CanNor Responses and Actions to Auditor General Spring 2014 Report Recommendations

Auditor General's Report Reference Paragraph/Recommendation Agency Response CanNor Action Plan Status of CanNor Actions
20
Recommendation n° 1
CanNor should ensure that complete assessments of eligibility for assistance under its economic development programs are completed and documented are required by the Policy on Transfer Payments. In cases where applications are incomplete, the Agency should work with applicants to ensure that they provide all information required to complete assessments.		 Agreed. CanNor recognizes the importance of conducting thorough assessments of projects to determine eligibility. CanNor is developing new application forms to assist recipients in providing the required information so the Agency can better assess projects. New project assessment forms are also in development for both the Aboriginal Economic Development (AED) Program and the Strategic Investments in Northern Economic Development (SINED) Program. The application forms and the project assessment forms will be implemented by April 1, 2014.
  • Develop detailed program information for the Northern Aboriginal Economic Opportunities Program (NAEOP) (former Aboriginal Economic Development Program), and SINED
  • Develop program application forms for NAEOP and SINED
  • Develop new program guidelines and project assessment forms for NAEOP and SINED for use by economic development officers (EDOs)
  • Conduct regional training/planning sessions for EDOs for program renewal roll-out and implementation, including EDO Toolkit with program Terms and Conditions, guidelines, checklists, forms, templates, application processes and procedures and service standards.
  • Completed and posted to web Apr. 1/14
  • Completed and posted to web May 5/14
  • Completed/translated for NAEOP
  • Awaiting SINED Program Mgmt Control Framework update/completion in order to complete EDO guidelines.
  • Sessions held in all 3 territories week of Mar 24/14
25
Recommendation n° 2
CanNor should formally review the processes in place for the review and approval of projects so that decisions on funding to recipients are made in a timely manner.		 Agreed. CanNor is committed to providing efficient and effective service to clients. To further improve and strengthen CanNor's administration of contribution agreements, program officers will use the new application and assessment forms to assess applications in a thorough and expedient manner, taking into consideration the needs of clients based in the North. CanNor will develop service standards for project assessments by April 1, 2014 and track performance against these standards.
  • Develop a correspondence and project monitoring tool to document officer-proponent exchanges related to information gathering, and project and contribution agreement monitoring and reporting.
  • Develop a mechanism to track project performance, produce reports on the status of projects, and track service standards (OpSTART)
  • Conduct regional training/planning sessions for EDOs for program renewal roll-out and implementation, including EDO Toolkit with program Terms and Conditions, guidelines, checklists, forms, templates, application processes and procedures and service standards.
  • Implemented as of Apr. 1/14
  • OpSTART implemented as of Apr. 1/14
  • Sessions held in all 3 territories week of Mar 24/14
26
Recommendation n° 3
CanNor should review its quality assurance processes to ensure that before contribution agreements are signed they do not contain inconsistencies.		 Agreed. CanNor is committed to improving its quality assurance process by April 1, 2014 to ensure that it is more robust. The aim of the quality assurance process will be to eliminate any inconsistencies in the contribution agreements and ensure contribution agreements contain provisions related to payment schedules and performance measurement tracking.
  • Develop Quality Assurance Tool to reduce errors and inconsistencies in funding agreements and to ensure compliance with CanNor business processes (funding approach) and performance measurement strategy.
  • Conduct regional training/planning sessions for EDOs for program renewal roll-out and implementation, including a session on quality assurance.
  • Implemented as of Apr. 1/14
  • Sessions held in all 3 territories week of Mar 24/14
30
Recommendation n° 4
CanNor should document its recipient and project risk assessments. It should also define appropriate levels of monitoring and reporting to be specified in contribution agreements, proportionate to recipient and project risks.		 Agreed. CanNor will develop and implement better tools to assess recipient and project risks by April 1, 2014. Recipient risk assessments will be used to determine agreement duration and the levels of financial reporting will be based on agreement amounts. High risk projects will be subject to increased monitoring by project officers.
  • Develop new and modify existing risk assessment tools, as appropriate, and incorporate tools in project assessment forms for SINED and NAEOP.
  • Conduct regional training/planning sessions for EDOs for program renewal roll-out and implementation, including a session on project risk assessment.
  • Implemented as of Apr. 1/14
  • Sessions held in all 3 territories week of Mar. 24/14
43
Recommendation n° 5
CanNor should review recipient reports and follow up on cases where
information is incomplete or does not support activities specified in the
contribution agreements. It should also document follow-up and monitoring activities to ensure that agreements are being monitored in accordance with the requirements of the Policy on Transfer
Payments.		 Agreed. To further improve monitoring requirements and compliance with contribution agreements, CanNor will conduct training for program officers on the use of the Grants and Contributions funding system and on improving monitoring, documentation and informationmanagement for projects, by April 1, 2014.
  • Develop a correspondence and project monitoring tool to document officer-proponent exchanges related to information gathering, and project and contribution agreement monitoring and reporting.
  • Conduct regional training/planning sessions for EDOs for program renewal roll-out and implementation, including on the Grants and Contributions funding system.
  • Implemented as of Apr. 1/14
  • Program delivery toolkit provided to EDOs Apr. 1/14. Further training to be scheduled before June 30/14
48
Recommendation n° 6
CanNor should fully implement performance measurement strategies for its economic development programs. The Agency should incorporate performance information requirements set out in the strategies into contribution agreements and use this information to report on program performance.		 CanNor's performance measurement strategies and indicators are being updated systematically as each program is renewed.  This will ensure that the Agency's performance measurement strategies and indicators are kept current and up to date, while meeting the Agency's monitoring needs.  At the same time, a new tracking system to capture this data has been built and is being implemented beginning April 1, 2014.  This includes ensuring that measures are incorporated into reporting sections of agreements, and that information is captured as reports are submitted by recipients.  This approach is being incorporated as part of the Economic Development Officer "Tool Kit".  In addition, the Agency is currently consulting with other regional development agencies and Shared Services Canada on potential common strategies and systems for performance measurement.
