2018-2019 Operating context and key risks

The coming year will be one of significant change for the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada (OIC). Caroline Maynard was appointed as the new Information Commissioner on March 1^st, 2018, for a term of seven years.

The Information Commissioner is an Agent of Parliament appointed under the Access to Information Act. The Commissioner protects and promotes access to information rights and is the first level of independent review of government decisions relating to requests for access to public sector information. The Act requires the Commissioner to investigate all the complaints she receives. She is supported in her work by the OIC.

In June 2017, the government tabled Bill C-58, An Act to amend the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts. The OIC is focused on the implementation of this new legislation in the coming year. This will require the OIC to secure the human and financial resources necessary to protect and promote new and existing access rights.

The OIC’s workload continues on a general upward trend, but with the added challenge that the complaint volume for any given year is unpredictable. The OIC is pursuing both temporary and permanent additional funding in order to reduce the number of complaints in the inventory.

The OIC has identified human resources as a perpetual risk. As an Agent of Parliament with fewer than 100 FTEs, the risk of having an insufficient number of employees with the breadth and depth of experience necessary to complete activities or address competing priorities is constant. Furthermore, the loss of qualified employees to larger organizations with more opportunities for advancement could have an impact on the OIC’s ability to deliver its mandate. The OIC will continue to foster an exceptional workplace in order to further increase employee morale and engagement. The OIC is committed to building a healthy and respectful workplace, with a focus on the mental health, safety and well-being of employees.

The OIC has an agreement in place with the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) to provide procurement and contracting services on its behalf. The OIC’s reliance on another organization in this regard, compliance with contracting policies and regulations, employee turnover at CHRC, urgency of investigator contracts and the potential impact on service levels have all been identified as potential risks for the OIC.

Please refer to the Risk-based Audit and Evaluation Plan completed in October 2017 for further details on the risks facing the OIC.

Key risks

Risks	Risk response strategy	Link to the department’s Core Responsibilities	Link to mandate letter commitments and any government wide or departmental priorities (as applicable)
Changes to the Access to Information (ATI) Act: The tabled legislative changes to the ATI Act could have an impact on the number of complaints received by the OIC and the operating environment in which it conducts its investigations.	The OIC has been closely monitoring the progress of Bill C-58 and all amendments to the Act. Senior Management has been meeting regularly to plan for any operational changes that may stem from Bill C-58. The probability of these changes occurring are 100% and the impact could be significant, although the total impact will not be determined until the Bill is finalized. Therefore, the current performance measurements are deemed sufficient until the Bill is finalized. A program evaluation is scheduled for 2019–20 in order to evaluate the relevance and performance of the investigations program. The evaluation should consider the evolving nature of investigations through an analysis of the portfolio of complaints (e.g. source, targeted institution, complaint type), as well as the new context in which the program is operating (e.g. legislative changes).	Government Transparency	Open and Transparent Government
Human Resources (HR): As an Agent of Parliament with fewer than 100 FTEs, the risk of having an insufficient number of employees with the breadth and depth of experience necessary to complete activities or address competing priorities is constant. Furthermore, the loss of qualified employees to larger organizations with more opportunities for advancement could have an impact on the OIC’s ability to deliver its mandate in a timely manner.	A new HR plan will be finalized in 2018 that focuses on employee retention, recruitment and talent management. The HR team at the OIC continues to run competitions to recruit investigators and key members of corporate services. The OIC has identified HR as a perpetual risk and will continue to foster an exceptional workplace in order to further increase employee morale and engagement. The OIC is committed to building a healthy and respectful workplace, with a focus on the mental health, safety and well-being of employees. An audit of HR is planned for 2018–19 to a review of the following practices i) effectiveness of employee performance evaluation; ii) effectiveness of Talent Management program, iii) employee turnover, and iv) exit interviews.	Government Transparency	Open and Transparent Government
Contracting and Procurement: The OIC has an agreement in place authorizing the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) to provide procurement and contracting services. The contracting out of this service (reliance on another organization), compliance with contracting policies and regulations, employee turnover at CHRC, urgency of investigator contracts and the potential impact on service levels, have been identified as potential risks to the OIC.	The OIC does quarterly review of all contracts as part of its proactive disclosure process. An audit of CHRC and OIC operational efficiency, accuracy and compliance of procurement and contracting practices and processes as well as the extent to which procurement activities support business lines and organizational objectives is scheduled for 2018–19.	Government Transparency	Open and Transparent Government

Risks

Risk response strategy

Link to the department’s Core Responsibilities

Link to mandate letter commitments and any government wide or departmental priorities (as applicable)

Changes to the Access to Information (ATI) Act: The tabled legislative changes to the ATI Act could have an impact on the number of complaints received by the OIC and the operating environment in which it conducts its investigations.

The OIC has been closely monitoring the progress of Bill C-58 and all amendments to the Act. Senior Management has been meeting regularly to plan for any operational changes that may stem from Bill C-58. The probability of these changes occurring are 100% and the impact could be significant, although the total impact will not be determined until the Bill is finalized. Therefore, the current performance measurements are deemed sufficient until the Bill is finalized.

A program evaluation is scheduled for 2019–20 in order to evaluate the relevance and performance of the investigations program. The evaluation should consider the evolving nature of investigations through an analysis of the portfolio of complaints (e.g. source, targeted institution, complaint type), as well as the new context in which the program is operating (e.g. legislative changes).

Government Transparency

Open and Transparent Government

Human Resources (HR): As an Agent of Parliament with fewer than 100 FTEs, the risk of having an insufficient number of employees with the breadth and depth of experience necessary to complete activities or address competing priorities is constant. Furthermore, the loss of qualified employees to larger organizations with more opportunities for advancement could have an impact on the OIC’s ability to deliver its mandate in a timely manner.

A new HR plan will be finalized in 2018 that focuses on employee retention, recruitment and talent management.

The HR team at the OIC continues to run competitions to recruit investigators and key members of corporate services.

The OIC has identified HR as a perpetual risk and will continue to foster an exceptional workplace in order to further increase employee morale and engagement. The OIC is committed to building a healthy and respectful workplace, with a focus on the mental health, safety and well-being of employees. An audit of HR is planned for 2018–19 to a review of the following practices i) effectiveness of employee performance evaluation; ii) effectiveness of Talent Management program, iii) employee turnover, and iv) exit interviews.

Government Transparency

Open and Transparent Government

Contracting and Procurement: The OIC has an agreement in place authorizing the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) to provide procurement and contracting services. The contracting out of this service (reliance on another organization), compliance with contracting policies and regulations, employee turnover at CHRC, urgency of investigator contracts and the potential impact on service levels, have been identified as potential risks to the OIC.

The OIC does quarterly review of all contracts as part of its proactive disclosure process.

An audit of CHRC and OIC operational efficiency, accuracy and compliance of procurement and contracting practices and processes as well as the extent to which procurement activities support business lines and organizational objectives is scheduled for 2018–19.

Government Transparency

Open and Transparent Government