Other: Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates—March 22, 2023
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Public Services and Procurement Canada’s 2023 to 2024 Departmental Plan
Context
On March 9, 2023, Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) and Shared Services Canada’s (SSC) 2023 to 2024 Departmental Plans were tabled in the House of Commons by the president of the Treasury Board. The report outlines PSPC and SSC’s planned activities for 2023 to 2024 in relation to the minister’s mandate commitments and government-wide priorities.
Suggested response
- PSPC will deliver on broad government commitments related to diversity and inclusion, greening of government operations, and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, including by increasing the diversity of bidders and participation of Indigenous businesses in federal procurement
- The department will continue to optimize the use of office space through the hybrid model, and support the operational needs of its client departments
- The department will also deliver on key defence procurements to improve Canada’s continental defence capabilities, including through the modernization of the North American Aerospace Defence Command, and support the Canadian Armed Forces’ ability to protect Canadians against new and emerging threats
- SSC is responsible for operating and modernizing the Government of Canada’s information technology (IT) infrastructure, which is the backbone of a digital government
- An enterprise approach is key to the success of digital government in keeping up with new technologies and managing emerging risks. It simplifies IT maintenance and operations and allows for continuous improvement while reducing overall costs for the Government of Canada
- SSC’s focus for the year is on strengthening the foundational pieces of IT infrastructure to support a hybrid workplace and enhance security
If pressed on accessibility:
- We are continuing our work to identify gaps and improve accessibility in our buildings and government assets
- The department is supporting the implementation of the Accessible Canada Act through its first Accessibility Plan, which outlines key initiatives towards universal accessibility and inclusion for PSPC employees, other government departments, and the Canadian public
If pressed on the networks for the hybrid workplace:
- SSC is adapting Government of Canada networks to support the hybrid workplace model, which is a combination of both remote work and office work. Key network and security updates include improving bandwidth, implementing Wi-Fi services in Government of Canada buildings and using a zero-trust security mode
If pressed on cloud services:
- SSC plays a key role in supporting departments to modernize and update their IT platforms, including the use of various cloud-based services. The updated Government of Canada’s Cloud Adoption Strategy outlines how SSC plays a key role in helping departments choose the most appropriate hosting model
If pressed on enterprise IT service management:
- SSC uses an enterprise-wide approach to IT service management, which includes implementing and managing IT services for partners. The objective for SSC is to integrate end-to-end IT services with its partners based on the deployment of a common digital solution
If pressed on reconciliation:
- PSPC is working with partners to meet and exceed the target of awarding at least 5% of the total value of federal contracts to businesses managed or led by Indigenous peoples
- This includes outreach activities delivered by Procurement Assistance Canada to provide support on how to do business with the federal government
- Work is also being done to include Indigenous participation plans in government procurements, which will offer employment, skills development and training opportunities to Indigenous peoples
If pressed on the SSC’s expenditures and revenues:
- SSC’s planned spending for 2023 to 2024 is $2,591,969,423
- The decrease from 2022 to 2023 forecast spending to 2023 to 2024 planned spending is due to the sunset or decrease in funding of a number of initiatives
- These include funding for the special initiative of Next generation human resources and pay, Workload Modernization and Migration Program as well as the secure cloud enablement and defence evolution and departmental connectivity and monitoring initiative from Budget 2021, and mission critical projects from the fall economic statement 2017
- This is offset by an increase in funding for new initiatives such as the Network Modernization and Implementation Fund from Budget 2021 and for the standardization of mandatory network, security and digital services for small departments and agencies from Budget 2022
- SSC’s planned full time equivalents (FTE) for 2023 to 2024 is 8,370
- The FTE increases throughout the fiscal years are mainly due to additional FTEs that were created to respond to the increase of demand for services
- SSC as a service provider continuously optimizes available resources to respond to the demand for its services
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