks

Management of, and access to, information and data
There is a risk that IRCC may face challenges in accessing accurate data to inform policy development and to measure the success of its programs.

Mitigating strategy and effectiveness

• Implemented standardized and ongoing employee training to ensure consistent management of, and access to, data.
• Finalized IT Digital Strategy and Roadmap which outlines a path forward for the information management/information technology function in order to align with emerging government policies, such as Digital Government and the Policy on Service.
• Persisted in joint planning efforts with provinces and territories to increase information sharing and reduce gaps and overlaps.

Indigenous Services

Results at a glance

Establishing quality education

• Continued to support the development and negotiation of regional education agreements. These agreements are tailored to local or regional context and the education goals and priorities of First Nations. In 2018–19:
  • the British Columbia Tripartite Education Agreement was signed July 1, 2018
  • the federal government and the Kee Tas Kee Now Tribal Council Education Authority concluded a Regional Education Agreement on March 22, 2019
• Co-developed a new policy and funding approach for First Nations kindergarten to grade 12 education on reserves that began on April 1, 2019.
  • This new approach ensures funding for education on reserve that matches provincial systems, includes dedicated funding for language and culture programming, and supports full-day kindergarten for kids aged 4 and 5.
• Continued to support the co-development of new distinctions-based post-secondary strategies with First Nations, Inuit and Métis Nation partners in collaboration with Employment and Social Development Canada.

Results: what we achieved

Individuals and Families

1. Indigenous students receive an inclusive and high quality education

In 2018–19, to continue to improve current and future program delivery for Indigenous students, ISC in collaboration with Indigenous partners:

• Established a new policy framework for First Nation elementary and secondary education. This new co-developed policy and funding approach for First Nations kindergarten to grade 12 education on reserves began April 1, 2019. This new approach includes:
  • replacing proposal-based programs with access to predictable core funding
  • aligning core funding to be comparable to provincial systems across the country while working towards funding enhancements to better account for remoteness, school size, language and socio-economic conditions
  • providing First Nations schools with $1,500 per student, per year, to support language and culture programs
  • providing support for the expansion to full-day kindergarten in First Nations schools for children aged 4 and 5
  • ensuring special education funding is more predictable, with fewer application-based requirements
• Supported the development and negotiation of regional education agreements:
  • In July 2018, the federal government, British Columbia, and the First Nations Education Steering Committee renewed the British Columbia Tripartite Education Agreement. The Agreement was signed on January 23, 2019. This Agreement expands federal and provincial funding commitments for First Nations education and solidifies a tripartite governance relationship aimed at addressing the unique needs of First Nations students.
  • In March 2019, the federal government and the Kee Tas Kee Now Tribal Council negotiated an agreement to create the Kee Tas Kee Now Tribal Council Education Authority. This new Education Authority provides aggregated service delivery to 5 communities in Alberta.
• In September 2018, the federal government, the Assembly of First Nations, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and the Métis National Council jointly announced the first Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care (IELCC) Framework, led by Employment and Social Development Canada. In addition to investments under the Multilateral Early Learning and Child Care Framework with provinces and territories, starting in 2018, the IELCC Framework provides additional investments of up to $1.7 billion over 10 years. These investments aim to strengthen and increase access to quality early learning and child care services that reflect the unique cultures, needs and priorities of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis children and families. This is part of supporting and creating more high-quality, affordable child care in Indigenous communities across the country.
• Continued to provide support to First Nations and Inuit post-secondary students, while conducting a review of federal support for Indigenous post-secondary students. The Métis Nation was also an active partner in the review. In conjunction with this review, the Department also worked with partners to develop distinctions-based post-secondary education strategies that respond to the different priorities of First Nations, Inuit and Métis partners.
• Worked with Employment and Social Development Canada to bring changes to First Nations post-secondary student support programs that reflect early engagement with the Assembly of First Nations. These changes will improve flexibility for students, such as increasing maximum amounts payable, expanding eligible expenditures and allowing students more time to complete their programs. In addition, students who are registered under the Indian Act but do not have Canadian citizenship (for instance, a First Nation community that spans across the Canada/United States border) now have access to the Canada Student Loan Program, since the start of the 2018–19 school year.

2. Indigenous children and families receive child and family wellness services

To advance this reform in 2018–19 and to help ensure that Indigenous children and families receive child and family services, the Department:

• Began engaging with Indigenous partners, provinces and territories to co-develop a data and reporting strategy to increase inter-jurisdictional data collection, sharing and reporting to better understand the rates and reasons for apprehension. The Department implemented a new on-line data reporting system for prevention programing, which will support identifying and sharing best practices and results.

Community and Regional Development

1. Indigenous peoples have reliable and sustainable infrastructure

In 2018–19, ISC continued the important work towards supporting Indigenous peoples with a base of reliable and sustainable infrastructure through the following results:

• Provided funding to plan, design, construct, acquire, renovate, repair, replace, and maintain band-operated elementary and secondary education facilities. Between April 1, 2016 and March 31, 2019, 15 new schools have been constructed, and 33 existing schools completed renovations and upgrades. In 2018–19, 4 new schools were completed and 18 existing schools had renovation and upgrades completed with 112 school projects ongoing.
  • Progress has been made towards achieving the target of 70% of school buildings in good or new condition, however, the goal was not met. This was, primarily due to delays in major construction projects, caused by dependency on the availability of temporary winter roads to transport construction materials.
  • ISC expanded the Circuit Rider Training Program (CRTP) as a pilot for on-reserve school infrastructure. This pilot was based on the model for water and wastewater systems. The pilot will provide hands-on training to First Nation personnel who maintain on-reserve school infrastructure and was a new initiative for some regions. This will result in extending the lifespan of these important community assets and helps reduce the risk of unsafe or unhealthy environments for children by keeping the building in better condition. ISC also developed national guidelines for the pilot CRTP for on-reserve school infrastructure, which will be offered in some First Nation communities in Quebec, Ontario and Alberta, while continuing the existing CRTP for school initiatives in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The national guidelines were available in April 2019 and 4 working group meetings were held to share best practices amongst regions.

Internal Services

Management and Oversight Services

In our commitment to evidence-based policymaking, the Department continued to strengthen its demographic and socio-economic research and analytical capacity. Important investments continue to be made both in the collection and dissemination of Indigenous survey data, including the Aboriginal Peoples Survey and the First Nations Labour and Employment Development Survey. As part of these efforts, the Department also continued to work with partners such as the First Nations Information Governance Center, Statistics Canada, and academia to better understand socio-economic gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.

Infrastructure Canada

Results: what we achieved

Public infrastructure

Result 6: Canadian communities are inclusive and accessible

Libraries are also drivers of social inclusion: they are places where children have story time, seniors learn computer skills and newcomers to Canada access services and programs. In 2018-19 Infrastructure Canada committed close to $7 million in funding for communities across Quebec to renovate and expand their libraries, including Rimouski, where the library will be moved into an old presbytery.

Reliable, high-speed is essential for business growth, skills training, public safety, access to services, and participation in the democratic process. In 2018-19, Infrastructure Canada committed funding to bring state-of-the-art internet coverage to residents of Prince Edward Island and the Laurentians in Quebec.

Internal Services

The Department rolled out new, whole-of-government standard document and record management solutions also referred to as GCdocs. It also announced the implementation of a new digital briefcase initiative to better equip all employees with the modern tools and technology they need to be more mobile and to work more efficiently.

