2018-19 Departmental Results Report

Minister's Message

The organizations in the Canadian Heritage Portfolio, including Library and Archives Canada (LAC), play an important role in our society. They contribute to the vitality of the arts, culture, heritage and audiovisual sectors, while also highlighting our diversity in a spirit of inclusion and respect. This year, as we mark the 50^th anniversary of the Official Languages Act, we have a wonderful opportunity to highlight how proud these organizations make us of everything that allows our country to stand out—including our linguistic duality, Indigenous languages and cultures, and the amazing talent and creativity of Canadians.

Within the Portfolio, LAC is an innovative knowledge institution responsible for acquiring and preserving Canada’s documentary heritage in all its forms. It is the collective memory of our country and it strives to give every Canadian easy access to its vast collection, which bears witness to the evolution of our country’s society and culture.

LAC can boast a number of major accomplishments in 2018–19. The institution completed its largest-ever digitization project to date. From now on, Canadians will have online access to the records of the 622,290 soldiers who served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War. LAC also launched Co-Lab, a new tool that lets citizens give a helping hand to history by contributing to the transcription, translation and description of digital manuscripts. In addition, LAC will continue to support the Government of Canada’s reconciliation efforts by going beyond initiatives already in place. Working in close collaboration with representatives of First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities, it has developed an action plan to support the safeguarding of their documentary heritage.

As Minister of Canadian Heritage, I invite you to have a look at the 2018–19 Departmental Results Report for Library and Archives Canada. Through its work over the past year, LAC has contributed to preserving and sharing our diverse stories with Canadians, now and for generations to come.

The Honourable Steven Guilbeault

Librarian and Archivist of Canada’s message

This report describes how, with the support of our partners, we have been able to meet the expectations of Canadians.

In terms of service to our clients and access to our collection, we implemented Voilà, the new national union catalogue, and Aurora, the new catalogue for LAC’s published collection.

To position ourselves at the leading edge of archival and library science and new technologies, we completed the procurement process for the construction of a state-of-the-art preservation facility that will be operational by the end of 2022. In addition, progress continues on the implementation of a new digital records management system, which will put LAC at the forefront of digital acquisition and preservation.

As an institution firmly rooted in national and international networks, we have worked with the documentary heritage communities to support the implementation of many initiatives, such as the National Heritage Digitization Strategy and the Ottawa Declaration on Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums. In collaboration with our advisory circle of Indigenous elders and leaders, we have continued to support First Nations, Inuit and the Métis Nation in their efforts to preserve their languages and traditions.

To showcase our collection, we have taken full advantage of the culture of citizen participation that characterizes this digital era to mobilize our users. In 2018–2019, we launched a key initiative involving them: Co-Lab, an interactive tool that enriches the national memory and promotes access to it.

We also looked to the future and consulted widely to prepare our next three-year plan. It is by listening to our users that we have worked with the Ottawa Public Library to design a shared building, which will be constructed in the heart of the nation’s capital.

I am grateful to all those who have contributed to these achievements: our staff, our users, our partners, universities, professional associations, and other organizations in the Canadian Heritage portfolio.

Leslie Weir, Librarian and Archivist of Canada

Results at a glance

Results: what we achieved

Core Responsibilities

Acquiring and preserving documentary heritage

Description

LAC acquires documentary heritage of historical value and preserves it for current and future generations, as mandated in the Library and Archives of Canada Act. The collection is made up of documentary heritage preserved in a variety of media and formats. LAC advises the Government of Canada and its institutions on the management of information and ensures that records of historical value are transferred to its collection. Through legal deposit, all materials submitted by Canadian publishers, and samples of Internet content, become part of the collection. Other records of national significance are acquired to document Canadian society. The institution uses state-of-the-art techniques and infrastructure to restore the collection and provide optimal conditions for long-term preservation. LAC also builds its capacity and expertise to ensure the availability of digital records.

Related programs

• Acquisition and processing of government records
• Acquisition and processing of published heritage
• Acquisition and processing of private archives
• Preservation

Results

In 2018–19, LAC made 154 new archival acquisitions including the fonds of the renowned filmmaker Denys Arcand; the fonds of Joseph Gaetz, a soldier in the Second World War; and the fonds of Dominion Bridge Company, a Canadian steel bridge builder. Following analysis and consultation with its Acquisitions Advisory Committee, LAC redefined the direction of its private archives acquisition activities for the next five years. It identified 25 thematic areas to enable new acquisitions to better illustrate the diversity and complexity of contemporary Canadian society.

