Departmental Plan 2023-2024

Table of Contents

• From the Chairperson
• Plans at a glance
• Core responsibilities: planned results and resources, and key risks
• Internal Services: planned results
• Planned 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 2023–24 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 mandate of the Minister of Public Safety to provide enhanced civilian oversight of the RCMP.

After a number of years of increased submissions for both complaints lodged and requests for review, 2021–22 saw numbers remain high. The 3,938 public complaints and 236 requests for review received by the Commission in 2021–22 represent an increase from the previous year but show that the growth trend is slowing.

In 2023–24, the Commission will continue to prioritize its core duty of receiving and reviewing complaints against the RCMP, and ensure that resources are assigned to maintain capacity in that key area. In carrying out our mandate, we will make better use of disaggregated race-based data and we will explore ways to collect, analyze and report on demographic data that will help identify systemic issues in RCMP policing.

We will plan and assign resources to conduct more public interest investigations and review more specified activities of the RCMP to ensure compliance with policy and law. This includes the completion of the public interest investigation into the RCMP's handling of a sexual assault report and death of a Nova Scotia woman and a systemic investigation of the handling of public complaints by the RCMP in Nunavut. The Commission will conduct additional systemic investigations in the coming fiscal year, to examine whether RCMP activities are carried out in accordance with legislation, regulation, ministerial direction, or any policy, procedure or guideline.

As part of its ongoing effort to contribute to RCMP accountability, the Commission will continue to collect, analyse and report on complaints data, to identify RCMP members who are the subject of multiple complaints over a five-year period.

With many of Canada's communities at risk of under utilizing the RCMP complaint process, increasing public outreach and education will be another important objective for the Commission in 2023–24. Resources will be assigned to identify and work with key partners and stakeholders to raise awareness of the complaint process—particularly among Indigenous, Black and other racialized communities, who often experience systemic racism.

The Commission is planning and preparing for the changes that will come should Bill C-20, An Act establishing the Public Complaints and Review Commission and amending certain Acts and statutory instruments,^{Footnote i} receive royal assent this fiscal year. The resources identified in past budgets will enable the transition to become the Public Complaints and Review Commission, enhancing civilian oversight of both the RCMP and the Canada Border Services Agency.

We look forward to delivering results to Canadians through strong, independent civilian review of the RCMP for a more effective, transparent and accountable national police service.

Michelaine Lahaie
Chairperson

Plans at a glance

The Commission's plans and priorities are focused on its core activity—the delivery of a robust complaint process that holds the RCMP accountable for the conduct of its officers and its activities. Plans for systemic reviews and public interest investigations further support the ability to hold the RCMP accountable to Canadians. Ensuring Canadians are aware of the Commission and able to access its services will be achieved through planned outreach and education activities.

The Commission has set service standards relating to both the processing of public complaints and the review of the RCMP's handling of public complaints. Meeting the standards for these core functions will continue to be a business priority in this fiscal period. The Commission continues to address a backlog of complaint review cases. Planned allocation of resources from its updated fiscal resource envelope will address this backlog.

The Commission plans to complete ongoing investigations, including a public interest investigation into the RCMP's handling of a sexual assault report and death of a Nova Scotia woman, as well as the systemic review of the RCMP's handling of public complaints in Nunavut. Resources are earmarked to ensure availability for additional public interest investigations as required and another systemic review into the RCMP's use of the Community‑Industry Response Group.

The Commission plans to increase its outreach and public education efforts to inform Canadians, community partners and stakeholders about its mandate. The needs of Indigenous communities, Black Canadians and other racialized people, who experience systemic racism and disparate outcomes in their interactions with the RCMP, will remain a focus in the coming year. The application of funds not attributed to the complaints intake and reviews will support these public education and outreach activities.

Within its core mandate, the Commission will also continue to focus on ensuring that issues of systemic racism and discrimination are addressed, without requiring individual complainants to use technical or specific language to raise the issues. A key element of this will be ensuring simple and direct access to the public complaint process through online tools that are adaptable to the changing social environment.

The Commission continues to plan for change within the work environment. With the establishment of a hybrid workforce, resources are assigned for continued improvement to the work environment and supporting infrastructure to ensure continued productivity and enhance resilience to change. 

With the introduction of Bill C-20, An Act establishing the Public Complaints and Review Commission and amending certain Acts and statutory instruments,^{Footnote ii} the Commission is anticipating that the Bill could pass and receive royal assent this year. As such, the Commission is preparing for the change to its mandate, capabilities and organization as a result.

For more information on the plans of the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP, see "Core responsibilities: planned results and resources, and key risks" section of this plan.

Core responsibilities: planned results and resources, and key risks

This section contains information on the Commission's planned results and resources for its core responsibility: Independent Review of the RCMP. 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 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 that stem from the conduct of individual RCMP members or from deficiencies in RCMP policies, procedures or training. The CRCC also conducts reviews of specified RCMP activities, reports to provinces that contract RCMP services and conducts research, program outreach and public education.

Planning highlights

The Commission's primary role is to increase public confidence in the RCMP through both accountability to the public and transparency. This applies to all facets of the RCMP's role, whether it be as a federal, provincial or municipal service.

The Commission's approach to achieving this objective includes the following:

1) Strengthening the public complaint process

In recent years, Canadians have made greater use of the public complaint system. From FY 2017–18 through to FY 2021–22, the Commission has seen an overall increase of 49% in complaints received, and requests for review have remained consistently high.

Review files have become increasingly complex. Complaints can often consist of multiple allegations that span different incidents and involve varied offences. Legal counsel sometimes represents complainants, lending greater complexity to the arguments brought forth. This added complexity (including voluminous materials to review) increases the amount of time required to analyze, process and review complaints.

To address this increase in complaints and their complexity, the Commission requested and received program integrity funding in the 2022–23 Supplementary Estimates (B)^{Footnote iii} for fiscal year 2022–23 and ongoing. The funding decision emphasized bolstering the public complaint process, and as such, the Commission will continue to prioritize the resourcing of its core mandate functions of receiving and reviewing complaints.

2) Strengthening the Commission's investigative and strategic review capacity

In addition to continuing to build on the Commission's core mandate, the Commission will effectively manage its resources to conduct investigations and reviews of specified RCMP activities, especially when it is in the public interest to do so.

The Commission will complete its investigation into the RCMP's handling of a sexual assault report and subsequent murder of a Nova Scotia woman and a systemic review of the RCMP's handling of public complaints in Nunavut. Resources will be allocated in 2023 for a systemic review of the use of the RCMP's Community-Industry Response Group in British Columbia. Additional resources are earmarked to ensure the Commission is able to conduct new public interest investigations as necessary.

3) Increasing outreach, public education and engagement efforts

Outreach and education initiatives inform Canadians about the Commission's services, the way 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 use with a particular focus on Indigenous communities, Black Canadians and other racialized people who may experience systemic racism and/or adverse policing outcomes;
• 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; and
• Publish depersonalized summaries of the Commission's reviews of RCMP public complaint investigations.

Gender-based analysis plus

The Commission considers gender-based analysis plus (GBA+) in the development and delivery of all its programs and services. For instance, GBA+ has shown that individuals in particular communities (i.e. Indigenous and racialized communities, remote communities) may face barriers in accessing the Commission's services.

A two-part study of the collection of disaggregated demographic data is nearing completion. The Commission will examine the results and seek to implement an appropriate data collection and reporting method, in anticipation of the statutory requirement to do so in Bill C-20.

The Commission will resource the modernization of its information systems and business processes, to enable the collection and analysis of disaggregated intersectional data and ensure that its policies and decisions benefit all communities served. The collection and analysis of disaggregated data will enable the Commission to report publicly on a broader spectrum of data, thereby enhancing RCMP accountability and transparency of the public complaint process.

Furthermore, the Commission's internal Inclusion, Diversity and Equity Advisory Committee will continue to examine and provide advice on Commission internal policies, programs and procedures, as well as external service delivery through the lens of inclusion, diversity and equity.

Innovation

During fiscal year 2022–23, the Commission conducted LEAN process reviews of its complaints intake, complaint reviews, information management (IM) and information technology (IT) business areas. In an effort to find efficiencies and to leverage best practices, the Commission will implement and support recommendations provided from the final reports of these process reviews.

Key risk(s)

Data for Decision-Making

To ensure better alignment with the Government of Canada Data Strategy^{Footnote iv} and related policies and guidelines, the Commission must ensure that access to timely and accurate data is available for decision-making in the execution of this plan. Decisions leveraging data include but are not limited to the allocation of resources, the selection of systemic review topics and ensuring that appropriate engagement and outreach opportunities are leveraged. 

While the amount of complaint-related data currently compiled and used by the Commission is significant, it is far from complete and not fully integrated with other data sources held by the Commission. Data is a crucial element of sound management, making it essential that the Commission improve its collection, access and use. Mitigation efforts include increasing resources to the Data and Research Unit and the replacement of an aging Case Management System.

Human Resources

The Commission continues to strive to find personnel with the right qualifications and/or experience to perform the necessary activities and functions. As is the case across the public service, the rate of turnover continues to lead to a loss of corporate knowledge that can affect the Commission's ability to achieve objectives in an effective and efficient manner. Unlike larger departments, the loss of a single FTE has a significant impact on the Commission.

Business planning, targeted recruiting, regular reporting, and strategic HR planning will mitigate the impact, making it possible to match resources to the immediate or strategic needs. The Commission will also align staffing activities with the Government of Canada's focus on inclusivity and, especially, those at the manager/supervisory level.

Planned results for Independent Review of the RCMP

The following table shows, for Independent Review of the RCMP, the planned results, the result indicators, the targets and the target dates for 2023–24, and the actual results for the three most recent fiscal years for which actual results are available.

*Note: Data for this indicator is unavailable.

The financial, human resources and performance information for the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP's program inventory is available on GC InfoBase.^{Footnote v}

Planned budgetary spending for Independent Review of the RCMP

The following table shows, for Independent Review of the RCMP, budgetary spending for 2023–24, as well as planned spending for that year and for each of the next two fiscal years.

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

Planned human resources for Independent Review of the RCMP

The following table shows, in full‑time equivalents, the human resources the department will need to fulfill this core responsibility for 2023–24 and for each of the next two fiscal years.

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

Internal Services: planned results

Description

Internal services are the services that are provided within a department so that it can meet its corporate obligations and deliver its programs. There are 10 categories of internal services:

• 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's administrative structures, tools and processes will continue to focus on supporting the delivery of its mandate and priorities. Streamlining business processes and employing strategies and technologies that enhance operational efficiency will reduce the internal services costs. The Commission will examine and implement recommendations from the LEAN Six Sigma review of its IM and IT services.

• Migration and transition of applications and systems to Cloud services; and
• The procurement and implementation of a new Case Management System to replace its aging and existing solution.

Planning for Contracts Awarded to Indigenous Businesses

The Commission is in Phase 3 of the Mandatory Procedures for Contracts Awarded to Indigenous Businesses.^{Footnote ix} As the Commission transitions to meet the mandatory target in 2024–25, planning will play a critical role in achieving the target. The Commission's business owners will continue to engage with their procurement officer counterparts early to identify activities and requirements that may create economic opportunities for Indigenous businesses.

Planned budgetary spending for internal services

The following table shows, for internal services, budgetary spending for 2023–24, as well as planned spending for that year and for each of the next two fiscal years.

Planned human resources for Internal Services

The following table shows, in full‑time equivalents, the human resources the department will need to carry out its internal services for 2023–24 and for each of the next two fiscal years.

Planned spending and human resources

This section provides an overview of the department's planned spending and human resources for the next three fiscal years and compares planned spending for 2022–23 with actual spending for the current year and the previous year.

Planned Spending

Departmental spending 2020–21 to 2025–26

The following graph presents planned spending (voted and statutory expenditures) over time.

The significant variance in fiscal years 2022–23 and ongoing is primarily attributable to program integrity funding received in Supplementary Estimates (B), 2022–23.^{Footnote x}

Budgetary planning summary for core responsibilities and internal services (dollars)

The following table shows information on spending for each of the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP's core responsibilities and for its internal services for 2023–24 and other relevant fiscal years.

The significant variance in fiscal years 2022–23 and ongoing is primarily attributable to program integrity funding received in Supplementary Estimates (B), 2022–23.^{Footnote xi}

Planned human resources

The following table shows information on human resources, in full-time equivalents (FTEs), for each of the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP's core responsibilities and for its internal services for 2023–24 and the other relevant years.

The FTE growth in fiscal year 2022–23 and ongoing is attributable to program integrity funding received through Supplementary Estimates (B), 2022–23.^{Footnote xii}

Estimates by vote

Information on the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP's organizational appropriations is available in the 2023–24 Main Estimates.^{Footnote xiii}.

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 2022–23 to 2023–24.
The forecast and planned amounts in this statement of operations were prepared on an accrual basis. The forecast and planned amounts 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 with the requested authorities, are available on the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP's Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP's website.^{Footnote xiv}

The variance between the 2023–24 planned results and the 2022–23 forecast results is primarily attributable to increase planned spending due to program integrity funding received in Supplementary Estimates (B), 2022–23.^{Footnote xv}

Corporate Information

Organizational profile

Appropriate minister(s): The Honourable Marco E. L. Mendicino

Institutional head: Michelaine Lahaie, Chairperson

Ministerial portfolio: Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

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

Year of incorporation / commencement: 2014

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

Information on the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP raison d'être, mandate and role is available on the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP's website.^{Footnote xvii}

Information on the Minister of Public Safety's mandate letter commitments is available in the Minister's mandate letter.^{Footnote xviii}

Operating context

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

Reporting framework

The Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP's approved departmental results framework and program inventory for 2023–24 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 on GC InfoBase.^{Footnote xx}

Supplementary information tables

The Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP 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.

Tax expenditures are the responsibility of the Minister of Finance. The Department of Finance Canada publishes cost estimates and projections for government‑wide tax expenditures each year in theReport on Federal Tax Expenditures.^{Footnote xxi} 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 plus.

Organizational contact information

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

Telephone: 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^{Footnote xxii}

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 document that sets out a department'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. Departmental Plans are tabled in Parliament each spring.

departmental result (résultat ministériel)
A change that a department seeks to influence. 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 performance in a fiscal year against its plans, priorities and expected results set out in its Departmental Plan for that year. Departmental Results Reports are usually tabled in Parliament each fall.

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 Plus) (analyse comparative entre les sexes plus [ACS Plus])
An analytical tool used to support the development of responsive and inclusive policies, programs and other initiatives. GBA Plus is a process for understanding who is impacted by the issue or opportunity being addressed by the initiative; identifying how the initiative could be tailored to meet diverse needs of the people most impacted; and anticipating and mitigating any barriers to accessing or benefitting from the initiative. GBA Plus is an intersectional analysis that goes beyond biological (sex) and socio-cultural (gender) differences to consider other factors, such as age, disability, education, ethnicity, economic status, geography, language, race, religion, and sexual orientation.

government-wide priorities (priorités pangouvernementales)
For the purpose of the 2023–24 Departmental Plan, government-wide priorities are the high-level themes outlining the Government's agenda in the 2021 Speech from the Throne: building a healthier today and tomorrow; growing a more resilient economy; bolder climate action; fighting harder for safer communities; standing up for diversity and inclusion; moving faster on the path to reconciliation and fighting for a secure, just, and equitable world.

high impact innovation (innovation à impact élevé)
High impact innovation varies per organizational context. In some cases, it could mean trying something significantly new or different from the status quo. In other cases, it might mean making incremental improvements that relate to a high-spending area or addressing problems faced by a significant number of Canadians or public servants.

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.

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

program inventory (répertoire des programmes)
An inventory of a department's programs that describes how resources are organized to carry out the department's core responsibilities and achieve its planned 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.

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.