2020-21 Departmental Plan: Main Report

From the Minister

It is my pleasure to present the 2020–21 Departmental Plan for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor). We are working across the Innovation, Science and Economic Development Portfolio to enhance Canada’s innovation performance, improve conditions for business investments, increase Canada’s share of global trade and build a fair and efficient marketplace that promotes consumer choice and competition.

We will continue to work with provinces, territories, municipalities, Indigenous groups, industry, stakeholders and all Canadians to deliver an economic agenda that is growing an internationally competitive, knowledge-based economy while achieving our environmental goals.

We also understand that the path to economic prosperity varies from region to region. We will continue to support economic development through the Regional Development Agencies that is responsive to the unique opportunities and challenges across the country. We will also encourage opportunities to increase trade and investment in key sectors that are economic drivers for the regions, including work that will build on the new Federal Tourism Growth Strategy.

In support of these objectives, the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency continues on its mission to develop a diversified, sustainable, and dynamic economy across Canada's three territories. In addition to delivering economic development programs, the Agency maintains and fosters partnerships to better respond to economic challenges and opportunities in the North. Through the Northern Projects Management Office and programs such as Inclusive Diversification and Economic Advancement in the North (IDEANorth), CanNor contributes to the development of strong and sustainable economies in Nunavut, Northwest Territories and Yukon.

Through all these initiatives and more, we are continuing to deliver our commitment to fostering a dynamic and growing economy that creates jobs, opportunities and a better quality of life for all Canadians.

From the President

Canada’s territories – Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon – have the potential for long-term economic growth and prosperity. CanNor’s work to support this prosperity is based on the Pan-Territorial Growth Strategy, a made in the North plan for economic development based on four key pillars: a skilled workforce, infrastructure investments and development, resource development and diversification and innovation.

CanNor’s Pan-Territorial Growth Strategy was developed in collaboration with Indigenous and territorial governments, industry stakeholders, northern communities and organizations and focuses efforts on growing the northern economy, attracting investment, and creating jobs in the North.

Support for regional economic development in the territories involves the delivery of both national and northern-specific economic development programs, including Indigenous-targeted programs, and building partnerships to leverage investments in the territories.For example, through the Inclusive Diversification and Economic Advancement in the North (IDEANorth) program, CanNor supports four key areas of the economy: sector and capacity development, business scale-up and productivity, small-scale economic infrastructure, and economic infrastructure studies.

CanNor’s Northern Project Management Office (NPMO) will continue to facilitate responsible infrastructure and resource development projects. NMPO will also ensure the soundness of Crown consultations with Indigenous communities regarding the environmental review process.

The Northern Isolated Community Initiatives Fund supports community-led projects for local and Indigenous food production, including building greenhouses, buying community freezers, and skills training with the goal of addressing challenges in accessing healthy food in the territories.

CanNor works to ensure that Northerners have access to the skills and training necessary to actively participate in the economy. This includes addressing barriers to increasing the economic participation of northern Indigenous peoples. Hosted within CanNor, Pilimmaksaivik, the Federal Centre of Excellence for Inuit Employment in Nunavut, works with other federal departments and agencies with offices located in the territories having legal obligations to increase Inuit employment. The purpose is to address current barriers to Inuit employment, recruitment, development, retention, and promotion.

As CanNor enters its second decade, we continue our collaboration with Northerners to help build a diversified, sustainable, and dynamic economy across the territories. Success in building an inclusive and healthy economy contributes to resilient northern communities, the well-being of all Northerners and Indigenous reconciliation. Working together for a better future in the North contributes greatly to Canada’s success.

Plans at a glance

The Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor) will continue working with partners to advance economic development in Canada's territories. The Agency supports and advocates for national, territorial and community level economic development; fosters growth and innovation; contributes to building capacity; and invests in foundational economic development projects in the territories.

In support of the Minister’s mandate commitments, CanNor will work with the other Regional Development Agencies on developing a renewed framework for regional economic development. The framework will align with the Government’s overall economic plan and be responsive to the unique opportunities and challenges of Canadians and their communities.

