2021-22 Departmental Results Report

Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada

The Honourable David Lametti, P.C., Q.C., M.P.
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Caroline Maynard
Information Commissioner of Canada

Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada
30 Victoria Street
Gatineau QC
K1A 1H3

Tel. (toll free): 1-800-267-0441
Fax: 819-994-1768
Email: general@ci-oic.gc.ca
Website: www.oic-ci.gc.ca/

© His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of Public Services and Procurement Canada 2022
Cat. No. IP1-8E-PDF
ISSN 2561-2697

December 2, 2022

Download PDF version

Table of contents

• From the Commissioner
• Results at a glance
• Results: what we achieved
  • Core responsibilities
  • Internal services
• Spending and human resources
  • Spending
  • Human resources
  • Expenditures by vote
  • Government of Canada spending and activities
  • Financial statements and financial statements highlights
• Corporate information
  • Organizational profile
  • Raison d’être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do
  • Operating context
  • Reporting framework
• Supporting information on the program inventory
• Supplementary information tables
• Federal tax expenditures
• Organizational contact information
• Appendix: definitions

From the Commissioner

I am pleased to present the 2021-22 Departmental Results Report (DRR) for the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC). This report holds special significance for me as it marks the midway point of my seven-year mandate as Information Commissioner of Canada and allows me to both reflect on our achievements to date, and look forward to achieving the goals we have set for the next three years.  

When I accepted this role in early 2018, I knew there would be challenges. Yet nothing could have prepared me for a global pandemic that required the OIC, like all government institutions, to adapt to a new operational reality. Being at the helm of an organization moving through these uncharted waters, I was required to confront the challenges head-on.

Throughout these times of great change, my team and I have remained committed to upholding Canadians’ right of access to information.  I am proud of the resiliency my team has shown. Despite various obstacles they continue to deliver on priorities that I set for the OIC in our Strategic Plan. I am also proud of the work we have carried out as an organization to make the OIC an employer of choice, offering a barrier-free environment where diversity and inclusion are top priorities, and a place where employees feel supported to reach their full potential.

The OIC remains focused on continuous improvement. In 2021-22, my team concluded a record-setting 6787 complaints and registered 6945 new complaints – another record.  This number is indicative of the trend that my office has been witnessing for several years. Canadians are seeking more information through Access to Information requests, and there is no sign that this will change anytime soon.

During 2021-22, all available resources were directed to the investigations function in order to conclude as many cases as possible. Since this approach is not sustainable over a prolonged period, in the near future, the OIC will require additional resources to deliver on the investigations front, while maintaining the corporate infrastructure that enables the critical work of upholding the right of access through our investigations and reports to Parliament.

As proudly as I look at the achievements of the past three years, which have included implementing legislative amendments, strengthening the role of the Information Commissioner, as well as modernizing operations and growing capacity, I look forward in anticipation to what stands in front of us, excited to build upon these achievements throughout the rest of my term. 

Caroline Maynard
Information Commissioner of Canada

Results at a glance

The most significant factor that affected the operations at the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) in 2021-21 was the unprecedented and record-setting number of complaints received.

In an attempt to keep pace, the OIC has implemented efficient workflows and innovative processes, as well as directing all possible resources towards investigations. However, in spite of concluding a record number of complaints, the organization still fell short of its goal of closing more complaints than those received.

The OIC is guided by three primary strategies:

Invest in and support resources: The OIC staffed all available positions and stabilized the workforce by recruiting new employees into the public service. This was possible due to an increase to the OIC’s budget. Standardized integration, training and mentoring programs ensured that new staff had the skills, tools and support needed to quickly become effective employees. By providing adequate support for mental health and wellness and ensuring that values and ethics, harassment and anti-discrimination training are available and mandatory, the OIC has demonstrated its commitment to being an employer of choice. Inclusive practices are embedded into the fabric of the organization.

Innovate and transform our operations: The OIC created a vision for the future of work and laid the foundation for moving into a hybrid work environment. Furthermore, our teams of investigators are dedicated to their portfolios, having developed the relationships with institutional representatives and knowledge of the institutions themselves.

Maintain and enhance credibility:

The OIC models itself on openness and transparency. To this end, we published and updated guidance tools on our website, as well as the results of key investigations, including those where the Commissioner ordered or made recommendations to an institution.

These published reports allow complainants and institutions to understand the OIC’s interpretation of key issues.

The additional and improved guidance documents, including standard language, also allows the OIC to publish on its Decisions Database (oic-ci.gc.ca) more final reports and summaries of the Commissioner’s decisions regarding applications by institutions to decline acting on requests.