Key risks

Risk: Diminished ability to provide timely internal services solutions

Risk response strategy and effectiveness

Risk exposure declined significantly as a result of the implementation of risk responses and will not require further management attention.

Effective responses include:

• Launched the project to implement Government of Canada electronic document and record management solution – GCDOCS.

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

Ministers’ message

ISED prioritized helping Canadian innovators compete in an increasingly competitive marketplace. In April 2018, we launched Canada’s Intellectual Property Strategy to ensure that Canada’s creators, entrepreneurs and innovators have access to the best resources to capitalize on their ideas. In June 2018, we conducted national consultations to understand how Canada can capitalize on digital and data technology to prepare Canadians for the future of work while building trust and confidence in how data is used; this culminated in the launch of Canada’s Digital Charter. In March 2019, we hosted the 600 MHz spectrum auction, ensuring that all Canadian consumers, businesses and public institutions benefit from next-generation wireless services. Furthermore, we laid the groundwork to develop Canada’s Connectivity Strategy—to address rural Canadians’ unique broadband connectivity challenges so that they can start new businesses, develop new skills, and stay connected to each other and markets around the world.

Results: what we achieved

People, Skills and Communities

Departmental Result: Canada has a highly skilled workforce that is equipped for jobs in an innovative and high-growth economy

In 2018–19, ISED continued to foster partnerships with industry, not-for-profits and academia, to develop and deliver programming to equip Canadians with the tools, skills and experience needed by employers to succeed in a growing and innovative economy. The CanCode program was launched in 2017–18 to give students from kindergarten to Grade 12, including those from traditionally underrepresented groups, the opportunity to learn digital skills such as coding and digital content development. In 2018–19, ISED completed the first two-year round of the $50-million program. As of March 31, 2019, the program supported a total of 21 not-for-profit organizations across Canada, including Indigenous-led organizations. In 2018–19, more than 1.6 million students participated in CanCode activities—reaching a total of 1.9 million students since CanCode’s launch, almost three times the program’s initial target of 500,000 students by 2019. CanCode also provided access to coding and digital skills training and tools to close to 82,000 teachers in 2018–19.

On March 26, 2019, ISED launched a call for proposals to implement the two-year extension announced in Budget 2019, which will provide CanCode an additional $60 million over two years starting in 2019–20. The Computers for Schools Intern (CFSI) program, formerly the Technical Work Experience Program, enhances the employability and marketability of youth through internships that help them develop the skills needed to participate actively in the digital economy. ISED implemented ongoing funding for CFSI in 2018–19, including new contribution agreements with 14 recipients, which harmonized two interdependent programs, the CFSI and the Computers for Schools programs, into one agreement. In 2018–19, 276 youth participants gained on-the-job experience through CFSI, including 16% of participants who identified as being female, 12% of the participants identified as Indigenous, 33% identified as being visible minority and 5% of the participants identified as having a disability.

ISED also supported Mitacs’ paid internship programs, further helping Canadian students get the skills they need for future jobs and that are in-demand by employers. This program supports collaborative opportunities where interns work directly with academia and industry. In 2018–19, ISED’s contributions through Mitacs supported a total of 9,072 work-integrated learning placements, exceeding the target of 8,190 placements by 11%, helping develop the next generation of talented leaders.

ISED continued to support the Digital Literacy Exchange, which provides digital skills training to underrepresented groups at highest risk of being left behind by the rapid pace of digital technology adoption. In the last quarter of 2018–19, ISED finalized contribution agreements for 36 projects that will make digital skills training available to underrepresented groups across Canada, including seniors, people with disabilities, newcomers to Canada, low-income Canadians, language minority groups and Indigenous peoples.

ISED’s Accessible Technology Program also co-funded innovative projects led by research institutes, private sector companies and not-for-profit organizations to develop innovative assistive and adaptive digital devices and technologies to help persons with disabilities participate fully in the digital economy. Since the launch of the program in December 2017, ISED has completed five calls for proposals resulting in final contribution agreements with 15 projects, with additional project approvals expected in spring 2019. As of March 31, 2019, one technology solution has been commercialized as a result of funding received under the Accessible Technology Program.

Departmental Result: Canadian communities are connected to and use digital infrastructure

Connected communities are crucial to a strong, healthy middle class and a growing Canadian economy. As of March 2019, Connect to Innovate funding had been announced for 174 projects in 11 provinces and territories to help bring high-speed Internet to rural and remote communities in Canada. Investments in broadband infrastructure are addressing digital divides and helping extend access to innovative services that improve education, health care, productivity and quality of life. To ensure all Canadians have access to affordable, high-speed Internet no matter where they live, the Department developed a plan for universal access. This included a statement in October 2018 by federal, provincial, and territorial ministers of innovation and economic development on a set of connectivity principles, and led to the launch of Canada’s Connectivity Strategy.

ISED contributed to the National Cyber Security Strategy and its aim to make the cyber systems Canadians rely on every day more secure and resilient through investments in an innovative and adaptive cyber ecosystem. Under the Strategy, the Department is responsible for developing and implementing a new program to enhance the cyber security of Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). ISED engaged and collaborated with program partners to publish baseline cyber security controls for SMEs in March 2019, and the cyber certification CyberSecure Canada program will launch as planned in 2019–20.

In November 2018, ISED launched the Connecting Families initiative (formerly known as the Affordable Access program) to help bridge the digital divide by ensuring more Canadian families can access home Internet. As of March 31, 2019, 14 Internet service providers were voluntarily participating in the program, exceeding the initial target of four providers and covering approximately 85 percent of the country’s wireline Internet footprint. The Department also sent 360,000 letters to invite eligible families to sign up to the initiative. As of March 31, 2019, 84,000 families had registered through the online portal, representing a 23-percent participation rate, and 17,731 families were receiving $10-per-month Internet.

In 2018–19, the Computers for Schools program delivered just over 58,000 refurbished computers to schools, libraries, not-for-profit organizations, Indigenous communities and eligible low income Canadians, providing greater access to the digital economy. ISED renewed its agreement with the program and implemented the ongoing funding announced in Budget 2018, and expanded the terms and conditions to include both the Computers for Schools Intern program and the Connecting Families initiative. In the last five months of 2018–19, following the completion of new contribution agreements with 14 recipients, affiliates of the Computers for Schools program refurbished almost 15,000 additional computers for the Connecting Families initiative.

Science, Technology, Research and Commercialization

Departmental Result: Canada has world-leading research capacity

In 2018–19, ISED worked towards the implementation of a Digital Research Infrastructure (DRI) Strategy to provide Canadian scientists and scholars with the digital tools they need to conduct world-leading research that supports innovation in Canada. ISED completed a validation process in summer 2018, including engagement with provincial and territorial governments as well as other key stakeholders, and officially launched the Strategy in April 2019. The DRI Strategy establishes a new contribution program to fund one not-for-profit organization that will coordinate funding and strategic direction for national DRI activities related to advanced research computing, data management and research software. ISED announced the recipient in summer 2019, a new not-for-profit organization that will begin establishing its activities.

As a member of the Canada Research Coordinating Committee (CRCC), ISED participated in a range of initiatives to support greater harmonization, integration and coordination of science and research-related programs and policies. The committee’s work involves the three federal granting agencies (the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research) and the CFI. Notably, the CRCC held national consultations, engaging with and receiving input from more than 1,500 members of Canada’s post-secondary research community on how to shape transformative policies and programs to support research. Informed by these consultations, the CRCC developed tri-agency action plans to support early career researchers and promote equity, diversity and inclusion in Canadian research.

