Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada

2023–24

Departmental Plan

The Honourable David Lametti, P.C., Q.C., M.P.
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada
represented by the Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs (FJA) Canada, 2023
Catalogue No. J41-4E-PDF
ISSN 2371-834X

From the Commissioner
Plans at a glance
Core responsibility: planned results and resources
Internal Services: planned results
Planned spending and human resources
Corporate information
Supporting information on the program inventory
Supplementary information tables
Federal tax expenditures
Organizational contact information
Appendix: definitions
Endnotes

From the Commissioner

I am pleased to present the 2023-24 Departmental Plan for the Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs (FJA). This Plan provides parliamentarians and Canadians with an outline of activities we will undertake in the coming year.

Key priorities for FJA during the 2023-24 fiscal year will include implementing a new judicial conduct regime, upgrading our legacy systems and migrating to a cloud environment with an eye to modernizing features, increasing access and maintaining a high level of service to our stakeholders.

Bill C-9, An Act to amend the Judges Act ^[i], will bring about important reforms to the judicial conduct process. It was introduced by the government on November 22, 2021, and it is currently in its second reading in the Senate. We anticipate it coming into force in the 2023-24 fiscal year. The Canadian Judicial Council Secretariat as well as FJA’s Finance and Compensation divisions will undertake the necessary actions to develop policies and procedures, as well as information notes for the public, to implement the requirements of these amendments.

Both our Judges’ Language Training Program and our Judicial Advisory Committees have started to return to in-person activities for immersion sessions and assessment meetings respectively. Additionally, we have begun to resume bi-annual in-person meetings for FJA’s various committees. In all circumstances, assessment and consideration is given to the implementation of the necessary health and safety protocols in relation to these activities.

Since the onset of the pandemic, our approach to how and where we work has shifted significantly. While much focus in the beginning was given to adapting technology to ensure business continuity and service delivery, our continuing success will be realized through our focus on supporting and ensuring that our employees have the tools they need for their mental well-being and safety. Training and advocacy will be the key tools to ensure that FJA is an efficient, diverse and inclusive workplace, free from harassment and any form of violence so that employees feel safe, heard and represented.

Our personnel is committed to providing a high level of service to our clientele and Canadians. I invite you to read our Departmental Plan to learn more about our plans and priorities for 2023-24.

Sincerely,

Marc A. Giroux

Commissioner

Plans at a glance

Through FJA’s administration of Part I of the Judges Act ^[ii], we deliver core services and provide support to more than 1100 federally appointed judges and 1100 pensioners and their survivors. In addition to financial, compensation and IT services, our personnel coordinates the delivery of language training to judges, international cooperation initiatives involving the judiciary, and the publication of decisions of the Federal Court of Appeal and the Federal Court. We also administer the judicial appointment process on behalf of the Minister of Justice, providing guidance and support to members of the 17 judicial advisory committees across the country. As well, members of our personnel working in the Canadian Judicial Council Secretariat provide the necessary legal, strategic, administrative and communication assistance to meet the needs of the Council.

Business Transformation

FJA will continue to focus on our mid and long-term plans to enhance and improve our infrastructure to support mission-critical business systems. We endeavour to remain agile and adaptive to emerging trends in the digital landscape and are keenly aware of the need to strategically plan and monitor developing requirements to best allocate our resources. At the forefront is our commitment to ensuring that our business processes and necessary technology needs are addressed.

In the current year, work will continue on planning, developing, designing and implementing solutions for:

Cloud adoption, including the JUDICOM platform–a secure site for judicial collaboration;
Digital transforming business processes and procedures in order to better align and balance the policy requirements of the Judges Act ^[iii], the Policy on Service and Digital, and those of central agencies;
Upgrade of the Canadian Judicial Council’s Case Management system to increase efficiencies and reporting obligations;
Upgrade of our Financial management system of record;
Design and renewal of aging legacy systems and applications, to incorporate new requirements, limit failures and down time and facilitating real time reporting for better and timely decision-making;
Modernize our IT infrastructure (processes and tools – including the application of security protocols) in support of the Judicial community and FJA personnel as we adapt to hybrid models of remote work and an increased requirement for access from a variety of platforms and mobile devices.

Streamlining and optimizing our resources to minimize redundancies are key to ensuring operational success leading to achievement of our mandated organizational goals in supporting a properly functioning judiciary and by extension meet the needs of the Canadian public.