The database is a practical and useful tool supporting the OIC’s operations and provides clarity to both institutions and complainants on the OIC’s position regarding particular allegations. Increasingly, both complainants and institutions are referencing published final reports in their representations. OIC investigators refer both complainants and institutions to the database as a tool to help resolve files, and reference published final reports when the parties request representations. In addition, at the complaint intake stage, the OIC has begun sending links to published final reports, which helps the complainants better understand their rights under the Act and determine whether they wish to pursue their complaint or not. During 2021-22, the OIC published close to 40 final reports or summaries on its Decisions Database.

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

Results: what we achieved

Core responsibilities

Government Transparency

Description

The Information Commissioner is the first level of independent review of decisions relating to requests for access to information under the control of government institutions. The second level of independent review is performed by the Federal Court.

Results

With the provision of additional funding to help the OIC meet its core responsibilities, the organization staffed all vacant and new positions by the end of FY 2021-22. The OIC continues to strive towards investing in a permanent workforce. This increased capacity was one of the key contributors to the OIC’s ability to address the large number of complaints and initiate systemic investigations.

The OIC recorded a record-breaking number of complaints in 2021-22. New complaints totalled 6945, representing a 70% increase over the previous year. At the same time, the OIC concluded 6787 complaints, also a record, due in large part to process improvements and increasing the capacity of the organization to investigate complaints. This represents 67% more complaints concluded, in both refusal and administrative complaints, than last year.  This is 54% above the corporate target, based on current funding. Of the more than six thousand files concluded last year, 451 were complaints registered before April 1, 2018. Of the 3488 complaints that were in the OIC’s inventory on April 1, 2018, 419 remain. Therefore, the OIC made excellent progress in tackling its backlog of complaints, despite the significant increase in new complaints registered.

One of the key factors in meeting these targets was the completion and full implementation of the OIC’s portfolio approach. The portfolio approach has allowed for improved collaboration with institutions and more effective prioritization of investigations. The OIC has also improved its procedures and implemented a number of additional guidance documents to assist investigators.

A systemic investigation into Library and Archives Canada (LAC) highlighted two broader challenges facing the access system as a whole:

• the manner in which consultations on access requests are conducted between institutions; and
• the lack of a Government-wide framework for the declassification of records.

The Act does not specify a time limit within which a consulted institution must respond. This is a significant reason why institutions tend to prioritize responding to their own access requests, rather than consultation requests. Ultimately, this results in delays.
Canada classifies information in order to protect our interests, individuals and assets. Implementing adequate safeguards to ensure classified information is not inadvertently disclosed is costly, but essential to the proper functioning of the federal government.

However, once information is classified, there is no legislated requirement to revisit—and thereby downgrade or declassify—the records when protection is no longer required.

The Commissioner brought these two issues affecting the access system as a whole to the attention of Parliamentarians by tabling of a Special Report, At Issue: The Challenge of Accessing Our Collective Memory.

The Information Commissioner has appeared in Federal Court on behalf of requesters in a case related to a Health Canada program that permits certain individuals the right to grow and use medical marijuana. The requesters and the Commissioner argued that second and third characters of postal codes and names of cities in this case correspond to populations that are too large to enable a serious possibility of identifying individuals. The Court has yet to render its decision on the case.

The OIC created a vision for the future of work and laid the foundation for moving into a hybrid work environment. The OIC launched and assessed the results of a pilot project to establish whether employees can work securely and efficiently from a remote location other than Ottawa-Gatineau (in Canada or elsewhere). During the pilot project, the OIC tested a variety of collaborative technologies. The success of the pilot project allowed the OIC to establish a flexible, hybrid work environment, which will help retain talent in a very competitive labour market. The OIC has started implementing its vision to building a flexible work environment – one that meets operational obligations and takes into account employee preferences.

During 2021-22, the OIC integrated employees in a mostly telework environment as the pandemic continued to evolve. The Investigations unit established standardized processes to ensure new staff had all necessary training, tools and support needed to become efficient in their jobs in the shortest amount of time. During this time, investigators continued to progress through the Professional Development Program.

In support of a mostly digital workforce, the OIC invested in updating its case management system for tracking investigations through collaboration between sectors. This enables the OIC to serve Canadians more efficiently as the case management system now allows the OIC to better identify bottlenecks in its processes and propose further process improvements.

