Departmental Plan 2021-2022

Table of Contents

• From the Chairperson
• Plans at a glance
• Core responsibilities: planned results and resources
  • Independent Review of the RCMP
• Internal Services: planned results
• Spending and human resources
  • Planned Spending
  • Planned Human Resources
  • Estimates by Vote
  • Future-oriented Condensed statement of operations
• Corporate Information
  • Organizational profile
  • Raison d'être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do
  • Operating context
  • Reporting framework
• Supporting information on the program inventory
• Supplementary information tables
• Federal tax expenditures
• Organizational contact information
• Appendix: definitions
• Endnotes

From the Chairperson

This 2021–22 Departmental Plan provides parliamentarians and Canadians with an overview of the Commission's objectives, planned activities and expected results during the reporting period, as well as the financial and human resources forecast to deliver those results.

The Commission is an agency of the federal government, distinct and independent from the RCMP. Its role is to ensure that public complaints regarding the conduct of RCMP members are examined fairly and impartially.

Civilian review of policing is an essential aspect of maintaining the public trust in the nature and quality of policing in Canada. Without such trust, the rule of law that underpins a successful democracy is at risk.

The Commission adopts a remedial approach in addressing public complaints about the RCMP, making findings and recommendations aimed at identifying and remedying policing problems stemming from the conduct of individual RCMP members or from deficiencies in RCMP policies, procedures, training or practices.  The Commission's work aligns with and supports the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness' mandate to provide enhanced civilian oversight of the RCMP.

Public complaints about the conduct of RCMP members have consistently increased year over year.  The 2019-20 fiscal period saw a 20% increase in the number of public complaints and a corresponding rise in the number of requests for review of the RCMP's disposition of these complaints. Based on the increasing number of complaints over the past five years, I expect this trend to continue in the coming year. Commission resources will continue to be prioritized to these core mandate programs in fiscal 2021-22.

The unique needs of Indigenous communities, Black Canadians and other racialized people, who experience systemic racism and disparate outcome in their interactions with the RCMP, will remain a Commission priority. Any funding remaining once the Commission has met its core mandate will be focused on outreach and public education for these communities.

The Commission will also focus resources on several significant Public Interest Investigations launched in previous years. The most notable of these is the Chairperson-Initiated Complaint and Public Interest Investigation into the conduct of RCMP members during an interaction in Kinngait, Nunavut, on June 1, 2020.   

The increased demand for Commission services, along with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its operations, challenged the Commission's capacity to meet some of its service standards in the previous period. Although business processes were quickly adjusted in response to these pressures, a small backlog of review request files will be carried into the 2021-22 fiscal period.  The Commission will continue to adapt its processes to these realities and will address the backlog as a priority in the coming year. 

Commission employees have also been impacted by the broad measures and restrictions implemented to combat the pandemic.  The remote work business model, implemented in March 2020, will continue into the coming year.  Adjustments and investments will be made, as needed, to ensure the health and wellbeing of employees and their families as the virtual workplace model continues to be the norm.  Maintenance of a respectful, healthy and effective workplace, whether in-person or virtual, will remain a central theme in the Commission's three-year strategic plan.

In the coming fiscal period, the Commission will continue its support of government efforts to enhance civilian oversight of the RCMP and will maintain its contributions to the introduction of legislation to create a public complaints and review body for the Canada Border Services Agency.

I am confident that the Commission is well prepared to deliver on its mandate and I look forward to advancing its important work in the coming year.

Michelaine Lahaie
Chairperson

Plans at a glance

The Commission's plans and priorities focus primarily on providing the public and the RCMP with an independent and transparent process through which to address concerns about RCMP activities generally and how members conduct themselves while carrying out their duties.

The Commission has set performance targets relating to both the processing of public complaints and the review of the RCMP's handling of public complaints. Meeting the performance objectives for these core functions will continue to be a business priority in this fiscal period. 

Ensuring the Commission's business processes are regularly assessed and adjusted to meet changing operational and social conditions brought on by COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, will be a key priority in the coming fiscal year.

The Commission will maintain its outreach and public education efforts to inform Canadians, community partners and stakeholders about its mandate, within its current fiscal resource envelope. The needs of Indigenous communities, Black Canadians and other racialized people, who experience systemic racism and disparate outcome in their interactions with the RCMP, will remain a focus in the coming year, with any funding not attributed to the Commission's core mandate being invested in this specific area.

A key element of this will be ensuring simple and direct access to the public complaint process through on line tools that are adaptable to the changing social restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Providing support to employees impacted by constantly changing family and work conditions that will likely continue into fiscal 2021-22 because of the global pandemic, will feature prominently in the Commission's plans for this period.  Developing programming that maintains a respectful, healthy and effective workplace is a central theme in the Commission's three-year strategic plan and a key management priority for the coming year.

