From the Institutional Head

I am pleased to table the Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat’s (CICS) 2021-22 Departmental Results Report (DRR). As an impartial agency whose mandate is to provide administrative support and planning services for intergovernmental meetings of First Ministers, Ministers and Deputy Ministers throughout Canada, CICS has been a key player in Canadian intergovernmental machinery for close to half a century.

In 2021-22, the continuing impact of the pandemic on our operations resulted in a significant transformation in the way intergovernmental meetings are held. The agency has demonstrated creativity, innovation and flexibility in adapting to the new reality of virtual conferences, telework and a changing environment. Consequently, one of the top priorities for the Secretariat in 2021-22 was to continue to maintain and cultivate strong partnerships with our clients. This was accomplished through productive consultations with Deputy Ministers of Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Service Commissioner representatives from coast to coast to coast.

The Secretariat’s ongoing ability to realign and retool in response to the pandemic enabled the organization to broaden its expertise by focussing on adopting new meeting formats and adding to the current technology options, while setting new standards for the future of hybrid meetings.

This is how CICS was able to support 147 senior-level intergovernmental meetings in 2021-22 while maintaining a satisfaction rate of 89.7% in our annual survey of conference organizers.

André M. McArdle

Secretary, Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat

Results at a glance

CICS continued to focus on innovation and delivering high-quality, responsive, and cost-effective conference services to federal, provincial, and territorial governments in a primarily virtual environment. The Secretariat made great strides to develop and implement new technologies and processes, with a focus on addressing technical and other challenges related to virtual conferencing with interpretation. As a result of these modernization improvements, CICS was able to maintain the high-quality service its clients have come to expect in a rapid evolving conference environment.

The Secretariat continued to provide equipment to all new employees in order for them to be fully mobile, and improved processes to ensure that its workforce was fully operational outside of the office and could support all virtual conferences remotely. In addition, the successful implementation of new policies, tools and procedures gave our workforce the flexibility to be fully productive from anywhere in Canada, either from the office, from a conference site or from home.

CICS provided its services to 147 senior-level intergovernmental conferences, including 3 In-person meetings, 9 teleconferences and 135 virtual videoconferences. The latter being a relatively new venture for the Secretariat which, until March 2020, had only served virtual meetings using boardrooms equipped with permanent videoconferencing equipment. In spite of this significant shift in approach, overall client satisfaction levels continued to be very high. For conference delegates, client satisfaction reached 94%. For conference planners, the overall satisfaction rate was 89.7% in 2022, down 2.1% compared to 2021. This is mainly attributed to the continued transition and improvement of the virtual platform and related services.

For more information on Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat’s plans, priorities and results achieved, see the “Results: what we achieved” section of this report.

Results: what we achieved

Core responsibility

Intergovernmental Conference Services

Description

The Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat provides continuity of planning and archival services as well as impartial administrative support, for federal-provincial-territorial and provincial-territorial conferences of First Ministers, Ministers and Deputy Ministers, throughout Canada

Results

The Conference Services branch delivers the Agency’s core responsibility and, consequently, conducts the professional, innovative, and successful delivery of services for senior-level intergovernmental meetings. These meetings contribute to this government’s key policy goal of enhancing partnerships with provincial and territorial governments, and Indigenous partners, communities and governments. As the COVID-19 crisis continued to evolve, collaboration between governments as well as Indigenous communities became even more critical in responding to the urgent health, economic and social impacts of the pandemic. As a result, there was an even greater reliance on the services and competencies of CICS by conference delegates as well as other stakeholders including meeting organizers and permanent secretariats that supported intergovernmental relations and priorities in 2021-22.

Throughout the year, the Agency demonstrated its capacity to respond (often on short notice) to the very high demand for services, ensuring that they remained relevant, forward looking and of the highest quality. The CICS made good on its commitment to proactively lead the way, to advise, guide and encourage its clients to continue using new and innovative approaches to support senior-level intergovernmental meetings in a fully virtual mode which helped maintain strong, open and collaborative relationships between the federal, provincial and territorial governments at a most critical time. For example, CICS personnel spent considerable time and effort coaching meeting chairs, participants, and presenters in the use of the relatively new videoconferencing (VC) platform ahead of, and during meetings. As part of our promotional work in support of the VC format, we informed and reassured meeting organizers on aspects such as security, technical requirements, VC etiquette and other best practices. Service delivery procedures and tools were reviewed and adapted to fit the rapid pace of planning and delivering virtual meetings. This includes efficiencies in the coordination of specialised services such as audio-visual (AV), interpretation, and other contractors as appropriate.