In 2020-21, CanNor will continue its role as a convener of federal, territorial and other partners based on the priorities in the Agency’s Pan-Territorial Growth Strategy over the next five years.

The Strategy has four interrelated areas of action that will foster long-term sustainability and economic prosperity in the territories:

• Skilled Workforce: Strengthen the northern workforce by equipping Northerners with the tools, skills, and experience they need to succeed in the workforce, now and into the future.
• Infrastructure Investments and Development: Leverage future investments in, and the ongoing operation of, major infrastructure projects to maximize local and regional economic opportunities.
• Resource Development: Support the sustainable development of the mining and energy sectors throughout the development cycle to increase community capacity, maximizes jobs and wealth within the territories, and produce positive economic impacts in northern communities.
• Diversification and Innovation: Foster sustainable growth in other economic sectors with a focus on strengthening entrepreneurship and northern innovation.

CanNor’s suite of economic development programs will help to advance these priorities. These programs include focused Indigenous programming, food security and agriculture funding, and our flagship program, Inclusive Diversification and Economic Advancement in the North (IDEANorth), which invests in foundational and small-scale economic infrastructure, sector development and capacity building to help position Northerners to take advantage of Canada's innovation economy.

Resource development is a significant driver of the territorial economy. CanNor, through the Northern Project Management Office (NPMO), will continue to play an important role by providing support, guidance, and advice to proponents and Indigenous communities as well as coordinating the work of federal regulators and Crown consultations.

In addition to targeted actions in the territories, CanNor will work with other federal departments to help advance broader Government of Canada commitments, including economic reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, the continued implementation of the Arctic and Northern Policy Framework and the advancement of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Through its work, CanNor will help to position the territories for success, as a strong northern economy benefits all of Canada.

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

Core responsibilities: planned results and resources, and key risks

Internal Services: planned results

Spending and human resources

This section provides an overview of the department’s planned spending and human resources for the next three consecutive fiscal years, and compares planned spending for the upcoming year with the current and previous years’ actual spending.

Planned spending

Departmental spending 2017–18 to 2022–23

Text alternative for the planned (voted and statutory) spending over time graph.

This spending trend graph demonstrates total spending, voted spending, and statutory spending from 2017-18 to 2022-23:

• In 2017-18, total spending was $54,420, 053 of which $53,185,303 was voted and $1,234,750 was statutory.
• In 2018-19, total funding available is $45,823,015 of which $44,582,877 is voted and $1,240,139 is statutory.
• In 2019-20, total funding available is $68,411,654 of which $66,456,646 is voted and $1,955,008 is statutory.
• In 2020-21, total funding available is $64,053,170 of which $62,479,665 is voted and $1,573,505 is statutory.
• In 2021-22, total funding available is $70,190,042 of which $68,541,897 is voted and $1,648,145 is statutory.
• In 2022-23, total funding available is $70,606,047 of which $68,867,101 is voted and 1,738,946 is statutory.

Various funding initiatives announced in Budget 2019 ($14.7 million in 2019-20 to $24.7 million by 2022–23) account for the significant increase in voted planned spending that began in 2019–20. These funding initiatives more than offset the sunsetting of NABEP ($4.9 million) and a portion of NPMO ($2.4 million), beginning in 2020–21.

The following table shows actual, forecast and planned spending for each of CanNor’s core responsibilities and to Internal Services for the years relevant to the current planning year.

Budgetary planning summary for core responsibilities and Internal Services (dollars)

Core responsibilities and Internal Services	2017–18 expenditures	2018–19 expenditures	2019–20 forecast spending	2020–21 budgetary spending (as indicated in Main Estimates)	2020–21 planned spending	2021–22 planned spending	2022–23 planned spending
Economic Development in the Territories	47,940,588	39,227,565	62,167,278	57,808,794	57,808,794	63,706,125	63,887,735
Subtotal	47,940,588	39,227,565	62,167,278	57,808,794	57,808,794	63,706,125	63,887,735
Internal Services	6,479,465	6,595,450	6,244,376	6,244,376	6,244,376	6,483,917	6,718,312
Total	54,420,053	45,823,015	68,411,654	64,053,170	64,053,170	70,190,042	70,606,047

Economic Development in the Territories experienced the greatest variability in actual, forecast and planned spending relevant to the current planning year, which includes additional funding measures announced in Budget 2019 of up to $24.7 million through 2022–23.