In addition, LAC continued to prepare for receiving and processing government digital documents electronically. It developed guidelines to better structure the electronic transfer process. LAC also worked with federal departments and agencies beforehand to promote best practices in information management (IM) and to support them in identifying which government records of historical value should be transferred to LAC. In collaboration with Public Services and Procurement Canada, it organized the Government of Canada IM Symposium, which was attended by 104 federal departments and agencies.

Further, in 2018–19, LAC formally started its archival information system renewal project with the publication of a request for information. A new archival information system will improve the management of archives and make them more easily accessible.

In order to acquire a collection of published documents that is as representative as possible, LAC has relied on its legal deposit program and its outreach strategy, which encourages Canadian music publishers and producers to transfer any publication to it, regardless of medium or format. During the first year of this strategy, LAC consulted with its clients on ways to improve its services and on opportunities for collaboration to support Canadian written and musical production. In 2018–19, LAC expanded its collection with the acquisition of nearly 61,000 works, including a rare book belonging to Adolf Hitler, Statistik, Presse und Organisationen des Judentums in den Vereinigten Staaten und Kanada, published by Heinz Kloss in 1944. Highlights among the newly acquired publications arePotlatch as Pedagogy: Learning Through Ceremony by Sara Florence and Robert Davidson^vii, I’m Not Myself at All: Women, Art, and Subjectivity in Canada by Kristina Huneault^viii, Mégantic: une tragédie annoncée, by Anne-Marie Saint-Cerny^ix, as well as four books in Hebrew from the 14th century.

With LAC’s new library management system, Canadians can now access national published heritage in two simple ways. By the end of 2017–18, LAC had launched its new national union catalogue, Voilà, while in December 2018, it launched its new published heritage collection catalogue, Aurora, in which there are books in various formats, including formats accessible to people with visual or hearing impairments. LAC also provided one-year transitional funding to small libraries organized into regional networks to support their interlibrary loan and copy cataloguing activities.

In 2018–19, with the collaboration of some 40 publishers, LAC tested the usability and functionality of the digital document management system acquisition module that it obtained in the summer of 2018. The tests have shown that the metadata of publications acquired through digital legal deposit are transferring successfully.

With respect to the implementation of its strategic vision for digital preservation, LAC has almost completed the first phase of identifying and analyzing gaps and needs. It also began the second phase by testing Preservica, the tool that underlies the brand new digital preservation system. This tool should enable it to meet its digital preservation needs in a sustainable and efficient manner. LAC also worked on a plan, standards and procedures to ensure the systematic and effective preservation of its digital collections. In addition, LAC provided the practitioner community with stimulating and rewarding opportunities to share best practices on World Digital Preservation Day, held on November 29, 2018.

LAC collected more than 14 terabytes of Web resources of historical or heuristic value. In addition to archiving 4.2 terabytes of federal government websites, LAC expanded its Web archive collections with content related to, among other things, the centenary of the First World War, the PyeongChang Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, the legalization of cannabis in Canada, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, and the Humboldt Broncos bus crash.

At the end of its 10-year plan on the migration of audiovisual recordings, LAC had transferred a total of 201,541 hours of recordings threatened with obsolescence to stable and durable media, exceeding its target of 180,000 hours.

LAC made progress in the preservation of analog documents through the construction of its new preservation facility. The procurement process was completed on schedule and on January 31, 2019, the name of the selected consortium was announced: Plenary Properties Gatineau. The contract was awarded on April 26, 2019, marking the beginning of the design and construction phase.

The difference between the total authorities available for use ($62.1 million) and actual expenditures ($57 million) is due in part to reprofiling funds to help pay for the substantial completion of the construction of a new building designed to preserve analog documents in Gatineau, Quebec.

The difference between the number of planned (426) and actual (393) FTEs is due to a reallocation of resources between the two core responsibilities based on changing priorities during the year.

Providing access to documentary heritage

Description

LAC provides access to its collection, while respecting legal, policy and contractual obligations. Using cutting-edge technologies, it enables Canadians to access and consult its collection and thereby enrich their knowledge of Canada’s documentary heritage. Through its website and social media, LAC improves access to its digital content and the whole collection. The institution provides online and in-person services at its four service points. It uses innovative strategies such as crowdsourcing (Co-Lab) and the Digi-Lab to increase the digital content of its collection. LAC also promotes Canadian heritage by creating or contributing to exhibitions that enable the public to discover its collection in cultural sites across Canada. Through the Documentary Heritage Communities Program, LAC supports memory organizations by increasing their capacity to preserve and make their collections accessible.