Key risks

An important strategic priority for the Commissioner is to ensure that the OIC remains relevant. That means providing Canadians with timely responses to access requests as well as finding the right balance between old and new files, and files on matters of significant public interest. It also means having the ability to conduct investigations at any given time, and providing informed advice to Parliament and others on matters of access. This year, the OIC’s capacity to respond to Canadians was insufficient, raising the possibility of putting the organization’s credibility in peril. The OIC received 6945 complaints while being funded to respond to only 4414 complaints per year. To mitigate this risk, the OIC channelled all possible resources to the investigations function. However, such an approach is not sustainable.

Results achieved

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

*The figures for 2019–20 only include administrative complaints (those regarding  time extensions, delays and other matters such as official languages) closed outside the OIC’s Registry, which the OIC had set up the previous year to facilitate case management and conclude complaints not requiring a full investigation. The figure for the percentage of administrative complaints assigned to investigators within 30 days of registration in 2019–20 is the result of a number of factors, including resourcing challenges. Moreover, the OIC could not assign the large volume of new administrative complaints it received during the year all at once without compromising investigators’ ability to work on other types of complaints and older files, and without overwhelming institutions’ capacity to respond to investigators’ queries.

**Refusal complaints (largely those about institutions’ application of exemptions and exclusions) completed with a finding of well founded, not well founded or resolved.
Financial, human resources and performance information for the OIC’s Program Inventory is available in GC InfoBase.

Budgetary financial resources (dollars)

The following table shows, for Government Transparency, budgetary spending for 2021–22, as well as actual spending for that year.

Actual spending was lower than planned spending mostly due to the timing of when vacant and planned positions were staffed.  Although all planned positions were filled before the end of the year, staffing was done incrementally resulting in underutilization of funds from the increase in annual permanent funding under the OIC’s core responsibility.

Financial, human resources and performance information for the OIC’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.

The actual full-time equivalents was lower than the planned full-time equivalents due to the time lag between receiving the funds and staffing positions.

Financial, human resources and performance information for the OIC’s Program Inventory is available in GC InfoBase.

Internal services

Description

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

• acquisition management services
• communication services
• financial management services
• human resources management services
• information management services
• information technology services
• material management services
• management and oversight services
• real property management services

In 2021-22, the OIC continued to focus its efforts on building the capacity required to respond to the increased volume of complaints and stabilize its workforce in order to do so. Understanding that permanent resources are required to maintain a viable and sustainable investigations program, the OIC focused on recruitment efforts and retention strategies.

The result is a permanent complement of 135 full-time equivalents (FTEs), enabling the OIC to more effectively support the Commissioner in fulfilling her mandate. The OIC also pushed forward initiatives to assist its workforce in fulfilling day-to-day functions.

The OIC is applying an integrated approach where people, technology and the work environment intersect to reflect its aspiration of being favored among peer organizations as an employer of choice. Partly through the planning and designing of the OIC’s future workplace—a hybrid environment that gives employees the flexibility to adopt a work arrangement based on their needs—the OIC is creating the conditions that will enable employees to perform their best. These include continuing to move towards cloud technology and the employment of artificial intelligence.

For example, the organizational focus on increased transparency, decision publishing and issuing special reports was a business driver that has had a notable impact on the OIC’s operations. Using artificial intelligence, the OIC developed a translation memory tool that increases efficiency and consistent terminology in documents published in both official languages, thus advancing publishing capacity at the OIC.

While advancing technology, we are also building a safe, healthy, positive and inclusive workplace. To this end, in 2021–2022, the OIC initiated three-year plans aimed at building upon the institution’s mental health and equity, diversity and inclusion commitments (EDI). The primary goals and associated initiatives of the mental health plan are to create a flexible work environment, where two-way communications are the norm and employees are recognized for their contributions to the OIC’s success. Initiatives related to EDI focus on promoting a workplace where conversations about equity, diversity and inclusion are encouraged and supported, while building an organization that reflects Canada's diverse population and linguistic duality.

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.

Spending and human resources

Spending

Spending 2018–19 to 2023–24

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

Text version

Spending 2018–19 to 2023–24

Fiscal year	Total	Voted	Statutory
2019–20	14,376,547	13,146,703	1,229,844
2020–21	16,133,389	14,504,595	1,628,794
2021–22	17,898,054	16,150,614	1,747,440
2022–23	15,910,229	14,125,695	1,784,534
2023–24	15,910,229	14,125,695	1,784,534
2024–25	15,910,229	14,125,695	1,784,534

The OIC spent $17.9 million in 2021–22 to carry out its program and meet its strategic outcome. The Commissioner is committed to ensuring the OIC uses its financial resources in the most strategic and responsible manner to continue to improve service delivery and ensure that investigations and other activities aimed at enhancing government openness and transparency have the most impact.