Human Resources

Since April 1, 2022, FJA implemented a 2-day minimum for employees to attend at the office to encourage team-building, collaboration and to continue to prioritize work-life balance. As all of government navigates the shift to a hybrid work model, we will continue to engage with our employees to ensure that their health and safety concerns are addressed.

Of primary importance is our continued commitment to a workplace that is free from harassment, violence and discrimination, and the promotion of diversity, employment equity and inclusion remain a priority.

In the coming year, we will continue efforts in preparation for the implementation of the new PA Group definitions and job evaluation standards. To date, FJA has reviewed 27 of its 42 PA Group job descriptions.

For more information on FJA’s plans, see the “Core responsibility: planned results and resources” section of this report.

Core responsibility: planned results and resources

This section contains information on the department’s planned results and resources for its core responsibility.

Support to federally appointed judges

Description

To provide services and support to the federal judiciary in a manner which contributes to the independence of the judiciary and the confidence of Canadians in our judicial system.

Planning highlights

Supreme Court of Canada Appointment Process

For 2023-2024, there are no identified vacancies anticipated for the Supreme Court of Canada. However, we stand ready to assist the Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice in the event a Supreme Court of Canada vacancy arises, by supporting the Independent Advisory Board for the Supreme Court of Canada Judicial Appointments.

Judicial Appointments Secretariat

During the year, several Judicial Advisory Committees will expire, requiring the appointment of new members. Each new member will undergo an orientation as to their roles and responsibilities of the judicial advisory committees in assessing candidates and creating a pool of qualified candidates that is gender-balanced and reflective of the diversity of each jurisdiction for appointments to superior courts. Our office will also provide training to members with respect to matters such as unconscious bias and other such social justice issues.

Within its overall responsibility for the administration of the judicial appointments process on behalf of government, FJA manages approximately 55 meetings per year across 17 Judicial Advisory Committees throughout Canada. However, due to revisions implemented in August 2022 to the applicant questionnaire, we anticipate an increased number of applications in 2023‑2024 leading to a high probability of increases in committee meetings for evaluation.

Judges’ Language Training

The Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada created and provides a language training program tailored to the needs of judges. The adoption in the Criminal Code ^[iv] of provisions guaranteeing the language rights of defendants as well as the coming into force of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms ^[v] and various provincial laws, makes this an essential service to the judiciary and supports the government’s mandate to access to justice.

To stay abreast of emerging needs as they relate to social awareness and cultural sensitivity, we are planning a quality control review of our curricula to ensure that our training with regard to terminology is reflective of cultural diversity, and we will continue modernizing our approach in Second Official Language Training.

Federal Courts Reports

The Federal Courts Reports consist of four volumes per year, each volume containing three Parts (one Part being published each month). Decisions published in the Reports, in full text or as digests, are available free of charge on FJA’s website ^[vi], as is the entire collection of Federal Courts Reports going back to 1971, including full volumes. Decisions of the predecessor to the Federal Court, the Exchequer Court of Canada, are also available online. Decisions published in those Reports are available in the language that they were rendered and go back to 1875.

Selected decisions are published in both official languages (in a side-by-side format) and undergo a thorough editorial process. This process includes copy editing and citation verification, the preparation of headnotes and captions, and translation accuracy confirmation.

International Cooperation

In 1996, the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs (Commissioner) was given the responsibility by the Chief Justice of Canada and the Federal Minister of Justice to coordinate the involvement of the Canadian judiciary in international technical cooperation initiatives. The Commissioner thus represents the principal instrument of intervention in the international judicial arena on behalf of the federal government, the Minister of Justice and the Canadian Judicial Council, ensuring that their participation in international activities does not compromise judicial independence and impartiality. The Commissioner is supported in the discharge of these responsibilities by the Judicial Advisory Committee on International Engagement.

Since its inception and with the professional contributions of members of the judicial community, judicial experts and Canadian institutional partners, the International Programs Division of FJA has implemented numerous international judicial cooperation activities and coordinated the participation of Canadian experts to that end. FJA is guided by the Council Policy on International Judicial Activities ^[vii].