Related programs

• Public services
• Outreach and support to communities

Results

From coast to coast to coast, Canadians have benefited from LAC’s services. Listening to their needs, LAC worked hard to provide consultation, reprography and research assistance services through appropriate and varied communication channels. In Ottawa, nearly 500 participants benefited from workshops introducing them to searching the national collection. In collaboration with its partners in Halifax and Vancouver, LAC developed other workshops that have generated considerable public interest, including those on the First World War digital archives and Indigenous genealogy.

It is a spirit of collaboration and partnership that will bring about the new shared facility that will house the services of both LAC and the Ottawa Public Library. Consultation with the population, staff and the Indigenous community is at the heart of the design process led by the architectural consortium. In addition, the complex and important work of transition and planning for the move scheduled for 2024–25 has already begun. LAC is taking this opportunity to review its services, with a view to improving them and taking full advantage of the new space that will be designed to meet client needs and be adaptable to technological advances.

After five years of intense work, supported by Veterans Affairs Canada, LAC finished digitizing the 622,290 Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) files in time to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War on November 11, 2018. More than 30 million digitized images are now available to Canadians and citizens around the world. This ambitious project has been a great success: since they became available online, the CEF pages have been viewed more than 4.3 million times.

As part of its first initiative related to Indigenous documentary heritage, We Are Here: Sharing Stories, LAC continued to search its archival holdings and created 35 research tools. It scanned 246,274 images and described 13,235 of them. Recently digitized documents include government documents, photographs, dictionaries and lexicons in Indigenous languages, correspondence from Indigenous leaders, portraits and cartographic material.

In support of the second initiative, Listen, Hear Our Voices, LAC hired seven Indigenous archivists who work in their communities. Together, they establish customized methods to preserve and give access to documents and oral testimonies in Indigenous languages. They also initiated research to prepare a catalogue of Indigenous language resources from across Canada. In light of the advice of the Indigenous Advisory Circle, LAC also implemented a funding program to support communities that wish to digitize their oral archives.

In consultation with the Indigenous Advisory Circle, LAC developed a five-year action plan for its activities related to Indigenous heritage. This plan goes beyond digitization initiatives. It encompasses all disciplines of LAC and was designed to respond to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls for action and to ensure activities are aligned with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

LAC continued its contribution to Canada’s Plan on Open Government. Through the bulk review process of government archival holdings, an additional 3.6 million pages were made available. In addition, LAC processed 13,508 requests subject to the Access to Information Act and to the Privacy Act and made more than 1.6 million pages available for reference. LAC also supported the government’s reconciliation efforts with the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. As part of the Final Settlement Agreement relating to the LGBT Purge, LAC processed 167 requests for access to the files of former military personnel and federal public servants, for a total of 49,053 pages.

In April 2018, LAC launched Co-Lab, a participatory production tool that allows Canadians to label, transcribe, describe and translate digitized documents from its collection. During the year, users helped to enrich and reveal the content of 4,087 images. Through this platform, citizens can also help to identify any images found through the Collection Search interface (the beta phase of this tool ended in early July 2019). In addition, LAC expanded its digital content offering: DigiLab users were able to rely on state-of-the-art digitization equipment to produce nearly 30,000 images in some 30 projects.

LAC can still rely on its flagship project Project Naming which allows Indigenous communities to identify thousands of people, activities and places in digitized photos. The number of visitors to the project’s dedicated pages increased on its Facebook (27%) and Twitter (45%) accounts. In March, LAC organized an event to share 160 archival photos with the communities in Arviat, Nunavut: 54 photos and 94 people were identified.

While modernizing the homepage of its website to facilitate the search for information and services, LAC also added new content. Among the most important podcasts added in 2018–19,Canada’s Canoe Archive as well as The Battlefield Art of Mary Riter Hamilton have been very popular. Canadians’ growing interest in the treasures of the LAC collection has also been reflected in a 9% increase in the number of views on its blog and 20% on its Flickr account. In addition, the number of subscribers to its Twitter and Facebook accounts increased by 11% and 18%, respectively. LAC also indexed an additional 10 million documents so that they can be easily identified through the Collection Search interface. In order to review and rethink its web presence, it initiated consultation sessions with its users.