Activities and actions were undertaken in 2021-22 to support the following five key initiatives, designed to fulfill/advance the Agency’s core responsibility:

‎

Experimentation

CICS has not conducted any experimentation activities, but continued to promote and facilitate innovation. Experimentation is related to, but distinct from innovation (the trying of new things), because it involves a rigorous comparison of results. As a micro-Agency, the Secretariat lacks the human and financial resources that would be necessary to support a full-scale and valid experiment.

Key risks

Human Resource Management

In 2021-22, there was a risk that the organization would be unable to sustain an adequate workforce with the appropriate competencies due to a large turnover of staff (retirements & departures, provincial-territorial secondment rotations, peak period staffing). CICS was able to successfully mitigate this risk by staffing positions in a proactive manner, which included some overlap of key positions to ensure transfer of corporate knowledge. Focus on succession planning remains a critical element of our continued success due to the agency’s limited size and internal capacity.

With respect to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, there was a risk of exposure to the virus through returning to the office and in-person conferences. CICS worked toward mitigating this risk through the creation and implementation of an extensive Return to Work Policy, which provided details on medical mask mandates, social distancing, and flexible work arrangements.

Results achieved

The following table shows, for Intergovernmental Conference Services, the results achieved, the performance indicators, the targets and the target dates for 2021–22, and the actual results for the three most recent fiscal years for which actual results are available.

^[1] Proportion of respondents who provide a grade of 4 or 5 out of 5 to a series of interview questions (based on 135 videoconferences, 9 teleconference and 3 in-person meetings).

^[2] Although this result is slightly below target, it is considered an outstanding success in this fiscal year’s transformational context. The slight shortcoming most likely reflects the challenges faced by our clients as they adapted to the new videoconferencing format and platform.

^[3] Proportion of respondents who provide a grade of 4 or 5 out of 5 to a series of survey questions.

^[4] Percentage of innovative solutions being adopted by clients.

Financial, human resources and performance information for the Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat’s Program Inventory is available in GC InfoBase.

Budgetary financial resources (dollars)

The following table shows, for Intergovernmental Conference Services, budgetary spending for 2021–22, as well as actual spending for that year.

Financial, human resources and performance information for the Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat’s Program Inventory is available in GC InfoBase.

Human resources (full-time equivalents)

The following table shows, in full–time equivalents, the human resources the department needed to fulfill this core responsibility for 2021–22.

Financial, human resources and performance information for the Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat’s Program Inventory is available in GC InfoBase.

Internal services

Description

Internal services are those groups of related activities and resources that the federal government considers to be services in support of programs and/or required to meet corporate obligations of an organization. Internal services refers to the activities and resources of the 10 distinct service categories that support program delivery in the organization, regardless of the internal services delivery model in a department. The 10 service categories are:

Acquisition Management Services

Communication Services

Financial Management Services

Human Resources Management Services

Information Management Services

Information Technology Services

Legal Services

Material Management Services

Management and Oversight Services

Real Property Management Services

Results

The Internal Services program supports the Agency in meeting its mandate through sound management and careful stewardship of assets, financial and human resources, and information technology services.

In 2021-22, Internal Services continued to apply the utmost care and prudence in the handling of public resources as well as monitoring and reporting on its internal control framework. Internal control processes were improved as a result of findings in the completion of an internal control self-assessment. Additionally, internal controls were improved as gaps were found throughout the year.

In its commitment to adhere to the 2018 Government of Canada Cloud Adoption Strategy, the Secretariat has started its move of getting away from an on-premises data centre by analyzing its current services and requirements, streamlining where possible and exploring the feasibility of moving to a cloud environment. The initial discovery portion of this analysis has been completed and some components, like the transition of our Exchange server to the Cloud, has been successfully implemented.

During the fiscal year, CICS worked in collaboration with Public Service and Procurement Canada (PSPC) to successfully implement the Overpayment Project within the organization which has produced an improved, standardized end-to-end process for Emergency Salary Advances (ESA) and Priority Payments (PP).

Furthermore, CICS continued to promote and encourage learning opportunities to foster a healthy workplace, promote mental health and to ensure a culture of continuous improvement and innovation by actively sharing information bulletins with resources with employees, and encouraging participation in public service activities and learning opportunities. Additionally, monthly group sessions were organized to virtually bring employees together to discuss and raise awareness about mental health, and diversity and inclusion. CICS finalized and fully implemented its Policy on Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention and had all employees complete the required training.