In 2020–21, the OIC received $2.5 million in annual permanent funding under the OIC’s core responsibilities. $0.69 million of funds were re-profiled from 2019–20 to 2020–21 and $0.96 million from 2019–20 to 2021–22. For 2020–21 and beyond, the spending graph includes the funding for collective agreements: $0.7 million for 2020–21 and $0.3 million for 2021–22 and ongoing.

In 2020–21, the additional funding received enabled the OIC to focus on expanding its workforce in order to better serve Canadians and resolve complaints more quickly. The vast majority of the OIC’s spending (76 percent) was for salaries and associated employee costs. The increased permanent funding in 2020–21 and beyond will help ensure the OIC’s investigations program is viable and sustainable, and can achieve maximum results for Canadians.

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

The “Budgetary performance summary for core responsibilities and internal services” table presents the budgetary financial resources allocated for OIC’s core responsibilities and for internal services.

For fiscal years 2019-20 to 2021-22, actual spending represents the actual expenditures as reported in the Public Accounts of Canada. Fiscal years 2022-23 and 2023-24 represent planned spending.

The net increase of $1.9 million between the 2021-22 total authorities available for use ($18.7 million) and the 2021-22 planned spending ($16.8 million) is mainly due to funding received for the operating budget carry forward exercise, amounts reprofiled from the prior year, and adjustments to the employee benefit plans.

Total authorities available for use in 2021-22 ($18.7 million) compared to 2021-22 actual spending ($17.9 million) resulted in a lapse of $0.8 million. This amount represents the operating lapses reported in the Public Accounts of Canada by the OIC.

Human resources

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

Human resources summary for core responsibilities and internal services

Expenditures by vote

For information on the OIC’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 OIC’s spending with Government of Canada’s spending and activities is available in GC InfoBase.

Financial statements and financial statements highlights

Financial statements

OIC’s financial statements (audited) 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 actual net cost of operations in 2021–22 was higher than 2021–22 planned results due to the OIC securing additional funding after the publication of that years initial figure.

The actual net cost of operations in 2021–22 was higher than in 2020–2021 mostly due to the OIC’s securing more funding that, in turn, resulted in increased spending for salaries and outsourced services.

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

Total net liabilities for 2021–22 were $2.5 million, a decrease of $0.7 million from 2020–21. This is mainly due to a decrease in year-end accounts payable. The increase in non-financial assets largely resulted from the acquisition of tangible capital assets.
The 2021–22 planned results information is provided in the OIC Future-Oriented Statement of Operations and Notes 2021–22.

Corporate information

Organizational profile

Appropriate minister[s]: Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Institutional head: Caroline Maynard, Information Commissioner of Canada

Ministerial portfolio: Department of Justice Canada

Enabling instrument[s]: Access to information Act (RSC, 1985, C-1)

Year of incorporation / commencement: 1983

Other: For administrative purposes, the Minister of Justice is responsible for submitting the organization’s Departmental Plan and Departmental Results Report.

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

“2021-22 Raison d’être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do” is available on OIC’s website.

Operating context

Information on the 2021-22 operating context is available on OIC’s website.

Reporting framework

OIC’s Departmental Results Framework and Program Inventory of record for 2021–22 are shown below.

Text version

Core Responsibility: Government Transparency
Departmental Results Framework
Departmental Result: Canadians receive timely resolution of complaints about how federal institutions process access to information requests

• Indicator: Percentage of investigations of refusal complaints assigned to investigators within 180 days of being registered
• Indicator: Percentage of investigations of refusal complaints completed within 270 days
• Indicator: Median turnaround time for completion of investigations of administrative complaints
• Indicator: Median turnaround time for completion of investigations of refusal complaints
• Indicator: Percentage of investigations of administrative complaints assigned to investigators within 30 days of being registered
• Indicator: Percentage of investigations of administrative complaints completed within 60 days
• Indicator: Percentage of complaints in the inventory at each year-end that were registered during the current year and previous year

Departmental Result: Complaint investigations result in increased access to government information

• Indicator: Percentage of completed refusal investigations that result in more information being released to complainants

Program Inventory
Compliance with access to information obligations.
Internal services

Supporting information on the program inventory

Financial, human resources and performance information for OIC’s Program Inventory is available in GC InfoBase.

Supplementary information tables

The following supplementary information tables are available on OIC’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

France Labine
Deputy Commissioner, Corporate Services, Strategic Planning
and Transformation Services
Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada
30 Victoria Street
Gatineau QC K1A 1H3

Tel.: 819-994-8181
cell: 613-462-4441
Email: france.labine@ci-oic.gc.ca
Website: www.oic-ci.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 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 most important actions or activities 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 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.