  • Develop Quality Assurance Tool to reduce errors and inconsistencies in funding agreements and to ensure compliance with CanNor business processes (funding approach) and performance measurement strategy.
  • Develop a mechanism to track project performance, produce reports on the status of projects, and track service standards (OpSTART)
  • Establish service standards for program delivery.
  • Conduct regional training/planning sessions for EDOs for program renewal roll-out and implementation, including a session on the new tracking system, OpSTART.
  • Completed/translated
  • OpSTART implemented on Apr. 1/14
  • Implemented as of Apr. 1/14
  • Sessions held in all 3 territories week of Mar. 24/14
55
Recommendation n° 7
CanNor should finalize implementation of its Management Control Framework for Grants and Contributions, and follow through on its commitments to update the manuals and tools used to manage contribution agreements.		 Agreed. CanNor will complete implementation of the Management Control Framework by August 1, 2014. The Agency is presently updating manuals and tools as part of the new Economic Development Officer "Tool Kit" for managing both the SINED and AED Programs. CanNor has recently updated its website with a strong focus on making program related information accessible to clients.
  • Develop an EDO Toolkit that includes a quality assurance tool and a correspondence and monitoring tool to better manage contribution agreements.
  • Develop financial control processes as follows :
    • Contract reconcilliation process;
    • Implement monitoring processes;
    • Update financial delegation authorities.
  • Implemented as of Apr. 1/14
  • Reconciliation process started 2013-14. Formal procedures developed and implemented by June 30, 2014.
  • Monitoring processes to be developed Aug. 1/14 and monitoring to begin in late Fall 2014.
  • Updated delegations drafted; pending changes to TBS Policy.
56
Recommendation n° 8
CanNor should assess, in conjunction with Aboriginal transfer payment recipients, whether alternative funding approaches should be considered. It should also consider use of multi-
year agreements.		 Agreed. To further improve service and reduce the administrative burden for clients, CanNor is examining alternate funding approaches as per the Directive on Transfer Payments, and multi-year agreements in the context of the new Terms and Conditions for AED that will come into effect April 1, 2014.
  • Include Transfer Payment Policy and Directive in the EDO Toolkit.
  • CanNor will use set, fixed and flexible contribution funding approaches for transfer payments to Aboriginal recipients, and multi-year agreements will be considered based on the risk assessment of the proponent, consistent with the Directive on Transfer Payments (Appendix K: Transfer payments to Aboriginal recipients) and according to the Department's framework for the management of transfer payments.
  • Conduct regional training/planning sessions for EDOs for program renewal roll-out and implementation, including a session on Transfer Payment Policy and Directive.
  • Implemented as of Apr. 1/14
  • Ongoing
  • Sessions held in all 3 territories week of Mar. 24/14
64
Recommendation n°9
The Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency should update its human resources plan and establish an Inuit employment plan as required under the Inuit Land Claims Agreement. The Agency should monitor implementation of these plans and adjust them as required.		 Agreed. The Agency is committed to achieving a professional workforce that represents the clients it serves. To fully staff the Iqaluit headquarters and meet the requirements of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, the Agency is renewing its Human Resources plan and finalizing its Inuit Employment Plan with a target completion date by the first quarter of 2014. CanNor will review these plans on an annual basis.
  • Update CanNor Human Resources Plan.
  • Prepare Inuit Employment Plan (IEP).
  • Updated HR plan has been drafted and reviewed by SMC as of March 2014; final document targeted for June 30/14.
  • IEP drafted as of mid-April; for final review by SMC in May and finalize by June 30/14.
67
Recommendation n°10
The Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency should review its staff complement with a view to fulfilling its mandate of having an organization based in the North.		 Agreed. CanNor will continue to increase its staff complement including internal services in Iqaluit using staffing, retention and development efforts to address challenges associated with employment in the North, and guided by its Human Resources and Inuit Employment plans, CanNor will work to increase its current Iqaluit complement by 9 additional positions by the end of fiscal year 2014-15 and gradually transfer more internal services from Ottawa to Iqaluit.
  • CanNor will increase the number of staff in its Iqaluit HQ and Regional Office by adding 9 positions by the end of 2014-15. Over the longer-term, the Agency will also gradually transfer internal services from Ottawa to Iqaluit as positions become vacant and opportunities arise.
  • As of April 2014, CanNor has increased its Iqaluit positions by 2.
71
Recommendation n°11
The Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency should update its Office Accommodation Framework taking into consideration lessons learned since its establishment.		 Agreed. CanNor will implement its Office Accommodation Framework by March 31, 2014 to meet the guidelines outlined in Appendix D (Accommodation Guidance for Departments) of the TBS Guide to the Management of Real Property.
  • Prepare and post new Office Accommodation Framework.
  • Prepared and approved by SMC in Q4 of 2013-14, to be posted on CanNor intranet by May 16/14.
75
Recommendation n°12
The Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency should finalize harmonization of its economic development transfer payment programs as soon as possible so that the objectives are clear and accountability is clarified.		 Agreed. CanNor is launching a new harmonized Aboriginal Economic Development Program April 1, 2014.
  • CanNor will launch and implement a harmonized Northern Aboriginal Economic Opportunities Program (NAEOP) by April 1, 2014.
  • Program harmonization completed and launched Apr. 1/14

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