LAC increased the visibility of its collection through eighteen new item loan agreements with other institutions. LAC employees also contributed their expertise to develop, in collaboration with partners, fifteen exhibitions, including Premiere: New Acquisitions at Library and Archives Canada, Prime Ministers and the Arts: Creators, Collectors and Muses and Pathways: Following Traces of Indigenous Routes Across Ontario. At the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, visitors can also discover another exhibition featuring portraits from LAC, Ladylikeness: Historical Portraits of Women by Women. In addition, LAC produced a book that showcases the jewels in its collection.

Once again this year, with the support of its partners and contributors, LAC organized 38 events that covered a wide range of topics and were accessible to everyone, on its premises and elsewhere: book launches, meetings of Indigenous writers, conferences, openings, open houses. These are opportunities to not only be close to the public, but to raise awareness of Canada’s living culture, community life, history, literature and documentary collection. Examples include the conferences on Francophone Communities and Official Languages and The 30th Anniversary of the Japanese Canadian Redress Agreement.

LAC continued to nurture and enrich its partnership relationships with academic, cultural and memory institutions by organizing open public discussions with them on current issues. Exchanges were held to stimulate reflection on misinformation and disruptive technologies in memory institutions and academia. On the theme of misinformation, LAC organized three events in three provinces, in collaboration with universities and Facebook, as well as other partners. Its University Partners Forum addressed the ethical issues related to the use of new technologies, including algorithms.

Internationally, as a member of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), LAC brought together more than 40 North American representatives in April 2018 for a working session as part of the broader IFLA Global Vision initiative, to reflect on the future of libraries. In addition, in collaboration with Global Affairs Canada, LAC created an opportunity to reflect on how members of the library, archive and museum communities play a role in creating lasting links between nations. This discussion on the theme of cultural diplomacy brought together 19 experts, leaders and strategic thinkers.

In 2018–19, LAC established four new partnerships to share knowledge and expertise, develop joint projects, and broaden the scope of activities that aimed to increase access to and the visibility of documentary heritage. It also continued its work with its current partners. For example, LAC continued to strongly support the National Heritage Digitization Strategy.In October 2018, it held a joint learning and discussion workshop on digitization in Vancouver with the Canadian Research Knowledge Network. It was also involved in the design, launch and management of a funding program through which 21 digitization projects were implemented across Canada. This initiative was made possible thanks to the generosity of the Salamander Foundation.

Finally, by means of its Documentary Heritage Communities Program (DHCP), LAC supported 39 projects (including 30 new ones) across the country. With funding from the DHCP, organizations such as the Cree Cultural Institute Aanischaaukamikw, the Council of Yukon First Nations, St. Peter’s Cathedral in Prince Edward Island, the Société historique de Saint-Boniface in Manitoba and the Italian-Canadian community in Sarnia-Lambton, Ontario, were able to describe and digitize archival material or create virtual exhibitions.

Financial, human resources and performance information for the LAC’s Program Inventory is available in the 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 comprise 10 service categories: Acquisition Management, Communications, Financial Management, Human Resources Management and Security, Information Management and Information Technology, Legal Services, Materiel Management, Management and Oversight, and Real Property Management.

Results

LAC participated in renewing the federal public service to make it more inclusive and better equipped. LAC and its Expertise Development Committee carried out activities to strengthen employee engagement through the development and promotion of expertise and work accomplished. It also included the opinions of its staff in the development of plans and decisions, as well as in the improvement of processes and tools.

Based on consultations with its employees, users and partners, LAC updated its strategic directions for the next three years. While continuing the efforts and successes of recent years, its new Three-Year Plan 2019–2022 places greater emphasis on LAC’s role in the transparency of government.

LAC provided professional development opportunities focused on sharing knowledge and experience, as well as outreach activities that promoted open dialogue and highlighted the importance of engaging all to create a respectful, stimulating and inclusive work environment. LAC invited its staff to a variety of conferences and discussion sessions on health and safety, wellness, harassment and discrimination prevention, diversity and inclusion. Personalities Amanda Jetté Knox and Natasha L. Henry, as well as the Honourable Chantal Petitclerc, came to share their experience and raise employees’ awareness of the factors that promote a diverse and non-discriminatory environment. In addition, LAC once again offered activities to raise awareness of the heritage and history of First Nations, Inuit and the Métis Nation. This response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action 57 also contributes to the establishment of partnerships that are conducive to realizing projects to preserve Indigenous languages and cultures.