For the coming year, FJA will:

Continue to support and coordinate efforts of the federal judiciary in its international engagements including formalizing and solidifying its contribution to foreign policy collaborations with Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and other lead government departments;
Provide Secretariat services in support of federal judges’ international work on different fronts and levels encompassing support to the Canadian Judicial Council’s work on revamping its policy on international engagement of federally appointed judges;
Develop proposals to Global Affairs Canada for the delivery of a pilot project under their Technical Assistance Program to undertake short-term international development initiatives in response to specific needs of the Canadian embassies abroad – it is anticipated that the undertaking will form the basis of a 5-year project funded by GAC in the years 2023-2028;
Continue to support the work of a retired Canadian federal judge in Ukraine responsible for vetting future members of the High Qualification Commission of that country, a body that is responsible for administering judicial appointments to Ukrainian courts.

Innovation

FJA has neither the financial nor human resources capacity to test high impact innovations at a small-scale and measure outcomes in real-world settings in order to achieve the planned results for the core responsibility.

Planned results for support to federally appointed judges

The following table shows, for support to federally appointed judges, the planned results, the result indicators, the targets and the target dates for 2023–24, and the actual results for the three most recent fiscal years for which actual results are available.

Departmental result	Departmental result indicator	Target	Date to achieve target	2019–20 actual result	2020–21 actual result	2021–22 actual result
Federally appointed judges are provided with centralized services in a timely and effective manner	% of judges’ allowances processed within the 10-day service standard	Equal to or greater than 90% of judges’ allowances processed within the 10-day service standard	March 2024	98% of judges’ allowances were processed within the 10-day service standard	83% of judges’ allowances were processed within the 10-day service standard	76% of judges’ allowances were processed within the 10-day service standard
The judicial appointments process is managed efficiently	% of candidate applications ready to be evaluated within 3 months of reception	100% of candidate applications are ready to be evaluated within 3 months of reception	March 2024	Over 95% of applications were screened and ready to be evaluated by Committees within 3 months of reception	Over 95% of applications were screened and ready to be evaluated by Committees within 3 months of reception	Over 95% of applications were screened and ready to be evaluated by Committees within 3 months of reception
The judicial conduct review process is completed in a timely and effective manner	% of complaints reviewed within six months	Equal to or greater than 80% of complaints reviewed within six months	March 2024	80% of complaints were reviewed within six months	97% of complaints were reviewed within six months	92% of complaints were reviewed within six months
CJC ensures that federally appointed judges have access to relevant training and learning opportunities	% of judges who reported to the CJC that their training and learning needs were met	Equal to or greater than 90% of judges training and learning needs were met	March 2024	90% of judges reported to the CJC that their training and learning needs were met	90% of judges reported to the CJC that their training and learning needs were met	90% of judges reported to the CJC that their training and learning needs were met

The financial, human resources and performance information for FJA’s Program Inventory is available on GC InfoBase. ^[viii]

Planned budgetary spending for Support to federally appointed judges

The following table shows, for Support to federally appointed judges, budgetary spending for 2023–24, as well as planned spending for that year and for each of the next two fiscal years.

2023–24 budgetary spending (as indicated in Main Estimates)	2023–24 planned spending	2024–25 planned spending	2025–26 planned spending
732,724,075	732,724,075	758,678,517	768,962,531

Financial, human resources and performance information for FJA’s program inventory is available on GC InfoBase. ^[ix]

Planned human resources for Support to federally appointed judges

The following table shows, in full-time equivalents, the human resources the department will need to fulfill this core responsibility for 2023-24 and for each of the next two fiscal years.

2023–24 planned full-time equivalents	2024–25 planned full-time equivalents	2025–26 planned full-time equivalents
60.5	60.5	60.5

Financial, human resources and performance information for FJA’s program inventory is available on GC InfoBase. ^[x]

Internal Services: planned results

Description

Internal services are the services that are provided within a department so that it can meet its corporate obligations and deliver its programs. There are 10 categories of internal services:

management and oversight Services
communications services
legal services
human resources management services
financial management services
information management services
information technology services
real property management services
materiel management services
acquisition management services

Planning highlights

FJA will strive to meet the expectations of managers and employees with respect to human resources, financial management, procurement, information technology and information management. Employee satisfaction will be measured through the Public Service Employee Survey. Service responsiveness will be monitored through the achievement of service standards. The main areas to be pursued during 2023-24 are all closely related to overall FJA priorities.

Timely processing of payments to judges for their allowances, salaries and pensions under Part I of the Judges Act ^[xi] including payments and services to survivors.
Continued support to managers and personnel during the transition to a hybrid work force. Ensuring to develop policies and practices that optimizes support to employee well-being and work-life balance while meeting our organizational goals and mandates.
On-going strategies and efforts in establishing, strengthening and maintaining financial controls frameworks, internal control policies and education of personnel on their roles and responsibilities in these areas.
Implement plans and strategies for succession planning, employee recruitment and retention (including knowledge transfer and cross training to build in redundancies) and the overall management of human resource functions.
Development of communication and outreach strategies for ensuring the transparency and sufficiency of information in publications and responses to media inquiries.

