Auditor General’s Recommendation
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The Agency’s Response
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Action Plan
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Timeline / LEAD
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Recommendation
1 – Para 6.20:
The
Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency should ensure that complete
assessments of eligibility for assistance under its economic development programs
are completed and documented as required by the Policy on Transfer Payments.
In cases where applications are incomplete, the Agency should work with
applicants to ensure that they provide all information required to complete
assessments.
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Agreed.
The
Agency recognizes the importance of conducting thorough project assessments
to determine eligibility. It is developing new application forms to assist
recipients in providing the required information so that it can better assess
projects. New project assessment forms are also being developed for both the
Aboriginal Economic Development (AED) Program and the Strategic Investments
in Northern Economic Development (SINED) Program. The application forms and
the project assessment forms will be implemented by April 1, 2014.
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·
Develop
detailed program information for the Northern Aboriginal Economic
Opportunities Program (NAEOP) (former Aboriginal Economic Development Program),
and Strategic Investments in Northern Economic Development (SINED).
·
Develop
program application forms for NAEOP and SINED.
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Develop
new program guidelines and project assessment forms for NAEOP and SINED for
use by economic development officers (EDOs).
·
Conduct
regional training/planning sessions for EDOs for program renewal roll-out and
implementation, including EDO Toolkit with program Terms and Conditions, guidelines,
checklists, forms, templates, application processes and procedures and service
standards.
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Completed
and posted to internet site April 1, 2014.
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Completed
and posted to internet site May 5, 2014.
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Completed
program guidelines and project assessment forms for NAEOP and SINED in July
2014. Updated SINED program guidelines will be completed by November 2014.
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Completed
training sessions (March 2014 to May 2014).
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Additional
training sessions ongoing.
Responsibility:
Director
General, Operations
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Recommendation
2 – Para. 6.25:
The
Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency should formally review the
processes in place for the review and approval of projects so that decisions
on funding to recipients are made in a timely manner.
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Agreed.
The
Agency is committed to providing efficient and effective service to clients.
To further improve and strengthen its administration of contribution
agreements, program officers will use the new application and assessment
forms to assess applications in a thorough and expedient manner, taking into
consideration the needs of clients based in the North. The Agency will
develop service standards for project assessments by April 1, 2014 and
track performance against these standards.
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·
Develop
a correspondence and project monitoring tool to document officer-proponent exchanges
related to information gathering, and project and contribution agreement
monitoring and reporting.
·
Develop
service standards specific to program delivery.
·
Develop
a mechanism to track project performance, produce reports on the status of
projects, and track service standards (OpStart).
·
Conduct
regional training/planning sessions for EDOs for program renewal roll-out and
implementation, including EDO Toolkit with program Terms and Conditions,
guidelines, checklists, forms, templates, application processes and
procedures and service standard.
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·
Completed
as of April 1, 2014.
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Completed
as of April 1, 2014.
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Completed
training sessions (March 2014 to May 2014)
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Additional
training sessions ongoing.
Responsibility:
Director
General, Operations
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Recommendation
3 -- Para. 6.26:
The Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency should review
its quality assurance processes to ensure that, before contribution
agreements are signed, they do not contain inconsistencies.
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Agreed.
The Agency is committed to improving its quality assurance
process by April 1, 2014 to ensure that it is more robust. The aim of
the quality assurance process will be to eliminate any inconsistencies in the
contribution agreements and ensure that these agreements contain provisions
related to payment schedules and performance measurement tracking.
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·
Develop
Quality Assurance Tool to reduce errors and inconsistencies in funding
agreements and to ensure compliance with CanNor business processes (funding
approach) and performance measurement strategy.
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Conduct
regional training/planning sessions for EDOs for program renewal roll-out and
implementation, including a session on quality assurance.
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Completed
as of April 2, 2014.
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Completed
training sessions (March 2014 to May 2014).
Responsibility:
Director
General, Operations
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Recommendation
4 -- Para. 6.30:
The
Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency should document its recipient
and project risk assessments. It should also define appropriate levels of
monitoring and reporting to be specified in contribution agreements, proportionate
to recipient and project risks.
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Agreed.