The following table reconciles gross planned spending with net planned spending for 2020–21.

2020–21 Budgetary planned gross spending summary (dollars)

Core responsibilities and Internal Services	2020–21 planned gross spending	2020–21 planned revenues netted against expenditures	2020–21 planned net spending
Economic Development in the Territories	57,808,794	0	57,808,794
Subtotal	57,808,794	0	57,808,794
Internal Services	6,244,376	0	6,244,376
Total	64,053,170	0	64,053,170

Corporate information

Reporting framework

CanNor’s approved departmental results framework and program inventory for 2020–21 are as follows.

Text alternative for the CanNor's Departmental Results Framework and Program Inventory of record table

This Reporting Framework Table demonstrates CanNor's Departmental Results Framework and Program Inventory of record for 2018-19:

• Departmental Results Framework
  • Core Responsibility: Economic Development in the Territories
    • Departmental Result: People and communities participate in the economy in the Territories
      • Indicator: Labour participation rate for women and Indigenous peoples in the Territories
      • Indicator: Amount leveraged per dollar invested in community projects in the Territories
    • Departmental Result: Business are developing in the Territories
      • Indicator: Number of businesses by business locations in the Territories
      • Indicator: Number of investments in clean tech projects supported by CanNor in the Territories
    • Departmental Result: Efficient and Predictable Environmental Review process in the Territories
      • Indicator: Number of companies provided advisory services (Pathfinder) including issues management and support in the environmental assessment and governance processes in the Territories
      • Indicator: Percentage of environmental assessments in the Territories that are completed within the scheduled time frame
• Program Inventory
  • Program: Community Development
  • Program: Business Development
  • Program: Policy and Advocacy
  • Program: Northern Projects Management

Supporting information on the Program Inventory

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

Supplementary information tables

The following supplementary information tables are available on CanNor’s website.

• Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy
• Details on transfer payment programs
• Gender-based analysis plus
• Up-front multi-year funding

Federal tax expenditures

CanNor’s Departmental Plan does not include information on tax expenditures that relate to its planned results for 2020–21.

Tax expenditures are the responsibility of the Minister of Finance, and 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. The tax measures presented in this report are solely the responsibility of the Minister of Finance.

Organizational contact information

Mailing address
Allavvik Building
1106 Inuksugait Plaza
Iqaluit, Nunavut
X0A 0H0
Canada

Telephone: 1-855-897-2667

Email: CanNor.InfoNorth.InfoNord.CanNor@canada.ca

Website: cannor.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 a department over a 3 year period. Departmental Plans are tabled in Parliament each spring.

departmental priority (priorité ministérielle)
A plan or project that a department has chosen to focus and report on during the planning period. Departmental priorities represent the things that are most important or what must be done first 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 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 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 and what doesn’t. Experimentation is related to, but distinct form 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. 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+) (analyse comparative entre les sexes plus [ACS+])
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 2020–21 Departmental Plan, government-wide priorities refers to those high-level themes outlining the government’s agenda in the 2015 Speech from the Throne, namely: Growth for the Middle Class; Open and Transparent Government; A Clean Environment and a Strong Economy; Diversity is Canada's Strength; and Security and Opportunity.

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.

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 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 the department and focus on a specific set of outputs, outcomes or service levels.

program inventory (répertoire des programmes)
Identifies all of the department’s programs and describes how resources are organized to contribute to the department’s core responsibilities and 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.

strategic outcome (résultat stratégique)
A long-term and enduring benefit to Canadians that is linked to the organization’s mandate, vision and core functions.

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.