Corporate Reports
Departmental Plan and Departmental Results Report
Lead Directorate: Business Planning, Performance, Audit & Evaluation Directorate
Purpose
- The Departmental Plan (DP) and the Departmental Results Report (DRR) are accountability reports required under the Treasury Board of Canada’s Policy on Results.
Reporting Cycle
- The DP sets out the OPC’s priorities, programs, expected results and associated resource requirements, covering a three-year period beginning with the year indicated in the title of the report. The DRR reports on the OPC’s actual accomplishments against the plans, priorities and expected results set out in the corresponding DP.
- The DP and DRR are produced on an annual basis. They are tabled in Parliament by the President of the Treasury Board (TB) on behalf of all federal departments and agencies. The DP is typically tabled in the spring, along with the Government of Canada’s Main Estimates, while the DRR is tabled in the fall.
- The OPC’s most recent DP was tabled March 2, 2022, while its most recent DRR was tabled later than usual on February 1, 2022, due to the 44th General Election in September 2021.
Development
- Coordination and drafting is led by the Business Planning, Performance, Audit & Evaluation Directorate (BPPAE), with contributions from all sectors. Keeping with a strict critical path for the preparation of the DP and the DRR, the Business Planning, Performance, Audit & Evaluation Directorate issues a call letter to solicit input from the sectors, produces several drafts of the DP/DRR and obtains comments from senior management and the external members of the Audit Committee. The reports are then finalized for the Commissioner and the Minister of Justice’s signatures.
- While the Commissioner works independently of government cabinet ministers and reports directly to Parliament, for the purposes of tabling Main Estimates, the DP and the DRR, the Commissioner submits reports via the Minister of Justice, who is the OPC’s designated appropriate minister pursuant to the Financial Administration Act (FAA). Each Agent of Parliament submits these reports via a cabinet minister, in accordance with the FAA.
- The DP and the DRR are developed based on a format and timelines prescribed by the TBS, though these timeframes can change from one year to the next.
- The DP is due to TBS around the second week of February, and the President of the TB tables the DP to Parliament in late March.
- The DRR is due to TBS around the first week of November and tabled in Parliament via the President of the TB typically in October or early November.
Next steps
- Drafting of the DRR for the Fiscal Year 2021-2022 is currently under way and a draft, in both official languages, will be provided to the Commissioner for review later in the second quarter of Fiscal Year 2022-2023.
- A revised draft of the DRR will subsequently be sent to the Commissioner for final approval and signature in September, after which it will be sent to the Minister of Justice for final sign-off.
Most Recent Reports
Quarterly Financial Reports and Financial Statements
Lead Directorate: Finance and Administration Directorate
Purpose
- Departmental Financial Statements (DFS), including the Statement of Management Responsibility, are prepared according to the Government of Canada’s accounting policies, which are based on Canadian public sector accounting standards.
- Future-oriented financial statements (FOFS) present forecast information.
- Quarterly financial reports (QFR) compare planned and actual expenditures for both the quarter and year-to-date, as well as information comparing the current fiscal year to the one that preceded it. The reports also contain a narrative section. QFRs are meant to supplement year-end financial reporting by federal institutions.
Reporting Cycle
- DFS and FOFS are prepared annually and are published as part of the DP and DRR, respectively.
- QFR are prepared for each of the first three quarters of the fiscal year.
Development
- DFS and FOFS are prepared by Finance. The DFS is audited by the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) and reviewed by the OPC’s Audit Committee.
- QFRs are prepared by Finance in the form and manner prescribed by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat’s Directive on Accounting Standards. They are published on departmental websites as required by Section 65.1 of the Financial Administration Act. The reports are to be made public within 60 days after the end of the fiscal quarter.
Next steps
- All three reports require the approval of the Commissioner.
- The DFS for the Fiscal Year 2021-2022 will be prepared shortly and submitted for approval in August 2022.
- The audit of the DFS for the Fiscal Year 2021-2022 will occur exceptionally in September 2022. This timing is to assist the OAG’s COVID-19 pandemic work, which will occur over the summer of 2022. Results of the audit will be presented by the OAG in October 2022.
- The first QFR for the Fiscal Year 2022-2023 will be prepared in July 2022 and submitted for approval in August 2022. The report is to be made public by August 29, 2022.
- The FOFS for the Fiscal Year 2023-2024 will be prepared in the third quarter of the Fiscal Year 2022-2023 and will be submitted for approval as part of the DP process, typically in January or February 2023.
Most Recent Reports
- Quarterly financial reports
- Future-oriented financial statements
- Audited Financial Statements 2020-21
Audit and Evaluation
Lead Directorate: Business Planning, Performance, Audit & Evaluation Directorate
Purpose
- The OPC must release evaluation reports under the TBS Policy on Results. This policy states that evaluation reports and complete management responses and action plans must be published.