The
Agency will develop and implement better tools to assess recipient and
project risks by April 1, 2014. Recipient risk assessments will be used
to determine agreement duration, and the levels of financial reporting will
be based on agreement amounts. High-risk projects will be subject to
increased monitoring by project officers.
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Develop
new and modify existing risk assessment tools, as appropriate, and
incorporate tools in project assessment forms for SINED and NAEOP.
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Conduct
regional training/planning sessions for EDOs for program renewal roll-out and
implementation, including a session on project risk assessment.
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·
Completed
risk assessment tools for SINED and NAOEP in July 2014.
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Completed
training sessions (March 2014 to May 2014).
·
Additional
training sessions ongoing.
Responsibility:
Director
General, Operations
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Recommendation
5 -- Para. 6.43:
The
Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency should review recipient reports
and follow up on cases where information is incomplete or does not support
activities specified in the contribution agreements. It should also document
follow-up and monitoring activities to ensure that agreements are being
monitored in accordance with the requirements of the Policy on Transfer
Payments.
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Agreed.
To
further improve monitoring requirements and compliance with contribution agreements,
the Agency will conduct training for program officers on the use of the
Grants and Contributions funding system and on improving monitoring,
documentation, and information management for projects, by April 1, 2014.
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·
Develop
a correspondence and project monitoring tool to document officer-proponent
exchanges related to information gathering, and project and contribution
agreement monitoring and reporting.
·
Conduct
regional training/planning sessions for EDOs for program renewal roll-out and
implementation, including on the Grants and Contributions funding system.
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·
Completed
as of April 2, 2014.
·
Completed
training sessions (March 2014 to May 2014).
·
Additional
training sessions ongoing.
Responsibility:
Director
General, Operations
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Recommendation
6 -- Para. 6.48:
The
Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency should fully implement
performance measurement strategies for its economic development programs. The
Agency should incorporate performance information requirements set out in the
strategies into contribution agreements and use this information to report on
program performance.
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Agreed.
The
Agency’s performance measurement strategies and indicators are being updated
systematically as each program is renewed. This will ensure that its
performance measurement strategies and indicators are kept current and up to
date, while meeting the Agency’s monitoring needs. At the same time, a new
tracking system to capture this data has been built and is being implemented
beginning April 1, 2014. This includes ensuring that measures are
incorporated into reporting sections of agreements, and that information is
captured as reports are submitted by recipients. This approach is being
incorporated as part of the Economic Development Officer “Tool Kit.” In
addition, the Agency is currently consulting with other regional development
agencies and Shared Services Canada on potential common strategies and systems
for performance measurement.
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·
Develop
Quality Assurance Tool to reduce errors and inconsistencies in funding
agreements and to ensure compliance with CanNor business processes (funding
approach) and performance measurement strategy.
·
Develop
a mechanism to track project performance, produce reports on the status of
projects, and track service standards (OpStart).
·
Establish
service standards for program delivery.
·
Conduct
regional training/planning sessions for EDOs for program renewal roll-out and
implementation, including a session on the new tracking system, OpStart.
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Completed
March 2014.
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Completed
tracking and reporting tool in March 2014.
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Reports
being developed and to be integrated with program management process over
2014-2015.
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Completed
as of April 2, 2014.
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Completed
training sessions in May 2014. Additional training ongoing.
Responsibility:
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Recommendation
7-- Para. 6.56:
The
Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency should finalize implementation
of its Management Control Framework for Grants and Contributions, and follow
through on its commitments to update the manuals and tools used to manage
contribution agreements.
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Agreed.
The
Agency will complete implementation of the Management Control Framework by August 2014.
It is presently updating manuals and tools as part of the new Economic
Development Officer “Tool Kit” for managing both the Strategic Investments in
Northern Economic Development and Aboriginal Economic Development programs.
The Agency has recently updated its website with a strong focus on making
program-related information accessible to clients.
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·
Develop
an EDO Toolkit that includes a quality assurance tool and a correspondence
and monitoring tool to better manage contribution agreements.
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Develop
financial control processes as follows :
o Contract
reconciliation process;
o Implement
monitoring processes;
o Update financial
delegation authorities.
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Completed
as of April 2, 2014.
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Completed
procedures as of August 15, 2014. Implementation underway.
