PACP Committee News Release
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Standing Committee on Public Accounts |
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Comité permanent des comptes publics |
For immediate release
NEWS RELEASE
A MORE INTEGRATED AND CLIENT-CENTERED APPROACH TO ONLINE SERVICES IS NEEDED
Ottawa, April 9, 2014 -
OTTAWA – While federal departments and agencies have made some improvements to their online services over the past few years, they need to ensure that the services are easy to use, integrated across departments and implemented in a manner that is secure, accessible and cost-effective, according to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts’ report presented today in the House of Commons by Committee Chair David Christopherson.
Canadians are increasingly able to conduct online transactions quickly, securely and simply with private institutions, and have reasonable expectations that they should have similar experiences when they attempt to access information about and conduct transactions with federal organizations and programs. Online services can be quicker and easier for users and more cost-effective to deliver.
In its Fall 2013 Report, the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) released a performance audit that examined whether the online services offered by federal organizations are client-focused and supported by service delivery strategies with defined and measured benefits. The OAG found that the government had made incremental improvements but had not significantly expanded its online services since the end of its Government On-Line initiative in 2005. In its report, the Committee observes that the Canada Revenue Agency has made good progress to improve its online services, and other federal organizations need to make similar efforts.
The OAG also found that the federal government had not developed a government-wide online service delivery strategy and the departments examined had not developed their own integrated strategies and plans for the online delivery of services. In order to ensure that the federal government makes progress in these areas, the Committee recommends that, when completed, the government provide the Committee with its government-wide service delivery strategy, as well as overviews of integrated departmental strategies.
The Committee notes that departments are working to ensure online services are accessible to all Canadians and the government is developing new approaches to balance convenience with security and the protection of personal, confidential information.
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