Treasury Board Announces a Government-Wide Approach to Modern Comptrollership

June 1, 2001

OTTAWA - The Honourable Lucienne Robillard, President of the Treasury Board of Canada, Minister responsible for Infrastructure and Member of Parliament for Westmount - Ville-Marie, today announced that after a three-year pilot phase, the Modern Comptrollership initiative is being extended to all Government of Canada departments and agencies.

"The government-wide approach to Modern Comptrollership clearly demonstrates the Government's commitment to improving management practices and the stewardship of public resources," stated Minister Robillard. "The pilot phase showed that Modern Comptrollership has a positive impact on decision-making at all levels of Government. We are now ready to move to government-wide implementation," added Madame Robillard.

Modern Comptrollership is one of the Government's key priorities focused on the sound management of public resources and effective decision-making. It provides better performance information, sound risk management and appropriate control systems. Modern Comptrollership also reinforces values and ethics and improves the Government's accountability to Parliament and to Canadians.

With rapid and significant changes in technology, comptrollership practices must fully reflect current and anticipated business environments. As outlined in Results for Canadians: A Management Framework for the Government of Canada, Modern Comptrollership is an important part of the process to modernize management practices in the Government of Canada and it supports the Government's modern management agenda.

"Modern Comptrollership will assist departments and agencies to exercise responsible spending, achieve results and better respond to the needs of Canadians. It will contribute to improving the way the Government manages its programs and services while enhancing its accountability to taxpayers," concluded Minister Robillard.

To support the successful implementation of Modern Comptrollership and Results for Canadians, the Treasury Board recently approved an Active Monitoring Policy. This Policy will also help to strengthen management practices across Government and will ensure appropriate levels of due diligence and controls across the Public Service. The Active Monitoring Policy comes into effect on June 1, 2001.

The Treasury Board Secretariat will provide leadership and guidance to departments and agencies for the successful implementation of Modern Comptrollership and Active Monitoring across Government.

Please refer to the attached backgrounder for additional information on the Modern Comptrollership initiative and the Active Monitoring Policy. Further details on Modern Comptrollership and the Active Monitoring Policy are posted on the Treasury Board Secretariat Web site at: http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pubs_pol/dcgpubs/am-sa/am-sa_e.asp

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For more information, contact:

Russell Milon
Press Secretary
Office of the President of the Treasury Board of Canada and Minister responsible for Infrastructure
(613) 957-2666

Chantal Scarlett
Media Relations
Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
(613) 957-2391

IF THERE IS A DISCREPANCY BETWEEN ANY PRINTED VERSION AND THE ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THIS NEWS RELEASE, THE ELECTRONIC VERSION WILL PREVAIL.

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Backgrounder

Modern Comptrollership

Introduction

Modern Comptrollership is a reform focused on the sound management of resources and effective decision-making. The 1997 Report of the Independent Review Panel on Modernization of Comptrollership in the Government of Canada, set out a vision to modernize comptrollership across the federal government. The report was fully endorsed by the Government of Canada in December 1997.

In March 2000, the President of the Treasury Board tabled Results for Canadians: A Management Framework for the Government of Canada. It positioned Modern Comptrollership as a catalyst for change and one of the key priorities on the Government's modern management agenda.

Modern Comptrollership aims to provide managers with integrated financial and non-financial performance information, a sound approach to risk management, appropriate control systems and a shared set of values and ethics.

Pilot Phase

Since 1998, a total of thirteen departments and two agencies took part in the pilot phase of Modern Comptrollership. The pilot phase focused on developing baseline assessments to determine organizational capabilities relative to Modern Comptrollership and identifying priority areas for improvements. Participating organizations also developed action plans to address deficiencies and worked on innovative projects.

The pilot departments and agencies were:

• Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada;
• Health Canada;
• Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade;
• Citizenship and Immigration Canada;
• Human Resources Development Canada;
• Indian and Northern Affairs Canada;
• Industry Canada;
• National Defence;
• Natural Resources Canada;
• Transport Canada;
• Treasury Board Secretariat;
• Veterans Affairs Canada;
• Environment Canada;
• Immigration and Refugee Board; and
• the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Critical Success Factors

The government-wide approach to Modern Comptrollership will build on the achievements and progress made during the pilot phase. The Treasury Board Secretariat and the pilot departments and agencies learned that the successful implementation of Modern Comptrollership depends on managers' ability to:

• provide strong leadership;
• motivate employees;
• strengthen control systems and monitoring;
• share best practices; and
• focus on results.

Modern Comptrollership goes beyond traditional comptrollership, which focuses primarily on financial information. Modern Comptrollership is about transforming the way managers and financial specialists co-operate, and enabling managers with tools to help plan and prioritize. Managers and financial specialists need to work in partnership to replace complex rules and regulations with simple, well-communicated principles and standards.

Government-wide Implementation

The Government of Canada has allocated $30 million over the next three years to assist departments and agencies in their Modern Comptrollership efforts.

The Government of Canada is fundamentally reforming the stewardship of public resources across the Public Service. Recently, progress has been made with major initiatives linked to Modern Comptrollership and improving management practices. These initiatives include:

• a revised Policy on Transfer Payments for Grants and Contributions;
• strengthened Internal Audit and Evaluation Policies;
• an Integrated Risk Management Framework; and
• the successful implementation of the Financial Information Strategy (FIS) on April 1, 2001.

These initiatives, combined with the extension of Modern Comptrollership, will contribute to improving the way Government manages its programs and services and meets the needs of Canadians.

Active Monitoring

Introduction

The Active Monitoring Policy supports the successful implementation of Modern Comptrollership and is an important management principle that will help to modernize management practices across Government. Results for Canadians: A Management Framework for the Government of Canada highlighted that active monitoring is a shared management responsibility of departments, agencies and the Treasury Board Secretariat to improve management practices across the Public Service.

Main Elements of the Active Monitoring Policy

The Active Monitoring Policy defines an effective regime to actively monitor the state of management practices and controls throughout Government. It encourages the delegation of authority to the appropriate level while ensuring due diligence and accountability. The main elements of the Active Monitoring Policy are summarized below. The Policy:

• defines the roles and responsibilities of departments and agencies to actively monitor their management policies, practices and controls as well as take remedial action when necessary;
• defines the roles and responsibilities of the Treasury Board Secretariat to develop and maintain an accurate and integrated understanding of the overall state of management policies and practices across Government; and
• ensures that departments and agencies notify the Treasury Board Secretariat in a timely manner of significant management concerns. The Treasury Board Secretariat will work with departments and agencies to develop solutions and take appropriate action.

Expected Results

The Active Monitoring Policy is expected to achieve the following results:

• improved information sharing on the best management practices across Government;
• better understanding of the effectiveness of management practices across Government;
• timely preventive and remedial actions in areas where control deficiencies have been identified; and
• enhanced assessments of the effectiveness of Treasury Board policies and earlier identification of the need for adjustments to existing policies or the need for new ones.