In 2018–19, ISED led a review of third-party research organizations to support the development of a new approach to funding these organizations. The Department published a consultation paper, which proposed a principle-based framework to guide research organization funding, and held consultations with experts and stakeholders during fall 2018. This work led to the Budget 2019 announcement that a Strategic Science Fund would be created, starting in 2022–23. Under the Fund, the principle-based framework will be applied by an independent panel of experts, which will provide advice for allocating federal funding to third-party science and research organizations through competitive and transparent processes, helping protect and promote research excellence.

ISED also supported the Chief Science Advisor (CSA), who helps the federal government put evidence at the heart of its decision-making and published her first annual report on March 11, 2019. The CSA will continue to collaborate with the scientific communityand advisory organizations across the Government of Canada to strengthen federal science and science advice for Canada. As part of the Open Science section of Canada’s 2018–2020 National Action Plan on Open Government published in December 2018, the Office of the CSA committed to developing an open science roadmap to provide a plan for greater openness in federal science and research activities and support the Government’s commitment to make federal science, scientific data and scientists more accessible.

Companies, Investment and Growth

Departmental Result: Canada is a location and destination of choice for investment, growth and tourism

In 2018–19, the Competition Bureau (the Bureau) worked to ensure robust competition and trust among consumers in the digital economy, starting 36 cases and concluding 24. One such case involved a practice known as drip pricing, where online retailers gradually inflate a price with additional fees, taxes and surcharges during the purchasing process. This practice erodes Canadians’ trust that prices advertised online are the ones they will actually pay.

In May 2018, the Bureau launched a market study to investigate consumer habits in purchasing Internet services. The study focused on the current state of competition in the Canadian broadband sector and recognized that increased competition in this sector could lead to improved affordability and choice for Canadians, as well as the development of leading-edge products and services. In October 2018, the Bureau launched a public consultation survey to learn about consumer Internet-purchasing habits and received more than 42,000 responses from Canadians, helping it identify the trends of greatest interest to Canadians.  Following a 2017 market study of innovation in the financial services industry, the Bureau published a progress report in 2018–19 to continue its encouragement of innovation-friendly approaches to regulation.

The Department supported several legislative amendments to IP laws in Bill C-86 to prevent misuse of the regime and expedite dispute resolution. These changes will help drive innovation by clarifying acceptable behaviours and removing loopholes that allow individuals or organizations to use IP in bad faith for their own gain. They also streamlined the framework in which the Copyright Board of Canada operates to improve the timeliness, predictability and clarity of its proceedings.

Internal Services

ISED enhanced its interoperability and information-sharing processes in support of the federal government’s digital transformation objectives. The Department continued to implement the Open Government Directive by releasing ISED datasets on the Open Government Portal. As of May 1, 2019, ISED has 52 datasets posted on the portal, in addition to regular releases of proactive disclosure information. ISED completed an internal data inventory exercise in 2018–19.

In March 2019, ISED completed its transition to the GCDOCS file management system and continues to support frameworks to ensure employees can efficiently and readily access the information they need to do their jobs. ISED also implemented its Digital Office, a department-wide initiative to equip employees with the right productivity and communication tools to do their jobs in a way that supports greater mobility, collaboration and paper reduction.

Library and Archives Canada

Military Grievances External Review Committee

Results: what we achieved

Internal Services

With the modernization of its financial and materiel management function, the Committee is better positioned to provide timely access to accurate human resource and financial management information and advice to programs and decision-makers.

In addition, an update to the Committee’s Information Management policy framework was completed and approved by the Executive Committee. The framework is aligned with the recommendations of the Government of Canada’s Chief Information Officer.

Military Police Complaints Commission

Results: what we achieved

Internal Services

The migration of corporate information to the new Electronic Document and Records Management System (EDRMS) continued throughout the year with the completion of the full transfer of records in the sectors of Financial Management Services, Information Management Services and Materiel Management Services. Work was delayed due to staff turnover, but continues, in the transfer of records for the sectors of Human Resources Management Services, Information Technology Services, Management and Oversight Services and Real Property Management Services.

National Energy Board

Results at a glance

NEB identified four key areas of focus for 2018–19 that impacted the way in which we delivered on our Departmental Results.

Transform Data and Information Management

Over the last year, the NEB invested in strengthening its data capacity and systems to ensure effective data and trend analysis. The NEB held cross-organizational Data Science Workshops that enabled us to build capacity in data analytics, experimentation culture and data-driven decision making. We implemented both “hands-on” data science training and created an on-line version of the training that we are testing with the eventual goal of incorporating it into the Canada School of Public Service educational offerings.

The NEB also undertook a leading edge information project which focuses on the interactive visualization of pipeline safety and energy information. Canada’s pipeline system portal focuses on enhancing publicly available facts, statistics, and analysis related to the finances, safety, and lifecycle regulation of Canadian pipelines. As a result of these efforts, Canadians have better access to the unique kinds of information that is created and collected by the NEB, and we are better positioned for continual improvement in the way we offer that information in the future.

Results: what we achieved

Energy Adjudication

The NEB uses feedback from past participants on different aspects of our hearing processes to plan and implement improvements in the way we work. Initiatives undertaken in 2018–19 included:

Creating a partnership with the non-profit organization Code for Canada (C4C) to modernize REGDOCS, the NEB’s publicly accessible database of regulatory documents that includes hearing reports, environmental assessments, transcripts, and decisions. C4C fellows will work with NEB employees to research, develop, test, and iterate a digital solution to make it easier to discover energy projects of interest, extract information about those projects, and submit documents to be considered by the NEB.

Energy Information

Over 2018–19, the NEB developed a data-driven strategy which included new methods for assessing what issues are of most interest to Canadians, and what data and products are most effective in demonstrating industry outcomes, public safety and NEB performance. As a part of this strategy, we also increased opportunities for Canadians, other regulators and non-government organizations to collaborate and work in partnership with the NEB on pipeline safety and energy market information products. During the course of the year, the NEB:

• Partnered with Ingenium: Canadian Museums for Science and Innovation to create a lesson plan for high school students that teaches them about energy in Canada. It is based on the NEB’s Canada’s Energy Future 2018: Energy Supply and Demand Projections to 2040 analysis and uses the Exploring Canada’s Energy Future interactive data visualization tool. The lesson plan, which was downloaded 1436 times during the year, is designed to encourage students’ own observations about energy generation and consumption, provide them with the tools to engage in important conversations about energy in Canada, and increase their energy literacy.
• Collaborated with Natural Resources Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, and Statistics Canada on a project to centralize all national energy data in a single online Canadian Energy Information Portal. This portal provides Canadians with a single point of access to a wide variety of statistics and measures of the country’s energy sector. The portal also features an interactive dashboard that provides a comprehensive picture of the Canadian energy sector, with a focus on monthly and provincial usage. The initiative will benefit anyone interested in obtaining data on energy who may not have prior knowledge of where or how to find that information, and create a more efficient mechanism for both NEB employees and members of the public who regularly use energy data.
• Released new Import and Export Visualizations, and the 2018 edition of the Energy Futures Report, which includes two new scenarios regarding Canada’s energy future. In addition, the NEB updated its online Condition Compliance Table and Pipeline Throughput data. We continued to produce a portfolio of publications on energy supply, demand and infrastructure as part of the our ongoing market monitoring and assessment of Canadian energy requirements and trends.
• Created a pipeline information portal that is easily accessible and understandable by any user, including an updated and improved Interactive Pipeline Map; a new Safety Performance Dashboard; and, a more comprehensive dataset of all conditions associated with approved pipeline projects. Feedback from Indigenous Peoples and landowners has been positive, indicating that having access to information about incidents, owners and geographical locations of pipelines is a valuable tool that enhances their ability to interact both the pipeline companies, and with the NEB as the regulator.
• Released two reports (Western Canadian Crude Oil Supply, Markets and Pipeline Capacity, and Optimizing Oil Pipeline and Rail Capacity out of Western Canada) in response to a request from the Minister of Natural Resources on how to optimize oil transportation capacity on existing pipelines and rail. The request was made at a time when crude oil prices were heavily discounted in Canada creating important challenges for Canadian oil producers. The reports found that oil pipeline systems are currently running at capacity and market players are operating within the rules set up in tariffs and legislation.