LAC’s commitment to equip its employees with the tools they need to be inclusive has also been demonstrated by providing them with a quiet place to reflect, respect religious obligations or gather their thoughts. In addition, LAC worked to define a pilot project to redevelop part of the space dedicated to its employees under the terms of the GC Workplace.

LAC continued to update the federal government’s measures to secure technology and protect sensitive and personal data. In 2018–19, it put in place an infrastructure to properly handle secret documents; this is a network that allows Government of Canada organizations to share confidential information in real time.

To ensure optimal alignment between its business activities, capabilities and technology systems, LAC built on its organizational capacity model. It strengthened its governance by establishing an Enterprise Architecture Review Board that prioritizes the development and replacement needs of technological applications. It also explored the concept of artificial intelligence and the possible inclusion of a cloud computing operating system to optimize its digital services and improve access to its collection. Finally, in support of the development of a more transparent, collaborative and digitally focused public service, LAC began to develop a data strategy, as recommended by the GC.

Analysis of trends in spending and human resources

Actual expenditures

Organizational spending trend graph (in dollars)

Figure 1: Organizational spending trend (dollars) – text version

The graph above shows the trend in expenditures by LAC, in dollars, over a period of six fiscal years (from 2016–17 to 2021–22).

The increase in spending in 2017–18 is due to expenditures on retroactive payments from previous fiscal years for negotiated salary adjustments.

The 2019–20 expenditures include nearly $35 million to complete the construction of a new preservation building. However, following a comprehensive analysis of future needs, the payment initially scheduled for 2019–20 is now scheduled for 2022–23.

LAC’s expenditure profile evolved mainly due to the availability of funding for the following initiatives:

• the partnership between LAC, the Ottawa Public Library and the City of Ottawa for the definition and implementation phases of the shared facility project, as well as ongoing operating costs (2018–19 and subsequent years);
• the preservation of Indigenous languages and cultures, announced in the 2017 budget (2017–18 to 2020–21);
• the acquisition, processing, preservation and accessibility of the Right Honourable Stephen Harper’s private records (2017–18 to 2021–22).

In 2018–19, the $15.8 million difference between the $119.7 million planned spending published in the Departmental Plan 2018–19 and total authorities of $135.5 million is mainly due to additional funding received during the year, i.e.:

• an increase of $7.4 million related to the carry forward of the operating budget and the carry forward of the capital budget;
• an increase of $6.2 million related to the support of the Government of Canada’s response to the LGBT Purge Class Action Settlement;
• an increase of $1.2 million related to a new partnership between LAC, the Ottawa Public Library and the City of Ottawa for the design of a shared facility;
• an increase of $0.5 million related to eligible funding for retroactive payments in previous and current fiscal years, related to negotiated salary adjustments;
• an increase of $0.4 million to support the acquisition, cataloguing and preservation of Canadian sound recordings from the Department of Canadian Heritage;
• an increase of $0.1 million to undertake a national study on the economic and social value of libraries, archives and museums from the Department of Canadian Heritage.

Actual human resources

Expenditures by vote

For information on LAC’s organizational voted and statutory expenditures, consult the Public Accounts of Canada 2018–19.

Government of Canada spending and activities

Information on the alignment of LAC’s spending with the Government of Canada’s spending and activities is available in the GC InfoBase.

Financial statements and financial statements highlights

Financial statements

LAC’s financial statements (unaudited) for the year ended March 31, 2018, are available on LAC’s website.

Financial statements highlights

The reduction in total expenses is due primarily to retroactive payments made during the 2017–18 fiscal year with the renewal of federal employee’s collective agreements. No significant expense associated with retroactive payments was incurred during the year 2018–19.

The increase in total revenues is mainly attributable to funds received in 2017–18 but for which the related expenses were incurred in 2018–19.

The increase in net liabilities results primarily from a significant increase in accrued liabilities and account payables. This includes the payment of incomplete salaries disbursed to employees due to the malfunction of the pay system.

The increase in net financial assets is mainly due to an increase in the amount receivable from the Consolidated Revenue Fund that occurred between the date funds were spent and the date of their receipt.

The increase in net non-financial assets stems mainly from the construction of a second preservation centre in Gatineau as well as improvements to LAC’s storage facilities. Once the construction and improvements are complete, the investments will be expensed according to their useful life.