In preparation for a return to in-person conferences, the organization used innovative recruitment strategies to fill vacant positions in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year.

Budgetary financial resources (dollars)

The following table shows, for Internal Services, budgetary spending for 2021–22, as well as spending for that year.

Human resources (full-time equivalents)

The following table shows, in full–time equivalents, the human resources the department needed to carry out its internal services for 2021–22.

The CICS internal services utilized an additional FTE above what was originally planned due to the proactive staffing of planned departures in key positions that provide critical support to the organisation.

Spending and human resources

Spending

Spending 2019–20 to 2024–25

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

For detailed information see the “Budgetary performance summary for core responsibility and Internal Services” section of this report.

Budgetary performance summary for core responsibility and internal services (dollars)

The “Budgetary performance summary for core responsibility and internal services” table presents the budgetary financial resources allocated for the Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat’s core responsibility and for internal services.

It is important to note that CICS does not convene intergovernmental meetings. It is called upon to respond to decisions taken by governments to meet on key national or specific issues. Decisions concerning the location and format of such meetings, their number in a given fiscal year, their timing and duration, are all factors beyond the control of the Secretariat. The level of CICS expenditures for each fiscal year is, however, directly affected by these factors. CICS does exercise due care and probity in the expenditure of its funds to meet its mandate, planning for variances in conference volume, support level and format to ensure continued operation within its available budget. As illustrated in this report, fiscal year 2021-22 continued to be impacted by the pandemic, resulting in only three in-person meetings, which are traditionally more costly due to travel, overtime, and audio-visual requirements. Another important consideration is the ratio of teleconferences to videoconferences. In 2020-21, the Secretariat served a 124/95 ratio respectively, and in 2021-22 that became 9/135. Teleconferences require significantly fewer resources than videoconferences, therefore a higher volume of the latter drastically increases the overall conference costs.

‎Human resources

The “Human resources summary for core responsibility and internal services” table presents the full-time equivalents (FTEs) allocated to each of the Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat’s core responsibility and to internal services.

Human resources summary for core responsibility and internal services

Due to a reduction of in-person conferences and travel needs, staffing demands decreased during the pandemic. In a continued attempt to minimize the number of staffing processes during this time, CICS put in place temporary staffing measures for some positions while others remained unstaffed. Staffing processes were launched at the end of the fiscal year, in preparation for a return to in-person meetings in 2022-23.

Expenditures by vote

For information on the Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat’s organizational voted and statutory expenditures, consult the Public Accounts of Canada 2021.

Government of Canada spending and activities

Information on the alignment of the Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat’s spending with Government of Canada’s spending and activities is available in GC InfoBase.

Financial statements and financial statements highlights

Financial statements

The Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat’s financial statements (unaudited) for the year ended March 31, 2022, are available on the departmental website.

Financial statement highlights

Condensed Statement of Operations (unaudited) for the year ended March 31, 2022 (dollars)

The variance between planned results and actual results relate to a marked reduction in non-salary expenditures throughout the COVID-19 pandemic due to an evolved service delivery model. CICS only hosted three in-person meetings during the fiscal year, lower than forecasted. In addition, CICS continued to experience vacancies in the organization, resulting in lower than planned salary expenditures.

Total expenses were approximately $5.5 million, roughly $158 thousand higher than the previous year. CICS continued to be impacted by the pandemic through fiscal year 2021-22, resulting in almost all conferences being held virtually, which are significantly lower in cost. CICS took this opportunity to proceed with a digitization project which comprised most of the $327 thousand increase in professional and special services. Additionally, rentals decreased by $166 thousand while telecommunications rose by $71 thousand.

‎Condensed Statement of Financial Position (unaudited) as of March 31, 2022 (dollars)

Total liabilities were approximately $632 thousand, a decrease of approximately $54 thousand (8%) over the previous year. Accounts payable and accrued liabilities accounted for 43% of these total liabilities while vacation pay and compensatory leave made up another 43%. The overall decrease is mainly due to a decrease in accounts payable and accrued liabilities, partially offset by an increase in vacation pay and compensatory leave liabilities, which increased $60 thousand.

Total net financial assets were approximately $384 thousand as at March 31, 2022, a decrease of $44 thousand (10%) over the previous year. The overall decrease is mainly attributable to a reduction in accounts payable from other government departments due to the Consolidated Revenue Fund, caused by a timing difference in processing invoices. A delay in receiving a provincial contribution partially offset this variance.