Program targets were exceeded and response to new products were consistently high during 2018–19, from in-depth reports on energy analysis to innovative online energy quizzes and snapshots. The Energy Information program continues to be instrumental in supporting energy literacy across many platforms, and in conveying the role and the work of the NEB to a broader audience.

Internal Services

The work of the NEB is driven through data analysis, information exchange and performance measurement. The world of data and information is continually changing, and over 2018–19 the NEB focused on a transformation of how we manage and use data to enable and support our staff and to meet the energy information needs of Canadians.

The result is a three-year strategy to:

• provide Canadians with greater access to our data and information;
• increase opportunities for citizen science; and,
• introduce new technologies and approaches to data collection.

National Film Board

Results: what we achieved

Content Accessibility and Audience Engagement

Planning the relocation of the NFB’s conservation rooms

The NFB actively digitizes and restores its works to guarantee their accessibility, and as set out in its Technology Plan, it completed the digitization of its active film collection in 2018–2019, just in time for the relocation of its head office.

The conservation room that houses the NFB’s visual archives—as well as its digitization and conservation activities—will be relocated in tandem with the move of the head office, although not to Îlot Balmoral. In 2018–2019, the NFB worked with Public Services and Procurement Canada to select the location of the NFB’s new conservation room (Cousens Street, in the Montreal borough of Saint-Laurent) and the construction company that will be in charge of building it (the Montoni Group).

Internal Services

The NFB continued to implement its multi-year workplace-transformation initiative, In It Together. Multidisciplinary teams worked on providing recommendations and solutions to specific change-management issues in relation to the move. Three initiatives were launched in 2018–2019: Mosaïk, a newsletter made by and for NFB employees that aims to reflect their diverse experiences, interests, and opinions; Project Hive, a project-management platform and tool for staff; and Paperlite, which seeks to raise employee awareness about the reduction or elimination of paper documents in the workplace.

Natural Resources Canada

Results: what we achieved

Internal Services

Open Government and Public Engagement

The Department improved NRCan’s Information Management (IM) and data management by strengthening leadership in Open Government, enabling the use of data and information for internal decision-making, policy development, and performance measurement and for engaging with industry on how it can improve its big data strategies. The department continues to build capacity in the design and analysis of experiments and is actively working to embed experimentation into the NRCan departmental data strategy. Furthermore, the Department recently reformed an Experimentation and Analytics unit in April 2018 to advance the experimentation direction for deputy heads, in support of evidence-based policymaking across sectors.

NRCan participated in the development of metrics on publications, data, engagement, and other open science products (e.g. maps) to track collective federal progress on open science activities which was a key commitment. NRCan also led a number of peer-reviewed publications that were published in the Open Government Portal. NRCan is a leader of Open Data downloads and has continued to release more datasets via the Open Data portal and Open Maps. For example, NRCan has contributed 80,000 maps and 520,000 photographs to the Federal Science Library in support of open data. NRCan also pursued communications and outreach activities using exhibits, social media (blogs, vlogs, etc.), by answering media calls, and by promoting the work of its scientists through its new Simply Science online magazine.

Information Management & Technology (IMT) Transformation

NRCan’s IMT Transformation Strategy was actively implemented to address vulnerabilities and protect departmental assets. This included the conclusion of a year-long IMT Transformation exercise monitoring and enabling funding for IMT investments. This funding is provided for top priority projects across the new four portfolios, including 1) migration to digital, 2) enabling science R&D, 3) reducing business risk, and 4) foundational, (i.e. improving how we manage information and deliver technology solutions foundationally).

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada

Results: what we achieved

Funding Natural Sciences and Engineering Research and Training

In 2018–19, NSERC supported more than 12,400 researchers at post-secondary institutions across Canada through its funding opportunities under the Discovery Research Program as well as the Research Training and Talent Development and Research Partnerships programs. The publication of research results in peer-reviewed journals provides a good measure of discovery and knowledge generated in the natural sciences and engineering (NSE) in Canada, while the citation of these publications provides a measure of the knowledge flow and the influence of Canadian researchers in the NSE. The ranking of Canada among the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) nations on the average citation in the NSE illustrates Canada’s international competitive strength. A standardized measure of citations used internationally is the Average Relative Citation Factor (ARC). The ARC score is calculated for every country in a particular field and then normalized to 1.0. An ARC value above 1.0 for a country means that, on average, the country’s publications in that field are cited more often than the world average. An ARC value below 1.0 would mean that a country’s publications in a field are not cited as often as the world average. Based on the most recent data available (2017), Canada ranked 15th among the 36 OECD countries, with an ARC score of 1.42.

To leverage other research efforts at the international level, NSERC grant holders often establish international collaborations. The latest data from peer-reviewed journals show that 47% of publications by a Canadian researcher involved international collaboration. In 2018–19, the federal government announced a historic increase of $354.7 million over five years in funding for discovery research through NSERC. This funding supports the Government of Canada’s Innovation and Skills Plan, a whole-of-government, multi-year approach meant to establish Canada as one of the most innovative countries in the world and to foster a culture of innovation from coast to coast to coast. In the first year of this additional funding, NSERC was able to increase award levels in its flagship program—Discovery Grants—by 8% from the previous year, providing awards to nearly 2,300 researchers in 2018–19. The program plays an important role in helping build talent for Canada’s knowledge-based economy as researchers spend approximately 56% of their grant on stipends to support bright and engaged students at all levels who work in their labs.

NSERC supports Canada’s participation in the international Open Government Partnership through the commitment of the Government of Canada’s Action Plan to increase openness of federal science activities. NSERC, in collaboration with CIHR and SSHRC, has continued to monitor the implementation of the Tri-Agency Open Access Policy on Publications in the context of international policy developments.

Internal Services

NSERC, in collaboration with SSHRC and CIHR, continued the planning for the renewal of information technology support systems for the full grants management life cycle and engaged with stakeholders to validate the needs of the research community. Following an extensive analysis, the presidents of the three granting agencies formally approved the decision to move forward with preliminary planning of a Tri-agency grants management system on September 19, 2018.

As an interim measure while the grants management solution is being considered, the SSHRC/ NSERC Information and Innovative Solutions team continued to evolve as necessary the existing systems to meet ongoing and emerging program needs. In particular, in 2018–19 the team used an existing platform to successfully develop and launch the systems for the new Tri-agency New Frontiers in Research Fund Program (Stream 1).

