Action Plan in Response to the Recommendations Contained in Chapter 6 - Transfer Payment Programs of the Spring 2014 Report of the Auditor General of Canada

Recommendation 1 – Para 6.20:

The Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency should ensure that complete assessments of eligibility for assistance under its economic development programs are completed and documented as 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.

The Agency recognizes the importance of conducting thorough project assessments to determine eligibility. It is developing new application forms to assist recipients in providing the required information so that it can better assess projects. New project assessment forms are also being developed 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 Strategic Investments in Northern Economic Development (SINED).

• Completed and posted to internet site April 1, 2014.

• Develop program application forms for NAEOP and SINED.

• Completed and posted to internet site May 5, 2014.

• Develop new program guidelines and project assessment forms for NAEOP and SINED for use by economic development officers (EDOs).

• Completed program guidelines and project assessment forms for NAEOP and SINED in July 2014.
• Completed SINED program guidelines December 2014.

• 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 training sessions (March 2014 to May 2014).
• Additional training sessions ongoing.

Recommendation 2 – Para 6.25:

The Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency 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.

The Agency is committed to providing efficient and effective service to clients. To further improve and strengthen its 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. The Agency 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.

• Completed as of April 1, 2014.

• Develop service standards specific to program delivery.

• Completed as of April 1, 2014.

• Develop a mechanism to track project performance, produce reports on the status of projects, and track service standards (OpStart).

• Completed tracking and reporting tool in March 2014.
• Reports on service standards initiated in February 2015 and on project status in March 2015.

• 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 training sessions  (March 2014 to May 2014)
• Additional training sessions ongoing.

Recommendation 3 – Para 6.26:

The Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency should review its quality assurance processes to ensure that, before contribution agreements are signed, they do not contain inconsistencies.

Agreed.

The Agency 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 that these 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.

• Completed as of April 2, 2014.

• Conduct regional training/planning sessions for EDOs for program renewal roll-out and implementation, including a session on quality assurance.

• Completed training sessions (March 2014 to May 2014).

Recommendation 4– Para 6.30:

The Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency 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.

The Agency 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.

• Completed risk assessment tools for SINED and NAEOP in July 2014.

• Conduct regional training/planning sessions for EDOs for program renewal roll-out and implementation, including a session on project risk assessment.

• Completed training sessions (March 2014 to May 2014).
  Additional training sessions ongoing.

Recommendation 5 – Para 6.43:

The Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency 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, the Agency will conduct training for program officers on the use of the Grants and Contributions funding system and on improving monitoring, documentation, and information management 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.

• Completed as of April 2, 2014.

• Conduct regional training/planning sessions for EDOs for program renewal roll-out and implementation, including on the Grants and Contributions funding system.

• Completed training sessions (March 2014 to May 2014).
• Additional training sessions ongoing.

Recommendation 6 – Para 6.48:

The Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency 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.

Agreed.

The Agency's performance measurement strategies and indicators are being updated systematically as each program is renewed. This will ensure that its 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.

• Completed March 2014.

• Develop a mechanism to track project performance, produce reports on the status of projects, and track service standards (OpStart).

• Completed tracking and reporting tool in March 2014.
• Reports on service standards initiated in February 2015 and on project status in March 2015.

• Establish service standards for program delivery.

• Completed as of April 2, 2014.

• Conduct regional training/planning sessions for EDOs for program renewal roll-out and implementation, including a session on the new tracking system, OpStart.

• Completed training sessions in May 2014.
• Additional training ongoing.

Recommendation 7 – Para 6.56:

The Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency 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.
The Agency will complete implementation of the Management Control Framework by August 2014. It is presently updating manuals and tools as part of the new Economic Development Officer "Tool Kit" for managing both the Strategic Investments in Northern Economic Development and Aboriginal Economic Development programs. The Agency 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.

• Completed as of April 2, 2014.

• Develop financial control processes as follows :

• Contract reconciliation process;

• Completed procedures as of August 15, 2014.  Implementation underway.

• Implement monitoring processes;

• Completed internal Policy on Grants and Contributions Monitoring as of August 15, 2014. File review completed in all three regions between October and December 2014.

• Update financial delegation authorities.

• Completed updating of financial delegation authorities as of September 15, 2014.

Recommendation 8 – Para 6.57:

The Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency should assess, in conjunction with Aboriginal transfer payment recipients, whether alternative funding approaches should be considered. It should also consider the use of multi-year agreements.

Agreed.

To further improve service and reduce the administrative burden for clients, the Agency 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 the Aboriginal Economic Development program that will come into effect on April 1, 2014.

• Include Transfer Payment Policy and Directive in the EDO Toolkit.

• Completed as of April 1, 2014.

• 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.

• Ongoing.

• Conduct regional training/planning sessions for EDOs for program renewal roll-out and implementation, including a session on Transfer Payment Policy and Directive.

• Completed training sessions as of March 2014.

Recommendation 9 – Para 6.65:

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.

• Completed as of June 27, 2014.

• Prepare Inuit Employment Plan (IEP).

• Completed as of June 27, 2014.

Recommendation 10 – Para 6.68:

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. 

The Agency 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. Guided by its human resources and Inuit employment plans, the Agency will work to increase its current Iqaluit complement by nine additional positions by the end of the 2014–15 fiscal year 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.

• Completed staffing 9 positions April 1, 2015.

Recommendation 11 – Para 6.72:

The Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency should update its Office Accommodation Framework taking into consideration lessons learned since its establishment.

Agreed.

The Agency will implement its Office Accommodation Framework by 31 March 2014 to meet the guidelines outlined in Appendix D (Accommodation Guidance for Departments) of the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat's Guide to the Management of Real Property.

• Prepare and post new Office Accommodation Framework.

• Completed as of February 7, 2014.

Recommendation 12 – Para 6.76:

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. 

The Agency 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.

• Completed as of April 1, 2014.