The Commission eagerly anticipates the reintroduction of legislation creating a civilian review mechanism for the Canada Border Services Agency (formerly Bill C-3). Planning for a possible expansion of the Commission's mandate and the allocation of additional financial and human resources required to implement this new mandate will continue in the coming year.

For more information on the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP'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

This section contains detailed information on the department's planned results and resources for each of its core responsibilities. It also contains information on key risks related to achieving those results.

Independent Review of the RCMP

Description

The CRCC's fundamental role is to provide civilian review of the conduct of the RCMP members in carrying out their policing duties, thereby holding the RCMP accountable to the public. The CRCC ensures that complaints about the conduct of RCMP members are examined fairly and impartially. Its findings and recommendations help identify and remedy policing problems which stem from the conduct of individual RCMP members or from deficiencies in RCMP policies or practices. The CRCC also conducts reviews of specified RCMP activities, reports to provinces which contract RCMP services, conducts research, program outreach and public education, and provides independent observers to investigations of serious incidents involving RCMP members.

Planning highlights

The Commission's objective is to increase public confidence in the RCMP by enhancing its transparency and accountability to the public as well as to the provinces and territories that contract for its services.

The Commission's approach to achieving this objective includes initiatives focused on improving the delivery of the Commission's core programs and services to Canadians. These include:

1) Strengthening the public complaint process

A strong, accessible and timely complaint process is essential to the credibility of both the Commission and the RCMP. Consultation with stakeholders has confirmed that many Indigenous and racialized people, are either unaware of the public complaint process or do not trust it. The process has been characterized by some as bureaucratic and difficult to navigate. The Commission has made use of leading-edge communication tools and online technology to provide all Canadians with an accessible and efficient way to voice their concerns. The Commission will continue to streamline and simplify its online complaint intake process to ensure it responds to client needs and improves public complaint processing.

Through effective monitoring of the RCMP's response to public complaints, as well as a robust review process that leads to findings and recommendations when necessary, the Commission aims to effect change and foster public confidence in the RCMP. By augmenting its internal capacity to conduct complaint reviews and independent investigations, gather and analyze relevant data, and track the manner in which its recommendations are accepted and implemented by the RCMP, the Commission adds credibility to the complaint and review processes.

In the fiscal 2021–22 period, the Commission will:

• Continue its refinement of the complaint and review intake processes;
• Continue to track actions taken by the RCMP with respect to recommendations contained in the Commission's earlier reports;
• Enhance the Commission's data collection, statistical integration, analysis and reporting functions;
• Prepare its information systems and business processes to enable the collection of disaggregated intersectional data to ensure that its policies and decisions benefit all communities it serves.

2) Strengthening the Commission's review and investigative capacity

It is of paramount importance that the review of police conduct, policy and practice be conducted independently, particularly where an incident attracts wide public interest and there is a public perception that the RCMP may not be impartial in its investigation of the incident. In the fiscal 2021–22 period, the Commission will:

• Eliminate the backlog of review files;
• Reallocate resources to enable completion of review files within the Commission's stated service standards;
• Continue the refinement of its major case management system and processes supporting public interest investigations as well as specified activity reviews of RCMP programs.

3) Increasing outreach, public education and engagement efforts

Outreach and education initiatives inform Canadians about the Commission's services, how to access them and the results of its work. With the aim of enhancing RCMP accountability and the accessibility and transparency of the complaint process, the Commission will:

• Identify key community stakeholders and partners, and develop suitable engagement strategies and information materials for their use with a particular focus on Indigenous communities, Black Canadians and other racialized people who may experience systemic racism;
• Maintain effective and collaborative relationships with the RCMP and provincial oversight bodies with jurisdiction to investigate serious incidents involving the RCMP;
• Undertake outreach activities alone or in collaboration with other agencies to raise awareness of the Commission's mandate and the services it offers;
• Publish depersonalized summaries of the Commission's reviews of RMCP public complaint investigations.

Gender-based analysis plus

The Commission has established an Inclusion, Diversity and Equity Advisory Committee (IDEAC) to examine and provide advice on its internal policies, programs and procedures, as well as its external service delivery model through the lens of inclusion, diversity and equity.

The Commission will prepare its information systems and business processes to enable the collection of disaggregated intersectional data to ensure that its policies and decisions benefit all of the communities that it serves.

Experimentation

The Commission's limited budget precludes undertaking any significant experimentation beyond routine analysis and testing of new processes and tools aimed at enhancing its operations.

Key risk(s)

The significant year over year increase in the number of public complaints and requests for review  challenges the Commission's financial resources and its abilities to meet services standard targets. Focus in the 2021/22 fiscal period will be on streamlining business processes and realigning financial strategies to mitigate these risks.

*Note: The Departmental Results Framework is the new approved structure for the CRCC for 2019-20; therefore, actual results for fiscal years 2017-18 and 2018-19 are not available.