Office of the Chief Electoral Officer

Results: what we achieved

Internal Services

Elections Canada approved the Security Strategy and Departmental Security Plan in the fall of 2018. The agency undertook key initiatives to improve cybersecurity, focusing on higher-risk online system areas, including:

• Modernization of the agency’s network infrastructure and data centres
• Improved security and credential management
• Improvements to organizational information management practices

Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada

Results: what we achieved

Administrative support to federally appointed judges

The entire collection of the Federal Court Reports and its predecessor (for decisions of the Exchequer Court of Canada) was digitized and made available on the FJA website. This collection dates back to 1875. We were also successful in implementing the addition of two-way links between decisions published on FJA’s Reports website and those published on the site of the Federal Courts. Via these links, users of the Federal Courts website are able to easily access corresponding information on our sites thereby enhancing the visibility of the FJA Reports website while ensuring the public benefits from the editorial elements we provide.

Internal Services

From an Information Management perspective, FJA continued to host its own internal servers to provide secure and private communication services to federally appointed judges across Canada. This service allows for the establishment of discussion forums and email exchanges to safeguard the privacy and independence of the judiciary.

Key Risks

Risk: Security and privacy of personal and business information

This risk was identified in the 2018-19 DP. Mitigation measures included assessing security threats and risks, communication with the Privy Council Office Crisis Management group, developing and implementing recommendations to improve Information Technology (IT) Security, implementing the IT Security framework, preparing business continuity plans, developing and enforcing IM policies, and directing Internet and e-mail traffic through the PSPC provided Secure Channel network.

Office of the Correctional Investigator Canada

Results: what we achieved

Internal Services

As outlined in the 2018-19 Departmental Plan, the Internal Services team was mandated to deploy version 2.0 of a case management tool in a production environment. This deployment was successfully achieved by the end of the reporting period under the leadership of the Chief, IM/IT who led a consultative working group comprised of key stakeholders in both the policy and investigative realms. This second release of the tool allows for additional functionality in the investigative process and much needed statistical capabilities for both the Policy and Research Unit for the production of the Annual Report and the Chief Financial Officer in the production of reports to the Central Agencies of Government.

Secondly, the team completed a review of the Access to Information and Privacy function which resulted in the realignment of this activity under the auspices of the organization’s Legal Counsel.  Moreover, the unit continued to provide significant internal services to the organization including financial and human resources management, information and technology management as well as contracting.

Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada

Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada

Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada

Results: what we achieved

The administration of Canada’s final court of appeal

To meet the challenges of continuing to provide excellent services and case management to the Court and parties in an environment of escalating costs and added pressures such as physical and IT security, the focus on business transformation has continued.  In the past year, the Business Transformation initiative focused on the conversion of the Case Management System to a web-based platform to support an e-filing portal, the updating and standardization of the infrastructure that supports the Office’s Information Management systems, and the finalizing of the secure e-filing portal requirements. Improvements to case information available online were also made, notably the completion of the digitization of all volumes of the Supreme Court of Canada Reports (S.C.R.).

The 2019 amendments to the Rules of the Supreme Court of Canada allow parties to serve all documents by e-mail, provide hyperlinks instead of photocopies of supporting documents, reduce the requirement to file paper copies of some documents, and permit the electronic management of specified processes by allowing for facsimile signatures on Court orders.  These and other amendments enhance the efficacy of the Court’s leave to appeal and appeal processes, including the scheduling of hearings and the publication of reasons in appeals where there are sealed documents, sealing orders, confidentiality orders and publication bans.

Internal Services

The Library Branch and the Information Management Branch support the information needs of the organization.  Results for 2018-19 include:

• Continuing the implementation of GCDOCS across the organization to better manage the Court’s administrative information and closed case files, and to enhance the operational processing of case files.
• Investing in the Library Branch by enhancing capacity, supporting business units, modernizing processes and integrating content while maximizing the use of implemented technologies.
• Maturing lifecycle management processes, performing regular disposition activities, and revitalizing the IM awareness program.

Parks Canada Agency

Results: what we achieved

Internal Services

Digital collaboration

Parks Canada completed the deployment of enterprise collaboration tools for business units across the country with specific tools and services leveraging this technology successfully implemented, such as ticketing systems. Further, the Agency placed a focus on enabling access to online services. A managed approach to accessing web-based tools allowed Parks Canada to significantly enhance digital collaboration and effectiveness.

Open data

Parks Canada continued to deliver on the Agency’s Open Government Implementation Plan. The Agency has publicly posted the majority of data sets related to Agency priorities and a vast collection of information from varied business areas. In 2018–19 the Agency published its Information Centre for Ecosystems (ICE) data to the Open Data portal and augmented its total datasets published to more than 400.

Parole Board of Canada

Results: what we achieved

Internal Services

The PBC continued to work towards meeting the Treasury Board Secretariat’s (TBS) Directive on Open Government by implementing its five-year Open Government Implementation Plan (OGIP). In 2018-19, the PBC released 138 data resources as part of its commitment to sharing information and data in an open and transparent manner. The PBC also created a Performance Framework and Governance Structures for Open Government, as part of its OGIP.

Public Health Agency of Canada

Results: what we achieved

Internal Services

In support of transparency, accountability and citizen engagement, in 2018-19 PHAC released 13 data sets (e.g. FluWatch and Canadian Chronic Disease Indicators) and over 175 information resources (e.g. Lyme disease awareness resources for Indigenous communities and Canadians’ awareness, knowledge and attitudes related to sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections: 2018 findings report) on the Open Government Portal.

Data and Analysis

Data and analysis are integral to informing evidence-based public health decision making. To this end, PHAC collects, analyzes, and shares information to support public health measures.

In 2018–19, PHAC:

• Established a Data, Partnerships and Innovation Hub. This new “Data Hub” led the development of PHAC’s first Data Strategy, which is to be finalized in 2019. The Data Strategy aligns with the Data Strategy Roadmap for the Federal Public Service. In support of this roadmap PHAC will experiment with, adopt, and adapt new data partnership models to do more with data, and to answer increasingly complex public health questions.

Public Prosecution Service of Canada

Results Highlights

Modernize the Legal Case Management System and Tools

The PPSC has continued to develop the legal case management system to assist in the effective management of prosecution files and timekeeping information. This technology system will serve as a foundation to support the PPSC’s digital future and workplace modernization. In 2018-19, the project team completed the development of migration strategies to transfer information from the existing case management system into the new system.

In addition, progress was made towards the implementation of the Government of Canada standard tool for managing electronic documents and records, GCDocs. This tool will serve as the PPSC’s main digital information repository as well as the main repository to hold case documents for the new Legal Case Management System (LCMS). Over the course of the year, the PPSC Information Management and Technology Team established a small project team to begin the development of the project. In 2019-20, the team will be onboarding the pilot group that will complete the testing of the product and client delivery approach.

Public Safety Canada

Results: what we achieved

Internal Services

Information Management and Information Technology Services

Public Safety Canada continued to have regular meetings with Shared Services Canada and Public Services and Procurement Canada to advance the adoption of Government Enterprise information systems. The Department also continued participating in the Chief Information Officer Council and associated committees and working groups to advance broader digital modernization efforts, including those related to the Digital Policy. Improvements in corporate asset management and the use of cloud technology also continued.

Public Services and Procurement Canada

Results: what we achieved

Government-wide support

Document imaging and data service

Document imaging services helped departments and agencies work more efficiently by providing front-end mailroom service and document imaging capture services such as image processing, indexing and secure archiving of electronic records. In 2018 to 2019, the service captured over 40 million images.

Internal Services

The department continued its commitment to fulfill its engagement, under the Directive on Open Government, to deliver data sets to provide Canadians with easy-access to data through Canada’s Open data portal.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Results: what we achieved

Police Operations

Building Core Technical Capabilities

In 2018‑19, Technical Investigative Services (TIS) received 4,167 digital devices for the forensic extraction and analysis of data in support of investigations, the majority of which pertained to national security and serious criminal investigations – a slight decrease over the previous reporting cycle (4,365). The RCMP continues to face challenges as a result of an increasing gap between the lawful authority of investigators to collect digital evidence and their ability to do so. The use of encryption by criminals has significantly reduced the amount of data accessible to investigators and, as such, TIS continued to collaborate with domestic and international partners to collectively develop and acquire technical solutions for such devices.

During the reporting period, the RCMP responded to over 85 requests for specialized tools and services for investigations conducted by the RCMP and by other law enforcement agencies. The RCMP led several discussions with the Public Prosecution Services of Canada to further define how sensitive tools and techniques are applied across Canada, to ensure consistency in the way in which they are described in affidavits and Information to Obtain documents, and to increase the RCMP’s ability to conduct effective and Charter-compliant investigations. The RCMP’s Technical Case Management Program (TCMP) was established to provide technical advice and case management to identify the appropriate technical capabilities required to satisfy investigative objectives. Although still in a pilot phase, TCMP has facilitated the resolution of several complex disclosure challenges related to high-profile investigations and has improved the RCMP’s ability to investigate in today’s complex law enforcement environment.

Internal Services

Open and Transparent Government

In 2018‑19, the RCMP’s Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Branch addressed over 8,500 ATIP Act requests. Due to the significant workload, the ATIP Branch undertook various initiatives to improve internal processes and client services, including hiring temporary resources to assist in addressing the backlog of unprocessed requests, working with the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat and the ATIP community to establish a contracting vehicle for software to process digital requests, and presenting training sessions in multiple divisions and business lines. The RCMP ATIP Branch also supported the government’s commitment on openness and transparency, updating business practices for Bill C-58, which amended the Access to Information Act to provide for the proactive publication of certain identified information and order making powers for the Information Commissioner of Canada.

In addition, National Communication Services (NCS) produced numerous national public awareness campaigns related to impaired driving and road safety, outlaw motorcycle gangs, fraud awareness, missing children, human trafficking, counterfeit and unlicensed pharmaceuticals, employee and family mental health, and police officer recruiting. In keeping with the government’s focus on being open and transparent, NCS also linked subject-matter experts with media outlets to inform Canadians of the RCMP’s work and priorities. NCS continued to raise the RCMP’s profile with Canadians via its creative products used online and in social media, and by publishing the Gazette, the RCMP’s national magazine. NCS also supported significant internal awareness campaigns related to modernizing the RCMP, workplace well-being, and personal well-being.

Operational Information Technology and Management

The RCMP worked on establishing a Digital Policing Strategy focused on supporting impactful and transformative change through investments in people, culture, data management, and new technology. The strategy will position the RCMP as an agile, modern, and innovative police service aligned with the Government of Canada digital principles and supporting the Commissioner’s mandate to modernize the RCMP. This digital strategy is a multi-year organizational transformation roadmap that aligns governance, information, and technology with RCMP goals and broader Government modernization efforts. This digital strategy will leverage new and emerging technologies, increase access to internal and external data holdings to support decision making, ease the burden of technology on employees by providing modern, user-friendly tools and mobility, and increase digital channels to engage partners and citizens.

In February 2018, Gartner Consulting was engaged to evaluate the maturity of the RCMP’s approach to data and analytics. Building on the current RCMP IM/IT infrastructure, and in accordance with the results of the Gartner evaluation, the RCMP established a project team with leadership authorized to ensure all data is managed within the organization as a strategic asset. This project team is focused on four key themes related to all RCMP business intelligence, data and analytics initiatives: alignment to strategic priorities; data governance and roles; data access and provisioning; and technology management. The RCMP vision to implement an improved IM/IT services business model will support a culture of innovation and measured continuous improvement.

Security Intelligence Review Committee

Results: what we achieved

Internal Services

SIRC relies heavily on its information resources to effectively fulfill its mandate. This last fiscal year, SIRC continued putting a strong emphasis on changing business processes to include the management of electronic documents as part of day-to-day operations. SIRC also continued with the digitalization of paper documents as per plan.

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council

Results: what we achieved

Funding Social Sciences and Humanities Research and Training

1. Enable excellence in a changing research landscape

SSHRC supports the objectives of Canada’s Innovation and Skills Plan, which recognizes that research is a key contributor to enhancing the economic and social well-being of Canadians. The following are the highlights of the results achieved in 2018-19.

An analysis of the Average Relative Citation Factor within the social sciences and humanities reveals that Canada ranks 12th among countries in the Organisation for Economic Co‑operation and Development, an improvement by one rank compared with 2017-18. While metrics do not tell the full story of the research impact of the social sciences and humanities, they are an indication of how Canada’s scientific publications compare with those in other countries.

The frequency of collaborations between Canadian and international researchers can be a proxy for Canada’s reputation for research and training. In 2018-19, 70 per cent of SSHRC-funded research involved international collaborations. Research is increasingly international and such global collaborations demonstrate that Canadian researchers in the social sciences and humanities are in high demand while also benefiting from international knowledge.

SSHRC continues to host the Canada Research Coordinating Committee (CRCC) secretariat, which aims to help improve collaboration, coordination and harmonization among the three federal research funding agencies—the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and SSHRC—as well as the Canada Foundation for Innovation.

Institutional Support for the Indirect Costs of Research

Results highlights in 2018-19 include the following:

• Budget 2018 boosted the annual Research Support Fund budget of $369 million with $231.3 million over the next five years, with nearly $59 million per year ongoing, for projects at eligible institutions.
• Research Support Fund grants have eligible and ineligible expenditures across five categories. In 2018-19, 37 per cent of Research Support Fund grants were invested in management and administration and 36 per cent of the funding was invested in research facilities. Total program expenditures amounted to $397,648,742. The additional funding received through the Incremental Project Grants stream accounts for some of the increase in the percentage of funds invested in research facilities, resulting in SSHRC slightly surpassing its target for 2018-19.
• The 15th-year evaluation of the Research Support Fund was started in 2018-19 and is planned to be completed in 2019-20. The evaluation assesses questions related to performance, namely the contribution of the Research Support Fund to the effective use of direct federal research funding, its relevance in terms of changes in the research environment that may have had an impact on the need for this program since the last evaluation, and the cost-efficiency of program delivery. The evaluation is also assessing the current challenges and barriers to collecting performance information from recipient institutions and the level of detail necessary to meet accountability requirements.
• In an effort to continue to improve performance reporting for the Research Support Fund, a validation and revision of the end of grant report was carried out in the context of the evaluation. Key informant interviews were held with representatives of 27 institutions, and data were collected from 97 institutions through an online reporting instrument. The results of this consultation will be made public, together with the evaluation findings and recommendations, in 2019-20.

