2022–23 Departmental Plan

Core responsibility 1: Protection of rights related to official languages

• The Office of the Commissioner will encourage federal institutions to meet their obligations under the Act.
• The Office of the Commissioner will intervene with federal institutions and its partners to influence the next action plan for official languages.

Core responsibility 2: Advancement of English and French in Canadian society

• The Office of the Commissioner will provide ongoing leadership to ensure that the government truly modernizes the Act and implements the changes that will result from the new Act.
• The Office of the Commissioner will base its activities in support of the vitality of official languages on a contemporary vision of linguistic duality in a changing Canada.

In addition, the Office of the Commissioner is committed to continuing to foster a culture of collaboration and resource optimization within its organization and as part of a hybrid work environment.

For more information on the Office of the Commissioner’s plans, priorities and planned results, see the “Core responsibilities: planned results and resources, and key risks” section of this report.

Protection of rights related to official languages

Advancement of English and French in Canadian society

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

Since court remedies are provided for in the Act, the Office of the Commissioner’s legal services are excluded from Internal Services and are an integral part of its official language rights protection program. The same is true of the Office of the Commissioner’s communications services, which, in light of its specific mandate, are not included in Internal Services, but are instead part of the Advancement of Official Languages program.

Planning highlights

The Office of the Commissioner is committed to fostering a culture of collaboration and resource optimization, particularly in the hybrid work environment imposed as a result of the COVID 19 pandemic. As such, the Office of the Commissioner will ensure that it maintains a collaborative work environment that allows it to meet its work objectives.

In the context of the shift of Government of Canada organizations toward digital management and delivery of services, information and data, information technology and cyber security in the digital era, the Office of the Commissioner will continue leveraging technology to better support its priorities and mandate. To this end, the Office of the Commissioner will continue optimizing its investment in its client relationship management platform. This platform provides an organizational approach that improves client service and allows for enhanced program integration. In addition, owing to organizations’ mass digitization efforts, the amount of usable data generated has become significantly large. This approach will reveal better data analysis to identify intervention opportunities, record client service issues, streamline processes, optimize resources and manage intervention campaigns. In addition, the Office of the Commissioner will continue implementing its data management strategy to promote service delivery and operational efficiency in keeping with the requirements of the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat’s Policy on Service and Digital.

With respect to the upcoming modernization of the Act, the Office of the Commissioner will assess its capacity to respond to the new requirements of the Act, while taking into consideration its resources and recruitment methods. It will also review its structure to determine whether any changes are required to better support the Commissioner’s enhanced mandate.

The Office of the Commissioner will continue working with the Treasury Board Secretariat to renew the classification of certain occupational groups, including the PA group.

Ultimately, these activities will help integrate the Office of the Commissioner’s overall mandate and objectives by bringing together all functions and sectors.

Planned spending

Over the past three years, the Office of the Commissioner has seen a slight increase in its expenditures. The changes in authorities over the last three years are mainly due to additional authorities received to cover new collective agreements signed.

Budgetary planning summary for core responsibilities and internal services (dollars)

The following table shows information on spending for each of the Office of the Commissioner’s core responsibilities and for its internal services for 2022–2023 and other relevant fiscal years.

The difference between the 2020-2021 expenditures and the 2021-2022 spending forecast is due mainly to investments in capital assets and to a gradual return to normal of the activities of the Office of the Commissioner following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Planned human resources

The following table shows information on human resources, in full-time equivalents (FTEs), for each of the Office of the Commissioner’s core responsibilities and for its internal services for 2022–2023 and the other relevant years.

There have been no significant differences in the last three years. The Office of the Commissioner’s human resources are expected to remain constant. Our staffing level remained constant in 2019-2020 and 2020-2021. A slight increase in full-time equivalents (FTEs) in 2021-2022 is a reflection of a new staffing strategy. Future years reflects the currently approved resources.

Estimates by vote

Information on the Office of the Commissioner’s organizational appropriations is available in the 2022–2023 Main Estimates.

Future-oriented condensed statement of operations

The future‑oriented condensed statement of operations provides an overview of the Office of the Commissioner’s operations for 2021–2022 to 2022–2023.

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 with the requested authorities, are available.

The net cost of operations before government funding and transfers for the 2022–2023 planned results is expected to decrease by $280,504 compared to the net cost of operations before government funding and transfers for the 2021–2022 forecast results.

This decrease is due mainly to the inclusion of the operating budget carry-forward in the 2021-2022 forecast results and non-recurring expenses incurred in 2021-2022 for the redevelopment of office spaces.

Organizational profile

Commissioner of Official Languages:

Raymond Théberge

Enabling instrument(s):

Subsection 56(1) of the Official Languages Act

Year of incorporation /
commencement:

1970

Other:

The Commissioner of Official Languages is appointed by commission under the Great Seal, after approval by resolution of the House of Commons and the Senate. The Commissioner reports directly to Parliament.

Raison d’être

The Commissioner of Official Languages oversees the full implementation of the Official Languages Act,protects the language rights of Canadians and promotes linguistic duality.

Mandate and role

Section 56 of the Official Languages Act states:

It is the duty of the Commissioner to take all actions and measures within the authority of the Commissioner with a view to ensuring recognition of the status of each of the official languages and compliance with the spirit and intent of this Act in the administration of the affairs of federal institutions, including any of their activities relating to the advancement of English and French in Canadian society.

Under the Act, therefore, the Commissioner is required to take every measure within his or her power to ensure that the three main objectives of the Official Languages Act are met:

• Ensure the equality of the status and use of English and French in Parliament, the Government of Canada, the federal administration and the institutions subject to the Act.
• Support the development of official language minority communities in Canada.
• Advance the equality of English and French in Canadian society.

Operating context

Fiscal year 2022–2023 will mark the fourth year of implementation of the organization’s 2018–2025 strategic directions. The Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages (the Office of the Commissioner) will be conducting many activities throughout the year to advance various official languages files.

Reporting framework

The Office of the Commissioner’s approved departmental results framework and program inventory for 2022–2023 are as follows.

Supporting information on the program inventory

Supporting information on planned expenditures, human resources, and results related to the Office of the Commissioner’s program inventory is available on GC InfoBase.

Supplementary information tables

The following supplementary information tables are available.

Federal tax expenditures

The Office of the Commissioner’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. 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 plus.

Organizational contact information

Mailing address
30 Victoria Street, 6th floor
Gatineau, Quebec K1A 0T8
Telephone: 819-420-4877 or 1-877-996-6368
Fax: 819-420-4873
Email: information@clo-ocol.gc.ca
Website: www.officiallanguages.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.

experimentation (expérimentation)

The conducting of activities that explore, test and compare the effects and impacts of policies and interventions in order to inform decision-making and improve outcomes for Canadians. Experimentation is related to, but distinct from, innovation. Innovation is the trying of something new; experimentation involves a rigorous comparison of results. For example, introducing a new mobile application to communicate with Canadians can be an innovation; systematically testing the new application and comparing it against an existing website or other tools to see which one reaches more people, 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. 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 process used to assess how diverse groups of women, men and gender-diverse people experience policies, programs and services based on multiple factors including race, ethnicity, religion, age, and mental or physical disability.

government-wide priorities (priorités pangouvernementales)

For the purpose of the 2022–2023 Departmental Plan, government-wide priorities are the high-level themes outlining the government’s agenda in the 2021 Speech from the Throne: 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 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.