Continued focus in the area of information management to support and modernize the processes and tools used to manage physical and electronic information holdings including formal establishment of and implementation of IM retention policies in alignment with Library and Archives Canada, as well as those of the judiciary.
Increase focus and investment in Information Technology to:
- Modernize and sustain infrastructure requirements for systems and applications to mitigate the risk of failure and security threats;
- Design and upgrade in-house systems to meet the increased demands for data collection and reporting in support of government-wide mandates for transparency and access to information.
- Support cross functionality between internally developed systems and those as hosted by the government at large.
- Maintain support to a hybrid workforce;
- Support stakeholders in addressing technology needs such as in the provision of the JUDICOM platform for federally appointed judges

Planning for Contracts Awarded to Indigenous Businesses

FJA is part of the third phase of implementation of this requirement, with the goal of achieving the mandatory minimum target by fiscal year 2024-25. We are presently reviewing our documentation and updating our procurement tools to facilitate the recording of contracts awarded to Indigenous businesses. Our employees involved in procurement will be taking the mandatory training and participating in all information session offered on the topic, seeking additional guidance on implementation for small agencies as our contracting is of low value and very specific to our mandate. FJA is also working to identify the areas where there could be opportunities for contracts with indigenous businesses within our department.

Planned budgetary spending for internal services

The following table shows, for internal services, budgetary spending for 2023–24, as well as planned spending for that year and for each of the next two fiscal years.

2023–24 budgetary spending (as indicated in Main Estimates)	2023–24 planned spending	2024–25 planned spending	2025–26 planned spending
726,800	726,800	726,800	726,800

Planned human resources for Internal Services

The following table shows, in full-time equivalents, the human resources the department will need to carry out its internal services for 2023–24 and for each of the next two fiscal years.

2023–24 planned full-time equivalents	2024–25 planned full-time equivalents	2025–26 planned full-time equivalents
5.5	5.5	5.5

Planned spending and human resources

This section provides an overview of the department’s planned spending and human resources for the next three fiscal years and compares planned spending for 2023–24 with actual spending for the current year and the previous year.

Planned spending

Departmental spending 2020–21 to 2025–26

The following graph presents planned spending (voted and statutory expenditures) over time.

Budgetary planning summary for core responsibilities and Internal Services (dollars)

The following table shows information on spending for FJA’s core responsibility and for its internal services for 2023-24 and other relevant fiscal years.

Core responsibility and Internal services	2020–21 expenditures	2021–22 expenditures	2022–23 forecast spending	2023–24 budgetary spending (as indicated in Main Estimates)	2023–24 planned spending	2024–25 planned spending	2025–26 planned spending
Support to federally appointed judges	626,389,832	682,199,266	710,327,915	732,724,075	732,724,075	758,678,517	768,962,531
Subtotal	626,389,832	682,199,266	710,327,915	732,724,075	732,724,075	758,678,517	768,962,531
Internal Services	726,800	726,800	726,800	726,800	726,800	726,800	726,800
Total	627,116,632	682,926,066	711,054,715	733,450,875	733,450,875	759,405,317	769,689,331

Variances between the actual spending for 2021-22 and the forecasted spending for 2022-2023 are largely attributable to increases resulting from annual adjustments to judges’ salaries based on the Industrial Aggregate, as well as, an increase in the number of pensioners receiving benefits under the Judges Act ^[xii].

Planned human resources

The following table shows information on human resources, in full-time equivalents (FTEs), for the core responsibility in FJA’s departmental results framework and for its internal services for 2023-24 and the other relevant years.

Human resources planning summary for core responsibilities and Internal Services

Core responsibility and Internal Services	2020–21 actual full‑time equivalents	2021–22 actual full‑time equivalents	2022–23 planned full‑time equivalents	2023–24 planned full‑time equivalents	2024–25 planned full‑time equivalents	2025–26 planned full‑time equivalents
Support to federally appointed judges	57.5	60.5	60.5	60.5	60.5	60.5
Subtotal	57.5	60.5	60.5	60.5	60.5	60.5
Internal Services	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5
Total	63	66	66	66	66	66

Estimates by vote

Information on FJA’s organizational appropriations is available in the 2023–24 Main Estimates . ^[xiii]

Future-oriented Condensed statement of operations

The future-oriented condensed statement of operations provides an overview of FJA’s operations for 2022–23 to 2023–24.