Internal Services

Results highlights in 2018-19 include the following:

• SSHRC, in collaboration with NSERC and CIHR, continued the planning for the renewal of information technology support systems for the full grants management lifecycle and engaged with stakeholders to validate the needs of the research community. Following an extensive analysis, the presidents of the three granting agencies formally approved the decision to move forward with the preliminary planning of a tri-agency grants management solution.
• As an interim measure while the tri-agency grants management solution is under development, SSHRC continued to improve the existing grants management systems as necessary to meet ongoing and emerging program needs. In particular, SSHRC used an existing platform to successfully develop and launch systems for the new tri-agency New Frontiers in Research Fund.
• SSHRC ensures alignment to and compliance with Government of Canada priorities, policy requirements and transformative initiatives. In 2018-19, SSHRC began assessing the impacts of and developing implementation strategies for changes related to the TBS Policy Suite Reset Initiative.
• To improve access to and use of SSHRC’s data, SSHRC made public its new online interactive dashboards that provide an overview of SSHRC’s investments and competition statistics.

Statistics Canada

Results: what we achieved

Statistical information

Government priorities: supporting the Innovation and Skills Plan

In 2018–19, Statistics Canada supported Canada’s Innovation and Skills Plan by collaborating with key federal departments and stakeholders to assess the impact of innovation on inclusive growth to broaden the agency’s data strategy, increasing data accessibility by launching new tools, developing new data sources to measure the socioeconomic impact that new technologies have on businesses and the labour market, and modernizing to better meet information needs in the digital era. Statistics Canada is also modernizing each step of the statistical process—from initial data collection to final data use—while increasing quality, timeliness and statistical rigour. Finally, the agency adopted a user-centric service delivery approach by consulting extensively with data users to better understand and meet their needs.

In 2018–19, the Clerk of the Privy Council requested that Statistics Canada, the Treasury Board Secretariat and the Privy Council Office co-lead the development of the Data Strategy Roadmap for the Federal Public Service. This report lays the groundwork for a data strategy across the Government of Canada. As Canada’s national statistical office, Statistics Canada’s role is to ensure the availability and interpretability of high-quality, trusted data in the Roadmap to inform government programs and services while protecting the privacy of Canadians. Statistics Canada is also partnering with federal organizations to ensure data literacy and numeracy are improving across the country. Furthermore, Statistics Canada developed new data sources to measure the socioeconomic impact that new technologies have on businesses and the labour market. In addition, the agency modernized to better meet information needs in the digital era, and collaborated with key federal departments and stakeholders to broaden the data strategy by assessing how innovation affects inclusive growth.

In 2018–19, Statistics Canada increased data accessibility for various programs. For example, the agency released a Data Visualization Hub featuring automotive-related data such as retail and wholesale trade, international trade, manufacturing, employment and gross domestic product (GDP). Furthermore, the agency collaborated with Microsoft’s Bing Maps team to release a first version of the Open Database of Buildings (ODB) in November 2018. The ODB is a collection of building footprints based on freely available, existing and open municipal and provincial data—made accessible on a single platform. This new data source was deployed to extract building footprints from satellite imagery. A parallel release of a Microsoft database and an updated version of the ODB occurred in March 2019. This collaboration resulted in the first mapping of virtually all building footprints in Canada. These examples show how the agency is increasing the availability and usability of statistical information for Canadians.

The Weekly Review, launched in May 2018, also increased the accessibility of data released through The Daily (Statistics Canada’s official release vehicle) by guiding infrequent users to findings of broad interest every week. The My StatCan feature allows Canadians to sign up to receive The Daily through an email customized with the subjects of their choice.

To build statistical capacity among Canadians, the agency increased awareness and understanding of its data products and services using a modern approach. In 2018–19, Statistics Canada interacted with Canadians on social media more than 358,763 times. During this period, the agency’s statistical products were cited 74,657 times in the media and 22,716 times in academic journals, surpassing the original targets set for the fiscal year. The agency’s relatively high visibility in the media is largely attributable to an increase in coverage of the agency’s statistics, which attests to the continued relevance of the agency’s data products.

Over the course of 2018–19, the agency modernized its Agriculture Statistics Program by increasing the use of administrative data in the Census of Agriculture. In response to the needs expressed by farmers, the AG-Zero initiative was implemented to obtain information required about the agriculture sector from sources that provide the data quality and details with minimal response burden. This initiative leverages the greater availability of alternative data sources from the digital economy, the increasingly free access to high-quality satellite imagery, and the advances in data modelling and processing techniques to provide objective, high-quality, more granular and frequent statistical information for the agriculture industry and farmers. As a result, survey questionnaires are being reduced in length through the use of alternative data sources.

Furthermore, important progress has been made toward measuring the digital economy. Statistics Canada published economic measures (GDP, output and employment) of the digital economy for the first time. Canada became the first country to produce estimates of employment in the digital economy. Canada also became the first country to produce estimates of the digital economy at the provincial level, and was the only country to produce such a long time series of these data. This is a first step toward measuring the digital economy, and additional work will be done to expand this project.

The agency developed the Innovation Radar, a system that provides a means for transparent and open communication and a way to share innovative activities occurring within Statistics Canada.

In alignment with the Government of Canada’s Strategic Plan for Information Management and Information Technology, Statistics Canada has embraced a cloud-first strategy as the basis of a modern, secure, scalable and efficient information technology infrastructure. Statistics Canada collaborated with industry leaders and other government organizations through interdepartmental cloud groups to share knowledge and best practices. The official business case and funding request for the agency’s adoption of cloud technologies and migration of existing products to a cloud infrastructure were formalized in 2018–19. The agency will migrate only when it is absolutely certain that the sensitive data it is responsible for are secure.

In line with delivering modern statistical infrastructure, Statistics Canada released Picasso, a one-stop portal that allows employees to search and discover datasets and statistical metadata to support their work and keep up to date on the latest data sources. Picasso is serving as a prototype for a whole-of-government approach to managing data as part of the Data Strategy Roadmap for the Federal Public Service.

Statistics Canada also launched a new major initiative in 2018–19: Data Analytics as a Service. The vision for this initiative is a service that could be used by researchers, policy analysts and data scientists alike to search, contribute, analyze and visualize data—all while collaborating with one another on a common platform. This initiative was presented to and approved by the Government of Canada’s Enterprise Architecture Review Board.

In 2018–19, Statistics Canada launched the New Dissemination Model (NDM). The NDM modernized the look and feel of Statistics Canada’s website based on comprehensive user consultations, and upgraded the technical infrastructure. The NDM allowed for better data discovery by simplifying the line of data products and improving navigation with a more coherent and consistent layout and functionality, generated through a database-driven approach.

In addition, the agency conducted several transparency and engagement initiatives, such as publishing two new web modules on the Statistics Canada website, consulting more extensively with Canadians and producing a series of eight short videos of the agency’s experts talking about their areas of expertise. This allowed the agency to highlight the importance of using new and existing data sources for official statistics, increase Canadians’ understanding of the agency’s positive impact on their day-to-day lives, and reaffirm the value of statistics in evidence-based decision making. The agency also launched Statistics Canada’s Trust Centre to make information on these topics readily available to Canadians.

Building on the success of the 2016 Census and preparing for the 2021 Census

The census is an important source of information about Canada’s population, and its results are used across all sectors of Canadian society to help people make informed decisions. Statistics Canada has been conducting a series of tests to continue improving the census and to ensure efficiency and cost-effectiveness objectives will be met.