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Completed
internal Policy on Grants and Contributions Monitoring as of August 15,
2014. Implementation underway.
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Completed
updating of financial delegation authorities as of September 15, 2014.
Responsibility:
Director
of Corporate Services
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Recommendation
8 -- Para. 6.57:
The
Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency should assess, in conjunction
with Aboriginal transfer payment recipients, whether alternative funding
approaches should be considered. It should also consider the use of
multi-year agreements.
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Agreed.
To
further improve service and reduce the administrative burden for clients, the
Agency is examining alternate funding approaches as per the Directive on
Transfer Payments, and multi-year agreements in the context of the new Terms
and Conditions for the Aboriginal Economic Development program that will come
into effect April 1, 2014.
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·
Include
Transfer Payment Policy and Directive in the EDO Toolkit.
·
CanNor will use set, fixed and
flexible contribution funding approaches for transfer payments to Aboriginal
recipients, and multi-year agreements will be considered based on the risk
assessment of the proponent, consistent with the Directive on Transfer
Payments (Appendix K: Transfer payments to Aboriginal recipients) and
according to the Department's framework for the management of transfer
payments.
·
Conduct
regional training/planning sessions for EDOs for program renewal roll-out and
implementation, including a session on Transfer Payment Policy and Directive.
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Completed
April 1, 2014.
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Ongoing
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Completed
training sessions as of March 2014.
Responsibility:
Director
General, Operations
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Recommendation
9 -- Para. 6.65:
The
Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency should update its human
resources plan and establish an Inuit employment plan as required under the
Inuit Land Claims Agreement. The Agency should monitor implementation of
these plans and adjust them as required.
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Agreed.
The
Agency is committed to achieving a professional workforce that represents the
clients it serves. To fully staff the Iqaluit headquarters and meet the
requirements of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, the Agency is renewing its
Human Resources plan and finalizing its Inuit Employment Plan with a target
completion date by the first quarter of 2014. CanNor will review these plans
on an annual basis.
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·
Update
CanNor Human Resources Plan.
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Prepare
Inuit Employment Plan (IEP).
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Completed
as of June 27, 2014.
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Completed
as of June 27, 2014.
Responsibility:
Director
of Corporate Services
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Recommendation
10 -- Para. 6.68:
The
Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency should review its staff
complement with a view to fulfilling its mandate of having an organization
based in the North.
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Agreed.
The
Agency will continue to increase its staff complement including internal
services in Iqaluit using staffing, retention, and development efforts to
address challenges associated with employment in the North. Guided by its
human resources and Inuit employment plans, the Agency will work to increase
its current Iqaluit complement by nine additional positions by the end
of the 2014–15 fiscal year and gradually transfer more internal services from
Ottawa to Iqaluit.
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·
CanNor
will increase the number of staff in its Iqaluit HQ and Regional Office by adding
9 positions by the end of 2014-15. Over the longer-term, the Agency will
also gradually transfer internal services from Ottawa to Iqaluit as positions
become vacant and opportunities arise.
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CanNor
is using the Strategic Staffing Plan to support the increase to its staffing
complement in the Iqaluit HQ and Regional Office.
Responsibility:
President
& Senior Management
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Recommendation
11 -- Para. 6.72:
The
Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency should update its Office
Accommodation Framework taking into consideration lessons learned since its
establishment.
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Agreed.
The
Agency will implement its Office Accommodation Framework by
March 31, 2014 to meet the guidelines outlined in Appendix D
(Accommodation Guidance for Departments) of the Treasury Board of Canada
Secretariat’s Guide to the Management of Real Property.
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Prepare
and post new Office Accommodation Framework.
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Completed
as of February 7, 2014.
Responsibility:
Director
of Corporate Services
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Recommendation
12 -- Para. 6.76:
The
Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency should finalize harmonization
of its economic development transfer payment programs as soon as possible so
that the objectives are clear and accountability is clarified.
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Agreed.
The
Agency is launching a new harmonized Aboriginal Economic Development Program
April 1, 2014.
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CanNor
will launch and implement a harmonized Northern Aboriginal Economic
Opportunities Program (NAEOP) by April 1, 2014.
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Completed
as of April 1, 2014.
Responsibility:
Vice-President/Policy,
Planning, Communications and NPMO
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