The forecast and planned amounts in this statement of operations were prepared on an accrual basis. The forecast and planned amounts presented in other sections of the Departmental Plan were prepared on an expenditure basis. Amounts may therefore differ.

A more detailed future-oriented statement of operations and associated notes, including a reconciliation of the net cost of operations to the requested authorities, are available on FJA’s website. ^[xiv]

Future-oriented condensed statement of operations for the year ending March 31, 2024 (dollars)

Financial information	2022–23 forecast results	2023–24 planned results	Difference (2023–24 planned results minus 2022–23 forecast results)
Total expenses	684,833,000	709,014,000	24,181,000
Total revenues	19,572,000	19,572,000	-
Net cost of operations before government funding and transfers	665,261,000	689,442,000	24,181,000

In 2022-23, total forecasted expenses include $669.5 million for judges’ salaries, allowances, and annuities; $12.6 million for FJA personnel and operating costs; and $2.7 million for CJC personnel and operating costs. The 2023-24 amounts are $694 million, $12.4 million, and $2.6 million, respectively.

Total revenues include an amount of $19.3 million charged to FJA’s statutory vote for judges’ pension contributions.

Corporate information

Organizational profile

Appropriate minister: The Honourable David Lametti, P.C., M.P.

Institutional head: Marc A. Giroux, Commissioner

Ministerial portfolio: Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Enabling instrument(s): Judges Act ^[xv] (R.S.C., 1985, c. J-1)

Year of incorporation / commencement: 1978

Other: Information about the Canadian Judicial Council, its mandate and programs are found at the Council’s website: https://cjc-ccm.ca/en ^[xvi]

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

Information on FJA’s raison d’être, mandate and role is available on FJA’s website ^[xvii].

Information on FJA’s commitments is available in the Minister’s mandate letter ^[xviii].

Operating context

Information on the operating context is available on FJA’s website ^[xix].

Reporting framework

FJA’s approved departmental results framework and program inventory for 2023–24 are as follows.

Departmental Results Framework	Core Responsibility: Support to Federally Appointed Judges		Internal Services
	Departmental Result: Federally appointed judges are provided with centralized services in a timely and effective manner	Indicator: 90% of judges’ allowances processed within the 10-day service standard
	Departmental Result: The judicial appointments process is managed efficiently	Indicator: 100% of candidate applications ready to be evaluated within 3 months of reception
	Departmental Result: The judicial conduct review process is completed in a timely and effective manner	Indicator: 80% of complaints reviewed within six months
	Departmental Result: CJC ensures that federally appointed judges have access to relevant training and learning opportunities	Indicator: 90% of judges who reported to the CJC that their training and learning needs were met
	Program Inventory	Program: Payments pursuant to the Judges Act
		Program: Canadian Judicial Council
		Program: Federal Judicial Affairs

Supporting information on the program inventory

Supporting information on planned expenditures, human resources, and results related to FJA’s program inventory is available on GC InfoBase. ^[xx]

Supplementary information table

The following supplementary information table is available on FJA’s website ^[xxi]:

Gender-based analysis plus

Federal tax expenditures

FJA’s Departmental Plan does not include information on tax expenditures.

Tax expenditures are the responsibility of the Minister of Finance. The Department of Finance Canada publishes cost estimates and projections for government-wide tax expenditures each year in the Report on Federal Tax Expenditures. ^[xxii] This report provides detailed information on tax expenditures, including objectives, historical background and references to related federal spending programs, as well as evaluations, research papers and gender-based analysis.

Organizational contact information

Mailing address

Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada

99 Metcalfe Street, 8^th Floor

Ottawa, Ontario K1A 1E3

Canada

Telephone: (613) 995-5140

Fax: (613) 995-5615

Email:info@fja-cmf.gc.ca

Website:https://www.fja-cmf.gc.ca/

Appendix: definitions

appropriation (crédit)

Any authority of Parliament to pay money out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

budgetary expenditures (dépenses budgétaires)

Operating and capital expenditures; transfer payments to other levels of government, organizations or individuals; and payments to Crown corporations.

core responsibility (responsabilité essentielle)

An enduring function or role performed by a department. The intentions of the department with respect to a core responsibility are reflected in one or more related departmental results that the department seeks to contribute to or influence.