**Note: Baseline to be established by RCMP Core Survey in 2021.

Financial, human resources and performance information for the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP's program inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.^{Footnote i}

Financial, human resources and performance information for the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP's program inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.^{Footnote ii}

Financial, human resources and performance information for the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP's program inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.^{Footnote iii}

Internal Services: planned results

Description

Internal Services are those groups of related activities and resources that the federal government considers to be services in support of Programs and/or required to meet corporate obligations of an organization. Internal Services refers to the activities and resources of the 10 distinct services that support Program delivery in the organization, regardless of the Internal Services delivery model in a department. These services are:

• Management and Oversight Services
• Communications Services
• Legal Services
• Human Resources Management Services
• Financial Management Services
• Information Management Services
• Information Technology Services
• Real Property Management Services
• Materiel Management Services
• Acquisition Management Services

Planning highlights

The Commission will ensure that resources are deployed in the most effective and efficient manner possible. Its operational and administrative structures, tools and processes will continue to focus on supporting the delivery of its priorities. Streamlining business processes and employing strategies and technologies that enhance operational efficiency will reduce the internal services costs.

The Commission's employees are the backbone of its operations. Employee health and well-being are key to the Commission's success. Initiatives geared towards improving workplace health and employee well-being are an ongoing priority for the Commission.

Key objectives for this reporting period include:

• Upgrading the Commission's IT infrastructure to ensure optimal efficiency and full compliance with Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) IM and IT standards.
• Continued refinement and integration of Commission records management and case management systems.
• Reviewing the organizational structure and human resources strategy to ensure an agile business structure that responds to operational needs with a particular focus on the timely completion of major investigations.
• Implementing initiatives to improve employee health and well-being, mental health and workplace health.

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 2018–19 to 2023–24

Budgetary planning summary for Core Responsibilities and Internal Services (dollars)

The following table shows actual, forecast and planned spending for each of the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP's core responsibilities and to Internal Services for the years relevant to the current planning yearr.

*Note: 2018–19 Independent Review of the RCMP expenditures reflect expenditures reported against the previous PAA (i.e. Civilian review of RCMP members' conduct in the performance of their duties).

Planned human resources

The following table shows actual, forecast and planned full-time equivalents (FTEs) for each core responsibility in the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP's departmental results framework and to Internal Services for the years relevant to the current planning year.

*Note: The DRF is the new approved structure for the CRCC for 2019-20. The actual full-time equivalents (FTEs) figures for fiscal year 2018-19 represent actual FTEs for the previous PAA program, Civilian Review of RCMP members' conduct in the performance of their duties.

The increased number of FTEs allocated to Independent Review of the RCMP over the last 3 fiscal years reflects the upward trend in the number of public complaints received and the number of requests for review received and conducted.

Estimates by vote

Information on the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP's organizational appropriations is available in the 2021–22 Main Estimates.^{Footnote iv}.

Future-oriented Condensed statement of operations

The future‑oriented condensed statement of operations provides an overview of the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP's operations for 2020–21 to 2021–22.

The amounts for forecast and planned results in this statement of operations were prepared on an accrual basis. The amounts for forecast and planned spending presented in other sections of the Departmental Plan were prepared on an expenditure basis. Amounts may therefore differ.

A more detailed future‑oriented statement of operations and associated notes, including a reconciliation of the net cost of operations to the requested authorities, are available on the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP's website.^{Footnote v}

Corporate Information

Organizational profile

Appropriate minister(s): The Honourable William Sterling Blair, P.C., C.O.M., M.P.

Institutional head: Michelaine Lahaie, Chairperson

Ministerial portfolio: Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

Enabling instrument(s): Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act^{Footnote vi}

Year of incorporation / commencement: 2014

Raison d'être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do

"Raison d'être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do" is available on the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP's website.^{Footnote vii}

For more information on the department's organizational mandate letter commitments, see the “Minister's mandate letter.”^{Footnote viii}

Operating context

Information on the operating context is available on the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP's website.^{Footnote ix}

Reporting framework

The Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP's approved departmental results framework and program inventory for 2021–22 are as follows.

Supporting information on the Program Inventory

Supporting information on planned expenditures, human resources, and results related to the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP's Program Inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.^{Footnote x}

Supplementary Information Tables

The Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police does not have any supplementary information tables.

Federal Tax Expenditures

The Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP's Departmental Plan does not include information on tax expenditures that relate to its planned results for 2021–22.

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 theReport on Federal Tax Expenditures.^{Footnote xi}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

Mail address:
P.O. Box 1722, Station B,
Ottawa, ON K1P 0B3

Telephone:
From anywhere in Canada: 1-800-665-6878
TTY: 1-866-432-5837

Fax:
613-952-8045

E-mail: Media@crcc-ccetp.gc.ca

Web site: http://www.crcc-ccetp.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 2021–22 Departmental Plan, government-wide priorities refers to those high-level themes outlining the government's agenda in the 2020 Speech from the Throne, namely: Protecting Canadians from COVID-19; Helping Canadians through the pandemic; Building back better – a resiliency agenda for the middle class; The Canada we're fighting for.

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.