Total non-financial assets were approximately $4 thousand as at March 31, 2022, a decrease of some $3 thousand (39%) over the previous year. The decrease is mainly due to the reduction in prepaid expenses.

The 2021–22 planned results information is provided in the Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat’s Future-Oriented Statement of Operations and Notes 2021–22.

Corporate information

Appropriate minister: The Honourable Dominic LeBlanc

Institutional head: André M. McArdle

Ministerial portfolio: Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities

Enabling instrument[s]: The Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat was established pursuant to an agreement reached at the May 1973 First Ministers’ Conference and was designated a department of the federal government by an Order-in-Council dated November 29, 1973.

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

“Raison d’être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do” is available on Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat website.

For more information on the department’s organizational mandate letter commitments, see the Minister’s mandate letter.

Operating context

Information on the operating context is available on Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat’ website.

‎Reporting framework

The Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat’s Departmental Results Framework and Program Inventory of record for 2021–22 are shown below.

Supporting information on the program inventory

Financial, human resources and performance information for the Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat’s Program Inventory is available in GC InfoBase.

Supplementary information tables

The following supplementary information tables are available on the Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat’s website:

Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy/Reporting on Green Procurement

Gender-based analysis plus

Federal tax expenditures

The tax system can be used to achieve public policy objectives through the application of special measures such as low tax rates, exemptions, deductions, deferrals and credits. The Department of Finance Canada publishes cost estimates and projections for these measures each year in the Report on Federal Tax Expenditures. This report also provides detailed background information on tax expenditures, including descriptions, objectives, historical information and references to related federal spending programs as well as evaluations and GBA Plus of tax expenditures.

Organizational contact information

Mailing address:

P.O. Box 488, Station ‘A’

Ottawa, Ontario

K1N 8V5

Telephone: 613-995-2341

Fax: 613-996-6091

Email: Info@scics.ca

Website(s): https://www.scics.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 report on the plans and expected performance of an appropriated department over a 3–year period. Departmental Plans are usually tabled in Parliament each spring.

departmental priority (priorité)

A plan or project that a department has chosen to focus and report on during the planning period. Priorities represent the things that are most important or what must be done first to support the achievement of the desired departmental results.

departmental result (résultat ministériel)

A consequence or outcome that a department seeks to achieve. 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 quantitative measure of progress on a departmental result.

departmental results framework (cadre ministériel des résultats)

A framework that connects the department’s core responsibilities to its departmental results and departmental result indicators.

Departmental Results Report (rapport sur les résultats ministériels)

A report on a department’s actual accomplishments against the plans, priorities and expected results set out in the corresponding Departmental Plan.

experimentation (expérimentation)

The conducting of activities that seek to first explore, then test and compare the effects and impacts of policies and interventions in order to inform evidence-based decision-making, and improve outcomes for Canadians, by learning what works, for whom and in what circumstances. Experimentation is related to, but distinct from innovation (the trying of new things), because it involves a rigorous comparison of results. For example, using a new website to communicate with Canadians can be an innovation; systematically testing the new website against existing outreach tools or an old website to see which one leads to more engagement, is experimentation.

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. For a particular position, the full–time equivalent figure is the ratio of number of hours the person actually works divided by the standard number of hours set out in the person’s collective agreement.

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; and understand how factors such as sex, race, national and ethnic origin, Indigenous origin or identity, age, sexual orientation, socio-economic conditions, geography, culture and disability, impact experiences and outcomes, and can affect access to and experience of government programs.

government-wide priorities (priorités pangouvernementales)

For the purpose of the 2021–22 Departmental Results Report, government-wide priorities refers to those high-level themes outlining the government’s agenda in the 2020 Speech from the Throne, namely: Protecting Canadians from COVID-19; Helping Canadians through the pandemic; Building back better – a resiliency agenda for the middle class; The Canada we’re fighting for.

horizontal initiative (initiative horizontale)

An initiative where 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.

performance indicator (indicateur de rendement)

A qualitative or quantitative means of measuring an output or outcome, with the intention of gauging the performance of an organization, program, policy or initiative respecting expected results.

performance reporting (production de rapports sur le rendement)

The process of communicating evidence–based performance information. Performance reporting supports decision making, accountability and transparency.

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 to the expected result.

planned spending (dépenses prévues)

For Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports, planned spending refers to those amounts presented in 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 the department and focus on a specific set of outputs, outcomes or service levels.

program inventory (répertoire des programmes)

Identifies all the department’s programs and describes how resources are organized to contribute to the department’s core responsibilities and results.

result (résultat)

A 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.