Departmental Plan (plan ministériel)

A document that sets out a department’s priorities, programs, expected results and associated resource requirements, covering a three-year period beginning with the year indicated in the title of the report. Departmental Plans are tabled in Parliament each spring.

departmental result (résultat ministériel)

A change that a department seeks to influence. A departmental result is often outside departments’ immediate control, but it should be influenced by program-level outcomes.

departmental result indicator (indicateur de résultat ministériel)

A factor or variable that provides a valid and reliable means to measure or describe progress on a departmental result.

departmental results framework (cadre ministériel des résultats)

A framework that consists of the department’s core responsibilities, departmental results and departmental result indicators.

Departmental Results Report (rapport sur les résultats ministériels)

A report on a department’s actual performance in a fiscal year against its plans, priorities and expected results set out in its Departmental Plan for that year. Departmental Results Reports are usually tabled in Parliament each fall.

full-time equivalent (équivalent temps plein)

A measure of the extent to which an employee represents a full person-year charge against a departmental budget. Full-time equivalents are calculated as a ratio of assigned hours of work to scheduled hours of work. Scheduled hours of work are set out in collective agreements.

gender-based analysis plus (GBA Plus)(analyse comparative entre les sexes plus [ACS Plus])

An analytical tool used to support the development of responsive and inclusive policies, programs and other initiatives. GBA Plus is a process for understanding who is impacted by the issue or opportunity being addressed by the initiative; identifying how the initiative could be tailored to meet diverse needs of the people most impacted; and anticipating and mitigating any barriers to accessing or benefitting from the initiative. GBA Plus is an intersectional analysis that goes beyond biological (sex) and socio-cultural (gender) differences to consider other factors, such as age, disability, education, ethnicity, economic status, geography, language, race, religion, and sexual orientation.

government-wide priorities (priorités pangouvernementales)

For the purpose of the 2023–24 Departmental Plan, government-wide priorities are the high-level themes outlining the Government’s agenda in the 2021 Speech from the Throne: building a healthier today and tomorrow; growing a more resilient economy; bolder climate action; fighter harder for safer communities; standing up for diversity and inclusion; moving faster on the path to reconciliation and fighting for a secure, just, and equitable world.

high impact innovation (innovation à impact élevé)

High impact innovation varies per organizational context. In some cases, it could mean trying something significantly new or different from the status quo. In other cases, it might mean making incremental improvements that relate to a high-spending area or addressing problems faced by a significant number of Canadians or public servants.

horizontal initiative (initiative horizontale)

An initiative in which two or more federal organizations are given funding to pursue a shared outcome, often linked to a government priority.

non-budgetary expenditures (dépenses non budgétaires)

Net outlays and receipts related to loans, investments and advances, which change the composition of the financial assets of the Government of Canada.

performance (rendement)

What an organization did with its resources to achieve its results, how well those results compare to what the organization intended to achieve, and how well lessons learned have been identified.

plan (plan)

The articulation of strategic choices, which provides information on how an organization intends to achieve its priorities and associated results. Generally, a plan will explain the logic behind the strategies chosen and tend to focus on actions that lead up to the expected result.

planned spending (dépenses prévues)

For Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports, planned spending refers to those amounts presented in the Main Estimates.

A department is expected to be aware of the authorities that it has sought and received. The determination of planned spending is a departmental responsibility, and departments must be able to defend the expenditure and accrual numbers presented in their Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports.

program (programme)

Individual or groups of services, activities or combinations thereof that are managed together within a department and that focus on a specific set of outputs, outcomes or service levels.

program inventory (répertoire des programmes)

An inventory of a department’s programs that describes how resources are organized to carry out the department’s core responsibilities and achieve its planned results.

result (résultat)

An external consequence attributed, in part, to an organization, policy, program or initiative. Results are not within the control of a single organization, policy, program or initiative; instead, they are within the area of the organization’s influence.

statutory expenditures (dépenses législatives)

Expenditures that Parliament has approved through legislation other than appropriation acts. The legislation sets out the purpose of the expenditures and the terms and conditions under which they may be made.

target (cible)

A measurable performance or success level that an organization, program or initiative plans to achieve within a specified time period. Targets can be either quantitative or qualitative.

voted expenditures (dépenses votées)

Expenditures that Parliament approves annually through an Appropriation Act. The vote wording becomes the governing conditions under which these expenditures may be made.