Supplementary information

Corporate information

Organizational profile

Appropriate minister: The Honourable Pablo Rodriguez, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism

Institutional head: Guy Berthiaume, Librarian and Archivist of Canada

Ministerial portfolio: Department of Canadian Heritage

Enabling instrument: Library and Archives of Canada Act, S.C. 2004, c. 11

Year of incorporation: 2004

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 LAC’s website.

Operating context and key risks

Information on operating context and key risks is available on LAC’s website.

Reporting framework

LAC’s Departmental Results Framework and Program Inventory of record for 2019–20 are shown below:

LAC’s Departmental Results Framework and Program Inventory of record for 2019–20

LAC’s Departmental Results Framework and Program Inventory of record for 2019–20 – text version

This image depicts LAC’s Departmental Results Framework and Program Inventory for 2018-19. The two Core Responsibilities are presented at the highest level above, accompanied by their Departmental Results and the indicators used to measure them. The programs and their indicator are presented at the level below.

Supporting information on the Program Inventory

Supporting information on planned expenditures, human resources, and results related to LAC’s Program Inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.

Supplementary information tables

The following supplementary information tables are available on LAC’s website:

• Gender-based analysis plus
• Status report on transformational and major Crown projects
• Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy

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. The tax measures presented in this report are the responsibility of the Minister of Finance.

Organizational contact information

Library and Archives Canada

550 de la Cité Boulevard
Gatineau, Quebec K1A 0N4
Telephone: 613-996-5115
Telephone (toll-free): 1-866-578-7777
TTY: 613-992-6969 or 1-866-299-1699
Facsimile: 613-995-6274
Email: bac.reference.lac@canada.ca
Website: www.bac-lac.gc.ca

395 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N4
Telephone: 613-996-5115
Facsimile: 613-995-6274
Email: bac.reference.lac@canada.ca
Website: www.bac-lac.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 report on the plans and expected performance of an appropriated department over a three year period. Departmental Plans are tabled in Parliament each spring.

Departmental Result (résultat ministériel)

Any change that the 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)

The department’s Core Responsibilities, Departmental Results and Departmental Result Indicators.

Departmental Results Report (rapport sur les résultats ministériels)

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

evaluation (évaluation)

In the Government of Canada, the systematic and neutral collection and analysis of evidence to judge merit, worth or value. Evaluation informs decision making, improvements, innovation and accountability. Evaluations typically focus on programs, policies and priorities and examine questions related to relevance, effectiveness and efficiency. Depending on user needs, however, evaluations can also examine other units, themes and issues, including alternatives to existing interventions. Evaluations generally employ social science research methods.

experimentation (expérimentation)

Activities that seek to explore, test and compare the effects and impacts of policies, interventions and approaches, to inform evidence-based decision-making, by learning what works and what does not.

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+) (analyse comparative entre les sexes plus [ACS+])

An analytical process used to help identify the potential impacts of policies, Programs and services on diverse groups of women, men and gender-diverse people. The "plus" acknowledges that GBA goes beyond sex and gender differences. We all have multiple identity factors that intersect to make us who we are; GBA+ considers many other identity factors, such as race, ethnicity, religion, age, and mental or physical disability.

government-wide priorities (priorités pangouvernementales)

For the purpose of the 2018–19 Departmental Results Report, those high-level themes outlining the government’s agenda in the 2015 Speech from the Throne, namely: Growth for the Middle Class; Open and Transparent Government; A Clean Environment and a Strong Economy; Diversity is Canada’s Strength; and Security and Opportunity.

horizontal initiative (initiative horizontale)

An initiative where two or more departments 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 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.

priority (priorité)

A plan or project that an organization 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.

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.

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.

Strategic Outcome (résultat stratégique)

A long term and enduring benefit to Canadians that is linked to the organization’s mandate, vision and core functions.

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.

Endnotes

^vii Sara Florence and Robert Davidson, Potlatch as Pedagogy: Learning Through Ceremony, Winnipeg, Manitoba: Portage & Main Press, 2018

^viii Kristina Huneault, I’m Not Myself at All: Women, Art, and Subjectivity in Canada, Montreal, Kingston, London, Chicago: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2018.

^ix Anne-Marie Saint-Cerny, Mégantic: une tragédie annoncée, Montreal, Quebec: Écosociété, 2018.