New methods were developed for the 2021 Census to improve efficiency and cost-effectiveness, reduce respondent burden and deliver high-quality data. From September 2017 to May 2018, the agency conducted online consultations, receiving a record high volume of feedback. Online consultations were conducted with interested members of the public, and face-to-face discussions were held with federal departments; provincial, territorial and local government departments; academia; special interest groups; and the private sector. Discussions were also held with First Nations, Métis and Inuit stakeholders. The feedback from these consultations is being used to update and improve the 2021 Census of Population questionnaire. The report “2021 Census of Population Consultation Results: What we heard from Canadians,” published in April 2019, outlines the findings.

Statistics Canada also conducted qualitative testing on modified census questions in preparation for the 2019 Census Test that was conducted in May and June 2019. Extensive preparations were made this year to prepare for the census test. This test will allow the agency to evaluate the census questionnaire, including new and modified questions, as well as collection procedures and tools for the upcoming 2021 Census of Population and 2021 Census of Agriculture.

The Census of Population Program continues to conduct research on how the 2021 Census could use other available data sources to supplement or replace some of the census field operations while maintaining the relevance of the results and increasing the efficiency of the program.

Transport Canada

Results: what we achieved

Internal Services

To support our Internal Services programs, the Minister’s mandate letter and Transport Canada and government-wide priorities, we:

• Continued modernizing departmental services (which began with the development of the Department’s 2016-17 Comprehensive Review) through the following steps:
  • Advancing the use of data analytics through the creation of a suite of interactive dashboards to monitor trends and provide improved information for decision-making. increased data analytic capacity across TC, positioning the department to expand its use of data analytics tools.
• Completed a Proof of Concept using robotics process automation (RPA) tools that demonstrated feasibility and the opportunity to achieve efficiencies and optimize salary management (planning, budgeting and forecasting) processes across HR and Finance; launched a project to implement RPA for selected finance and related administrative processes; shared experiences with other government departments.
• Launched our new Innovation Hub to build our ability to create user-centred designs and experiment with digital technologies.
• Developed a Digital Roadmap (as part of our transformation efforts) and held engagement sessions, and increased awareness through:
  • Nationwide engagement sessions.
  • Tools.
  • Change management training for employees.
  • The launch and promotion of a GCpedia page.
  • Stories from employees and digital ambassadors on how intelligent policies and programs, data and evidenced based decision making, service innovation and new tools are making a difference in their work and services and our operations.
• Collaborated with the Canadian Center of Transportation Data to maximize data and information published to both the public and the transportation industry.
• Completed the analysis of implementation requirements for Bill C-58 which requires that information be published proactively.
• Migrated all Proactive Disclosure publication processes and content to the Open Government portal.
• Improved our employees’ data literacy skills by showing how different sources of data can be used to support better decision making.
• Created an Analytics Centre of Expertise program, Data Science program, Business Intelligence Project solution delivery team, and a Data Governance Committee.
• Launched a project to deliver a modernized enterprise business intelligence and data analytics platform that aligns with priority needs, including a procurement strategy for a Data Catalogue.

Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

Ministers’ message

In Open Government, TBS led Canada’s chairmanship of the international Open Government Partnership, and worked with other federal departments to add 3,000 more data sets to open.canada.ca.

In addition, we published the new Policy on Service and Digital, which comes into effect April 1, 2020 and establishes the foundation for the transition to digital government in Canada. We also launched the Directive on Automated Decision-making to guide departments in the accountable use of Artificial Intelligence.

The Canadian Digital Service, which has been up and running since 2017, has recruited top digital talent into government, and has partnered with several departments and agencies to improve services to Veterans, Canadians with disabilities, low-income Canadians, and others. We also initiated a two-year Privacy Breach Action Plan to strengthen the protection of personal information and the management of privacy breaches across the government.

Results: what we achieved

Administrative Leadership

Departmental result 1 for Administrative Leadership: Canadians have timely access to government information

Open data

In 2018–19, 3,168 new datasets were published on open.canada.ca, up from 1,807 the previous year and surpassing the target of 2,000.

Personal information requests and access to information requests

In 2018–19, the percentage of personal information requests responded to within legislated timelines was 77%, up from 75% the previous year. At the same time, the percentage of access to information requests responded to within legislated timelines was 73%, down from 76% the previous year. The targets for these indicators are, respectively, 85% and 90%, by March 2020.

Although the percentage of access to information requests responded to within legislated timelines dropped in 2018–19, the number of requests closed increased substantially, from 97,705 in 2017–18 to 125,067 in 2018–19, with fewer requests being carried over to the next fiscal year (25,746 compared with 27,375 the previous year). The downward trend in the percentage of access to information requests responded to within legislated timelines reflects the pressures on the access to information program from the continuing increase in the number of requests the government receives each year.

As noted in the 2019–20 Departmental Plan, TBS continues to explore ways to increase support to the offices that respond to access to information and personal information requests by, for example, coordinating staffing and training.

In addition, the new Access to Information and Privacy Online Request Service, launched in 2018, is expected to contribute to better results in this area. The new service is helping reduce misdirected requests for government information by helping requesters determine which institution is most likely to have the information they want. As well, the service collects the $5 fee for access to information requests submitted electronically. As a result, institutions have a lighter administrative burden and can focus on responding to requests. By 2021, all government institutions that are subject to the Access to Information Act  and the Privacy Act  will receive requests through this service.

To further support improved access to government information, Bill C‑58, which received Royal Assent in June 2019, included a number of measures intended to improve access to information services. For example, the Access to Information Act now provides the Information Commissioner with the power to make binding orders to government institutions, transforming the role from an ombudsperson to an authority with the ability to order government to release records. The act also puts into practice the principle of “open by default” in the digital age by making key information available proactively, without the need to make a request.

Internal Services

In the area of information management and information technology (IMIT), TBS developed the Access to Information and Privacy Online Request Service. This service enables the public to transmit secure information requests to the Government of Canada institutions that are subject to the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act. In addition, a new cloud‑based environment was established to support the Office of the Chief Information Officer’s oversight function for the Government of Canada’s $6.6 billion investment in IMIT projects and activities.

TBS also continued to improve both internal and government-wide capacity to experiment in order to generate evidence about how best to achieve results. For example, in 2018–19, TBS:

• facilitated an interdepartmental community that shares information, expertise, and lessons learned related to departments’ experiments
• managed a web domain for experimental and prototype websites and services

Veterans Affairs Canada

Results: what we achieved

Internal Services

• In 2018-19, VAC continued to find ways to leverage the use of technology, including:
  • Developing the Pension for Life customer relationship management system in line with Government of Canada Digital Standards.
  • Implementing Government of Canada Secret Infrastructure (GCSI) Phase I, which will improve the security of the Department’s infrastructure and data as well as protecting information against current and future threats.
  • Adapting new technology in mobile devices to allow for more work and telework options for employees and managers, in line with the GCWorkplace Initiative.
• VAC also applied the principles of open and transparent government, such as:
  • Supporting the Open Government initiative by regularly publishing datasets and by monitoring trends in Access to Information requests for opportunities to identify frequently requested information.
  • Consulting Canadians in an accessible manner through the Open Government website.
  • Posted Briefing Note titles to the Open Government online portal.

Western Economic Diversification Canada

Results: what we achieved

Internal Services

WD also participates in the Government of Canada’s Open Government initiative by making relevant data accessible to the public and the businesses community through the Government of Canada’s Open Data Inventory portal. The portal provides one-stop access to the Government of Canada’s searchable open data and open information, and supports ministerial mandate letter commitments. It increases transparency and accountability, as well as strengthens the foundation for collaboration between government and citizens, which ultimately contributes to better results for Canadians.