- The publication of audit reports is required under the TBS Policy on Internal Audit and the Institute of Internal Auditors’ International Professional Practices Framework. However, the OPC is not required to publish an audit report if the disclosure of information could jeopardize the organization or if the information is secret in nature.
Reporting Cycle
- The audit and evaluation reports present the results of the audit and evaluation engagements conducted at the OPC. For each audit and evaluation project, a report describing the project scope, approach, observations and recommendations is produced. Each report also includes the management response and the action plan developed in light of the recommendations.
- The publication of these reports does not follow a particular cycle, but depends on the timelines specific to each audit and evaluation. The next report published will focus on the information management audit.
Development
- Audit and evaluation engagements are conducted by independent auditors and evaluators hired by the BPPAE.
- The audit reports are produced by external consultants in consultation with BPPAE and the management members involved in the audit or evaluation.
- The draft reports, including the management responses and action plans, are presented to the Executive Management Board (EMB) and Internal Audit Committee.
- The final versions are then formally approved by the Commissioner, translated, and published on the OPC website.
Next steps
- The information management audit is under way, and we plan to present the results to the EMB and the Internal Audit Committee during the second or third quarter of the 2022-2023 fiscal year.
- BPPAE will first arrange a meeting between the Chief Audit Executive and the Commissioner to present the results and provide a copy of the draft report.
- Once the report has been presented to the EMB and the Internal Audit Committee, the final report will be sent to the Commissioner for signature along with a note.
Most Recent Report
Corporate Risk Profile
Lead Directorate: Business Planning, Performance, Audit & Evaluation Directorate
Purpose
- The development of the OPC’s Corporate Risk Profile (CRP) is not grounded in a legal or policy requirement, but it generally aligns with the principles of good risk management practices in the Government of Canada, as set by the 2010 Treasury Board Framework for the Management of Risk.
Reporting Cycle
- The CRP is updated annually and serves as an input to strategic and operational planning. It provides a snapshot of the OPC’s key corporate risks relating to the achievement of its objectives, and identifies strategies to mitigate risks where warranted.
- The most recent CRP was presented at the March 30, 2022 meeting of the Executive Management Board Plus (EMB+) and at the April 8, 2022 meeting of the Audit Committee, and was subsequently finalized.
- Given the many transitions and uncertainties facing the organization in the coming year, the Business Planning, Performance, Audit & Evaluation Directorate will conduct more frequent monitoring of the corporate risks and will conduct an additional formal update of the CRP in the context of a mid-year review.
Development
- The update of the CRP occurs in late fall of each calendar year and draws from a number of sources of information, including interviews with all executives across the OPC and the two external members of the OPC’s Audit Committee.
- Draft risk information, including the description of each risk, current controls in place to mitigate them, proposed risk ranking and suggested mitigation measures is presented at EMB+ and at Audit Committee for discussion. The CRP is finalized subsequent to these discussions.
Most Recent Report
- Corporate Risk Profile 2022-23
Canada’s anti-spam legislation (CASL) – Performance Measurement Report
Lead Directorate: Business Planning, Performance, Audit & Evaluation Directorate
Purpose
- The purpose of this report is to raise public awareness of the CASL initiative. The report provides relevant information on the initiative, its environment, its performance and the roles and activities of its partners: Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) (which comprises the Office of Consumer Affairs, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission [CRTC] and the Competition Bureau) and the OPC.
- ISED is responsible for coordinating the drafting and publication of this report. In 2017, ISED’s Audit and Evaluation Branch evaluated CASL and concluded that there was a need to better coordinate government partners’ education and outreach activities. Publishing the Performance Measurement Report is one of the actions taken by management to respond to this need (Horizontal Evaluation of Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL)).
- This report is also a follow‑up to a recommendation made by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology in its regulatory review report on the CASL initiative (Report and Government Response).
Reporting Cycle
- The CASL Performance Measurement Report is produced annually. It describes the activities carried out by the various partners over the previous fiscal year.
- As a partner, the OPC takes part in the annual CASL reporting conducted by ISED. The 2020-2021 CASL Performance Measurement Report was published in March 2022.
Development
- The Business Planning, Performance, Audit & Evaluation Directorate coordinates this report with input from all sectors, particularly the PIPEDA Compliance Directorate.
- The drafting of the report for the 2021-2022 fiscal year began on May 9, 2022.
- According to the timeline provided by ISED, the OPC’s contribution must be approved by OPC executives and submitted no later than August 12, 2022.
- The OPC will have the opportunity to review and comment on the consolidated version of the report next November. ISED plans to post the final report on its fightspam.gc.ca website in February 2023.
Most Recent Report
- Date modified: