Chapter 2.2: Integrated strategic planning

Figure 2.2.2: Governance of the Integrated Strategic Planning Process at Statistics Canada

2.1 Step 1: Set the strategic planning direction

One year before the beginning of the fiscal year,^{Endnote 5} the EMB sets the strategic planning direction for the upcoming ISPP cycle. The EMB determines which areas require new initiatives, and requests proposals. This is the first key decision-making point.

The agency's strategic planning direction is informed by an environmental scan—including a review of external and internal drivers, and an integrated risk management exercise. The external environmental analysis involves conducting political, economic, technological, and social demographics analysis and documenting the needs of stakeholders. See details in Box 2.2.1.

The agency's corporate priorities are relatively stable over time. As the NSO for Canada, Statistics Canada is legislated by the Statistics Act to produce statistics that help Canadians better understand their country—its population, resources, economy, society and culture, and to serve this function for the whole of Canada.

Some corporate priorities (such as conducting the Census and the Labour Force Survey) are legislative obligations in Canada. Other priorities evolve over time to meet current information needs. At the annual Strategic Planning Direction Setting Session in April, corporate priorities are revisited on the basis of an environmental scan and an analysis of the Corporate Risk Profile, for the purpose of ensuring relevance to public policy development and maintaining the agency's ability to meet the highest information needs of Canadians and Canadian institutions.

Although risk is actively managed throughout the year via the priorities being addressed by managers and corporate management committees, a coordinated effort to update the Risk Register is completed annually. This allows the organization to identify where strategic investment is required in order to mitigate risks to an acceptable level. Risks are categorized according to the four elements at the heart of the Corporate Management Framework: relevance, trust, access and stewardship. The result is an updated Corporate Risk Profile that focuses the ISPP discussions around mitigating important corporate risks.

In its capacity as an agency of the federal government, Statistics Canada regularly monitors the information needs and the priorities of federal departments. An extensive stakeholder network and participation in various national and international organizations help the agency keep informed of emerging issues and remain at the forefront of innovation in statistical measurement (see Chapter 1.4: Understanding User's Needs and Maintaining Relationships).Engagement with stakeholders involves managers at all levels and provides information on evolving user needs, program weaknesses and information gaps. Combined with the results of client feedback surveys, internal program evaluations, and ad hoc external program reviews and audits, this input reflects the priority needs of Canadians and of their governing institutions, as well as those of businesses and other groups.

2.2 Step 2: Update the 10-year Continuity and Quality Maintenance Investment Plan, and prepare business proposals for the next fiscal year

From May to June, managers update their ten-year CQMIP and develop high-level investment business proposals, paying particular attention to proposals that would begin in the next fiscal year. Those proposals are reviewed and recommended by FPBs. See details in Box 2.2.2.

In June, the third month of the fiscal year, at the Strategic Planning Conference, the Senior Management Review Board decides which business proposals are supported for further consideration. This is the second key decision-making point.

A key element in the ISPP process is having a reasonable forecast of all investments required to preserve the quality of information programs and ensure the continuity of operations over time. To this end, the CQMIP is an essential tool. This step includes projects that require punctual investment to produce and maintain quality and, to some degree, relevance.

Much of the agency's work is cyclical in nature. Many of the investments necessary to ensure continuity and quality of programs are known in advance over a long planning horizon. For example, the Labour Force Survey redesign occurs approximately every ten years. Such instances of known investments constitute the CQMIP.

The ISPP is the mechanism by which program areas request additional funding from the agency to carry out new or cyclical projects that could not be covered by their regular base funding. Specifically, the CQMIP covers a ten-year planning horizon and identifies to the agency what draws will be made on the corporate financial availabilities.

The CQMIP is an effective tool to manage the timing of all strategic investments so that significant expenditures are planned well in advance, while total investment is relatively stable from year to year. This allows the agency to project long-term financial, IT and HR needs against planned financial availabilities. The ever greening of the CQMIP also represents a streamlining of the planning process. The strategic investments of the organization are understood long in advance and require only annual adjustments at the margin for new or emerging needs.

Ongoing program funding is treated separately from the punctual investment "project" funding required to maintain quality, ensure relevance, or generate efficiencies. However, both are integrated into a single ten-year view of the organization's overall financial picture.

At this step in the planning process, all projects included in the CQMIP are at Stage 1 of the Departmental Project Management Framework (DPMF): idea generation. The idea or proposed initiative that addresses a business problem or opportunity is identified at this stage. This first attempt at describing the problem, need or opportunity, and at roughly estimating the project's scope, duration and cost, is carried out at the highest appropriate level. This step provides the necessary information to determine the priority of the project in the context of the agency's strategic direction.

2.3 Step 3: Develop business cases

From July to October, business cases and detailed cost estimates are developed for the investment proposals for the next fiscal year that were supported for further consideration at the Strategic Planning Conference. See details in Box 2.2.3.

The development of business cases that integrate all the necessary information for planning decisions is essential to the success of this stage of the ISPP. At this step in the planning process, all projects that will start in the next fiscal year must produce a business case. This consists of a description of the project, the project's contribution to corporate objectives, an options analysis, cost estimates and resource requirements, a risk assessment including mitigation strategies, clearly documented planning assumptions, and business benefits / outcomes. The business case includes all information necessary to describe the rationale for undertaking the project.

The FPB performs a challenge function to ensure that the costs and benefits of projects and the relationship of business cases to corporate and program priorities are fully examined. This also includes an assessment of interdependencies between projects and across fields with respect to project deliverables and human and IT resource allocation. It is essential that all service areas be consulted at this stage of the process and that required approvals be obtained for planned activities.

First priority is given to the CBA projects. These investment proposals have the highest priority because they improve the efficiency of operations. This generates the corporate financial availabilities to maintain programs, as outlined in the CQMIP. Once the quality of existing programs has been assured, new initiatives to innovate and to explore strategic opportunities can also be funded. Thus, investment proposals are grouped into three broad categories to reflect different aspects of strategic planning: finding new and better ways to do business, maintaining the quality of existing programs, and enhancing and developing new programs.

The key tool used to ensure rigour of project assessments is the Departmental Project Management Framework (DPMF) (see Chapter 2.4: Project Management Framework). The process for developing new programs and for conducting substantial redesigns of existing programs must ensure that the project management of these initiatives is separated from responsibility for ongoing programs, that projects are properly resourced and funded, and that program design conforms to the approved business and systems architecture.

The goal is to collect information once at the beginning of the planning process and re-use it for many purposes. The DPMF templates gather information about funding sources, HR and IT needs, risks, etc., in a standardized manner. Information reported at the beginning of the planning cycle is used to manage projects and monitor performance.

2.4 Step 4: Decide which business cases will receive investment funding

In November, the Senior Management Review Board determines which investments will be funded, as well as how the human resource and IT strategy will be implemented to ensure that necessary resources are available for delivery of the investment projects. This is the third key decision-making point.

This step begins with a high-level update on the strategic planning direction, including a final integrated analysis of financial, HR and IT availabilities. This incorporates all investment business cases and the impact if all investments were approved, as well as an analysis of options and recommendations. See details in Box 2.2.4.

The detailed analysis of HR and IT availabilities is only as robust as the underlying business cases (created during the previous step of the ISPP). These must be completed prior the Senior Management Review Conference and must consider the overall resource demand relative to supply at the agency level. This explicitly takes into account ongoing program requirements as well as new investment proposals.

Business cases are presented to the Senior Management Review Committee, chaired by the Chief Statistician, for peer review and challenge. This ensures that the overall context and the impacts on the agency are taken into consideration. It also includes an examination of the relative contribution to strategic objectives and the prioritization of investments in light of available resources.

The Senior Management Review Committee then makes decisions about the approval or rejection of all business cases, including investments included in the CQMIP. The integrated analysis of financial, HR and IT availabilities over a ten-year horizon ensures that the approval of projects, many of which constitute multi-year investments, are made in context of future operational requirements.

2.5 Step 5: Communicate plans and priorities

In the three months before the beginning of the new fiscal year (December to March), managers finalize and initiate project plans, while budgets are allocated by the beginning of the upcoming fiscal year. Plans and priorities are communicated both externally, in annual reports required by Parliament, and internally, to the agency's employees and managers. See details in Box 2.2.5.

Record keeping and strong information management practices related to ownership, version control and transmission are an important part of the ISPP with respect to ensuring sound data stewardship, data integrity, and clear communication of the strategic plan. An ISPP Record of Decision records the approved / refused status of investments, along with the funding strategy for each. Taken together with the ongoing base-funded program of activities, this provides the basis for the development of the Report on Plans and Priorities and the Corporate Business Plan, including an official HR strategy and an official IT resource allocation plan to ensure the capacity to deliver on the agency's operations. As well, divisional and program budgets are adjusted to reflect investment decisions.

In January of each year, the budgeting exercise for the upcoming fiscal year begins. Approved investment budgets are allocated to the responsible financial responsibility centres and the appropriate program elements to reflect the agency's matrix management structure (see Chapter 2.1: Organizational Structure and Matrix Management). Full budgets are allocated by April 1 of each year. At this step in the planning process, new investment projects are initiated in Stage 3 of the DPMF. This includes the identification of high-level business requirements and the creation of the project charter to ensure that all stakeholders are ready to commit to implementing the project as outlined.

The Report on Plans and Priorities (RPP), which provides information on the agency's plans and expected performance, is the official external planning report. It is tabled in the Parliament of Canada along with the Main Estimates (see Chapter 2.3: Financial Management) in March each year. The RPP is a compilation and explanation of the annual business plan; it incorporates lessons learned from the previous years' experience. Important elements from the ISPP are reported in the RPP.

The key internal communication mechanisms are the Corporate Business Plan and the Chief Statistician's Annual Address. The Corporate Business Plan outlines how the organization conducts its business, the challenges it faces, and the approaches it has adopted to manage these challenges over the next three years. It is updated annually, and includes the HR and IT strategic plans, thereby ensuring coherence. It links the mandate and mission with program priorities and key strategic investments. This document ensures that all stakeholders and participants involved in the delivery of the agency's priorities are knowledgeable about the agency's priorities for the upcoming fiscal year and have all the necessary resources to deliver on these. It is also critical that all program funding and changes approved as part of the ISPP be known and understood by all concerned staff to promote buy-in and commitment.

In March of each year, the Chief Statistician presents the agency's Annual Address in a live webcast accessible to all Statistics Canada employees. The Annual Address communicates the priorities and challenges that will be the agency's focus in the coming year. To ensure that employees unable to attend or to view the simulcast presentation have access to this information, a special issue of the agency's internal newsletter, @StatCan, is published and made available electronically on the Internal Communications Network. The @StatCan Special Issue provides a unique magazine-style presentation of the information contained in the Chief Statistician's annual address to all employees.

2.6 Step 6: Ongoing: Monitor Performance

The final step in the ISPP, monitoring performance, is an ongoing activity; it includes both corporate reporting requirements and performance monitoring. Projects are also audited selectively for performance against deliverables and compliance with corporate policies, standards and procedures (see Chapter 2.8: Program Evaluation and Chapter 2.9: Internal Audit).

Many of the reports described below become inputs to the next year's planning cycle. This step in the process coincides with stages 4, 5 and 6 of the Departmental Project Management Framework—Project Planning, Execution and Close-Out. At this step, one must decide how the project will be structured and executed. This includes establishing the baselines of scope, schedule and cost; and, subsequently, executing, completing, tracking and measuring the project activities over the life of the project as defined at the planning stage. The project's final close-out report summarizes accomplishments, and measures the project against criteria set out in the charter to determine its success. See details in Box 2.2.6.

Internal reporting

Monthly financial reports are prepared and presented to managers, who use them to forecast the year-end position of their divisions, to assess the financial risks to their programs, and to review changes in operations and personnel. They are signed as an attestation of completeness and accuracy. Monthly financial reports also provide timely information to the Chief Statistician in his role as Accounting Officer. This information is aggregated at the field level and supports the production of a monthly report reviewed by the Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Corporate Finance consolidates the financial information, and highlights any changes from the previous month. All changes to the financial profile of programs and projects must be approved by the EMB.

Financial reporting is also a key element of the Executive Project Dashboard, which is the mandatory format for project status reporting as per the DPMF. Through its use, governance committees will be kept informed on the triple constraints of scope, schedule and cost, as well as provided with the status of changes, issues and risks related to strategic investment projects on a monthly basis. Selected larger projects are subject to Internal Audit and Evaluation upon completion to determine whether the planned outcomes were fully delivered and to assess compliance with corporate policies, directives, procedures and standards. All programs are also subject to formal evaluations on a cyclical basis.

Strategic priorities are also reflected in the performance agreements of executives and employees. Senior executives ensure that strategic priorities are reflected in their commitments and performance measures. These commitments are then cascaded down into the objectives of managers and employees. They form the basis for measuring the results achieved ((see Chapter 2.5: Planning and Management of Human Resources).

Strategic priorities also drive the work of Corporate Management Committees. These committees are responsible for managing risks related to one of the four corporate priorities (i.e., relevance, trust, access and stewardship). Each committee meets at least monthly to discusses the corporate strategic priorities and sets out plans that will address the corporate risks. Committee work plans are approved and monitored by the EMB.

External reporting

The Departmental Performance Report (DPR) is the official external performance report to the Parliament of Canada. The DPR provides an account of results achieved against planned performance expectations set out in the RPP and is submitted to the Minister responsible for Statistics Canada, generally in September. Statistics Canada's DPR, along with those of other federal departments, is tabled in Parliament in the fall by the President of the Treasury Board^{Endnote 6} , on behalf of the ministers who preside over agencies and departments.

As well, a rigorous external financial forecasting and reporting process is in place. It provides for monthly updates to the CFO and the EMB on the agency's financial situation, including quarterly progress reports on significant projects and ISPP-approved investments. Quarterly Financial Reports are published externally on Statistics Canada's website in accordance with Treasury Board policy.

At the end of each fiscal year, the organization prepares the Public Accounts Plates, which present the financial operations of the organization and its use of the Main Estimates provided to the organization. The Public Accounts Plates are used for consolidation into government-wide financial statements, which are audited by the Auditor General of Canada and tabled annually in the Parliament of Canada.

Other external performance reporting mechanisms include the Departmental Staffing Accountability Report, required under the Public Service Employment Act to ensure that the public service organizations meet accountability requirements and expectations with respect to hiring and is tabled with the Public Service Commission in February.